this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2024
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The Satanic Temple
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I noticed there wasn't a TST Lemmy community. The Satanic Temple is a modern satanic religion that aims to promote human rights and compassion. Check out their about page on their official website at https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/about-us. Note that this community is not an official affiliation. TST is also separate and not affiliated with the Church of Satan, who have a slightly different viewpoint of what satanism truly is. Dunno what to post in here, but maybe some will search for this and take part. Hello!
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So, there's a lot of confusion about what TST is and what it does.
TST exists as a church for Satanism. Its activism is (primarily) based around fighting for the rights of Satanists.
If TST didn't need to fight for the rights of Satanists, it would still need to exist for every other reason that a church exists.
We're talking about the satanic temple here right? It's just a cooler version of pastafarism. That does community outreach mainly to battle the Christian bullshit.
This is a common misconception. TST is not a joke or parody religion.
What makes you say that? Read their faq it spells it out clearly https://thesatanictemple.com/ the goal is to combat psuedo science Christian bullshit.
They don't believe in a supernatural power, but they see themselves as a serious religion with serious beliefs. From your link:
'[Satanism is] a narrative structure by which we contextualize our lives and works. ...[it is] a body of symbolism and religious practice — a sense of identity, culture, community, and shared values.'
They have seven Tenets, none of which are directly about other religions - although one does mention being opposed to 'distorting scientific facts'. Most are about compassion and individuality.
'Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought.'
Agree with them or not, but they see themselves as much more than some kind of shell religion to undermine Religious Exemption statutes
The thing is, I don’t see how the seven tenets should conflict with modern religions at all. It’s fully compatible with what Christianity claims to be. By all logic, following the Satanic tenets should make you a better Christian, a better human
Christianity does not believe in bodily autonomy (tenet 3) or having your beliefs conform to the best scientific evidence (tenet 5). Even if it were 100% compatible with Christianity, though, that still wouldn't make it a parody religion.
I did not mean to imply that. While their main goal seems to be religious freedom, they seem to have a moral code consistent with other major religions. It’s not just that they’re not evil, but seem to believe in the same good
Well I do agree with them, I am a member. My point is they don't believe in western religious tenants like gods and afterlife. Also I'm pretty sure they were founded in a rebuttal to the scotus opinion that athesim isn't a religion and thus doesn't deserve religious protections.
Yeah, but their whole point is that this doesn't undermine their status as a religion. It doesn't make them 'a joke or parody religion', which is the phrase you initially replied to:
They don't exist as a semi-serious troll organisation to undermine Christianity is my point, they take their beliefs and religious status seriously.
Ahh I see you believe I implied that. No that wasn't my intent. My point is they were created to combat religious encroachment on secular society. Let's not act like they are performing mass here though. They exist as a tool to rebuff religion. Not sure that makes them a religion, but I'm no theologian.
I never said they were a joke. You're the one disregarding pastafarism here.
Which SCOTUS decision is that?
Atheism itself isn't a religion; it's just non-belief. You can have an atheistic religion, however.
There are some more too but I'd like to take a nap vs reading more case law. https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA140409171&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=0021969X&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E7a751ffa&aty=open-web-entry this one didn't make it to scotus it seems so maybe my memory is fuzzy. But the point is by forming a "religion" here is a hedge to gain those rights. TST in my opinion is a reactionary group, formed by atheist because of Christians overstepping.
I think maybe you are confused. From their FAQ
DO YOU WORSHIP SATAN? No, nor do we believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural. The Satanic Temple believes that religion can, and should, be divorced from superstition. As such, we do not promote a belief in a personal Satan. To embrace the name Satan is to embrace rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions. Satanists should actively work to hone critical thinking and exercise reasonable agnosticism in all things. Our beliefs must be malleable to the best current scientific understandings of the material world — never the reverse.
There is a church of Satan, how they compare is here
https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/about-us
Also from their FAQ
If you want to compare and contrast TST and the Church of Satan, there's an excellent in-depth article here.
Neither one worships Satan. They are both religions. However, their values are very different.