How America Turns Political Opponents Into Demons | Michael E. Heyes

What happens when your political opponent becomes more than wrong and starts to look like an agent of evil?

Religion scholar Michael E. Heyes joins Faithful Politics to trace America's long history of mixing demons with politics. From spiritualists, abolition and Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War era to Billy Graham, the Satanic Panic, modern spiritual warfare, C. Peter Wagner and the New Apostolic Reformation, Heyes shows how demonic language has repeatedly been used to explain political conflict and social change.

We also explore why conspiracy theories thrive when complicated problems are reduced to cosmic battles, how suffering can make people more susceptible to othering, and what happens when Christians begin seeing themselves as soldiers fighting human opponents on God's behalf.

The conversation ultimately raises a larger question: How do we recognize genuine evil without turning our neighbors, political opponents and fellow citizens into monsters?

BOOK

Book: Devils of Democracy: America's Love Affair with Political Demons from the Revolution to Today
https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798341900936

The book was published September 15, 2026, by Broadleaf Books.

GUEST BIO

Michael E. Heyes is associate professor of religion and chair of the Department of Religion at Lycoming College. His research focuses on Christianity, demonology, monsters, religion and culture, including the ways ideas about demons have shaped American religious and political life. He is the author of Demons in the USA, Margaret's Monsters, and Devils of Democracy: America's Love Affair with Political Demons from the Revolution to Today. He earned his PhD in religious studies from Rice University.