Discussing 'religion' and other things…
Greetings all! After many years of research and writing, I’m very excited to say that my first book, Free Zone Scientology: Contesting the Boundaries of a New Religion, is out in hardback format. The book, which focuses on Scientology’s ‘auditing’ process and the emergence of ‘Scientologies’ (different types of Scientology), examines notions of boundaries and... Continue Reading →
Greetings from a digital conference space... Greetings comrades. I know, I know. It's been a while. The past few months have been both extremely busy and productive. But I think now is the time to dust the cobwebs off this site and get the ball rolling once more. I have a lot of things to... Continue Reading →
As the academic community slowly adjusts to new routines and ways of working throughout the pandemic, the benefits of working at home have become immediately obvious from both financial and environmental perspectives. While the ‘job’ of a researcher can largely continue unimpeded by social distancing restrictions (in the humanities and social sciences, at least), an... Continue Reading →
Introducing Alt-Ac UK This month I wanted to shine some light on ‘alternative academia’ – more specifically Alt-Ac UK, the all-embracing faculty for rogue academics. I’m extremely pleased to be part of this alongside some of my excellent ECR comrades. As for what Alt-Ac is, the mission statement from our website says it best: “We... Continue Reading →
Scholars have spent decades advocating alternative terms for new and emergent religions - but have we become a ‘muted voice’? The ‘cult debate’ may not be as prominent as it was during the 1970s and 80s, yet it seems use of the the word ‘cult’ (for a variety of purposes) is becoming increasingly popular in... Continue Reading →
2019 has been quite the busy year! First things first, however, my blog post for this month can be found over on the Open University's Contemporary Religion in Historical Perspective Blog, in which I reflect on Louis Theroux's latest documentary with the Westboro Baptist Church the impact of Fred Phelps' death. So do go and... Continue Reading →
In late September the Freemasons’ Hall took part in ‘Open House London’, an annual event celebrating architecture and design throughout London. The Hall, which acts as the United Grand Lodge of England’s (UGLE) headquarters, is typically open to public visitors, but marked the Open House event with additional displays, tours, and exhibits. As chance would... Continue Reading →
This week saw the annual conference for the British Association for the Study of Religions, hosted at Leeds Trinity University. Dr Suzanne Owen and Prof Bettina Schmidt welcome conference delegates I have been a regular attendee/presenter at the BASR since 2014. It is always an enjoyable conference for a number of reasons: it is an... Continue Reading →
It has been 12 years since the New Atheism explosion - a renewed conversation regarding atheism, secularism, and the 'godless' - commonly associated with the 'Four Horsemen': Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens. Publications from these writers, such as Dawkins' The God Delusion and Hitchens' God is not Great, became hugely popular... Continue Reading →
Art-pop band Sparks, consisting of brothers Ron and Russell Mael, have been renowned throughout their career to not shy away from the more obscure topics and subject matters in their music. Their approach to acerbic lyrics has recently resulted in a plethora of songs that use religious imagery in a number of striking ways.
The Holy Scriptures of the Shopping Mall 