Never called myself a Satanist. Full fledged atheist, but still can't say that in public in my area. Tried once nothing bad happened but still too much bullshit came from it.
Aren't you concerned with being part of an organized religion? As any religion, more people means more power. At some point it could grow beyond its original intent if the wrong people infiltrate leadership roles.
I get that right now it has the right intent, but the point is that the more people join, the more powerful it becomes and the more attractive it is for the wrong people. I feel like officially joining a religion is part of the problem of religions. What do you think?
if it were to ever get to a point where the core values are betrayed, i’d simply leave. this isn’t christianity, i’m not going to watch figureheads rape children and stick around. and anyway, with TST, there is a central guiding council for the many dozens of congregations around the world to make sure they’re doing good things and aligning with the right message, there is NO central authority. there is hardly leadership roles. there is no pope, there is no idols.
TST is defining what I am, atheism defines what i am not. I am not a believer in the superstitious or any gods. I am a empathetic person who believes in justice, bodily autonomy, acceptance, and equality for all. TST is that to me, and if it ever weren’t that, than I simply wouldnt be a member. but no one person defined what it is, there isn’t a reality where it is “infiltrated” and suddenly the tenets are changed to evil things. if there’s an asshole who joins, they’re removed. there was one sector leader who began to get extreme and call for hostility and violence, they were fired, unlike priests who rape children and are protected.
it’s 5 am and i just woke up so i hope these rambles make sense lol
It seems like you could say that about any organization. Is there something special about a religion that makes it more likely to be corrupt? Even one like TST?
I'm well aware, that's just a term used for a member of TST lmfao. Not everyone uses it, but many do. Satanist doesn't need to mean belief in Satan, it just means member of TST.
There are lots of Satanists who aren't members of TST, and, as you noted yourself, not everyone in TST calls themselves a Satanist. So, being a Satanist is independent of membership in TST.