Book review: Pagan Threat: Confronting America's Godless Uprising.
This is the first in a series reviewing Pagan Threat. The article accompanies my YouTube series on the book, and I even created an interactive Bingo card that viewers can play while watching along.
More details about Pagan Threat: Interactive Bingo can be found here.
About The Author
The author does not write much about himself on the inside flap of the book. Lucas Miles describes himself as:
“…a trusted voice in the American church,” after which he goes on to list the numerous books he has written. Listing his qualifications as:
“An ordained minister since 2004, lead pastor of Nfluence Church in Granger, Indiana, president of Nfluence Network, and newly named Senior Director of Turning Point USA Faith, serving under Charlie Kirk.”
That's it.
TL;DR Opinion
Pagan Threat is built on assumptions, fallacious arguments, and a profound misunderstanding of individual autonomy. The very first page sums up it's contents:
To the faithful - those who refuse to bow down to Baal.
The author creates a non-problem and exaggerates it into a cultural threat he can use to spread fear.
Modern-day Pagans are not worshipping the term “baal,” a word from ancient Semitic languages meaning “lord,” “master,” or “owner.” There may be reconstructionist Pagans who focus on Semitic or Canaanite traditions, and even then I doubt they would worship a title. And they certainly are not asking anyone - let alone Christians - “to bow down to Baal.”
In fact most Pagans are adamantly opposed to converting anyone. We've been on the other-side of conversion so many times, that we would not wish that on anyone. If someone studies Paganism and then turns to Christianity, as long as it makes them happy - they go with our blessing. If someone is a Christian and becomes curious about Paganism we are happy to engage, but their desire to leave any faith is entirely up to them.
This is just the tip of this proverbial iceberg.
In using the term “pagan,” the author appears to mean virtually any religion that is not Christianity. While primarily focusing on modern Pagans, witches, and occultists, he paints all of us with an incredibly narrow brush. Nuance does not seem to exist in his vocabulary. Instead, he repeatedly relies on words like “woke,” “social injustice,” “inclusivity,” and “Marxism,” forcing associations between those ideas and Paganism wherever possible.
Paganism Is Not a Monolith
Throughout this book the author preys on all of middle America's baseless fears by tossing around "woke" terms like "social justice" and "inclusivity". To most people 'social justice' and 'inclusivity' simply mean what they have always meant:
- Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal rights, opportunities, and treatment, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or socioeconomic status.
- Inclusivity is the practice of ensuring all individuals—regardless of their background, identity, ability, or beliefs—feel welcomed, valued, and respected, with equal access to opportunities and resources.
These buzzwords conjure up something entirely different in the imagination of many conservatives today, mostly because how they are discussed on social media, where they are treated with disdain and used as pejoratives. We can interchange the terms but the sentiment is still there, many Pagans believe in Freedom of Expression; to be your true self and we favor inclusivity over exclusivity.
The author even goes so far as to invent phrases like “technocratic scientists” and my personal favorite, “theosophical elites.” - I am not sure what a 'theosophical elite' is, but I am sure Alex Jones thought of it first while hopped up on Brain Force.
Even the term itself 'Pagan Threat' is hyperbolic, causing Christians who may never have met a Pagan - or know much about Paganism - to become fearful, cautious, or mistrustful.
- Modern-day Pagans, or contemporary Pagans, are individuals who practice new, decentralized religious or spiritual movements inspired by pre-Christian, nature-based traditions.
Pagans are not a 'threat' to Christians or the Church. Many Pagans are known for having an independent, non-dogmatic, and individualistic approach to not only their own beliefs but to those with other beliefs as well.
Having a very strong 'live and let live' philosophy, not wanting to convert anyone.
Pluralism Is Not Marxism
Differences aren't automatically in opposition. This is what makes America such a great country, the people who come to this country from all over the world brought with them; their culture, their language, their beliefs and their customs - and we the people are all united under that Bill of Rights that our ancestors lived and died for, so that we might "...create a better union..."
"The First Amendment religious clauses, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, prohibit the government from establishing an official religion (Establishment Clause) and from interfering with the free exercise of religion (Free Exercise Clause).
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
Together, these clauses ensure that the government does not interfere with, or unduly promote, religious beliefs"
- constitution.congress.gov
We have Pagans, Heathens, and Witches serving in our military right now, defending the very rights they believe in while serving the country they love.
I won't deny it. There are some who believe that capitalism is failing and they see the economic disparity around them and they are seeking other systems to alleviate this inequality. While others do not want to throw out the baby with the bathwater and prefer to widen avenues for economic stability.
Many Pagans want to be parents that can afford a new home to raise a family - something that I think Christians like Lucas Miles would agree with.
Rather than ignore those who are socially aware and championing inclusivity - why not find common ground and work together to create that better future that many of us so desperately want?
Creating a perceived 'threat' only serves to widen this gap and further divide our Nation.
As if throwing out buzzwords like 'woke' or 'Marxists' or making up new ones like 'theosophical elitism' was not enough to make his readers distrust these mysterious 'pagans'. Lucas Miles goes on to construct a 'pagan boogey-man' that would cause even the most inclusive Christian to take pause:
"As we will see, the various forms of Paganism resurrecting in America's religious landscape today are simply ritualistic fingers of a much broader and more complex religous 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."
- pg.6 Pagan Threat
Yes, that's an actual paragraph from his book. "...ritualistic fingers..." why not just say "...slimy tentacles..."? As a Pagan I wish I was guiding these "global elites". I'd have them mandate re-forestation and outlaw Mondays!
On a previous page he refers to paganism as a "...spiritual adversary..." and we all know who the ultimate adversary is...
That's right, SATAN!
So, he conveys this to his readers based on his opinion that Pagans are just minions of Satan running around creating "gender warriors" - I don't know what those are but they sure do sound official.
I would like Lucas Miles to meet us halfway - to sit down and genuinely learn more about us, to see that we have beliefs, philosophies, morals, and a desire to improve the lives of others regardless of religion, creed, sex, race, gender identity, or sexual orientation, even if we disagree on some of those principles.
It becomes a little difficult to meet someone halfway when their starting position is: “You are a minion of Satan.”
I mean, where do you go from there?
Pagan Threat ultimately says more about modern Christian anxieties than it does about actual Pagans. Rather than engaging with contemporary Paganism as it exists, the book constructs a caricature designed to provoke fear, suspicion, and division.Spreading Fear and Mistrust
In summary
