In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by Jack Matirko of For Infernal Use Only to answer your questions about Satanism.
Continue reading “Satanic Q & A with Jack Matirko”Satanic Q & A with Jack Matirko
Tag: The Satanic Temple
I Didn’t Leave Christianity Because I Was Hurt
A few days ago, I realized that the intense feeling of religious and spiritual homelessness I’d felt for so long was gone. Since the beginning of my deconstruction, I’d begun to feel myself forced out of my Christianity, like a child being forced out of a womb. This left me with a profound feeling of existential homelessness — drifting away from my religious identity and family, and with little to cling onto as a home.
But, a few days ago, I realized that I no longer felt that homelessness — my home is now The Satanic Temple, my spiritual and religious identity is Satanist. (Does this surprise you? I recommend reading my articles on Satanism.)
Continue reading “I Didn’t Leave Christianity Because I Was Hurt”Vengeance is Stupid: My Satanism is Not LaVeyan Satanism
One of the challenges that I come across time and again in my journey as a public Satanist is having to differentiate myself from LaVeyan Satanism. For the un-initiated, Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan in the sixties and shaped much of the public’s perception of what Satanism is.
Continue reading “Vengeance is Stupid: My Satanism is Not LaVeyan Satanism”What Satanists Wish Other People Understood About Satanism
Few religious groups are as misunderstood as Satanists. While I’ve done a great deal of explaining and pontificating about my own Satanism, I haven’t featured many other Satanic voices on this blog. I thought I would reach out to a few prominent Satanists and ask them what they wish non-Satanists understood about their religion. I found their answers enlightening and lovely.
Continue reading “What Satanists Wish Other People Understood About Satanism”Why Satan?
After my recent article, I Don’t Care What You Think About My Satanism, I received this email from reader and listener Pyrrole Crimson:
Hi Stephen – I’m sticking with you. But, I’ll be honest, the enthusiasm for Satanism gives me pause. OK… creeps me out, actually. But, as is the case with each topic you explore, I am learning things I did not know. I did not know, for instance, that the Satanic Temple is non-theist. Nor did I know that the Church of Satan is a separate & different organization from TST. I had assumed that anyone who affiliates with any Satanic group is doing so to worship Evil & Chaos. No Thank You! But, you are informing me otherwise. Yet I wonder, why Satan, a word/entity that elicits fear & revulsion in many people, myself included? If TST doesn’t worship Satan, indeed, doesn’t even think he exists, why use that name?
This is an excellent question, and this is the sort of conversation I want to have. As we move deeper into an interconnected, multi-cultural world, conversations in which our divergent views collide is necessary. It is paramount that, even if our intuitions and convictions don’t change, we understand where our fellow human beings are coming from.
This is the question I get asked the most: why Satan? Wouldn’t it be easier, more effective, more expedient to use a label that doesn’t fill the public with revulsion? The answer is probably yes — it would be more effective. And that speaks to how this is not a ploy or strategy, but rather a deeply held religious identity.
Continue reading “Why Satan?”Hail, Satan?
The excellent film Hail, Satan? released to select theaters over the weekend (Easter weekend, no less) and to celebrate I had director Penny Lane come on to Sacred Tension to talk atheism, religion, and Satanism.
Hail, Satan? is a marvel of a film: funny, provocative, beautifully shot, and unexpectedly moving. It chronicles the rise of The Satanic Temple (of which I am a member) and it was everything I hoped it would be. In this episode, Penny Lane talks about what led to her interest it the Satanic Temple and how the process of making the film challenged her atheist preconceptions about religion.
Continue reading “Hail, Satan?”Leaving Evangelicalism, Calling out Sam Harris, and Hail, Satan?
This week’s curiosities: Steve Shives calls out Sam Harris, Melissa Wilson writes powerfully about leaving the Evangelical World, and Hail, Satan? documents the rise of The Satanic Temple.
Continue reading “Leaving Evangelicalism, Calling out Sam Harris, and Hail, Satan?”Is Satanism a Real Religion?
Ever since I’ve discovered and enthusiastically thrown myself into the Satanic fold, a fascinating contention has emerged in conversation with my non-infernal brethren: is Satanism a “real” religion? Is it satire? Is it trolling? Is it a lifestyle instead of a religion? A few people (usually religious) have gotten quite angry with me when I insist that Satanism is, in fact, an authentic religion. I though I would address this question once and for all in this post.
Jordan Peterson, Satanic Factions, and Anti-trans Memes
Welcome to Sunday Curiosities: the blog series where I bring you the interesting, bizarre, and insightful tidbits I’ve collected over the week.
Jordan Peterson is Incomprehensible
A hilarious video of edited footage from the Joe Rogan show has Jordan Peterson arguing with himself. I was once enamored of Peterson, but I now understand him to be at best boring and at worst incomprehensible and an accessory to sexism, transphobia, and patriarchy. What amuses me about this video is how it is just slightly more indecipherable than his regular videos.
Continue reading “Jordan Peterson, Satanic Factions, and Anti-trans Memes”The False Binary Between Atheism and Religion
For the past year or so now, I’ve been caught in the strange, lonely, interstitial space of no longer believing in the existence of a personal God but still deeply valuing the role of religion in my life.
Looking back, I realize that I’ve been quietly grieving for my faith in a literal, personal God for most of my twenties, and that it was only in 2017 that I finally accepted the death of my personal God. It took a long time to grieve, to even to build up the courage to pull the covers back and peak into a world without God. God felt more fundamental than my skin, breath, and blood. To lose Him felt like the loss of everything.
Continue reading “The False Binary Between Atheism and Religion”
Stephen Bradford Long 