A church without a deity? That's what the Satanic Temple of Salem, MA would have you believe.
As SatanCon is set to converge upon Copley Square in Boston, MA April 28, 29 & 30th, spokesperson and "ordained minister" Dex Desjardins claims their "church" is misunderstood. "The thing is we're not theistic. We don't have beliefs in a literal theistic Satan."
Instead, they claim to focus on core values of compassion, intellectualism and personal freedom. Sounding like a riff off the Catholic Church's three theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, it's clear the Satanic Temple gets its raison d'etre running counter to Christian theology, values and cultural influence.
For a fringe group, they boast numerous "congregations" across the globe, and function as Christian hecklers in spite of their mission to "encourage benevolence and empathy among all people." Jesus Christ's statement in the Gospel of Matthew, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" makes it abundantly evident that a lack of charity abounds when it comes to the Satanic Temple's behavior towards Christians. From countering contentious laws such as the heartbeat bills passed in several states, to erecting an offensive Baphomet statue at the Arkansas State Capitol in opposition to the installation of a Ten Commandments monument in 2018, the group uses mirror arguments from the Christian right to promote their own set of beliefs which rejects "tyrannical authority", while using such tactics to get their own way.
In fact, this year's SatanCon is being promoted as a "weekend of blasphemy and remembrance in Boston", dedicated to Mayor Michelle Wu after the city's refusal to allow The Satanic Temple to deliver a satanic invocation at Boston City Hall. This "event" is actually an open retaliation which looks more like an infernal tantrum from a group dedicated to raging against the machine of Judeo-Christianity and cultural norms.
According to poet Charles Baudelaire “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—With a lineup of events this weekend including,“Hellbillies: Visible Satanism in Rural America,” “Deconstructing Your Religious Upbringing,” “Sins of the Flesh: Satanism and Self-Pleasure,” “Reclaiming the Trans Body: A/theistic Strategies for Self-Determination and Empowerment” and “Re-imagining Lilith as an Archetype for Reproductive Justice”, the Satanic Temple has either been duped themselves by their "literary" moniker, or is trying to deceive the rest of us.
According to Jesus in the Gospel of John, referring to Satan; " He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
Regarding the Satanic Temple's claim there is not a literal Satan they follow, Who will you believe?
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