So the Satanists are on the side of Good? Really? No, seriously, really?

[riqster]

I gotta admit, I never expected something like this: the Satanic Temple is on the warpath against recent Catholic/Fundagelical attempts to take away our individual religious freedom. Yes. Yes. Yes, really, you DID read that correctly: http://m.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/28/1317272/-Well-well-Satanists-to-use-Hobby-Lobby-to-block-pro-life-propaganda?detail=facebook

In a statement, the Satanic Temple said that it will use the Supreme Court’s recent Hobby Lobby decision to exempt its believers from state-mandated informed consent laws that require women considering abortions to read pro-life material.

In some states, that information consists of pro-life propaganda that links abortion to a higher incidence of breast and ovarian cancers, or discusses “post-abortion syndrome,” a mental condition not recognized by any major medical or psychiatric organization.

Because the Satanic Temple bases its belief “regarding personal health…on the best scientific understanding of the world, regardless of the religious or political beliefs of others,” it claims that state-mandated information with no basis in scientific fact violates its “religious” beliefs.

Holy cow. This is totally wack. Having been raised in the ecumenical era of the 60’s and early 70’s, when tolerance was the order of the day, I have always seen churches as helpful, benevolent, charitable organizations.

But today, “Christians” are all too often shrill, hate-filled, sadistic separatists who want to punish us for not being more like them. They want to impose their religion upon us, violently if need be, via an extra-constitutional theocratic government. Freedom is anathema to the politicized Fundagelicals of this century.

And who is fighting to protect us from these foam-flecked, shrieking, demented, alleged followers of Rebbe Yeshuah Bar Joseph (who actually follow the teachings of Leviticus and Paul, not Jesus)? Who is standing for religious liberty, respect for others and civil rights for Americans?

Yep, it’s the Satanists who are on the side of the angels. And the wingnut "Christians" who are possessed by demons.

The world has gone truly, totally, deeply, barking mad.

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Atheists are the new Satanists. We eat babies, they never did. nt.

[riqster]

3. Sounds more like Satanists are the new Humanists.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. They always were.

Lucifer, aka Prometheus, aka Loki aka "light bringer" are the champions of humanism in ancient mythology.

[riqster]

11. Interesting connections there. Worth some reading.

Thanks!

[Lint Head]

2. Seriously...and the KKK is also recruiting African Americans who are against immigration.

[riqster]

4. Hopefully, without success.

[hrmjustin]

5. We are possessed by demons?

[riqster]

7. Hopefully not me or thee.

I'll edit the OP. Thanks.

[hrmjustin]

10. Lol. thanks.

[TlalocW]

6. These "Satanists" are kind of like

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster but more politically active...

From http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/07/28/3464769/satanists-hobby-lobby-abortion/

The Satanic Temple, sometimes referred to as “the nicest Satanic cult in the world,” falls somewhere between satire, performance art, and activism. The group says its central mission is to “encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will.” It has a set of seven tenets that closely track with humanism. Typically, wherever issues of church and state are overlapping, the Satanic Temple isn’t far behind.

[riqster]

22. May they be touched by His Noodly Appendage.

[cprise]

26. They're hyper-individualists. Real *$$holes

if you ask me. Humanists they're not.

[gcomeau]

9. You might want to look into the Satanic Temple

They're not what they might sound like at first glance... they're also the people responsible for this gem in response to the OK state government allowing a 10 commandments monument on the capital grounds: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/01/06/n-y-group-applies-to-build-satan-statue-at-oklahoma-state-capitol/


I like them more every day.

[riqster]

14. Gotta admit, I like them too.

But it's a useful rhetorical device to point out the absurdity of which churches advocate for such positions.

[eShirl]

12. sometimes popular preconceptions about religions are wrong

I'm sure a significant portion of the public still thinks Wiccans have green skin with warts, wear peaked black hats, and ride around on broomsticks.

[riqster]

17. My wife is Wiccan, and she doesn't fit the stereotypes.

Plus one daughter is a Methodist, the other an agnostic, and my soon-to-be SIL is Asatru. I'm a Presbo.

That, friends, is religious freedom in action. And such a family does in itself fly in the face of lots of other commonly-held stereotypes.

We just don't fly on broomsticks. A pity, that: it sounds like fun.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

20. Is the SIL a straight polytheist or a henotheist?

I always thought the henotheist path had interesting parallels to the Catholic patrons saints idea. And if I was to go Asatru, I'd go with Ullr as my patron

[riqster]

21. He's big on Odin. That's most of what I know.

He makes my daughter happy, and my grandkids love him.

He just doesn't talk much about his faith.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

13. Satanists who aren't simply poser nutjobs are more like Cathar heretics.

From what I've heard, they basically swap out who they consider good and evil. They consider Lucifer as more of a Prometheus figure, who helped man against an unjust, violent, and capricious creator, and was simply slandered by those who worship God. Which in my mind isn't that unreasonable an interpretation if you go by what he got up to in the Old Testament. Old Testament God does do a lot of things that strike me as evil and petty, so I can see why some people would decide that the Bible was simply written from the point of view of the 'victors'.

[riqster]

18. I'm finding out how many varieties of Satanism there are out there.

A pleasant, if unintended, consequence of the OP.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

19. Yeah, sort of like atheists, they come in all sorts of flavours ;) nt

[Humanist_Activist]

23. Religious Satanists are similar to 1st to 3rd Century Christian Gnostics in a way...

who believe in the Demiurge or False God who is portrayed as the God of the old testament, and the true Creator God, whose is usually the one that Jesus, believed to be a Gnostic teacher, taught about.

[okasha]

25. There are a lot of commonalities there

with early gnosticism.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. The Satanists are admirably successful trolls in public life

They are doing a very good job of pointing out the inconsistencies and hypocrisies in the system - this example, and the statue on public ground. They point out the logical conclusion that legal decisions on religion should imply.

[riqster]

16. They are the Establishment Clause's BFF these days.