The Satanic Temple

Today I was introduced to Satanism, and I learnt I've been a Satanist all my life.

And where does social justice fit into this controversial religion?

The Australian Temple of Satan seeks a ruling that the group is a religious denomination. Satanists cry foul about their human rights being breached after being refused access into state schools to teach religious instruction classes.

It was claimed the Temple’s true purpose is political, as opposed to religious.

Mr Bristow, a former Sex Party (now Reason Party) candidate also known as Brother Samael Demo-Gorgon, replied to say many religions had strong political agendas among their genesis.

The Satanists claim the Education Department’s decision was incompatible with the human right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief because it treated small religious groups differently to larger groups, and it made an error of law by adopting a numerical membership criteria.

Mr Bristow said the Temple challenged Christian authority by encouraging secular laws, practices disapproved of by many Christians including “gay and lesbian lifestyle” and taking advantage of special rights and privileges that are normally only accessed by Christian groups.

Mr Bell told Brisbane Times if Satanists could not teach religious instruction, then no religions should be allowed into state schools as the classes were a waste of valuable class time.

“They’re not teaching religious education, they’re teaching a type of indoctrination that you would expect in a Sunday school class,” he said. “While that’s happening the rest of the class have to stop and can’t learn anything substantive, so they have to do colouring in or some of them pick up paper in the yard.”

“Our preferred position is that no religion is allowed in state schools,

that families should do that either in their private time,

or at denomination-specific Sunday school."

The mission of The Satanic Temple - a religious organization in the US, Australia, UK and Canada - is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits. The Satanic Temple (Wikipedia) (The Guardian) has publicly confronted hate groups, fought for the abolition of corporal punishment in public schools, applied for equal representation when religious installations are placed on public property.

Frequently asked questions:

◦ DO YOU WORSHIP SATAN?

No, nor do we believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural. The Satanic Temple believes that religion can, and should, be divorced from superstition. As such, we do not promote a belief in a personal Satan. To embrace the name Satan is to embrace rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions. Satanists should actively work to hone critical thinking and exercise reasonable agnosticism in all things. Our beliefs must be malleable to the best current scientific understandings of the material world - never the reverse.

◦ DO YOU PROMOTE EVIL?

No. The Satanic Temple holds to the basic premise that undue suffering is bad, and that which reduces suffering is good. We do not believe in symbolic “evil.” We acknowledge blasphemy is a legitimate expression of personal independence from counter-productive traditional norms.

◦ WHAT DOES SATAN MEAN TO TST?

Satan is a symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority, forever defending personal sovereignty even in the face of insurmountable odds. Satan is an icon for the unbowed will of the unsilenced inquirer – the heretic who questions sacred laws and rejects all tyrannical impositions. Our metaphoric representation is the literary Satan best exemplified by Milton and the Romantic Satanists from Blake to Shelley to Anatole France

◦ IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL, HOW IS TST A RELIGION?

The idea that religion belongs to supernaturalists is ignorant, backward, and offensive. The metaphorical Satanic construct is no more arbitrary to us than are the deeply held beliefs that we actively advocate. Are we supposed to believe that those who pledge submission to an ethereal supernatural deity hold to their values more deeply than we? Are we supposed to concede that only the superstitious are rightful recipients of religious exemption and privilege? Satanism provides all that a religion should be without a compulsory attachment to untenable items of faith-based belief. It provides a narrative structure by which we contextualize our lives and works. It also provides a body of symbolism and religious practice - a sense of identity, culture, community, and shared values.

◦ IS TST A MEDIA STUNT/HOAX/TROLLING, ETC.?

Some have conveniently concluded, upon observing The Satanic Temple’s media coverage, that attention is the primary objective of our activities. While media outreach has helped to raise awareness of the campaigns we have initiated, these campaigns have articulated goals related issues that are important to us and our membership. So inured is the general public to the idea that there is only one monolithic voice of “the” religious agenda that any attempt at a counter-balance - or assertion of a minority voice - is often viewed as a targeted provocation against those who enjoy traditional religious privilege.

◦ WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

We believe in reason, empathy, the pursuit of knowledge and our Seven Tenets: 

1) One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason. 

2) The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions. 

3) One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone. 

4) The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one's own. 

5) Beliefs should conform to one's best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one's beliefs. 

6) People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one's best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused. 

7) Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.

◦ DO YOU ADHERE TO THE SATANIC BIBLE OR HAVE ANY BOOKS THAT YOU RECOMMEND?

The Satanic Temple does not have any sacred book or scripture and we do not adhere to The Satanic Bible. We do have a suggested reading list that provides some illumination on the philosophical origins of our beliefs: Library

◦ HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT FROM HUMANISTS?

A unifying attribute of all Satanists is our embrace of our outsider status. In addition, Satanists adhere to the principles of individual sovereignty and the rejection of tyrannical authority. These concerns are of paramount importance to us, but are not fundamental components of Humanism.