The past couple of weeks have been challenging. My grandfather died, and the ensuing family chaos and celebrations of a life well lived distracted me from my work. I hope to get back to a regular schedule soon.
Continue reading “Sunday Curiosities: Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Offend”Author: Stephen Bradford Long
Stephen Bradford Long is a writer, yoga teacher, and Satanist living and working in North Carolina. His work focuses on religion, sexuality, culture, and other subjects that strike his fancy.
Sacred Tension: Guns, Suicide, Violence | Karl Kasarda of InRange TV
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined once more by gun advocate, youtuber, Minister of Satan, and good friend Karl Kasarda to have a raw conversation about the ethics of gun rights. We discuss the high rates of suicide by gun, the prevalence of gun violence in the United States, and why minorities need the right to bear arms.
Find Kasarda’s youtube channel InRangeTV here.
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Music for the show is by Eleventyseven and The Jellyrox.
In Defense of the Fourth Tenet of The Satanic Temple
The Fourth Tenet of The Satanic Temple reads, “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 one’s own.”
Continue reading “In Defense of the Fourth Tenet of The Satanic Temple”My Satanism Is the Test of Your Commitment to Religious Freedom
If there is one thing I find myself continually communicating about my Satanism, it is this: my Satanism isn’t about you. You might feel such a unique revulsion at my practice, or you might be so flummoxed by the religion that you can only assume that it is about deliberately provoking you.
This all assumes that you, the offended, are at the center of my religion. But my Satanism isn’t about you. You, the offended, don’t figure into 99.9% of my religious practice. It isn’t about offending, hurting, or provoking you. My Satanism is about me — my catharsis, my fulfillment, and how I choose to practice compassion toward all other creatures. That it offends you is incidental.
But offense, even if that is not my Satanism’s primary goal, does have its utility, and it is this: my Satanism is the test of your commitment to religious liberty.
Continue reading “My Satanism Is the Test of Your Commitment to Religious Freedom”Sacred Tension: The Devil’s Death | Shiva Honey
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by Satanic minister and expert in ritual Shiva Honey to discuss her new book The Devil’s Death: Your Satanic Companion for Grief and Dying. We discuss the utility of ritual, our cultural aversion to discussing death and dying, the dangers of the medical field, protecting your bodily autonomy in death, and much more.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: The Devil’s Death | Shiva Honey”Sacred Tension: The Satanic Temple vs Religious Discrimination | Lucien Greaves
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by Lucien Greaves to discuss The Satanic Temple’s legal battle against religious discrimination in Boston.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: The Satanic Temple vs Religious Discrimination | Lucien Greaves”Sacred Tension: How Not To Be Afraid | Gareth Higgins
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by author, activist, and storyteller Gareth Higgins to talk about his new book How Not To Be Afraid. We discuss the challenges some modern men face, how growing up during the Troubles in northern Ireland informs his storytelling, how to tell stories that are both true and empowering, and much more.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: How Not To Be Afraid | Gareth Higgins”Sacred Tension: Religious Blasphemy 101 | Matt Langston
In this episode in Sacred Tension, I am joined by my friend Matt Langston of the formerly Christian pop punk band Eleventyseven to explore the finer points of Satanic religious blasphemy.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Religious Blasphemy 101 | Matt Langston”Varieties of Satanic Blasphemy
Of all the challenging aspects of Satanism, blasphemy is perhaps at the top. I have known people to literally weep with horror when they first encounter the concept of the Black Mass, and others to simply shut down and say, “I can’t do this,” when they are confronted with the full breadth of Satanic blasphemy.
Blasphemy can be an important part of Satanism. But there are many different types of blasphemy, and I believe that understanding them might help outsiders better engage in inter-religious dialogue with the Satanic community. (It’s also important to note that there are many Satanists who don’t connect deeply with the notion of blasphemy at all.)
Continue reading “Varieties of Satanic Blasphemy”Sacred Tension: Just Enjoy Things | Vyvyan des Esseintes
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I am joined by dandy and Minister of Satan Vyvyan des Esseintes to discuss the restorative power of enjoying things in times of crisis. We discuss fandoms, music, wrestling, Magic: The Gathering, and much more.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Just Enjoy Things | Vyvyan des Esseintes”
Stephen Bradford Long 