Tag: The Satanic Temple

The Talk Back: What Kind of Community Do We Want?

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ Leave a comment

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Last week, I published an episode of Sacred Tension with Lucien Greaves responding to the recent controversy in The Satanic Temple. See that post to get caught up.

I’m glad I released the episode. I felt I needed to as a matter of conscience, and that I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t. I feel like I’ve lanced a boil on my conscience that was going septic. At the same time, conscience errs. I know that the episode probably wasn’t perfect, and I’m willing to hear people out if they think I fucked up. I can live with both my imperfection and the requirements of my conscience. Whether other people can too is between them and Satan.

Unless something new happens that requires my commentary, I believe I’m done publicly discussing this controversy. That does not mean I’m closed to dialogue behind the scenes. By all means, my DMs are open. I’m just ready to move on to the stuff that I enjoy writing about.

Since publishing the episode, I’ve received an outpouring of responses, both privately and publicly. Some of the responses were filled with rage, disappointment, and hurt. Others were filled with relief, hope, and gratitude. I don’t think I’ve ever received such a diversity of feedback.

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What Kind of Community Do We Want? | Lucien Greaves

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 1 Comment

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by The Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves to discuss the recent controversy in our religious community. He was recently photographed with an alleged sexual harasser and transphobe, and we reflect on the kind of culture we want to see in The Satanic Temple and why Lucien has responded the way he has to this controversy.

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The Satanic Temple is a Church for Imperfect People

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 1 Comment

I recently co-authored a piece with Murphy Fawkes for Free Inquiry responding to some common criticisms of the Temple.

The Satanic Temple is far from perfect. It is made up of human beings and is therefore a profoundly flawed institution. But, as we argue in the article, that’s also the point. TST has enshrined imperfection and growth in the 6th Tenet, which reads, “people are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one’s best to resolve any harm that might have been caused.”

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