This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SMU chapter.
You probably think you know all about Satanism. You might think it’s a cult for weird kids who like heavy metal, practice witch craft, drink blood and make sacrifices. But what if I told you that you were wrong about all of those things, except for maybe the heavy metal part? Read on below to open your mind and your heart to a religion that is probably not as scary as you thought it was.
- Church of Satan vs. The Satanic Temple
- Remember when I mentioned all that sacrifice and witch craft stuff? Yeah, that does exist, but not always in The Satanic Temple. The Church of Satan was founded in 1966 by Anton LaVey who is a student and practitioner of Magik and an occultist. But we are not here to talk about the Church of Satan. It is important to know however that The Church of Satan is different form the Satanic Temple. There are members of The Satanic Temple that have no relation to the Church of Satan. The Satanic Temple was founded in 2012 by Malcolm Jerry and Lucien Greaves. It was founded as an American political activist group and religious organization whose mission statement is “to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will”. Bet you weren’t expecting that.
2. They don’t actually worship Satan
- Yeah that’s right. You heard it here first folks, (not really here first, check out The Satanic Temple website). There is no devil worshipping involved! In fact, members of The Satanic Temple, or TST for short, believe in science. This means that some of them are atheist and some “exercise reasonable agnosticism in all things”. They encourage critical thinking and believe in the facts. There is widespread use of the symbol of the Baphomet and Satan but these are not used as religious idols; they are simply used as icons to exemplify their activism. They use Satanic symbols to show their “opposition to arbitrary authority” and in defense of “personal sovereignty” because Satan was and is seen as the Eternal Rebel.
3. They believe that your body is yours and yours alone.
- Among the Seven Tenets, which can be considered as an outline or guideline to their belief system, one of the tenets states, “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.” In other words, you decide what to do with your body and no one should nor can tell you different. It’s important to know that TST has been known to march on the side of Pro-Choice, but they do acknowledge your right to disagree. Another tenet explains exactly this, “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 your own.” They believe in freedom of man above all else.
4. They defend and support LGBTQIA rights.
- TST was founded as an activist organization so, naturally, they take a stance on political and human rights issues. This includes LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual) rights amongst others. They are active supporters and defenders of LGBTQIA rights, as well as calling for an end to human sex trafficking and supporting abuse victims. In fact, they have vehemently opposed the ideals of the Westboro Baptist Church and “laws that unscientifically restrict women’s reproductive autonomy”. They also want equal representation for all religions. The belief is that if America is a truly free society, Christianity won’t be the predominantly accepted religion and all religions will be just as accepted and celebrated as the Christian religion is.
5. There are more chapters than you think.
- Yup. There are about 20 chapters worldwide and there is one right here in Dallas. They also have one in London, in case you were wondering. But if you wanted to join, membership is free! Don’t want to join but want a cool tee? Head to their website to check out some merch.