K. Scott Culpepper

I wrote this article as a second installment in the series I started last fall on recovering from religious trauma. You can also find the first article on FOV and linked on all my pages. I hope the lessons I've learned along the way and sharing from my own experiences helps some of you too.

Recovering from religious trauma: Extinguishing the gas lights Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play Gas Light tells the story of a young woman named Bella Manningham whose husband Jack exhibits suspicious behavior. He engages in improper flirtation with the servants and goes out for long periods with no explanation for his absence. Bella notices that the gas lights i...

I enjoyed a great conversation with my friends Sarah Jack and Josh Hutchinson about Halloween history and traditions on the "Thou Shalt Not Suffer" podcast. Check it out and all their other great episodes too!
https://thoushaltnotsuffer.com/2023/10/12/halloween-history-and-traditions-with-scott-culpepper/

Here is my latest for Faith on View. It's a more personal and emotionally raw piece than I'm typically comfortable sharing. I've been trying to work on being more open about sharing on a deeper level. Too many good positive things go unsaid for far too long because we often just assume people know how much we appreciate them even when we don't express it. And struggles left untold rob others of the encouragement and benefit they can receive from knowing that they don't walk alone. So here is a little piece of my personal story with some observations about overcoming religious trauma. I hope and pray it will be an encouragement to some of you as you seek hope and peace in the midst of your struggles.

Recovering from religious trauma: Healing begins with believing The number of people sharing stories of religious trauma has increased significantly in recent years. Religious cultures in the United States all too often create broken institutions led by broken people, who do everything imaginable to break the very people who came to them looking for Christian co...

“The work of good government is restoration, with particular attention to the lost, the injured, and the weak.” Walter Brueggemann, Ancient Echoes, 6

I've written several things over the years, but my chapter in this collection is the first one to land at Barnes and Noble, my favorite writing and relaxing home away from home. Hoping this one is the first of many. I could get used to helping them fill the shelves. ☺

Great thoughts on how writers create treasure from trauma from the master himself.

"Because writers remember everything, Paul. Especially the hurts. Strip a writer to the buff, point to the scars, and he'll tell you the story of each small one. From the big ones you get novels, not amnesia. A little talent is a nice thing to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is that ability to remember the story of every scar. Art consists of the persistence of memory." Stephen King, Misery, 266

"Patriotism, unlike its ugly half brother, nationalism, is rooted in optimism and confidence; nationalism is a sour inferiority complex, a sullen attachment to blood-and-soil fantasies that is always looking abroad with insecurity and even hatred." Tom Nichols

Reclaiming Real American Patriotism This Fourth of July, let’s rescue our love of country from those who have hijacked it.

I got to enjoy working and learning with Victoria Machado, Claudia Yaghoobi, and Bailey Flannery at the National Humanities Center Podcast Institute this week to produce the episode below. Such a talented, knowledgeable, and warm group! Literally the best collaborative experience of my career. Hope you enjoy the episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

Which Witch? - Academic Witchcraft The first episode Which Witch? explores the history behind ‘witch hunts’ and how this trending word has spread in recent months.

Exciting news!

Centuries after they were convicted, Connecticut formally pardons men and women charged with witchcraft | CNN Hundreds of years after a group of men and women were tried and convicted of witchcraft, Connecticut lawmakers have formally exonerated them for their “crimes.”

This article on debut author and therapist Julia Bartz tells the story of how Bartz overcame her fear of public speaking by reflecting on the experiences of her grandmother behind the Iron Curtain. A timely reminder for us in the United States today. Don't let anyone take away the gift of your voice. The article is worth checking out and so is Julia's thriller novel "The Writing Retreat."

"Bartz also found courage in the experience of her maternal grandmother, Marianne Denes, a Holocaust survivor from Budapest who now lives in Kalamazoo, Mich. In a memoir Denes wrote for her family, she described what it was like to live in a country that was controlled by the Hungarian Communist Party under Stalin. “We walked around in a mask for years, never saying what we really thought,” she wrote. “I am convinced that the hardest thing to endure had been the pressure caused by losing the right to say what one thought and repressing the ‘illegal’ thought one might have had.”

Julia Bartz Wrote a Thriller. Then She Found Her Voice. The author of “The Writing Retreat” dreaded talking at book events, so she turned to a professional — and to her grandmother.

Excellent article on contemporary Satanic Panics by University of Leeds graduate student and scholar Bethan Juliet Oake. " . . . ultimately, understanding the ways that “satanic panic” can piggyback off of and weaponise popular political and social issues is crucial in recognising and removing their harmful effects." Bethan Juliet Oake.

Satanism, ritual cults and Hollywood: debunking 'satanic panic' conspiracy theories Satanic rituals and Hollywood elites: the myths behind satanism conspiracy theories.

"QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross" was released this week! I'm honored to be included in this collection of excellent chapters authored by brilliant public scholars. If we care about the health of democracy and religion in America, we can't afford to ignore the problems posed by misinformation and conspiracy theories. Pick up a copy at all the usual outlets and pass the word.

Whatever your views of monarchy, tomorrow's coronation spectacle is maybe a once or twice in a lifetime opportunity to see British culture, history, and tradition on full display. Take some time to check it out.

"Experience witnesseth that ecclesiastical establishments, instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of Religion, have had a contrary operation. During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution." James Madison, "Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments," 1785.

"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact.
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold:
That is the madman.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, Scene I, William Shakespeare

Here's the link to my presentation on Anne Hutchinson at the Lewis and Clark Betty Strong Encounter Center last week.

Scott Culpepper with "Trials of Anne Hutchinson" 2-26-2023 Dr. Scott Culpepper will present “The Trials of Anne Hutchinson” on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2:00 PM at the Betty Strong Encounter Center. Admission is free, with ...

I appreciate Alesia Scat's excellent and thorough coverage of our Plain Conversations discussion on Christian nationalism for the Northwest Iowa Review.

Historian says Christian nationalism threatens democracy SIOUX COUNTY—According to historian Scott Culpepper, one of the greatest threats to American democracy is not an enemy outside the United States, but a movement gaining momentum within.

Almost there!

Proposed Resolution Seeks to Atone for Connecticut Witch Trials Seeking atonement for those convicted of witchcraft in Connecticut after more than 370 years. A proposed resolution in the state legislature aiming to have the state apologize for the prosecution of witchcraft during colonial times. Decades before the Salem Witch Trials, Connecticut reckoned with tr...

This panel discussion hosted by Brookings Institute and the Public Religion Research Institute breaks down the data from the survey I shared yesterday and includes some deep reflections on what it means for both the church and democracy in America.

Understanding the threat of white Christian nationalism to American democracy today Governance Studies at Brookings and the Public Religion Research Institute will host the release of this new groundbreaking national survey. A panel of exper...

The Public Religion Research Institute has released their updated survey on Christian Nationalism and it's worth your time. The survey gives a sober and comprehensive view of the scale of the problem and where we are seeing it manifest the most.

A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture - PRRI The rising influence of Christian nationalism in some segments of American politics poses a major threat to the health of our democracy. Increasingly, the major battle lines of the culture war are being drawn between a right animated by a Christian nationalist worldview and Americans who embrace the...

Exciting news!

Accused witches may finally get exonerated after nearly 4 centuries Amateur historians, researchers and descendants of the accused witches and their accusers are urging Connecticut officials to officially acknowledge this dark period of the state’s colonial history.

This quote and the visual image it produced caused me to almost choke on my drink and disturb an otherwise peaceful Barnes and Noble by laughing out loud.

"In retrospect, what stands out most in the backmasking controversy is the marvelous image of all these preachers screwing around with turntables." Erik Davis