I’m a normie Satanist. With the exception of the occasional pentagram or Satanic Temple t-shirt, nothing about me would give away my Satanic proclivities. I pride myself on being generally milquetoast, polite, and unremarkable. I value kindness, courteousness, and making everyone feel welcome. I’m painfully averse to conflict.
Continue reading “On Being a Normie Satanist”
This is the first ever solo Ask Me Anything episode of Sacred Tension. In this episode I take questions from my audience about my personal journey from Christianity to Satanism, how to handle an aversion to Christians, my take on protests and riots, my favorite pop culture representations of Satan, my thoughts on Satanists using Tarot, and much more.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension AMA: From Christianity to Satanism”
This is a guest post by Ryan Clark. Ryan Clark is the Event Coordinator for Friends of the Satanic Temple -Toronto. Outside of his efforts with TST, he works as a technical trainer while also promoting, DJing, podcasting and acting as father to two grey cats. You can find him on twitter here.
Continue reading “Guest Post: What is Satanic Justice?”
I’ve reduced my time on social media, and I’ve been experiencing some profound side effects of this detox: I’m more willing to engage people I would have previously dismissed, and my knee-jerk disgust response is down. This means that I am now engaging a great many more thinkers and writers who I would have previously dismissed as gross and/or anti-woke.
I recently picked up The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray, which attempts to argue how worthy minority and progressive causes have ripened into full blown mania and societal insanity. He sums this up with his description of “St George in Retirement Syndrome.”
Continue reading “Douglas Murray, The Madness of Crowds, and Why We Still Need Gay Activism”
I continue my conversation with Lucien Greaves of The Satanic Temple. We talk about Black Lives Matter, effective protest, LGBT rights, and we take questions from my audience.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: A Satanic Defense of Free Speech with Lucien Greaves, Part 2”
This month we discussed free speech, the subjective symbol of Christ, and much more.
Continue reading “Free Speech, Blasphemy, And the Symbol of Christ: Best Comments of September 2020”
I co-authored this manifesto with the amazing Aria de Satanas. As public Satanists in a time of COVID, we are both striving to uphold our Satanic values of compassion, empathy, and reason in online spaces. This article is the result. I hope you enjoy. Please check out Aria de Satanas’s work at https://ariadnedesatanas.com/
Continue reading “Compassionate and Reasoned Communication in an Online World”
In this episode of Sacred Tension I’m joined by Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple. We discuss conspiracy theories, Qanon, the destructive nature social media platforms, and why we must all be ardent defenders of free speech. This is part one of a two-part conversation.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: A Satanic Defense of Free Speech with Lucien Greaves”
In this episode of Sacred Tension I talk to William Morrison — longtime Satanic Temple leader and member of legendary industrial band Skinny Puppy — about the “deviant psychotherapy cult” Process Church of the Final Judgement, and how it laid the philosophical groundwork for The Satanic Temple. Watch Sympathy for the Devil — the documentary about The Process — here, and don’t forget to use my promo code SACREDTENSION at checkout to receive one month free.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: The Process Church of the Final Judgement, feat. William Morrison”
In the aftermath of the horrific Charlottesville rally, a memed quote by Carl Popper called “The Paradox of Tolerance” started making the rounds on leftist Internet. I’ve heard it invoked regularly since by figures like Vaush and Science Mike (this isn’t a dig at either of these creators. I admire both of them for different reasons. Please don’t be mean to them.) I myself have favorably invoked the Paradox in private conversation. The “Paradox” is this:
Continue reading “Free Speech and Misreading The Paradox of Tolerance”Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.
