satanic temple

Outrage: Evangelical Beheads Statue of Baphomet at the Iowa State Capitol

I’m a stanch believer in the separation of church and state. “In god we trust” should be removed from our currency, the ten commandments should be excised from every government building, chaplains shouldn’t be reciting prayers in Congress, and nativity scenes should be banned from the Iowa State Capitol and every other government building.

The Satanic Temple erected the Baphomet statue in the State Capital as a countermeasure and antidote to the nativity scene also exhibited in the building.

The Satanic Temple uses Satanic imagery to promote human rights, social justice, secularism, and the separation of church and state. They are a non-theistic religion that uses Satan as a symbol and a metaphor. They don’t believe Satan is a real person, and they don’t resort to violence if someone denigrates their faith or desecrates their religious symbols.

Evangelicals believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and their religious beliefs are the antithesis of the peace-loving creed of the Satanic Temple. They use the Bible to justify racism, homophobia, xenophobia and misogyny. They become apoplectic whenever anyone mocks and ridicules their religion, and evangelicals and Christians of all stripes have started countless wars in the name of Jesus.

A former military officer and evangelical zealot who desecrated the display of the Satanic temple and beheaded the statue of Baphomet is being hailed as a hero by evangelicals. Never mind that the Satanic Temple was given approval by state authorities to participate alongside other holiday displays, evangelicals are applauding his criminal behavior.

WWJD? If Jesus came back and visited the Iowa State Capitol, would he destroy the statue of Baphomet, or just shake his head and lament the fact that the Satanic Temple embodies and practices his peaceful religion better than evangelicals?

Evangelical Christianity a Greater Threat to Democracy Than the Satanic Temple

The Satanic Temple is a nontheistic religious and political activist group based in Salem, Massachusetts. The Temple has chapters in 13 US states and in Canada. The group uses Satanic imagery to promote egalitarianism, social justice, and the separation of church and state.

Wikipedia

Evangelical Christianity is a greater threat to democracy and all that it entails (free speech, religious liberty, social justice) than the Satanic Temple.

Most Christians consider my opening statement blasphemous and they will immediately dismiss me as a godless liberal. But I pray that most of you will extend me the courtesy of reading my entire essay.

The leader of the Satanic Temple, Lucien Greaves, considers Mike Pence and his evangelical brethren an existential threat to our democracy and I wholeheartedly concur. The group uses Satanic imagery to counter supernaturalism and tradition-based superstitions and to promote social justice and the separation of church and state.

The Satanic Temple doesn`t believe in the existence of a personal Satan or any supernatural being for that matter. They don`t worship Satan or sacrifice babies to the Dark Lord.

They embrace the name Satan to counter supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions and to promote religious liberty and the separation of church and state.

Mike Pence, on the other hand, embraces the name of Jesus Christ to promote the undemocratic principles of homophobia, misogyny and theocracy disguised as Republican nationalism.

The Satanic Temple is a nontheistic religious and political activist organization and we have nothing to fear from them. They don`t advocate for Satanic prayers in public schools, or teaching the Satanic Bible in public schools.

No Satanist would ever endorse the racist, homophobic, misogynist and undemocratic Trump administration, while the vast majority of white evangelicals endorse Trump without any reservations.

I would never join the Satanic Temple, I question the judgement and wisdom of an organization that embraces a name that is the universal symbol of evil.

I align myself with the Jesus of the Gospels, who preached peace and ministered to social outcasts. I consider the Satanic Temple an ally in fighting bigotry and theocracy, and I look on white evangelicals as my bitter foes. They`ve done more than Satanists to discredit the true religion of peace, love and brotherhood of man: Christianity.