Breaking Down God

I live in a strange, interstitial space between atheism and theism. While I no longer consider myself a Christian, I refuse to cut ties with the Christian world and my progressive Christian community. At the same time, I feel a great deal of kinship with the pagan and witchcraft communities, as well as the atheist and skeptical communities. My own religious home is The Satanic Temple, and I consider myself a practicing Satanist. I call myself a nontheist and reject unverified claims of the supernatural.

To many people, the question of God’s existence is simple: either there is a magical sky daddy or there isn’t. For me, however, this question is getting increasingly complicated. God is about more than just existence or nonexistence: it is also about definitions, worldview, and culture.

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Sacred Tension: Bubble and Squeak, feat. Peterson Toscano

In this episode of Sacred Tension I’m joined by actor, quaker, and LGBTQ/climate activist Peterson Toscano to discuss his show Bubble&Squeak. We talk about formative queer experiences, the importance of storytelling, our awkward gay sex experiences, and more. Listen to Bubble&Squeak here.

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Talking Leftism, Protest, and Activism on The Satanic Temple TV

I’ve had the pleasure of appearing on the Satanic Temple TV a couple of times over the past few weeks to talk about protest, leftism, and my recent article Why I Haven’t Left the Satanic Temple. My first appearance was on The Devil’s Dispatch with Stu DeHaan, and my second appearance was on An Ongoing And Necessary Pursuit with Jack Matirko.

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Learning to be Antiracist

When I was writing exclusively about LGBT issues within the church, many people new to the topic would ask me what they could do to help LGBT people. The first response of many straight people new to understanding LGBT experience was feelings of helplessness, and a desperation to do something.

My answer was always the same. There are 4 preliminary steps, I told them, to standing in solidarity with LGBT people: 1. learn, read, and listen as much as you can. 2. Get to know LGBT people personally 3. Be in the process of learning and engaging for the long haul — don’t opt out once you feel like you’ve learned “enough.” 4. Let it fuck up your life –let it disrupt your privilege, worldview, and theology.

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Sacred Tension: House of the Devil, feat. Common Creatives

In this cross-over episode I’m joined by Will and Joe from the Common Creatives podcast to discuss the brilliant horror movie House of the Devil. We talk about religious horror, Satanism, The Satanic Panic, growing up Evangelical, and much more. If you love this show, please go check out their other episodes and subscribe to them on your favorite podcast app.

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Why I Haven’t Left the Satanic Temple

I’ve been a member of The Satanic Temple (TST) since December 2017, and in that time there’ve been occasional accusations of crypto-fascism, alt-rightism, and Nazism against TST by both outsiders and former members. This article is about why I choose to remain in the Satanic Temple despite these accusations, and why I find these accusations lacking in credibility.

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Sacred Tension: Satanic Ritual, feat. Shiva Honey

In this unedited, stripped down episode of Sacred Tension I talk to Shiva Honey, author of The Devil’s Tome: A Book of Modern Satanic Ritual. We discuss her liberation from an abusive religious setting, the fusion of nontheism and ritual, how ritual can bring empowerment and catharsis into an individual’s life, and much more.

photo credit: Courtney Brook.

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