The Satanic Temple loses its case against the City of Scottsdale, Arizona over a proposal to make an opening prayer on a city council meeting.
The ruling is NOT surprising to me. From the beginning, the city claimed that there were no ties to the community. No Satanists in Scottsdale, apparently. Or none that was willing to pursue this fiasco anyway.
The Patheos site is a BLOG site. It's not journalism. So before you start sharing the shit out of it, understand it's not really a news outlet. Does it tell the story, yes. Accurately, yes...BUT, not the complete story. That's where blogs tend to fall short at best. It's just an example; if you wanna hate. Facts matter, sorry NOT sorry.
The blog states that TST lost their case and therefore the "everybody wins" still applies somehow because they were able to prove that Satanism is a religion, Still. Um, uh, I think this was established in 1966, correct me if I'm wrong. Please, I dare anyone.
In their own words, I "got the right to offend" unless its them, so I know this may sting a little but trust me, I question EVERYTHING. If its gonna be religion, so be it. If its gonna be political advocacy, fine by me, but never assume you represent me or do me any favors invoking Satanism into your plan of action for political views that differ from mine.
I much rather have a separation of Church and Politics (State). Satanism is highly unforgiving. We are not a perfect group. We don't agree on everything. Yes, there's evil in Satanism as is, good-hearted people. It has nothing to do with character or political agendas. Satanism is a religion and formalized as such in 1966.
If you walked away thinking you had a small victory in the face of a major defeat, I got news for ya, you're wrong. Satanism is a REAL religion and has been since the dawn of time. It's been structured and formalized by The Church of Satan in 1966. If you ask any TST member today what does Satan Represent, they will cite The Satanic Bible by Anton Lavey. If you ask if there are any SINS in Satanism, they will cite, The Satanic Bible. If you ask how they came up with their SIGIL, well, let me guess, inspired by the Maurice Bessy's version that was adopted by The Church of Satan? More than likely. Get my point? What books have they written? Can it be said they are even an organized "CHURCH" after all, they did file to become one as a 301.C Non-Profit, right?
Again, this may sound quite scathing upon reading it but these are the facts. I am not making this shit up. In 2013 people were wanting a new leader to rise to the forefront of modern Satanism. Anton Lavey had been long gone by then. The current leadership of the Church of Satan was all but lacking at the time when out of nowhere, this new group that was founded on humor that got turned into something more serious and became a thing. It literally grew in popularity alone. It represented a voice for many hot topics but over time, they have lost its leadership due to stories that were leaking. It was not so much a religious awakening it was thought to be in the early days, it was heavily relying on politics and attention-grabbing headliners. Since then, chapter heads have left in droves and ideas ran short on how to continue momentum for their political agenda.
In all, I can honestly say, many of us sorta grew up and out of this phenomenon that had peaked a few years back. Many of its own chapter heads currently are still told to refrain from telling its members to stop reading the Satanic Bible and to just stick to 7 tenets instead. This blog by Patheos, to me is very biased. I would not doubt that they are in support of the group OR PERHAPS they get enough readers that is attractive to its advertisers on the the site. Those flashing ads on the sides of the articles or as you scroll down, they pop up here and there. There is NONE OF that here, by the way, just saying.
The takeaway from this blog is simply that they reported the story and wants to paint TST in a brighter light. It was a long 4 year fight of wasted tax money over something that is just so mundane and stupid. Who fucking cares if we are not allowed to say a prayer in a City Council meeting. If anything, we all have but 1 vote and we can vote to put people in that would allow it to happen in the future. Why not spend funding on a campaign that would elect people that would make this happen instead of fighting this out in court. In the end, it proved nothing but a story without a happy ending....
Oh wait, if calling Satanism a REAL religion was a sure winner for you, then you really need to shift your focus on better victories than that.
I have no ties to Patheos blog site. However, here is the link: You decide what you get from this. Not everyone will agree and that is always expected. I am not a member of The Church of Satan. I am not a member of The Satanic Temple.
I am not a labeled Satanist, such as Theistic, Non-Theistic, LaVeyan, blah blah blah...I am a SATANIST. Plain and Simple.
You want to call me otherwise, so be it, if it makes you feel better. I know myself and I am true to that. I am not here to impress you.
Xerxes
