I wish Pagans were the threat Lucas Miles thinks we are.
I wish we had the power, the influence, and the organizational competency he says we have in his new book Pagan Threat: Confronting America’s Godless Uprising.
I wish he had at least written an honest Christian critique of modern Pagan religion. Others have done that. Instead, Lucas Miles has written a book that tries to make Pagans the scapegoats for the failings of his own religion.
And that makes Pagan Threat a threat to Pagans, and to anyone else who doesn’t want to live in a society dominated by his version of puritanical fundamentalist Christianity.
The author likes to attack progressive Christians
According to Google, Lucas Miles is “a pastor, film producer, and media personality. Lucas leverages his combined experience from working in the church and in Hollywood in order to lead, entertain, and influence masses with the gospel. He’s been featured on TBN, The Blaze, 100 Huntley Street, Relevant Magazine, and Bible Gateway.”
His previous books include The Christian Left: How Liberal Thought Has Hijacked the Church and Woke Jesus: The False Messiah Destroying Christianity.
Having spilled plenty of ink attacking his fellow Christians, now he’s decided to come after Pagans. Except close to half of Pagan Threat doesn’t even deal with Paganism. Instead, it’s a hundred pages of recycled Calvinism and an expository sermon on the Apostle’s Creed.
Those of us who grew up in Evangelical churches are familiar with preachers who preach the same sermon over and over again with only superficial changes. I have not read The Christian Left or Woke Jesus – and I do not intend to – but I expect that if I did, I would find the same core arguments I found in Pagan Threat.
Scapegoating Paganism rather than engaging with it honestly
Miles’ definition of Paganism is better than those who use it as a synonym for “irreligious.” It’s still not good. He says:
Once considered obsolete, “Paganism” is a blanket term used to describe those who have abandoned mainstream forms of religion for esoteric practices, often rooted in polytheism, ancient rituals, worship of nature, spellcasting, sexual acts, and altered states of consciousness (with or without psychedelic substances).
Notice that he grounds his definition in abandoning mainstream forms of religion – as though mainstream approval means something is metaphysically and theological correct. Miles never addresses the case for polytheism, the divinity of nature, or the efficacy of magic. He simply assumes that since these things are different from his religion, they’re inherently wrong.
I’ll give him credit for making Paganism sound like a lot of fun.
He includes descriptions of the more popular versions of Paganism such as Wicca, Druidry, Heathenry, and witchcraft, but they’re so short and so vague as to be meaningless. Wikipedia does far better. And contrary to his subtitle, polytheists are anything but Godless.
Pagan Threat doesn’t engage honestly with Paganism. Rather, it uses Paganism as a boogeyman to scare Christians into running back to fundamentalism.
Bad history and laughable conspiracy theories
I don’t know where to start with this:
While Christianity spreads organically through the genuine faith experiences of individuals, the resurgence of Paganism is anything but spontaneous. It is meticulously crafted and embedded from high above.
Has Miles never heard of Constantine? Does he know nothing of missionaries converting kings who would then force their subjects to convert? Does he know nothing of the conversion of Britain from their native religions? Of the colonization of India, Africa, and the Americas?
It’s obvious he knows nothing of the origins of the modern Pagan movement. I wouldn’t call it spontaneous, but it’s definitely organic. Monotheism is unnatural, and without constant reinforcement people begin to recognize many different Gods and Goddesses. They see the divine in nature. They remember magic. As Christianity has lost its power to compel people to follow it, many are returning to more organic beliefs and practices.
Though unfortunately – at least from my perspective – most of them are becoming spiritual but not religious rather than becoming practicing Pagans.
And the idea that Paganism is “meticulously crafted and embedded from high above” is laughable. Has Miles ever talked to a real Pagan? Or two? We can’t even agree on what to call the Fall Equinox. Does he know that the growth in Paganism over the last 50 years has largely been among solitary practitioners? Modern Paganism is one of the most – if not the most – decentralized religious movements in the history of humanity.
Miles’ real enemies: “Marxism” and “Wokeism”
For all that Miles rants about Paganism, an informal word count reveals his real enemies: “Marxism” and “Wokeism.”
Except it’s obvious he gets his definitions from Fox News (or worse – see below about the publisher of his books). He demonstrates no knowledge of actual Marxism, and his definition of Wokeism seems to be “anything that isn’t as deliberately cruel as Donald Trump.” And he tries to tie all this to Paganism with little evidence or reasoning.
The various forms of Paganism resurrecting in America’s religious landscape today are simply ritualistic fringes of a much broader and more complex religious parent cult which has been lurking in the shadows of modern Woke culture, quietly guiding the social justice activists, gender warriors, and globalist elites for over a century.
Again, where to start with all the wrong.
Yes, most Pagans are politically liberal. I’m one of them. But my politics flows from my religion, not the other way around. I wish more Christians would ground their politics in the teachings of Jesus instead of building a religion around their ultraconservative politics.
Further, not all Pagans are liberal. Some are conservative (in an “I believe small government is best” way) and some are as racist and fascist as the worst Trump supporter. I don’t like having racists and fascists in the Pagan movement, but I can’t deny they’re there.
Note to conservative Pagans: people like Lucas Miles are not your allies. You’re farther down their enemies list than liberal Pagans, but you aren’t Christian so you are on their list.
Further, social justice activists and gender warriors (to the extent it’s fair to call people who simply want freedom and equality “gender warriors”) are on opposite sides of most issues from “globalist elites.”
The term “woke” has become so abused it’s approaching meaninglessness. The word arose in 20th century African-American culture as a warning to stay awake and pay attention in the era of Jim Crow. Its current political usage began in the 2010s. The political ideas Miles rants against have hardly been going on “for over a century.”
Meanwhile, the modern Pagan movement has roots in the Renaissance and has been going strong since the late 1800s.
But dumping political movements he doesn’t like into the religious category of “Pagan” allows Miles to conflate and demonize both.
Can’t have fundamentalism without misogyny
It seems to be impossible for conservative Christians to criticize modern Paganism without descending into misogyny.
In a chapter titled “Lilith and Lucifer” Miles rants against feminism and those who oppose strict gender roles and gender hierarchy. He literally demonizes LBGTQ people, especially trans people. He criticizes Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and OnlyFans, as though they’re all the same.
The modern Pagan movement and the drive for gender equality have gone hand in hand. Margaret Murray was historically wrong when she claimed that the people killed during the Witch Trials were practicing an ancient Goddess religion. But mythically, she had the right idea at the right time.
When a religion tells half the people they’re inferior – or at least, required to live in a narrowly defined and culturally subordinate gender role – it should come as no surprise that many of them will reject that religion and look for a different religion that affirms their equality and freedom. And so do men who recognize that patriarchy does us no favors.
Miles says “empowerment ends in enslavement.” He might as well have said “freedom is slavery.”
A publisher of propaganda and misinformation
Pagan Threat is published by Humanix Books. A survey of their website turns up numerous volumes on alternative medicine (Vitamin Cure: Clinically Proven Remedies to Prevent and Treat 75 Chronic Diseases and Conditions), conservative politics (The Greatest Speeches of President Donald J. Trump), and flat-out misinformation (Dark Winter: How The Sun Is Causing A 30-Year Cold Spell).
Humanix Books is a subsidiary of Newsmax, the cable news organization that thinks Fox News is too liberal, and that was required to pay tens of million dollars in damages for publishing lies about the 2020 Presidential election.
“With a foreword by Charlie Kirk”
When I decided I needed to read Pagan Threat to give it an honest review, I tried to order it. While I use Kindle for fiction, I prefer physical books for non-fiction, including things like this that I will almost certainly never read again. But while the e-book is available now, Amazon told me the hardcover “ships within 4 to 5 weeks.” Other online outlets are showing release dates in late October.
This is not normal for publishing. Book releases are planned months in advance to hit book stores and online retailers in time for the launch. E-books are typically released at the same time, not weeks before.
The planned release date is not surprising. Late October is when the mainstream media remembers that witches and Pagans exist and when conservative Christians roll out the “Satanic Panic” “ex-witches” and “Halloween is a doorway to the devil” hit pieces.
Only this particular hit piece has a foreword by Charlie Kirk. Who was killed on September 10. Printing and distribution of physical books can’t be accelerated by 4 to 5 weeks to take advantage of all the free publicity.
But e-books can.
Perhaps there was no big marketing plan for Pagan Threat – it’s not the kind of book you see stacked up on a front table at Barnes & Noble. But it doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to see the early e-book release as an attempt to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.
Those looking for a significant contribution by Kirk will be disappointed. It’s short even by foreword standards, and it presents no new arguments or lines of thinking relative to Paganism in our contemporary world.
A word to Lucas Miles and his supporters
It’s unlikely Lucas Miles will ever see this review. But people who think like Lucas Miles and who support his brand of Christianity will see it. And I want to speak directly to them.
Stop trying to blame others for your own failures.
The decline of Christianity is not the fault of Pagans, or atheists, or liberal Christians. Most people are simply not interested in fundamentalist religion. It does not help them deal with the ordinary challenges of life. It claims metaphysical certainty about things that are inherently uncertain. It tells them their salvation depends on believing things they can’t honestly believe. It attempts to force their lives into little boxes where they don’t fit.
In the past, Christianity had the cultural power – and sometimes, the legal power – to demand that people obey it. That power is long gone and it’s not coming back. Today we live in a marketplace of religions – and a marketplace of cultures. People are free to believe, practice, and live in the ways that seem best to them.
Religions that cannot make people’s lives better and that cannot substantiate their truth claims deserve to wither and die. And they are.
Stop pretending Pagans are a threat to your religion. I wish we were, but we aren’t.
Clean up your own house and stop slandering others.
Pagans will not be defined by our enemies
I read this book so you don’t have to. That said, if you really want to read it, go ahead. There’s nothing in it that will challenge Pagans or others who are grounded in their own religion – or in their own politics. There is value in honest debate, but this isn’t that.
But be aware that some people will see Pagan Threat and either not read the book and learn how bad it is, or will read it and agree with it because it tells them what they want to hear. These people will internalize “Pagan Threat = Pagans are threatening me.” That it’s not true is irrelevant. That’s how propaganda works.
In this political and social environment, it would be malpractice for me to say “just don’t worry about it.” The threat of this book and its fans to any of us is small, but it’s not zero.
What I will say is “don’t let this change you.” And that includes “don’t let this change who you are in public.” This is a time to be cautious, not a time to be fearful. This is a time to tell the world who we are, not who we aren’t.
We will not be defined by people who can’t even bother to learn who we are, what we believe, what we do, and why we do it. We will not be defined by people who use a caricature of our religion to make excuses for their own failures.
If Paganism is a threat to fundamentalists, it’s because we have a path, a tradition, and a practice that’s meaningful and helpful to an increasing number of people, and they don’t.
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