Satan keeping the NEW Church in Business.
Disclosure: This blog page is an opinion editorial space based around news media, social media, and other pop culture related topics that are relative to Satanism and the views and expressions of Xerxes.
This is not journalism. It is encouraged that you do your own research that relates to the topics discussed here.
First lets gets some clearances out of the way. You will have noticed that there is a disclosure. I do not always provide sources as in journalism. I am not a reporter and I am not writing a book and required to list sources. For this piece, I will do my best in doing so for the sake of making my case.
One thing I have learned about being a business owner many times over, is that you are NOT a CEO until OTHERS call you a CEO. Throughout my business ventures I have come across a lot of eager entrepreneurs. Some will have a small level of success and they begin carrying the title of CEO on business cards. By legal standards, you WOULD be a CEO if you file your business with the Corporation Commission of the state your business is based out of. In the Articles of Corporation, you are required to list the people whom hold positions in your company. CEO being at the very top. However, this by no means represents that you know what you are doing and that you are highly successful with your business. Its just a name on paper. The respect and honor comes from those in the market. The ones who support you will ultimately take your seriously, OR NOT.
In the past, I had blogged about how so many "churches and organizations" were popping up everywhere. ALL trying to claim the top spot of the groups they form. Forming a group or organization and placing yourself at the top of the legal paperwork. There is a required time and consistency element that goes with what you stand for and the direction your organization takes under your guidance. Not to mention that transparency can also help. Sure, you can call yourself the HIGH PRIEST of WHATEVER, but it's the people you need to make an impression on. Much like being in business. When you are small, nobody cares who you are. You are just one of MANY whom have created a small business. Even when you are a CEO on some legal documents, you still need to be called that by the people you serve and work for you. Such is the case when you wish to claim to be a high priest of any religious organization. In the case of The Satanic Temple, whether or not anyone is referring themselves as a High Priest, the leadership needs to still earn that kind of respect reserved only for such leadership roles. Such respect is earned through the masses, never by titles that are self imposed. I make no claim that this exact thing is occurring in the organization, however, keep reading and you will understand the case I am making and why it is important with the relevant news that The Satanic Temple is now a CHURCH by IRS standards.
Let me remind you of that time The Satanic Temple was fighting for abortion rights in Missouri. Anyone remember that? Hoow short our memories run. That was around 2016. The case was eventually dismissed due to the plaintiff that wanted out. The plaintiff was being assisted by The Satanic Temple. You see, I was fascinated by The Satanic Temple's rise to fame once too. I thought it was great what they were doing. They took up a noble cause on behalf of someone whom wanted assistance with their abortion case.
Since then, The Satanic Temple began raising money for this case. A case that would eventually get dismissed. There is certainly an article written on this from an interview of the woman whom was seeking the abortion. However, The Satanic Temple would not mention this falling out not the mere mention of the fact that the case has since been dismissed and nobody bats an eye. WHY? Because the Statue was a great story too and well, a distraction by chance. Maybe it was an accidental coincidence or perhaps great public relations to avoid that story that resulted in failure.
The Church of Satan website recently purchased a blog of their own that is VERY MUCH LIKE JOURNALISM. To their credit, despite how you may feel about them, they have tons of links attached to phrases in the blog/news page that take you back to the source of their findings. It is HIGHLY important that everyone understand that this type of writing is so impressive and well researched that I honestly believed that for a second their, they majored in journalism in college or have sources in journalism that assisted with that publication. Just an astonishing amount of content. I could hardly contain myself from saying YOU MUST READ THIS.
I was once a big time supporter of The Satanic Temple but have slowly reserved my opinions about them in recent months prior to this. The reason is due to stories that have gone unchecked and followed up on. The first being the Missouri case in which I followed very closely but like many of its supporters were then distracted by the unveiling of the statue and then the follow up story about putting it in Oklahoma, followed by Kansas. I mean, at some point, Missouri got buried in the past. And to my fault, like many others, my memory ran short because it was hard to keep up with so much going on.
How about the time they sued TWITTER? What happened there is when I first realized that The Satanic Temple was not what I anticipated. They were not the organization I would have hoped they'd be. I began to be skeptical when actions spoke louder than the words they were putting out.
The Twitter story goes that The Satanic Temple hired an attorney that was KNOWN to have represented White Nationalists and hate groups ALIKE. An attorney that represents groups that were involved in the CHARLOTTESVILLE incident. And over what!!? A fucking Twitter account that was eventually RESTORED??!
Listen, when you are on facebook or ANY other social media website, you are on THEIR platform and ITS THEIR RULES! Plain and Simple. They do their best to regulate their site, after all, it IS THEIRS NOT YOURS. If they felt compelled to block your account, you have an option that they created to allow for a review. Lucien Greaves, based on my understanding, requested to have his account reinstated and while he waiting, he most likely got the attorney lined up for a fight. In the end, Twitter DID reinstated the account AND DESPITE THAT, I believe they got sued anyway.
What happened afterwards, by my own interpretation, that the suit was dropped. In such cases, agreements between parties were probably drawn up between the parties and guess what? WE WILL NEVER KNOW THE DETAILS. Why? Well, like some court cases, they probably agreed to not discuss this in public any further otherwise, more lawsuits typically tend to fly. I am not a lawyer but come on, how many times have we not seen this before?
Ok. Maybe this isn't STILL enough to convince you of why I am bothered by the recent news they released. You see, all these stories in just a couple of years. Is your memory running short? I am sure you can recall these stories if you have been a TST supporter but you probably cannot explain away what resulted in the end of all these stories. Like the time Chapter Heads across the country were leaving The Satanic Temple. Anyone remember that? There were claims that they were restructuring while the former Chapter Heads were quick to discredit this by posting explanations why they left. Again, read the article posted by the COS. May sound a bit biased but in truthfulness, that article was done in a journalistic. Perhaps its a bit biased by these are things that DID happen and The Satanic Temple has come up with explanations or NOT by moving on to new legal battles and other entanglements that can distract from the underlying issues that plague them.
What about the Sabrina The Teenage Witch? The Netflix lawsuit. If they are claiming to be a religion now, more so than ever, then Baphomet should be considered a deity and a likeness used of THEIR statue is hard to believe why they would be so upset over it. Instead of being honored by the suggestion that Hollywood would use imagery that we can relate to. Instead they get sued. And again, the FULL DISCLOSURE of that lawsuit is SEALED. What is about the MONEY? HHMM...
Just before this case, was the Twitter case that I simply cannot wrap my head around. So what happened with Netflix, THEY WILL NEVER ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT IT. Just another blanket vague response to announce that it was settled. I saw an interview where Lucien Greaves was asked if there was money involved. The question was refused and leaves everyone to wonder but body reaction speaks louder than words, JUST SAYING. I strongly feel that this lawsuit was totally unnecessary and clearly it was about getting paid from such a big company like Netflix.
I can't help but say, revert to the articles written here. I have read everything and finally felt that it is time to more open about my stance on how I view all this.
Read this story, stop to click the links along the way. Just browse through the articles linked, you will see that they make their case vividly clear. Go back to the CoS page and continue reading. I had to admit, WELL WRITTEN and SOURCED!
Now that we got that COVERED. LET ME FINALLY BEGIN...
I know people reading this may react critically to me. They will discredit some of what I say. Perhaps calling all this a bunch of bullshit. You know what? FINE BY ME. This is not written to convince the readers of what they SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT DO. This is not a NON-PROFIT or an effort to raise money for a cause that is uncalled for. Speaking that, Just want to add another closely related incident that I experienced. If you are a follower of my facebook page, do you remember when I posted a pic of The Satanic Bible and said, NO ONE whom claims to be a Satanist could have become a Satanist without ever reading this book first! PERIOD.
Some of the backlash I received was regarding how much bullshit was in this very book. I mean, this is what they said! And THIS, is what they did. See Pic Below.
Started a book club at the Arizona Chapter and there you go. SELF EXPLANATORY. Criticizing Anton LaVey's The Satanic Bible and yet, applying much of it to yourself to CLAIM yourself a Satanist. While at the same time, turning a different direction and making an attempt to be far more superior than what The Church of Satan has already achieved, 50 years in the making. I mean, seriously.
Then there is THIS:
When I shared this pic on my social media, I found it surprising how no one questions the originator that posted this pic, from the facebook page, The American Satanist. But I guess when you have a large following and someone drops a pic like this, its likely to grab some attention.
Here we are, once again. Another crazy move by The Satanic Temple and I am supposed to remain silent on this because "They are not just fighting for Satanic rights, they are fighting for everyone's rights." - Penny Lane, filmmaker - Hail Satan? So, FUCK THE ACLU right? FUCK them for doing what this very thing for many years and I should just let The Satanic Temple step in and do that now? If you are going to fight for rights, you might want to fight for Satanic rights. However, I think we already fought this war. The War for Independence. The freedom of religion, etc...
Listen, I get it. There is push-back from the Christian Right an so forth. I get that they try to meddle into politics to get their agendas put in place to force everyone into them eventually. I get all that. However, The Satanic Temple, if it was an ACTIVIST GROUP from the beginning then is it now a RELIGION? You cannot be both because religion has NO PLAY in politics. It should never be allowed to be something other than what it is. It is the core reason why Anton LaVey wrote on this subject before. Its not rocket science and its not something new. The statement The Satanic Temple put out was they were the first Satanic religion to be recognized in the country. Its simply NOT true. You couldn't even get your public relations statement out correctly. But who am I to say, right? I tell you who, someone whom is no longer going to accept what you put out as a way for me to follow and hang on every statement you put there. Your statements and actions are not a rallying cry for me to come to the herd to be led. I am officially DONE.
What may have and COULD have been a good thing in 2013 has become something it cannot be in 2019.
Satanism as a religion does not need to be in every political arena someone in your organization's leadership feels they want to be in. I will take my chances with getting the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) to handle my business. If I MUST vote with my money, I will double down on the ACLU.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."
I don't think I can even wrap my head around the decision to file for such a status. I mean, THIS IS THE CORE STANDARD OF SATANISM.
A CORE STANDARD OF SATANISM...has always been NO CHURCHES, PERIOD. Ever!
It is simply unbelievable. I want to also remind everyone that I have written about the importance of VOTING with your money. Something I often blogged about when buying products online versus other NON-Satanic Competitors trying to turn a quick buck from China.
The IRS has this listed as a Christian classification. For whatever reason, whether it be a joke or not, I see this as simply a complete turn around from what Satanism is.
Satanism is NOT a support group. Its a religion, FIRST AND FOREMOST. Yes, everyone has their own opinion and their own spin on what it is to them but it should NEVER come to being an actual ORGANIZATION that claims such a status. It is alot like saying, if you cannot beat them, join them. Something that I cannot accept.
"A person has to be good to themselves before they can be good to other people...
This is very selfish religion. We believe in greed; we believe in selfishness; we believe in all the lustful thoughts that motivate man because this is man's natural feeling" - Anton LaVey
No doubt in my mind that, THAT quote by Anton LaVey is not something The Satanic Temple agrees with. Depending on who you ask, its either because Anton LaVey wrote it. Or they MIGHT accept it when it is convenient to self claim, SATANIST.
Question Everything. Question YOURSELF and VOTE. Where is your money going towards? Nazi attorneys? Frivolous lawsuits in Hollywood? You make the call.
Xerxes
