Conform or Be Cast Out: The (Literal) Demonization of Nonconformists

It is hard to avoid the inevitable pressure to conform to the social mores of the society you find yourself in. The pressure to fit in, to tailor your own character and beliefs to the people around you is relentless. Failure to conform can be punished, sometimes severely. In this book though, author Logan Albright undertakes an analysis of how that punishment has historically taken on a metaphysical quality: nonconformists are literally demonized. Beginning with the story of Genesis and Satan's expulsion from heaven, Albright shows how that narrative archetype reproduces itself in human communities and creates a tremendous pressure to conform.