This article was originally published in 2015 and written from a strict LaVeyan Satanic position.

My views on The Satanic Temple have significantly changed since then and I will be providing clarification on my stance in an upcoming essay .

In the meantime, I have re-posted the essay for purposes of intellectual honesty.

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A new organisation of “politically aware Satanists, secularists, and advocates for individual liberty” has been ruffling the feathers of America’s Conservative Christians. Their wave of audacious campaigns and legal challenges promoted in the “Devil’s Name” has left Christian leaders in a panic and certain Right-wing pundits foaming at the mouth. The organisation is known as “The Satanic Temple” and their charismatic young leader operates under the pseudonym, Lucien Greaves.

The Satanic Temple is ultimately inspired by “The Church of Satan” founded in 1966 by the late Anton Szandor LaVey (1930-1997). LaVey believed that the Western World was dominated by Christianity- a doctrine which states that Mankind is separate from the Natural World and at the behest of a supernatural power. Looking at the rebel character of Satan, he saw the building blocks of a new philosophy. Within his seminal work, “The Satanic Bible” (1969), LaVey presented his Satanic “Weltanschauung“. It was to become a religion based on individualism, egoism, self-deification, secularism and epicureanism. He called this new philosophy “Satanism“, pointing to the word’s original meaning- from the Hebrew: שָּׂטָן , Satan meaning “adversary” or “He who opposes“.

A religion based on individualism, egoism, self-deification, secularism and epicureanism.

Adherents of Satanism embrace the scientific method and shun supernatural and superstitious thought. LaVey regarded Satan as a powerful literary figure representing scepticism, rationality, carnality and free will. Throughout history, various philosophical writers, artists and free-thinkers have utilised the image of Satan as a symbol of rebellion in the face of theocratic-fascism. LaVey was the first to create a codified atheistic religion based on the allegory of the Satanic myth.

“Satan is not a conscious entity to be worshipped, rather a reservoir of power inside each human to be tapped at will. Thus any concept of sacrifice is rejected as a Christian aberration—in Satanism there’s no deity to which one can sacrifice.”

“Satanism: The Feared Religion”, Peter H Gilmore, The Church of Satan

To the Satanist, blasphemy is a tool which can be used to achieve cathartic relinquishment from theism, specifically “Christian guilt”. The symbols, hierarchy and rituals of the “Church of Satan” are steeped in an aesthetic which is deliberately antithetical to Christianity; the ceremonies creating a “psycho-dramatic” atmosphere with aim to influence self-transformation and “purge oneself of unwanted emotional baggage” (ChurchofSatan.com, F.A.Q. Ritual and Ceremony)

LaVey was the first to create a codified atheistic religion based on the allegory of the Satanic myth.

The Satanic Temple regard LaVey’s theory of Satanism as one of the major influences of their movement. Greaves has stated that the Temple’s tenets are founded on the LaVeyan school of thought. However, whereas the Church of Satan have mostly focused on staying away from American politics, The Satanic Temple have made the political arena their primary battleground.

By espousing their own codified and atheistic form of Satanism, they are using their religious status to promote pluralism and directly challenge the dominant influence of Christianity within American society. The Christian Right are concerned to say the least, regarding the existence of the group and their campaigns as an open attack on America’s “Christian Values”.

By espousing their own codified and atheistic form of Satanism, they are using their religious status to promote pluralism and directly challenge the dominant influence of Christianity within American society.

After Oklahoma State Representative, Mike Ritze campaigned for and placed a “Ten Commandments” monument outside the Oklahoma State Capitol building in 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued for its removal. Ritze argued that as the monument was not paid for by the public, he can place it on government property as a donation. The ACLU argue that there is no place for such an icon on public ground and state that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s provisions against government establishment of religion- i.e. “Separation of Church and State”.

The Satanic Temple state they have the perfect solution. They propose that Oklahoma can keep its Christian statue and that the ACLU can safely drop the lawsuit. The catch? That Oklahoma City agree to accept the Temple’s donation of a statue of Baphomet which they will construct and place beside the existing monument. Pluralism in action!

“They specifically made statements that this location was to be a “monument park”. They didn’t put it in exactly those words, but that was the legal rhetoric that they instituted to justify it and pretend there was Constitutional standing for it. And that was just a breach of the (First Amendment’s) establishment clause. They set the perfect groundwork for us”

Lucien Greaves, The Satanic Temple.

The Christians were outraged and The Satanic Temple started to gain media attention. During an episode of the Fox Business News “Mensa Meeting”, Fox commentator Bernard McGuirk claimed that the Satanists represented “evil”, that they were in opposition to the inherent goodness of Christianity and that adherents to this movement should be “lined up” beside their monument and “shot”. Following public outcry and potential legal ramifications, he retracted his comments and made a full apology.

Recently, The Satanic Temple have embarked on a campaign which has involved the distribution of a Satanic colouring book to children within public schools in Florida. The book is entitled “The Satanic Children’s Big Book of Activities” and the intention is to challenge Biblical “propaganda” within the American education system.

“If a public school board is going to allow religious pamphlets and full Bibles to be distributed to students, we think the responsible thing to do is to ensure that these students are given access to a variety of differing religious opinions, as opposed to standing idly by while one religious voice dominates the discourse and delivers propaganda to youth”

Lucien Greaves, The Satanic Temple.

It is both exciting and interesting to witness this group wield the American Constitutional concept of pluralism to undermine Christian-held territories upon the political landscape. However, once the dust settles, does this movement have the potential to cause harm to the reputation of Satanism?

The Church of Satan believe so and have made the following statement regarding The Satanic Temple:

“A self-proclaimed Satanist group has recently gotten media attention, though one may wonder if it is a political activist prank rather than a legitimate philosophical organization. Mounting public stunts geared to be as obnoxious as those perpetrated by certain Christian activist groups suggests that they are looking to leverage contemporary social media and blog culture so as to grab people’s attention. It’s working. But is it provoking thought or simply making Satanism look as ridiculous as the theist belief systems that are being mocked? …We neither endorse nor encourage aping the shoddy behaviour of Christian activists. The demonstrations of irrationality and intolerance displayed by some self-proclaimed Christian groups should show thinking people that such positions merit rejection. Imitating them puts one on the same level, making it likely that intelligent people will equally reject the group proclaiming such a counter-message, simply because of the way in which it is framed”

“Conjuring Confusion”, Statement by The Church of Satan

It is both exciting and interesting to witness this group wield the American Constitutional concept of pluralism to undermine Christian-held territories upon the political landscape.

Greaves replied in an interview for Vice stating his own opinion regarding the Church of Satan:

“The Church of Satan was active, it seems, during Anton LaVey’s own lifetime, but appears to be almost entirely defunct now. It’s currently reduced to a website from which one may buy a membership card, but I’m not aware of any actual activities that they’ve been involved in during the past couple of decades… They misinterpreted what we were doing, but that’s not entirely their fault… And, yes, we are adding to LaVey. LaVey is an excellent jumping-off point, but his work was a product of its time, and it’s appropriate to re-contextualise it to today’s reality”

Lucien Greaves, “Unmasking Lucien Greaves” (Vice, 2013).

There are different political and social views expressed by atheists. Atheists can support various political ideologies across the entire political spectrum. The idea of promoting any single political ideology under the banner of atheism is ridiculous. The whole premise of atheism is summed up within its definition- the rejection of a belief in god(s). Further political or social appliances fall outside of the definition of atheism and become something else.

The idea of promoting one solitary political ideology under the banner of atheism is ridiculous.

To the “LaVeyan” Satanist, there is only one form of Satanism- defined and codified by Anton LaVey within “The Satanic Bible” and maintained by The Church of Satan. Devil worshippers, Luciferians, etc. are not Satanic. They are a form of reverse-Christianity, driven by supernatural ignorance. Saying that Luciferianism is a form of Satanism is akin to stating that atheism is a religion.

Schisms do not occur in Satanism as they do in the theistic religions as there is no Satanic Community to split. Within Satanism there are a wide spectrum of individuals. The concept of a “Satanic Community” is an oxymoron. Each Satanist is their own “branch” of Satanism. Satanism is a philosophy. It is not a community.

“Satanism is a unique philosophy that has spawned an even more unusual movement and an organization, the Church of Satan, which has found a means for facilitating the interaction of a membership comprised of radical individualists. It is, in an apparent paradox that is a “third-side synthesis,” an organization for non-joiners. The structural basis for the Church of Satan is the cabal concept. It is maintained, for the most part, as an underground cell-system of individuals who share the basis of the philosophy created by Anton Szandor LaVey, but who find very unique ways of applying this philosophy towards their own personal goals. Above the surface, you might see some spokespersons and some discussion forums that have a public presence. But, like an iceberg, most of our membership remains hidden in the murky depths”

Peter H Gilmore, “The Satanic Scriptures”, The Church of Satan

Having listened to many of the interviews conducted with Lucien Greaves, I find him to be intelligent, humble, incredibly well-read and a brilliant public speaker. The Satanic Temple aim to apply a political cause to Satanism claiming to be “adding to” or “re-contextualising” the LaVeyan school of thought. As each person applies the tenets of Satanism individually to their lives, LaVey believed that there was no place for political activism within the philosophy of Satanism. Political ideology applies to the many whereas Satanism applies to the individual.

LaVey believed that there was no place for political activism within the philosophy of Satanism.

“Satanists by nature follow their own tastes in such areas as politics and aesthetics; they have uniquely personal hierarchical systems of values that are not necessarily congruent with those of other Satanists… Just because two people call themselves “Satanist” does not mean that there will necessarily be such common denominators. To attempt to make this very loose and shadowy assemblage into something resembling other existing communities would mean disregarding the core principles of Satanism as a philosophy. Satanism as a movement would then become just another typical social device for human herding. Anton LaVey expressed his contempt for people who demonstrated the “huddling” instinct, explaining that it is a certain indication that they weren’t Satanists at all, just “sheep” who want to pretend to be “goats””

Peter H Gilmore, “The Satanic Scriptures”, The Church of Satan

This is the fundamental difference between the Satanism as codified by LaVey and the Satanism as practised and promoted by Greaves. To many Satanists (including myself), political activism (crudely applied or otherwise) should not be conducted under the Devil’s name.

Further information regarding both organisations mentioned in this article can be found on their websites: http://thesatanictemple.com and http://churchofsatan.com