They first cropped up seemingly out of nowhere about six years ago, adorned in black capes with curved devil horns affixed to their heads, holding posters and black American flags as they shouted ‘Hail, Satan’ on the steps of government institutions from Arkansas and Florida to Oklahoma and Detroit.
Satanism is becoming so popular in America that a new documentary at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival in Utah called '
Hail, Satan?', and it will endeavour to show you that people over at The Satanic Temple are just misunderstood good guys. How are they pulling off that trick? Easy, by aligning their message with the message of the Progressive Left in Washington, DC.
"...but this is your hour, and the power of darkness." Luke 22:53 (KJV)
Actually, the political tenants of the Democratic Socialists who are growing in power in Washington and the beliefs of The Satanic Temple are very closely aligned. They both are godless, genderless, pro-abortion, amoral and self-glorifying. Think of it like a reboot of the 1960's motto of "if it feels good, do it", throw in a dash of politics and a sprig of Lucifer, and suddenly it's hard to tell the two groups apart.
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." Isaiah 14:12-14 (KJV)
Both Satanism and Democratic Socialism promise you freedom, but they are actually
placing you in chains. Satan's only goal is to seek, to kill and to destroy. In 2019, Satanism has been largely accepted by the Progressive Left and will continue to grow in popularity, and that is something that you as a Christian will have to come to terms with. We who believe in the only Saviour, Jesus of Nazareth, are scheduled to be
removed in the
Pretribulation Rapture of the Church.
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;" Titus 2:13 (KJV)
So, on your way out and up, why not
witness the gospel of the grace of God to as many as you can? In His mercy, there are still a few open seats on Flight #777 on Titus213 Airlines, but you better hurry. The engines are warming up and I just heard them issue final boarding call. See you up there, and make sure to bring at least one person with you.
The Satanic Temple, founded in 2012 by Lucien Greaves and Malcolm Jarry, has since spread to dozens of chapters across the US and Europe
FROM THE DAILY MAIL UK: The antics and declarations seemed like a hoax to many – onlookers and journalists and politicians alike – until it became apparent that members of newly-formed The Satanic Temple were here to stay.
And they were growing, exponentially. Since TST’s founding in 2012, the organization has increased from a handful of members to tens of thousands, with chapters all over the US and the globe, from Stockholm to London and Los Angeles to Texas. And their ‘pranksterism,’ as
filmmaker Penny Lane first considered it, has given way to a well-conceived ethos, forming an organized ‘religion’ for a ‘group of contrarians’ opposed to any organization at all.
‘If you’re godless , free-thinking and are a rebel, then you are a Satanist in the eyes of many in our community and society and, certainly, by people in your government, whether you like it or not,’ Blackmore says in the film. ‘Before I decided I was a Satanist, it was really the Bible that said, “This is what a Satanist was like.’
The Satanic Temple, it seems, is becoming more and more firmly established across the United States – largely composed of individuals who don’t even worship Satan in the first place but center on a different interpretation of biblical teachings. And Lane’s new documentary about the group,
premiering later this month at Utah’s famed Sundance Film Festival, paints a surprising portrait of the unlikely ‘religion’ – one which has challenged even the preconceived notions of the director herself.
‘The reason this became a feature length documentary was that I found so many interesting surprises at each stage of discovery,’ says Lane, the title of whose documentary – Hail, Satan? – fittingly addresses the controversy surrounding the relatively neophyte group.
'To us, Satan is the symbol that best suits the nature of we who are carnal by birth - people who feel no battles raging between our thoughts and feelings, we who do not embrace the concept of a soul imprisoned in a body. He represents pride, liberty, and individualism - qualities often defined as Evil by those who worship external deities, who feel there is a war between their minds and emotions.'
‘Every layer of the onion that we peeled back, there was like something really surprising at the next layer. The first thing you know, I could see, was how serious and intelligent they were – despite what you might expect of a bunch of Satanists. They were really sophisticated thinkers, and many times the people who would go out in public against what they do would sound like raving lunatics.’
In comparison to the protesting hardcore Christians, she says, ‘the Satanists were like the adults in the room – not at all what I was expecting.
‘The next thing I came to understand was they weren’t pretending to be Satanists to make a political point. They were Satanists. My understanding of what a Satanist was simply incorrect – so those were the first kind of two layers of surprises for me.
‘Modern Satanism is a non-theistic religious practice that uses the symbol of the literary symbol of Satan as a kind of symbol … against tyrannical authority,’ she tells DailyMail.com.
Hail, Satan? follows not only the TST founders but also regular members across the country and the world – trying ‘to get a more accurate picture of day-to-day life at a local level, which is really at the heart of what the Satanic Temple is,’ Lane continues. ‘Like, oh, it looks like a bunch of headline-grabbing clever pranks – but in reality … what’s going on here is nice people gathering in their communities who organize [charity events] … or do challenge very, very local power.’
The documentary initially focuses on co-founders Lucien Greaves – not his real name, though he’s pictured on camera and has essentially become the spokesperson for TST – and Malcolm Jarry, whose face is never shown. Many members, in fact, are pixelated in footage, and quite a big deal is made of the threats to members from people opposed to their views, despite the fact that many detractors have no idea what TST members actually believe.
The Satanic Temple has seven clearly laid-out tenets – guidelines that would, perhaps, surprise many who think they know what Satanism is. They are:
- One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason;
- 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;
- The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To wilfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one’s one;
- Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs;
- 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;
- 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.’
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