Speak Of The Devil Download

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Speak of the Devil

Speak of the Devil is the first book-length study of The Satanic Temple. Joseph Laycock, a scholar of new religious movements, contends that the emergence of "political Satanism" marks a significant moment in American religious history that will have a lasting impact on how Americans frame debates about religious freedom. Though the group gained attention for its strategic deployment of outrage, it claims to have developed beyond politics into a religious movement. Equal parts history and ethnography, Speak of the Devil demonstrates why religious Satanism is significant to larger conversations about the definition of religion, religious freedom, and religious tolerance.

Speak of the Devil

The first modern allegations of satanic sexual abuse surfaced in North America during the 1980s, followed a few years later by similar allegations in Britain. Professor La Fontaine, an anthropologist, has studied the literature on satanic abuse in England and conducted a detailed analysis of a number of actual cases. She found no evidence of devil worship. She concludes that behind the hysteria is a social movement, comparable to classic instances of witchcraft accusations and the witch hunts in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe.