Christianity’s Most Dangerous Idea (And Why It Won’t Die)

The author of Ephesians has done a lot of damage. Here I explain why.

Dr. Joseph P. Laycock, scholar of new religious movements and specialist on satanism and satanic panic, joins me to discuss the dangerous idea of supreme evil in Christian tradition, pop culture, and politics. From Putin, to Rainbow Revival, to Isaiah Saldivar’s ministry, many use the idea of supernatural evil, demons, and devils, to achieve their individual goals. This can result in the spread of witch trials, religious wars, religious prejudice, or just plain old ignorance.

Get Joseph Laycock’s books here:

SUPPORT

Non-sectarian Biblical Studies Courses by Dr. Bart Ehrman (affiliate link):

FOLLOW

Resources for atheists in need

Chapters:
00:00 Intro

This video contains 100% therapeutic grade skepticism.*

*This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA

[wolkenstrahl]

"He settled on Satanism and Demons because I think that is more believable than Nazis."
Mind completely blown. This is absolutely insane.

[mittwochxiv.]

It's really astonishing that people who believe only in one god believe that this god is in an infinite battle with one of his creations

[yoshigottagun]

"If you have questions and have confusion, I actually think you're in good company." Very good quote, from both a religious and secular stand point imo. You shouldn't be afraid to ask questions or find issues with your theology.

[KenS]

I was one of those "misfits" terrorized during the Satanic Panic. I committed the "unforgivable crimes" of being autistic, playing D&D and being a teen in the South.

The literal only thing that kept me from going to one of those Christian camps for "troubled teens" was my father was too cheap to pay for it and he died before the church could come up with the money to pay for it themselves.

Do not ever downplay the harm done back then. The lack of the internet kept the breadth of the damage done from getting recorded as fully as it would be today but it was awful just in the TTRPG world.

[lilyliz]

I think saying LGBT people are possessed is dehumanizing people so that empathetic Christians can justify their policies— it’s not mother vs. daughter, it’s mother vs. demon inside her. And when it gets to the point where kids are attempting suicide, they’re not dying because of parental abuse, they’re dying because of demon possession. I’ve seen these relationships and it makes me so mad that there’s never accountability.

[Eve.v]

the pride flag thing is SO funny because. the pride flag originally had EIGHT colors -- INCLUDING indigo. it was simplified for ease of replication, as happens with many symbols.

[idreamofgenie]

From "Calvin and Hobbes":
Calvin (to Hobbes): Do you believe in the Devil? You know, a powerful being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of mankind?
Hobbes: I'm not sure mankind needs the help.

[pariahmouse]

I "came out" as an agnostic when I was 13- my religious grandma didn't bat an eye, she had debates with me, she argued her faith without discrediting my beliefs, and it was beautiful.
So I thought, hey, it's cool.
So cut to that summer, staying at my aunt's in Texas, and I thought I would share my thoughts on the matter with her, because she was talking about me going to church with her and my uncle, and I wasn't about it- well, I was literally almost thrown out of their home. Did not go well, to say the least.
My aunt became convinced I was worshipping the devil, and would read my heavily metaphoric journals and found her "proof"- I have never felt so judged and hurt like that, she broke some beautiful openness that I had, and I personally think for reasons like this alone that Christianity is more dangerous than it is helpful- when your own FAMILY turns against you because of a 2000 year old FAIRY TALE- sorry, I cannot be on board with anything like that, I don't want any open minded, curious kid to be CRUSHED like I was, I was strong enough to hold on to my convictions, but I lost my aunt in the process, and that's not okay, but I also can't pretend not to be who I am, that's insane...

[einienj]

"Are you angry at me or are you possessed?" "Are you asking questions about my religion or are you possessed?" Seriously?

[GodlessCommie]

I used to struggle with same sex attraction, but now i’m really good at it.

[Junosensei]

The demonic whispering and ominous music in the background playing to a dude with "iStock" watermarks plastered all over his body is peak video essay, not gonna lie.

[bartstewart]

You never hear Republicans warn about Mammon, the demon of greed.

[kylewilliams]

"God gave you your body, so you can't do anything to change it or you're saying you're higher than God." Ok Matt Walsh, then loose the glasses and never be able to see, since God gave you bad eyes, changing that is saying you're higher than God.

[drlegendre]

Putin's embrace of religion is pure pragmatism and totally cynical.

[violeth]

Fun fact: the rainbow having 7 colors is a Christian imposition on the rainbow. It was Isaac Newton who purportedly decided the rainbow should have 7 colors (he personally only perceived 5 but added 2 more to get 7) because it was God's number and matched up with other "divine" instances of 7 (the 7 notes in western music, the seven days of the week, the 7 planets known at the time, etc...).

The rainbow flag, on the other hand, originally had 8 stripes. Pink was removed due to a fabric shortage, and turquoise was removed due to the fact that the odd number of stripes resulted in the center green stripe being completely hidden due to the pole the flag was displayed on obscuring the middle of the flag. Thus the flag was left with 6 colors.

[Octoberfurst]

The clip of that last guy just blew my mind. So, if you question anything about the Bible that makes you demon possessed? How convenient. It's a great way to dismiss logical arguments.

[synthetic]

"Demons love to hide, so IF you don't see any demons that just means there's SO many demons there, just hiding. BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID. FEAR FEAR FEAR."

[starpenta]

I am 49. In elementary school, I remember learning there were SIX colors- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The three primary colors were red, yellow, and blue. The secondary colors were orange, green, and purple. When I got older in art class we learned about the many, many different shades, values...the different variations. Indigo was simply one of the numerous shades of blue.
The nonsense that the blonde was saying is utter BS.

[dustind]

The real tragedy is that projecting the concept of supreme evil onto the world is the fast track to becoming the worst thing you can imagine.

[Kittykatkits]

To me the two most dangerous idea in Christianity is that “if I’m being persecuted it must be because I’m doing what God wants” and “He who does not give up mother, father, son, daughter, husband, or wife, for my sake is not worthy of me.” I really think Christianity creates narcissism in people.