So, You Want to Join the Satanic Temple

I’m not a joiner. Long ago, I discovered that my social claustrophobia cranks up when I’m in a group aligned by any “higher” purpose. Fer instance, though I regularly vote for the Democratic candidates, I’m registered as an Independent. I often vote for the way down-ticket Greens (for all the good that does them or me but that’s another post). Dems are like cats and octopuses as opposed to Republi/Fascists, who will vote in Nazi lockstep even when that means shooting themselves in the head.

As Groucho famously quipped, I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.

Another higher purpose group—in my 20s, I sincerely considered converting to Judaism. Having grown up as an every-Sunday-and-saint’s-day church goer as well as a parochial school attending Catholic, I just couldn’t. That fealty shit just wore me clean out.

As an adult, no one but me dictates what I think or believe.

A friend of mine runs a knitting group. They meet weekly at a Panera. This sounds absolutely lovely—a little socializing, a nice sandwich, a lemonade and some zen-like yarn-work. Hits me as a meditative, Taoist kind of a thing (if Taoists had churches). Sadly, my friend’s all the way down in New Haven. I could take the train there, I guess. That would be 2-3 hours each way though and cost around 50+ smackers. This makes the trip NOT easily doable to say the least.

What's appealing about being in a group, specifically one that revolves around a creative activity though? I don’t need to talk or hear to enjoy the event—we’d all be primarily focused on our own projects. So, it’s social without actually having to be all that social. This appeals to my inner introvert AND my wish to occasionally be around other humans.

Back to churches and other religious organizations—the major world religions do NOT like us babes. They DO NOT respect vagina bearers and it’s unclear whether they even consider us human. Organized religion is, essentially, a shit-ton of desperately insecure, mentally unbalanced dudes. Always has been and, probably always will. Plus I’m, at most, agnostic. I’m not buying what the god-botherers are selling. We're not a good match.

I only mention it but…

The Old Testament, used by the cherry-picking Christofascists, says that a man who rapes a woman must then buy her from her father. The assaulted woman has no say in the matter. She is nothing more than property.

If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
~ Deuteronomy 22:28-29

Deuteronomy is also the fifth book of the Torah but I’ve never heard a rabbi quote this egregious horseshit. Granted, it’s been a long-ass time since I’ve gone to shul and I’ve never attended Orthodox services. So, who knows?

The Quran states that wives are to submit to and obey their husbands. If they don’t or the husband so much as suspects her of having her own mind? She’s to be beaten until she falls in line.

As for women of whom you fear rebellion, convince them, and leave them apart in beds, and beat them. Then, if they obey you, do not seek a way against them. Surely, Allah is the Highest, the Greatest.
~ An-Nisa 34

Within Hindu’s Dharmaśāstras is Mānava-Dharmaśāstra or the Laws of Manu.

A man should give his daughter, in accordance with the rules, to a distinguished, handsome suitor who is like her, even if she has not reached (the right age).
~ Manusmriti chapter 9, verse 88

A man, aged thirty years, shall marry a maiden of twelve who pleases him, or a man of twenty-four a girl eight years of age...
~ Manusmriti Chapter 9, Verse 94

Apparently, just like the Republi/Fascist “christians,” we’re considered to be no more than livestock. AND, like Pedo Von ShitzenPantz and his BFF Jeffrey Epstein, they like ‘em young—easier to manipulate and intimidate.

Buddhism doesn’t jump out at me as being especially patriarchal but the rules of monastic discipline (Vinaya Pitaka) say otherwise. Fer instance:

There are more rules for nuns (bhikkunis) than monks (bhikkus), 331 as against 227, because while everyone has to control their desires, women have the additional burden of not “arousing the desires of men.”
~~~
In the tale of Sudinna, a young monk breaks his vows of celibacy after his old parents beg him to give his wife, whom he had abandoned, a child so that his family lineage may continue. When this is revealed, the Buddha admonishes him thus: “It is better for you to have put your manhood in the mouth of a venomous snake or a pit of burning charcoal than a woman.” (source)

Call it a hunch but that doesn’t sound like Buddhists are too keen on women, equality and men taking responsibility for their shit.

This brings me to the doorstep of the Satanic Temple. I went to their About page and found some interesting tidbits (it’s well worth a visit and full read).          

The Mission Of The Satanic Temple Is To Encourage Benevolence And Empathy, Reject Tyrannical Authority, Advocate Practical Common Sense, Oppose Injustice, And Undertake Noble Pursuits.

Then there are the Seven Fundamental Tenets which include:

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.

The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.

One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.

On the Frequently Asked Questions page I found:

Q: I WANT TO SELL MY SOUL, GET RICH, JOIN THE ILLUMINATI, ETC.
A: Please look elsewhere.

I think they have a dry sense of humor and/or are just refreshingly direct.

Q: DO YOU WORSHIP SATAN?
A: No, nor do we believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural….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.

Q: IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL, HOW IS TST A RELIGION?
A: The idea that religion belongs to supernaturalists is ignorant, backward, and offensive. The metaphorical Satanic construct is no more arbitrary to us than are the deeply held beliefs that we actively advocate. Are we supposed to believe that those who pledge submission to an ethereal supernatural deity hold to their values more deeply than we? Are we supposed to concede that only the superstitious are rightful recipients of religious exemption and privilege? Satanism provides all that a religion should be without a compulsory attachment to untenable items of faith-based belief. It provides a narrative structure by which we contextualize our lives and works. It also provides a body of symbolism and religious practice — a sense of identity, culture, community, and shared values.

Unsurprisingly, to me anyway, the international headquarters for The Satanic Temple is up in Salem, Massachusetts. In current traffic that's about an hour and a half drive—not bad. Yes, I bought the T. How could I resist?

Questions: Is The Satanic Temple, more or less, an agnostic/atheist version of the Unitarian Universalists? Also, do they have a knitting group?