Satanic Temple objects to governor’s push for more religion in schools and says members could act as student chaplains
Satanic Temple objects to governor’s push for more religion in schools and says members could act as student chaplains
Dark messengers of satanism could soon be walking the hallways of Florida’s public schools, and it’s a consequence of hard-right governor Ron DeSantis’s push for more religion in education.
Members of the Satanic Temple say they are poised to act as volunteer chaplains under a state law that took effect this week opening campuses to “additional counseling and support to students” from outside organizations.
Although HB 931 leaves the implementation of chaplain programs to individual school districts, and only requires schools to list a volunteer’s religion “if any”, DeSantis has made clear its intent is to restore the tenets of Christianity to public education.
Without the bill, DeSantis said at its signing in April: “You’re basically saying that God has no place [on campus]. That’s wrong.”
The satanists see the law, which comes amid a vigorous theocratic drive into education by the religious right nationally, as an equal opportunity: if Christian chaplains are permitted access to students, often at the most vulnerable and impressionable stages of their lives, then so are they.
Fucking Guardian... either falling for stupid propaganda or using scare words. Shameful either way.
The Satanic Temple's Seven Fundamental Tenets:
I. One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.
II. The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
III. One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
IV. The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one's own.
V. Beliefs should conform to one's best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one's beliefs.
VI. People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one's best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.
VII. Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.
I think that was meant to be tongue in cheek. The article also says:
There are, however, no plans to introduce studies of the dark arts or satanic rituals to any classroom. The Satanic Temple champions Satan not as a literal, omnipresent demon, but as a symbol of rebellion and resistance to authoritarianism. It says its strategy here is to highlight flagrant violations of the constitutionally protected separation of church and state.
To be fair, they call themselves The Satanic Temple. If they didn't want to court the "dark messenger" notoriety in the first place, they would just call themselves something serious like The Humanist Society.
You bring up a good a point, and it is meant to be provocative on purpose. It really helps remind Christian people of the importance of separation of religion and state when they see Satanic statues next to the ten commandments after they pass legislature requiring display of religious symbols and what not.
It's one of the only effective ways to get these people to stop trying to push their religion on everyone else. Those types don't typically listen to reason or compromise with others, for that matter.
I've seen religious people treat the word Humanist as if it was a dirty word right alongside atheist and then conflating atheism and humanism with Satanism. "The best trick Satan ever pulled was making you believe he isn't real."
I suspect The Satanic Temple figured that no matter what they called themselves it'd be demonized so they beat the Christians to it.
What sort of “dark messengers” preach compassion and justice?
“Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand” (Daniel 12:10).
"Dark messengers for Satanism"... Modern journalism really is fucking stupid. The Satanic Temple doesn't do anything like that, and starting your article out that way comes across as totally unserious and diminishes the work the Satanic Temple is actually out there doing.
"I always thought there couldn't possibly be a God, with all the evil in the world. But perhaps... all this evil exists because there is a God. Perhaps, yes, perhaps this God just isn't a particularly nice guy. It's possible that God isn't a DJ, but an arsehole."
"He's probably both. A DJ who exclusively plays Rammstein at a kid's birthday party."
"You know the saying that God created Man in His image? Well, look around. If you assume that God is an arsehole, it suddenly makes a lot of sense."
Freely translated from The Kangaroo Chronicles by Marc-Uwe Kling
How much money can we pull together for Clarence Thomas?
I heard the corrupt shithead also likes free vacations, so maybe we can chip in on a Royal Caribbean cruise or something, and maybe get him a snow cone and a breath mint on the side.
Proud member of the Satanic Temple since 2021. Unlike catholics, christians, muslims, jewish, mormons, and scientologists, I've had nothing but great news from my religion since 😁 We just keep rolling out the hits, challenging religious overreach at every turn.
i believe it's possible for us to be better. to accept the 'human condition' is a death sentence as a species. throughout history, we have brief moments of exemplary behavior. we are capable of more. don't accept the current state of affairs.
What are they going to do? Arrest them? There are only so many resources the state of Florida can throw at stupid shit like this before their economy implodes. But hey, the tax payers their will pay for it. In state, and federally.
Little disingenuous to call secular atheists satanists, but I guess they sort of asked for it when they picked the very troll-ey name for their organization.
I don't think volunteer and charity work is very satanic, at any rate.
Well, the only strong source for what could be satanic would be the various Abrahamic religious texts. I'm no expert, but I haven't heard charity work being frequently associated with satanic principles in those pages.
This is the Satanic Temple, very different organization that only ever brings itself into the picture when Christians are trying to ram religion down people's throats.
While it's true that theism is inherently harmful, The Satanic Temple isn't a theistic organization. The problems with TST stem from the shithead that runs the org.
Despite that, they seem to be a problematic, but necessary force to fight religious extremism in the US. I'd prefer it if other secular orgs had the same reach and capabilities, but it seems TST is the best we have at the moment.
I'll add to my other reply that pointing out that the TST has a history of co-opting issues and covering up abuse is a recognition of reality, and that dismissing criticism is exactly the problem with organised religion.
It's a shame people are downvoting this, the satanic temple has ties to the far right and is not the great thing people think it is. They make bold claims to get news attention and donations but don't follow through with action, and in the case of abortion rights claim that joining the temple will grant religious immunity when this is in fact false and actively harmful. Overall they distract attention from real activism without taking any real action. Watch the video essay in the parent comment to get the full picture.
I appreciate you saying this!
I didn't want to type up anything specific myself because it was pretty late and I didn't have the energy to check any claims.