On Having a Voice

A Political Reading of the Demon

Abstract

This essay develops the concept of the demon that Vítor Westhelle introduced in his book, The Church Event. Rather than seeing the demon as an element of superstition or a product of the past, Vítor Westhelle believed demons named the experience of “not having a voice.” In the following essay, Benjamin Taylor first develops Westhelle’s concept of demons by looking at examples of the demon in the New Testament. Then, Taylor expands the concept by looking at the political significance of demons.