Looking Ahead

Time does not give us the luxury of despair, and assumptions of futility do not excuse present inaction. It is time to recognize that it is not enough to take to the streets expressing generalized feelings of grievance, waving signs in recognition of problems while refusing to rally in support of specific solutions. It is time to quickly adapt and embrace a reframing of the entire situation and our place in it. We have to look to the long-term and understand that these are the circumstances in which we have the opportunity to act as inspiration for those in the future who will carry on our name, even if we are fighting the damage done for the rest of our lives. Future Satanists will look at a history of The Satanic Temple that will include testimony to our willingness to fight against the odds we are up against now, our bravery in openly asserting our rights in the face of a hostile ruling party (or person). We have an opportunity to prove our allegiance to the values we believe in, to clearly demonstrate our resolve and purpose, to live our mission when it matters most. We have an obligation to act openly, decisively, meaningfully, with optimal strategic consideration, and to have as much fun as we can doing it. As despondent as it may seem now, we should imagine a future in which Satanists look back to us and say, I wish I could have been there in that time. 

The good news is that there are a lot of clear solutions to the problems we see. The problem is not that specific plans of action do not exist, but that there often seems to be a culture of fear that pervades civil liberty and progressive groups inhibiting many of them from acting on anything too focused. The general audience now seems to demand that, above all things, any organization they identify with must express their specific views on all things, whether or not it is related to the organization’s mission, and even as the general audience itself retains the right to change their views entirely from one day to the next. Do they support Science? Sometimes, unless the claim that science is merely another “way of knowing,” no better than any others, is claiming moral superiority in the moment. Do they support Free Speech? Sometimes, if we are talking about school boards removing books from libraries, but not for conservative speakers at universities.

But while sailing the shifting winds of tribal opinion on a case-by-case basis works well enough for individuals online who often are not confronted with their “poorly aged” about-faces, the demand that advocacy organizations be just as fickle in their mission and projects is crippling and counterproductive. And it is not only that new organizations have failed to put forward specific mission statements and campaigns for fear of being accused of disregarding everything else, but organizations that had long-standing, clearly defined missions have, in some cases, been hijacked by members who feel that this free-floating, unprincipled moral promiscuity is necessary so that everybody can feel “safe” in the knowledge that no statements or actions will meet their disapproval. Better to do nothing at all, it seems, than risk the disapproval of anybody, especially in an environment where petty personal grievances are often represented publicly, online, as part of a broader narrative of organizational corruption and internalized bigotry.

If we continue to negotiate our values daily, it is impossible to launch the long-term, focused campaigns that will be necessary to effect real change. Civil liberties advocates, progressive organizations, and religious organizations like ourselves, are going to have to be prepared to not be everything for everybody. People who want to see real work done to push-back against the theocratic coup are going to have to accept that not all groups may share their priorities or unrelated positions. 

It is often mystifying to me that people come to us and say, if only it were not Satan. But it is Satan, because we are Satanists. Do not ask us to discard Satanism, just accept that Satanism is not for you. You can support our mission without being a Satanist. You can be a Satanist without joining The Satanic Temple. But if you do join The Satanic Temple, you are not entitled to change our mission and values. So let me be clear:

We are a religion. Much has been written suggesting that Satanism is nothing more than a clever means for us to claim religious liberty exemptions and privileges. Because of this, we often get the inquiries as to why we can’t simply change from Satanists to something else, especially as we are non-supernaturalist non-theists. I have written quite a bit on this topic and will not revisit it at length here, but it is important to know that we are a religion, Satanism is meaningful to us. Blasphemous iconography serves a liberating function for us and our beliefs and identity is inextricably bound to the Satanic narrative of free inquiry and rebellion against tyranny. We are Satanists who take our right to be Satanists seriously. We are not a satanically branded activist group that was created so that you can attach a religious claim to your cause.

We support Free Speech. It is enshrined in our tenets, and it is a cornerstone of democracy. The exceptions do not disprove the rule. One can recognize the validity of prohibitions against defamation, plagiarism, harassment, and threats without insisting that subjective evaluations of merely “offensive” speech be mandated to government censors. We support Free Speech in principle, which we recognize means that it will sometimes protect speech that we very much disagree with. Simpletons have sometimes said that they find this position suspect, apparently fully believing the claims of some less-than-credible characters who claim themselves as Free Speech advocates only when it best suits them, even as these characters often reject the Free Speech rights of their opponents. There is nothing suspect about our dedication to Free Speech if one understands the history of the concept in Democracy, or the history of The Satanic Temple itself, as most things we do are met with demands that we be silenced for the crime of offending Christians.

We support religious liberty. Much like Free Speech, the concept has suffered from attempted re-definition that runs directly counter to its actual meaning. As with Free Speech, Religious Liberty is not Religious Liberty if it is the privilege of some. Religious Liberty protects all manner of religious opinion, including unaffiliated non-belief.

We preference results over optics. We will work with First Amendment lawyers who have defended speech we disagree with, and we will do so without apology. We will defend Science and the value of empirical proof, regardless of the regular outbreaks of anti-Science outrage from the polarized extremes. We will continue to defend Free Speech and Religious Liberty even when others insist on believing the claims of our opposition that those values are held in our opposition’s monopoly. We do not seek to be normalized, we do not need validation or recognition. We need our equal rights. We have an enormous LGBTQIA+ membership. We have a membership that includes veterans, sex workers, professors, furries, and suburban mothers, among so many others. You might see any of them during coverage of one of our public events, or speaking on our behalf. We do not care if anybody disapproves of any of our lifestyles. We only care that our rights are respected. We do not care to be “just like you.” Our rights should never be dependent on the comfort of others, and our tactics should never be compromised to placate the demands of “optics.”  

We are a non-violent organization. This is not a moral plea for personal pacifism. This organization is working within the boundaries of the law, and we will work within legal means to change the law when necessary to secure our rights. We are not interested in the fantasies of those who see themselves as brave for doing nothing more than yelling at others for not sharing their “courage” to preach about the necessity of an armed revolution. More often, we are simply lectured about the error of trying to change the system from within the system. This, however, seems to imply the alternatives of an implausible insurrection or inactivity. We reject both.

If we want to understand how we got to the place we are, it is important to look at what the Christian Nationalist coup did so effectively. They unified. They put the less significant differences aside to the point that Christian Nationalism is found in a wide variety of Christian sects, regardless of their historical animosities and doctrinal divisions. They focused on key issues and supported the politicians who supported those. They encouraged engagement, not withdrawal, from a world that they imagined was hostile to their beliefs and practices. They ran people for public office and they voted for them. The networked, and they lobbied, they created model legislation, and they persistently fought to advance their interests… at first with no hope of success, then with some outlier gains, and after a while with disturbing regularity (and while the general public largely acted as the proverbial ever unwitting boiled frog). We need to have that same dedication and focus. We need to accept that we are not going to fix things overnight, we are not going to undo the damage done through protest alone. We need to recognize and accept incremental gains and build upon them. We need to build coalitions and we need to seek the support of people knowledgeable in political action, law, lobbying, and legislation.

If this all sounds like something you are looking for, there are opportunities to get involved, and we encourage you to reach out. If anything here does not quite fit with what you would like to be involved with, go find something that is. No one organization is going to be all things for all people, but if we can learn to work together toward common goals just the same, then there is no reason that we can not create a safe, secure, pluralistic and peaceful world in the future to come.