Carl Raschke

Carl A. Raschke (born 1944) is an American philosopher and theologian. Raschke is a Past Chair and Professor of Religious Studies Department at the University of Denver, specializing in continental philosophy, the philosophy of religion and the theory of religion. He was given the university lecturer award for 2020-2021. He is also listed with the affiliated faculty of the Global Center for Advanced Studies.

Raschke is known in part for his research in philosophy of religion, postmodern theology, popular religion, philosophy of culture and philosophy of technology. He received his B.A. from Pomona College, his M.A. from The Graduate Theological Union, and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Raschke is senior editor for ''The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory'' and senior consulting editor for ''The New Polis''. He is a regular contributor to ''Political Theology Today''. A major focus of Raschke's work has been postmodernism. In recent years he has written on the theory of religion and political theology. Alan J. Richard in ''The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Theology'' writes: "Carl Raschke, who might be credited for being the first to introduce deconstructive theory to the study of religion, is a unique theologian who has written on many topics, including economics, world religions, and higher education."

During the late 1980s and 1990s, Raschke published works on (and made media appearances regarding) Satanism, the occult, heavy metal music, and subjects such as ''Dungeons & Dragons''. In addition, Raschke was an expert witness on some cases involving Satanism, regularly made comments and appearances for the media on related topics, and advised the American Family Foundation; Raschke's comments and work during this period, particularly his 1990 book ''Painted Black'', have been overwhelmingly condemned by scholars as inaccurate and repeatedly cited as having assisted in fueling the Satanic ritual abuse moral panic during the period, and Raschke's status as an "expert" on these topics has been criticized. Provided by Wikipedia