They don't worship Satan, despite what you might have read. But they do believe in bodily autonomy. And the Constitution.

The Temple announced last week that it plans to file a religious discrimination lawsuit challenging the erection of a monument to the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Arkansas Capitol.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Trending Today

This Week Archive Select September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 August 2017 July 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 Rewire News Group Get our coverage delivered to your inbox every week. Subscribe

The Christian right continues to march us towards an autocratic theocracy where their religion reigns supreme and pregnant people have no right to control their own bodily autonomy. Recently, the Satanic Temple has joined the fight against this incursion—often using conservatives’ own arguments against them.

Whether it’s filing lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions in Missouri on the basis that Satanism views one’s body as “inviolable,” and “subject to one’s will alone,” or using the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby to advocate for its own sincerely held religious beliefs, the Satanic Temple is serious about advocating for the bodily autonomy of pregnant people.

The Temple is also serious about being accepted as a proper religion, and not just associated with the lingering “Satanic Panic” that swept the nation in the 1980s—during which mass hysteria about children being lured into the clutches of satanic cults masquerading as day-care centers, and forced to endure physical and emotional abuses including watching the mass slaughter of animals, swept the nation.

It is no surprise, therefore, that the Temple is now testing whether claims of religious freedom apply to all religions—like Satanism—or just culturally favored ones.

The Temple announced last week that it plans to file a religious discrimination lawsuit challenging the erection of a monument to the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Arkansas Capitol. The Temple claims that the state’s acceptance and erection of the Ten Commandments monument, combined with the rejection of the Temple’s monument, demonstrates that Arkansas is showing an unconstitutional preference for one religion over another.

Some background is in order. Until recently, the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission could consider new monuments and make recommendations to the legislature for the legislature’s approval, according to the Arkansas Times. In February of last year, however, Arkansas lawmakers passed a bill—HB 1273—that prevents the commission from even starting the process unless the legislature approves the monuments first.

The bill, which was the brainchild of state Rep. Kim Hammer (R-Benton), was aimed at a monument plan for an eight-and-a-half foot tall bronze statue of Baphomet—the goat-headed pagan god—that the Satanic Temple had submitted a few weeks prior. The commission said that the plan could move forward for the public comment period before going to the legislature.

This caused consternation among Arkansan lawmakers who, according to the Arkansas Times, did not relish the spectacle of public hearings for a group of Satanists, and wanted to nip the shenanigans in the bud.

The problem is that a group of Republicans led by state Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway) had already rushed through a plan to erect a monument to the Ten Commandments on Capitol grounds. In 2015, Rapert backed a law that would require the state to permit such a monument. The monument was erected in June 2017, but within 24 hours, a man named Michael Tate Reed rammed the monument with his car while yelling “Freedom.” He was arrested. (It wasn’t his first monument-related arrest: In 2014, Reed destroyed the Ten Commandments monument that was erected near Oklahoma’s state capitol, according to the Guardian. He apologized later and said he was suffering from delusions and heard voices.) Another monument was erected again last week.

Rapert appears to have recognized that prioritizing one religion over another would run afoul of the Constitution; the law includes language that the placement of the monument at the Capitol should not be “construed to mean the state of Arkansas favors any particular religion or denomination over another.” But, as the Satanic Temple noted in its press release announcing the lawsuit, “if the bill itself couldn’t be construed as religious favoritism, the state’s rejection of other religious viewpoints certainly is.”

In the press release, Lucien Greaves, the founder and spokesperson for the Satanic Temple, called Rapert a “mindless tool for theocratic interests originating outside of Arkansas.” Greaves notes that Rapert’s bill uses identical language that the Oklahoma legislature used in its failed attempt to maintain a Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma capitol.

In addition, Rapert’s behavior belies the bill’s attempt to skirt constitutional scrutiny, according to Greaves.

“Rapert has taken to local pulpits declaring the United States a ‘Christian Nation,’ openly discussing his agenda to bring his religion alone to the public square, to the exclusion of all others,” Greaves said in a statement.

“But Satanism isn’t a religion,” you may be thinking. “It’s smokey-eyed Goth types doing blood rituals and animal sacrifices while scribbling pentagrams on every hard surface they can find.” That’s certainly how it has been portrayed in the media, and it’s not unusual you might think that. For my part, I’d never known what the Satanic Temple was all about until the organization filed suit a few years ago challenging Missouri’s 72-hour waiting period and informed consent laws.

Members of the Satanic Temple do not worship the devil, contrary to popular belief. According to the Temple’s website, it is “a nontheistic religious organization dedicated to Satanic practice and the promotion of Satanic rights.”

“The mission of The Satanic Temple 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,” it reads.

“The Temple understands the Satanic figure as a symbol of man’s inherent nature, representative of the eternal rebel, enlightened inquiry and personal freedom rather than a supernatural deity or being,” the release continues.

In addition, “[t]he Satanic Temple believes that all people are entitled to make informed decisions about their health, family and future without coercion. The philosophical and religious opinions of some should not be used legislate morality. The attempt to do so violates American foundational values of freedom and liberty,” according to the Detroit chapter’s website.

The Temple also seems to understand that there is a battle for the soul of this country right now, with evangelicals trying to march us down the path towards Gilead, and if allying with Satanists will keep that from happening, then I’m on board especially since their views are—much to my surprise—aligned with mine. In the case of this lawsuit, it seems clear that Arkansas is both conflating Christian ideology with state matters and prioritizing one religion over another.

So while they may not hail Satan—because they are not devil worshippers—I am hailing Satanists. Unlike evangelical Christians, who incessantly whine about religious freedom while restricting the rights of others, the Satanic Temple is actually advocating for religious freedom, in addition to bodily autonomy for pregnant people.

So all hail Satanists. Keep fighting the good fight.