In this episode of Sacred Tension, Lucien Greaves joins me to reflect on the upcoming ten-year anniversary of The Satanic Temple. We also discuss the After School Satan Club, standing up to theocracy, the importance of conversation and depolarization, and much more.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Ten Years of The Satanic Temple | Lucien Greaves”
Satanism is frequently called an “anti-religion”. This perception arises from the notion that Satanism is established as Christianity’s opposite. It is the yin to Christianity’s yang, the dark to Christianity’s light. Hence, it is an anti-religion.
This makes no sense to me. I’m sure there are Satanists out there who describe themselves as following an “anti-religion” and set themselves up in direct opposition to Christianity, but I’m not one of them. My Satanism is not an anti-religion. I’m just religious.
Continue reading “I’m Not Anti-Religion, I’m Just Religious”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I speak with sex worker, disability activist, and Minister of Satan Azura Rose about the encroaching threat of theocratic censorship against sex work and pornography.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Sex Work and Censorship | Azura Rose”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by podcaster David Rutledge of ABC’s The Philosopher’s Zone to talk about his religious upbringing, his interest in Satanism, his loss of religious faith, and his objections to public intellectuals who take an over-simplified and divisive approach to “postmodernism.”
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Derrida, The Exorcist, and Losing Faith | David Rutledge of The Philosopher’s Zone”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
Stephen Bradford Long 