• I came across the fundamental tenets of the Satanic Temple the other day and I actually found them surprisingly reasonable:

 Satanic Temple Logo

There are seven fundamental tenets.

  • One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards 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 willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own.
  • Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.
  • People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may 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

 

I confess to finding the imagery of a Goat-Headed God disturbing, but the above tenets sound like ideas we need more of in the world.

 

Not many people are aware that the hebrew term "ha satan" means "the adversary" as in the prosecution in a court case. Conversely, the holy spirit, which the bible says Jesus sends to his followers is called a helper, comforter, advocate and counselor, which would be akin to a lawyer for the defense.

 

This is where I have a problem figuring out who is on which side.  Some vocal "Christians" want "religious freedom" laws that allow them to refuse service to people they deem "sinful", yet their Bible, that they want taught in schools to the exclusion of science, states unequivocally "Judge not." and "Forgive seventy times seven" and numerous other straightforward admonitions to be forgiving and tolerant, patient and long-suffering.

 

So if Jesus takes the side of helper, comforter and advocate for the sinner, and Satan is making accusations and pressing charges he hopes will get people eternal life in hell without parole, I'd say people that want to punish people who somehow fall short, in their estimation, are more like Satan than Jesus and could more accurately be described as Satanists than Christians.

 

We live in a bizarro world where up is down and black is white, and reason has gone into hiding for fear of being labeled a heretic or a traitor to the cause. If there was a real Satan, such a system of self-righteous zealots persecuting (and prosecuting) anyone who deviates slightly from the conformity the "good people" propound would be ideal.  This is why we lock people up and ruin their lives for smoking flowers and we have been known to chemically castrate homosexual males as recently as the 60s. If somebody is poor, unemployed, or homeless, or sick without insurance, they must have done some evil thing that required punishment. From pulpits across the land, pastors are encouraging their flocks to be on guard against sin and not to countenance sinners in their homes or places of business. The problem is, the true sinner, and the only one you can truly change, is in the mirror.

 

In the movie "Excalibur", Arthur asks Merlin, "Where hides evil in my kingdom, then?", to which Merlin replies, "Always... where you never expect it. Always."