The Satanic Temple

https://ibb.co/mL2wZqG

Hail Seitan!

There Are Seven Fundamental Tenets:

I - One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.

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

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

IV - 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 one's own.

V - 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.

VI - 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.

VII - 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.

Since in the modern age we can obtain all of the nutrition we need from a well-planned plant-based diet, by buying & consuming animal products, we participate in unnecessary cruelty to sentient beings

I can make an argument that being non-vegan in the modern age is violating all seven of these tenets

Tenet I : It's neither reasonable, nor compassionate or empathetic, to needlessly exploit & take the life of a creature when we have moral agency & alternatives, unlike other animals.

Tenet II : It's true that it's legal to exploit & unalive animals today, but it was also legal to own slaves in the past. Just because we're legally allowed to do something doesn't mean we should.

Tenet III : One's body being inviolable and subject to their own will alone should extend to all sentient beings. If it doesn't, Name The Trait in a way that doesn't lead to contradiction or absurdity

That is - Name The Trait different between humans and other animals that makes it okay to do things to other animals that we wouldn't be okay with being done to humans.

I.e. justify the speciesist discrimination and double standard and differential treatment.

Tenet IV : We should be free to tell people they're hypocrites for loving dogs & eating cows, or even for participating in the exploitative pet industry instead of adopting/rescuing companion animals.

Even if this is offensive to people. It's freedom of speech and necessary for the activism and the struggle for justice that should prevail above laws and institutions (Tenet II).

To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of other sentient beings, is to forgo your own right to be respected like you would be if you first gave respect to other individuals (animals).

Tenet V : Insisting we need to eat meat or animal products to be healthy despite that disagreeing with scientific consensus, is distorting scientific facts to fit your beliefs,

& not conforming beliefs to your best scientific understanding of the world.

It's denying reality,

burying your head in the sand to avoid confronting the truth,

& living in ignorance & delusion & the willfull, unnecessary destruction & oppression of others, self, & planet.

Tenet VI : Assuming that we are already perfect & couldn't possibly be doing anything wrong or unjust, despite every historical society participating in normalized injustice, is not recognizing humans

are fallible.

And, when confronted with your mistake, in the form of what your kind have raised you to traditionally participate in regarding unnecessary systemic exploitation & violence to sentient beings,

if your response is to deflect, close your ears, & refuse to take personal responsibility or change any behavior, is to not do one's best to rectify it & resolve any harm that might have been caused.

then that is to not right the wrong and fundamentally unjust relationship between humans and other animals and resolve it into one of harmonious and respectful coexistence.

Rather than one of needless exploitation, domination, violence, cruelty, and oppression.

Finally, Tenet VII : To claim that because these tenets do not specifically mention an obligation to not exploit & harm non-human animals unnecessarily & to be vegan, that means it isn't entailed by

the values underlying them, is to not let every tenet serve as guiding principles designed to inspire nobility in action & thought & not allow the spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice to prevail

over the written or spoken word.

https://www.satanictemplewashington.com/menstruatin-with-satan

The local chapter here has broken off because of issues with Lucien Greaves (I'm avoiding that discussion), so I'm kind of floating around.

Even having a few likeminded people on Lemmy would be great.

A Florida school board paused a plan for a chaplain program after receiving First Amendment concerns — and interest from The Satanic Temple.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/14405947

Florida Satanists are volunteering to fill school counselor roles after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a law allowing religious chaplains into public schools amid staffing shortages.

“Nothing in the text of the bill serves to exclude us, and no credible interpretation of the First Amendment could. Should a school district now choose to have chaplains, they should expect Satanists to participate as well,” Lucien Greaves, cofounder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, said in a statement to The Hill on Monday.

Back when DeSantis signed the bill in April, he described Satanism as “not a religion” and said its members would not be allowed to participate in the program.

...

The Florida move allowing chaplains to serve as public school counselors comes as more states are aiming to inject Christianity into public school environments, including by mandating that the Bible or Ten Commandments be taught in classrooms.

The Satanic Temple has increasingly leaned into the fight over freedom of religion in public schools, including through the establishment of After School Satan clubs.

The temple, founded in 2014, says its mission is to “encourage benevolence and empathy, [and] reject tyrannical authority.”

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/13614799

The Satanic Temple is once again announcing plans for the Sooner State after a bill was sent to the governor’s desk which could allow students to receive class credits for religious and moral instruction off school campuses.

House Bill 1425 would force school districts to adopt a policy which allows students to go off-campus to attend a religious or moral instruction course taught by an independent entity. The student would be allowed to miss up to three class periods per week to attend such a course.

Instructors of these courses would not need to be licensed or certified teachers.

...

In response to the bill being one step away from becoming the state’s newest law, The Satanic Temple is highlighting their own learning academy that Oklahoma students could use to possibly earn school credit.

In a post on social media, the religious group stated their Hellion Academy of Independent Learning (HAIL) could soon be available for Oklahoma students.

“The Satanic Temple believes that public schools should be free from religious influence,” the post said. “We are, however, prepared to ensure our members’ children receive the same opportunities as those participating in other religion’s programs. By not vetoing HB 1425, Governor Stitt will allow the state to grant elective credit for religious and morality classes taught by The Satanic Temple, making it possible for parents to invite TST’s HAIL program to their local public schools as soon as this fall.”

#TST Latest News: Legal Update with #LucienGreaves, @hemantmehta ,and David Williamson [04.23.2024]
>

https://www.thesatanictemple.tv/programs/tst-latest-news-legal-update-livestream-04-23-2024?category%5C_id=195971

Lucien Greaves, Hemant Mehta (Friendly #Atheist), and David Williamson (Central Florida #FreeThought Community) discuss the #publicschool #chaplain bill proposed by #ChristianNationalists in #Florida. The bill would allow for a widely unregulated #religious presence in public #schools. @thesatanictemple is preparing to offer #Ministers, if the bill passes.

"We are going to put Satanic chaplains in Florida schools, nothing in the bill places limits on who can become a chaplain, and Ron DeSantis can not simply amend the Constitution limiting the religious liberty of some by proclamation from the podium. "

excellent, yes. exactly. @thesatanictemple

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/desantis-says-satanism-is-not-real-and-not-qualifying-for-new-florida-school-chaplain-program/

Super broad question, but I want to ask if there are other communities similar in one aspect or another to the Satanic Temple?

The organisation known as the Satanic Temple is getting ready to send its chaplains into Florida schools, as a bill edges closer to adoption that allows volunteer chaplains in schools.

The religious group, which does not actually believe in Satan, encourages “effective and artful protest”, according to its website.

In the ten years since its conception, the group has advocated for First Amendment rights, as well as religious freedom, across the United States.

A Michigan man was arrested for planning to bomb The Satanic Temple headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts, police said.

Luke Isaac Terpstra, 30, of Grant, Michigan was arrested on Jan. 2 by Grant police, according to a Jan. 12 news release from the Salem Police Department. Terpstra is charged with possession of bombs with unlawful intent.

Michigan law enforcement were tipped off about Terpstra’s plan by his mother, WZZM reported citing court documents.