https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to the supernatural en https://religiondispatches.org/2024/12/12/trump-administrations-approach-immigration-inspired-bible-book-revelation Trump recently appointed Tom Homan as his ‘ border czar ,’ a first step toward implementing a scorched-earth immigration policy that includes large-scale detention of migrants and mass deportation (perhaps even for American citizens ). While his policies have been… Thu, 12 Dec 2024 12:01:27 EST Yii-Jan Lin 167d120f-d33f-4c90-b708-87febc950dd8 https://religiondispatches.org/2024/12/10/coverage-tucker-carlsons-demonic-assault-missed-importance-man-he-shared-story “Physically mauled” is how Tucker Carlson refers to the alleged demonic assault he suffered in his own bed a year ago. Carlson’s comments, clipped from a larger documentary, have been covered by a variety of news outlets and social media… Tue, 10 Dec 2024 01:14:09 EST Sarah Riccardi-Swartz 1f351e11-b5e6-4e30-847d-74e1de9b014c https://religiondispatches.org/2024/10/17/packed-threats-political-violence-media-largely-ignore-nars-million-women-rally-dc On October 12th one of the most remarkable political statements of any religious leader in this or any election season was broadcast live from an all-day rally of tens of thousands of people on the Washington Mall. The event, called… Thu, 17 Oct 2024 05:52:56 EDT Frederick Clarkson d7011e5c-ba42-4a40-91e7-5d12eb329deb https://religiondispatches.org/2024/06/05/amid-growing-legitimacy-challenges-its-right-and-left-vatican-seizes-control On May 17, the Vatican overhauled its process for evaluating and verifying supernatural phenomena, from apparitions of the Virgin Mary to her statues weeping tears or blood. The guidance released by the Vatican’s Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith… Wed, 05 Jun 2024 05:18:02 EDT Emma Cieslik 813b5a7f-dd34-49f4-9ecf-a8198c0f99d0 https://religiondispatches.org/2024/05/23/reporters-guide-new-apostolic-reformation-revised-2025 The story of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) lives at the epicenter of the intersection of politics and religion in the US—and reporting about it is as essential as it is challenging. The story of NAR is happening in the… Thu, 23 May 2024 04:58:12 EDT Frederick Clarkson, André Gagné 718434ec-a88e-45dd-910b-153d686ea9bf https://religiondispatches.org/2024/03/26/late-night-devil-reflects-role-talk-shows-sensationalizing-satanic-panic-1980s Late Night with the Devil premiered in select cities this past weekend, allegedly raking in $666,666 on Sunday. This indie gem by Cameron and Colin Caernes is a “found footage” horror film, purporting to be a lost episode of a… Tue, 26 Mar 2024 05:24:01 EDT Joseph Laycock c5ccf9c4-8452-40e5-8cb5-a46a37cde320 https://religiondispatches.org/2024/03/12/new-research-suggests-belief-demons-may-help-explain-christian-support-trump In a strange way, I envy the people who were raised as evangelical Christians in the 1980s and 1990s, because many of them got to experience This Present Darkness in a way I never could. For the uninitiated, This Present… Tue, 12 Mar 2024 01:57:54 EDT Robert Repino 897d1df0-d1b6-4c44-bff6-e5cbc042879a https://religiondispatches.org/2024/02/27/taking-aim-religion-itself-apostles-prime-networks-real-world-violence It is more than paradoxical that an ostensibly Christian university leader would say, “We are here to put a knife to the throat of religion.” But that’s what Apostle Greg Hood, the founder of Kingdom University in Franklin, Tennessee believes… Tue, 27 Feb 2024 04:44:52 EST Frederick Clarkson b3ae5102-1a3b-422e-9dad-e63275bc8c0c https://religiondispatches.org/2024/01/22/lost-and-found-despite-hope-morality-and-meaning-inspired-deconversion-why-respect-only It’s a story that can inspire even the most cynical among us. A person endures some difficult trial, such as an illness, injury, or other calamity. At their lowest point, they call to the divine. And through the darkness they… Mon, 22 Jan 2024 04:48:10 EST Robert Repino f738d38d-8baf-4b9e-b339-3bad70ed34e9 https://religiondispatches.org/2024/01/04/pop-culture-angels-are-more-just-embarrassing-kitsch Cloying sentimentality, saccharine pablum, ridiculous camp and embarrassing kitsch—in the contemporary moment the word “angel” hasn’t fared well among those who describe themselves as sophisticates or intellectuals. To many, angels don’t simply conjure superstitious beliefs, but embarrassing superstitious beliefs. Faith… Thu, 04 Jan 2024 05:19:00 EST Ed Simon 0c60b7d3-2a6a-4a2a-8060-4bd1224a4b8a https://religiondispatches.org/2023/11/24/what-happens-when-we-use-horror-movies-interpret-real-world-10-questions-authors What inspired you to write The Exorcist Effect ? Over twenty years ago, Michael Cuneo wrote a book called American Exorcism , arguing that William Friedkin’s The Exorcist had almost single-handedly brought about a revival of exorcism in America. We… Fri, 24 Nov 2023 09:24:38 EST Eric Harrelson, Joseph Laycock 1d0370d7-d353-4b41-b0f3-179001df680d https://religiondispatches.org/2023/10/24/ecumenical-exorcist-sequel-reflects-profound-cultural-changes-catholic-original Please note: spoilers ahead. Stop me if you’ve heard this one: three evangelicals, an atheist, an ex-nun, and a rootworker walk into an exorcism. Fifty years after William Friedkin’s The Exorcist shocked America, director David Gordon Green has delivered a… Tue, 24 Oct 2023 01:24:54 EDT Joseph Laycock 9e80e2b1-8dd9-4dd0-a6c2-646d9a64a155 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/08/07/beyond-doubt-correct-about-decline-religion-yes-sort Looking back at the past seven years, Christianity seems stronger than ever in the United States. Demographically, we remain a majority Christian country. Politically, nearly 90% of our federal congressional representatives identify as Christian, and we’ve never had an openly… Mon, 07 Aug 2023 01:42:52 EDT Lucas McCracken 4bc04065-74b0-462a-beb9-8ef7d82cb7c5 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/06/27/joels-army-already-here-obscure-20th-century-religious-movement-profoundly-influences Anyone who’s been paying attention to the rhetoric of the religious and political Right has heard it: the sound of a critical moment in a bad horror movie. It’s the moment when we learn that the demons are us —which… Tue, 27 Jun 2023 02:01:12 EDT Frederick Clarkson, André Gagné 25b20b06-c60c-4d8a-b3e5-68cccd88f7bb https://religiondispatches.org/2023/05/19/hell-cell-popes-exorcist-reflects-growing-belief-cocksure-men-will-save-us-battle-good-v Although it was a financial success, The Pope’s Exorcist , featuring a virile Russell Crowe as real-life exorcist Gabrielle Amorth, was panned by most Catholic reviewers, including the International Association of Exorcists (IAE), which Amorth founded. Critics objected to the… Fri, 19 May 2023 12:46:29 EDT Eric Harrelson, Joseph Laycock 8ef5b2b0-ac5f-42d2-b1d1-a29183549a9c https://religiondispatches.org/2023/05/16/spirit-january-6th-theology-seldom-discussed-movement-animates-growing-threat-us Listen to this article on the Inform Your Resistance podcast. Lance Wallnau, a prominent Apostle/Prophet in the Neo-Charismatic New Apostolic Reformation, had an unusual Easter message this year. Rather than a traditional message of hope and eternal life, he issued… Tue, 16 May 2023 04:12:56 EDT Frederick Clarkson, André Gagné 2749fe36-8052-41cf-ab8b-0b9e8b2e6a41 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/01/06/evidence-strongly-suggests-trump-was-collaborating-christian-nationalist-leaders-january On December 22, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol Riot released its report, reopening the question of what forces and figures incited the insurrection as we observe its two-year anniversary. Yet, as numerous observers have noticed, the… Fri, 06 Jan 2023 09:47:02 EST Matthew D. Taylor, Bradley Onishi e45d5649-75da-422d-81de-9396248c9d77 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/11/08/what-did-kyrie-say-was-so-wrong-when-black-antisemitism-meets-white-jewish-privilege So, let’s start with a joke. A Black nationalist female rabbi, a Black male womanist rabbi, and Black Jewish apostate walk into a bar… There’s been nonstop controversy since NBA star Kyrie Irving tweeted a link to a film, Hebrews… Tue, 08 Nov 2022 07:05:26 EST A. E. Brooks-Key d4a65fee-ce51-4675-9ad2-6212eca20619 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/11/07/paranormal-vodka-exorcists-and-demonic-doll-welcome-paracon-based-work-demon-hunters-who I really didn’t know what to expect when Joseph Laycock and I bought our tickets for the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) Seekers of the Supernatural Paracon as part of our research for our book The Exorcist Effect… Mon, 07 Nov 2022 02:59:16 EST Eric Harrelson, Joseph Laycock 31ff0de7-1e81-4e1d-bcca-099553ad25f3 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/10/11/when-it-comes-societal-dominion-details-matter-reporters-guide-new-apostolic-reformation This is the second of a three-part series. Read Part I: Christian Right Denialism is More Dangerous Than Ever: A Reporter’s Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation & Part III: Call it ‘Christian Globalism’ The apostles of the New Apostolic… Tue, 11 Oct 2022 05:18:30 EDT Frederick Clarkson, André Gagné c7951cc4-b8e4-4774-b257-c81cb59ecce0 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/08/09/new-apostolic-reformation-faces-profound-rift-due-trump-prophecies-and-spiritual Updated 8/16/22: The authors’ response to a correction request follows the article. - eds Four weeks after the January 6th insurrection , two leaders of the revivalist New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) were concerned about the future of their movement. They… Tue, 09 Aug 2022 04:47:29 EDT Frederick Clarkson, André Gagné df1661fe-75bc-48f7-bb71-e56b9cdfc1be https://religiondispatches.org/2022/04/27/why-did-antisemitic-christian-zionist-have-chutzpah-declare-hed-be-leading-holocaust This week, Jews in Israel and around the world will commemorate Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust Remembrance Day that marks a somber time for remembrance and reflection. On Thursday, thousands of Israeli and diaspora Jews and supporters will walk silently from… Wed, 27 Apr 2022 05:35:26 EDT Ben Lorber, Aidan Orly d90e2116-6dd4-4395-8e5b-d93edd3cdb15 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/04/18/how-pentecostal-christianity-taking-over-world-interview-author-elle-hardy Australian-born journalist Elle Hardy’s exposé of global Pentecostalism, released in November by an independent UK publisher, didn’t receive a tremendous amount of attention in the United States —one of the nations where the movement itself has flourished. In the following… Mon, 18 Apr 2022 04:44:55 EDT Katherine Stewart 57016115-c2c3-4412-a997-eccbfab68567 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/02/17/tarot-just-cool-self-help-deck-cards NPR recently published an article from an episode of its Life Kit podcast titled “ Tarot can’t predict the future, but it can help you make that big decision,” presenting and endorsing the viewpoint of their guest: “As tarot reader… Thu, 17 Feb 2022 01:35:47 EST Daniel Wise b6e73cc3-23f8-4563-8b78-8c51277690b8 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/01/20/what-can-real-life-haunting-tell-us-about-american-religion-updated While researching ghost hunters in the 21st century US during the course of earning my PhD, I was sometimes asked what ghost-hunting had to do with religious studies. In fact, Americans’ interactions with ghosts often reveal their personal spiritualities and… Thu, 20 Jan 2022 04:42:32 EST Daniel Wise c465b019-7cf5-4afb-b59f-ab3530c80058