A new (Oct. 2) article at Space.com reports that theologians speaking at the DARPA-sponsored 100-Year-Starship Symposium have raised questions about the possible impacts on religion, and especially on Christianity, if the existence of extraterrestrial life is ever confirmed. The symposium itself was a public event held this past weekend (Sept. 30-Oct. 2) in Orlando, Florida,…
Category: Religion & Philosophy
Free ebook: A Course in Demonic Creativity
My ebook about daimonic creativity for writers is now available for free download. A Course in Demonic Creativity: A Writer’s Guide to the Inner Genius clocks in at 40,000 words and 174 pages, and is optimized for reading on a Kindle, Nook, iPad, or other ereader. Or you can of course read it on your…
The Devil Went Down to Texas: A supposed surge in “diabolical cults” and demonic possession in the Lone Star State (and across America)
I still feel like a new Texan even though next month will mark three years since I moved here from my home state of Missouri. But given my personal and authorial focus on religion and horror, maybe I’ll begin to feel more fully at home now that serious talk of demonic possession and official Roman…
Podcast of my interview about religion and horror on SPIRITUALLY RAW
My interview on the “Raw Factor” segment of this morning’s Spiritually Raw radio broadcast felt like it went well. Hosts Ajay and April proved to be excellent conversationalists as they talked with me about my central focus as an author (and human being) on the convergence of religious experience with horror fiction and film, and…
What’s so horrific about religion (and religious about horror)?
In an interesting development, I’ve been selected as a potential “spot light guest” on SPIRITUALLY RAW, a (very) fringe-oriented occult/spiritual/conspiracy/New Age radio show with a 60,000+ daily listener base. I’ll be conducting a “pre-interview screening” live on air during a segment called “The Raw Factor” on July 5. Listener votes will determine whether I’m blessed…
Religion and the origins of civilization: The conversation continues
In a recent article here — “Rewriting the history of religion, civilization, and the human mind” — I talked about the article/essay in the June issue of National Geographic that details the discovery of Göbekli Tepe, a temple complex in southern Turkey that promises to overturn commonly accepted notions about the role of religion and…
Rewriting the history of religion, civilization, and the human mind
As reported by National Geographic, an unearthed temple complex in southern Turkey is threatening to overturn our long-held assumptions about the relationship between religion, the human mind, and civilization. Interestingly, this shares a thematic parallel with what’s going on in today’s neuroscientific quest for the basis of the human mind.
Reviews of my stories in ‘Cthulhu’s Reign’ and ‘Dark Faith’
Here’s some new Internet chatter about my recently published stories. ABOUT “THE NEW PAULINE CORPUS” IN CTHULHU’S REIGN [The anthology’s premise] leaves the contributors with a fairly broad territory to explore, which they do to greater or lesser effect, and sometimes with stunning originality. . . . Matt Cardin’s “The New Pauline Corpus” plays with…
Lovecraft, Christian Horror, and Weird Fiction
Christian pastor and writer Mike Duran recently published a fascinating and provocative blog post titled “On ‘Christian Horror’ and Atheist Dread” in which he argues that Christian horror — which, by implication, he views as a valid form of fiction — is categorically distinct from what he calls “atheist horror.” He offers Lovecraft’s work as…
This I Believe: An uber-agnostic on religion, psychology, consciousness, the paranormal, and the meaning of life
It has come to my attention that although I write all the time about religion, philosophy, spirituality, psychology, consciousness, culture, the paranormal, and other idea-based subjects, my own position on any or all of them generally comes off as obscure. ITEM: My friend Kim Paffenroth, the religion scholar and zombie horror author, has characterized me…