Quote:
Originally Posted by Regret$
So to be clear, when you say you are a member of the Satanic Temple, are you talking about a political organization or a religious one? When you say you are a Satanist, is that your religion or a political viewpoint?
Well first I want to state that I do not want to come across as trying to promote The Satanic Temple, I intend for the focus of this thread to be on the broader issue of Religious freedom in the U.S., and included The Satanic Temple as an example to illustrate some of the conflicts that arises over the issue of Religious freedom, and as an example of novel approaches that can be taken to combat abuses in the name of Religion.
Having said that, I would say that The Satanic Temple is a multi-faceted Religious organization, one facet being engaged in political activism. They are not a Political Action Committee (PAC), they do not endorse or do fund raisers for political candidates; they seek out legal battles where there are issues with the separation of Church and State.
The driving forces behind the foundation of The Satanic Temple is similarly multi-faceted, and this is reflected in their Grey Faction. The Grey Faction aims to highlight the scapegoating of The Satanic Panic of the 80s and 90s, and aims to combat abuses carried out by Psychologists involved in "recovered memory" therapy, which was a large source of The Satanic Panic.
The Satanic Panic is typified in all of the various day time talk shows during the 80s and 90s that were always doing episodes on Satanic cults, and their victims. It was purported that there was a huge problem of degenerate, inhumane criminality linked with Satanic cults, which included sacrificing new born babies, and things like that. It was all total bullshit, and just another example throughout history of outcasts being demonized and labeled Satanists, so persecution could "justly" be carried out against them.
I am a Satanist, meaning that I am Religious, and my Religion is Satanism. Satanism is a very individualistic Religion, and like Christianity, there are different sects of Satanism. There are some who literally believe in Satan as a deity, and literally worship Satan. The Temple of Set, for instance, and I think the Luciferians as well.
However, literal devil worshipers probably do not comprise the majority of Satanism, as a Religion. Anton LaVey had a huge impact on Satanism in the late 60s and early 70s, when he wrote
The Satanic Bible and founded The Church of Satan. I don't know if I agree, but it is commonly argued that LaVey was really the first person to sort of codify Satanism into a coherent Religious Philosophy.
In LaVeyan Satanism, much like probably most of Satanism, Satan is not seen as an actual deity that exists, but Satan is used as a symbol, because of Satan represents. It's largely an Atheistic Religion.
For me personally, Satan represents the archetypical rebel, the Anarchist. For me, Satan represents defiance against arbitrary authority and writ law, and the will of the self-empowered individual being borne out, with justice for the demonized scapegoat being the ultimate goal.
This Religious perspective helps inform my moral compass, and perspective on not only myself, and my place in the world, but the wider world around me, and those around me. As such, it helps inform my political perspective.
The Satanic Temple as an organization is made up of many different Satanists, from all areas of Satanic thought and belief, which includes actual devil worshipers. Simple Atheists are members as well, who might happen to support The Satanic Temple's legal pursuits. The membership is varied, but as far as the founders of The Satanic Temple, and the sources they draw on, they do draw from Anton LaVey in quite a few ways, but LaVeyan Satanism has some very hideous elements of Social Darwinism, and they espouse the virtues of Ritual Magick, which most in The Satanic Temple probably reject. The founders certainly do.
They also draw on the literary character of Satan, such as
Paradise Lost, by Milton, or
Revolt of The Angels, by Anatole France, where a mischievous Guardian Angel steals the Theological books of an Archbishop, reads through them and thus becomes a fallen Angel, who then sets about trying to organize a revolt against God to reclaim Heaven with other fallen Angels.
Different members also draw from the Christian Bible. For example, one of my favorite stories is the story of Adam and Eve. The Christian perspective on this is that Satan enticed Adam and Eve to defy God's Command to not eat of The Tree of Knowledge, and thus Original Sin was born. My perspective is that God's Command was entirely arbitrary, and God wanted to keep mankind disempowered, and enslaved. Satan justly encouraged Adam and Eve to empower themselves through knowledge, and thus achieved equal status with God, and achieved autonomy.
So like I said, Satanism as a whole is very individualistic, and it is also quite subjective. Different Satanists have different interpretations, perspectives, and beliefs, but I think this is true of probably all Religions.
Last edited by AllCowsEatGrass; 03-12-2017 at 07:04 PM.