Pop Culture Metaphysics

Over the years it seems that once in awhile we get something a little unique in our somewhat secular culture: the accusation that pop culture has secret, underlying metaphysical principles that exist to drive god fearing people away from Christianity. The Satanic Panic is archetypal of this fear but its remained extant into the modern day.

In future blog posts I am going take a look at a few of the sporadic claims attacking mostly things I personally like such as Pokemon, Dungeons and Dragons and video games writ large but I am curious to see if there are metaphysical threads that emerge between all of them. I find this question interesting because as society secularizes, we aren’t necessarily hard atheists but rather a sort of vague irreligious but spiritual category. One that is defined by capitalism, globalism, democratized access to information and content creation. I’ve been reading a few books on the subject and I have become profoundly interested in it.

For now I leave you with Seth Andrew’s fantastic talk on the original Satanic panic. Seth has such a wonderful radio-style of communication that makes him a joy to listen to. While most of his talk focuses on the 80s and early 90s its as relevant as ever.