What’s up with all the Satan stuff these days? After school Satan clubs are regularly in the news. Satanists are raising money for abortions in New Mexico. The Grammy Awards featured a Satan-themed song and dance routine reminiscent of Joe Biden’s “Dark Brandon” speech. I can’t recall such a rapid-fire assault from this societal fringe.
It’s easy to reflexively react to this as the latest promotion of evil, which it is. It’s easy to dismiss this as preposterous, which it also is. But the fundamental thread that runs through these observations is that Satanism is just another false ideology.
Satanism isn’t monolithic, but it’s instructive to examine some of the more prominent sects to better understand what they’re up to. I would ordinarily add hyperlinks to a lot of the information below but I’m not entirely comfortable doing that for this column so I beg your trust in my cutting, pasting, and transcription skills.
The Satanic Temple of Salem, Massachusetts is unequivocal in saying it does not believe in the existence of Satan. Similarly, the Church of Satan does not believe in Satan as a being or person. This structure is analogous to me saying I'm a Wolfmanist; I don’t believe in the existence of the Wolfman, just Wolfman-y ideas.
Essentially these groups are mirrors reflecting what others think and say about Satan, without actually believing in him. The Temple is fluid in what they claim to believe, saying “our beliefs must be malleable.” As for the Church of Satan, it argues that “each individual is his or her own god—there is no room for any other god and that includes Satan.”
It reminds me of comedian Flip Wilson’s ‘Church of What’s Happening Now’ sketches from the 1970s, which skewered phony churches, and expertly so. Flip Wilson was a funny guy.
But there’s something else we need to understand about these Satanists: the political implications of what they do. There’s no ambiguity in the Temple’s belief in “building a politically active Satanic movement.” The Church of Satan is more circumspect, urging followers to “support political candidates and movements whose goals reflect their own practical needs and desires.”
What might this political activity look like? Some of it is revealed in the Temple’s fundraising come-ons to subsidize abortionists in New Mexico. As for the Church of Satan, it suggests people vote for politicians who can accelerate the pursuit of an America with 330 million individual gods.
Other political inclinations are seen in the Satanic Temple’s upcoming SatanCon event in April which demands “proof of COVID vaccination,” and further stipulates that “attendees must wear an N-95, KN-95, or disposable surgical mask.” These COVID mandates clearly contradict the Temple’s claim to “protect the bodily autonomy of our members,” which is a predicate for its abortion fundraising pitches.
But such contradictions mean nothing to an ideology whose beliefs are malleable. In this respect, there’s a lot of connective tissue between these Satanists and America’s modern authoritarian Left.
Not too long ago, the Left was very vocal about saving the whales. Today, they couldn’t care less about whales dying in numbers amid offshore windmill developments.
The Left used to oppose the genital mutilation of girls. Today, they advocate and facilitate it.
The Left used to demonstrate for freedom of speech. Today, they demonstrate to restrict speech.
The Left used to be anti-war. Today, they demand we support war in eastern Europe.
The Left used to protest against Big Business. Today, they kowtow before it, seeking money from billionaires.
The Left used to say homosexuality was innate. Today, they say sexuality is fluid.
The Left used to oppose racial segregation. Today, they agitate for separation of the races.
Beyonce used to say she supported LGBTQ rights. Today, she earns $26 million an hour for a concert in Dubai, where being gay is a crime.
This is what you get with the malleable beliefs of Satanists and the American Left. I’m not saying the Left is necessarily Satanic but the tactics of the two ideologies are well aligned. Where there is no foundational belief, belief shifts on the whims of culture. This enables the agitation and propaganda necessary for authoritarians to exercise control over people, and it never ends well.
People crave meaning in their lives and usually seek it through a belief system. Misguided people find meaning in Leftism, Satanism, secular humanism and other ill-conceived ideologies. They are deceived into believing these ideologies have merit but they are hollow at best and evil at worst.
My hope is that these lost souls find something founded on truth, on absolutes, on a heliocentric worldview; attributes absent from many ideologies. They might consider the words of a man, globally recognized by Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, even irreligious people, who said 2,000 years ago, “Know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” It might be worth a shot.