I started planning this book, which became my PhD Thesis, about 5 years ago. It didn't turn out to be exactly what I expected - it's a mashup of Paradise Lost scholarship and a comparative history of the influence Milton's Satan had on politics, art, literature, revolution and social progress over several centuries. It's a response to the bizarrely conservative academic readings of Paradise Lost that continue to be taught in many universities. It's a summary of historical ...
Santa, Satan, St. Nick and Krampus (the moral fluctuation of holiday heroes and villains)
The holidays are always a strange time. The Winter Solstice has been celebrated for thousands of years - it can be argued that astrological events led to the creation of religious practice - but different cultures celebrate in unique fashions. But modern Western culture embraces such a confusing hodgepodge it's bound to cause discord. One baptist minister for example is drawing heat for a church sign that reads "Santa is Satan." He's not the first Christian to complain ...
Crossbones TV Series: Pirates and the Devil Continued
In the PhD Thesis I'll finish one day, I make the connection between the rise of pirates, libertarianism and democracy with sacrilege and devil worship - not "real" devil worship of course, simply people who openly rebelled against the idea of God and aligned themselves openly with the politics of Satan. So I've been pleased to watch the sudden increase in pirate fascination... which I thought was running dry after the Pirates of the Caribbean movies ...
Can non-believers be creative? Steven Pressfield’s new proof for the existence of God (and why it fails)
Today on Steven Pressfield's blog he posted an article called How Resistance Proves the Existence of God. Let me start by saying, I saw this coming years ago. I saw it in his now famous "War or Art" and in the interview he did with Oprah. I saw it in the new book "Do the Work" Seth Godin asked him to write. In brief, Pressfield believes that we are all called to produce art, and our greatest enemy in ...
What is blasphemy, and is it worth it? Questions about life, faith and meaning on International Blasphemy Day
I started this blog about a decade ago, when I was young and bold and idealistic. I believed that everything should be challenged: especially beliefs that we hold dear, because they can be dangerous. Every idea, belief, and concept should be tested and either found strong and valuable, or weak and useless. Nothing should be prioritized over reason, pursuit of knowledge, Truth. But I've mellowed. Or you could say, I've been distracted. I still research and write what ...
If you're interested in religious mythology, astrological symbolism, or supernatural folklore, grab my book Gods of Myth and Man. You can 
Be Social