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

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

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

o 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.

o 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.

o 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.

o 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.

Do you find yourself agreeing with any of these principles? Well then, you just might be a perfect fit for the Satanic Temple. Don’t believe me? These are The Satanic Temple’s Seven Tenets directly from their own website.

I know how this seems, a strange high school girl writing about something as the Satanic Temple in a school newspaper, but I promise by the end of this article you’ll have something to keep you thinking. 

I fell down the rabbit hole of The Satanic Temple in a way any teenager does; through social media. Anti-Abortion laws were passed in Texas, and a wide majority of media was enraged. As women, we were (and still are) enraged that our bodily autonomy was being violated by men in the government. But what could we do? That’s where The Satanic Temple came into play; outrageous to the traditional eye. As an ex-religious person -whose head was drilled in with the horrors of Satan from childhood- I was immediately intrigued, so I dove to doing my own research. 

‘How could an organization that initially seems like a cult provide meaningful help to such an important cause? What did Satan have to do with any of this? What is my poor Christian mother going to think if she walks in while I am on their website?’

Immersing myself into their FAQ and ‘about us’ section on their website, I was shocked with how much my morals aligned with theirs. And ironically enough, The Satanic Temple doesn’t believe in Satan, let alone have meetings where they sacrifice goats to the gates of hell or trick kids who hang behind the local mall parking lots to sell their souls. They clearly state that Satan is merely a “symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority” and that supernatural beings have no place in their organization. 

Delighted and giggling to myself at some questions in their FAQ section, I was so shocked to find that they understood the stereotype behind the name but was so informational to the public eye who dare dove into their intimidating-looking website. It thoroughly reaches the trolls on the internet who want to discredit them while simultaneously stating their purposes, practices, and beliefs. 

When you imagine your old run-of-the-mill Satanist, a dark burly man with smudgy eyeliner and a questionably long black robe with pentagram eyes may come to mind. I get it, and so do they. But the reality is, once you step out of the stereotypes, Satanists (at least the ones of The Satanic Temple) are nothing but empathetic souls who only want to spread freedom. Seven Tenets (as listed in the beginning of the article) are what they try to abide by, and what sort of despicable human lives by acting with “compassion and empathy toward all creatures” (Tenet 1)? 

The stigma of The Satanic Temple is one that is understandable but needs to be broken down. Fear is keeping us from understanding one another, or even listening to what someone has to say. I swear on my poor Christian mother that they did not hire me to sprinkle in some evil into this article that makes you immediately fall on your knees worshipping a devil, and I do not consider myself a part of The Satanic Temple (yet). The Satanic Temple and its ideals are not for everyone, and there is nothing wrong with that. But maybe we should all break down our stereotypes and at least hear a new perspective. 

They are actively trying to fight against abortion laws in Texas because as a religion they state that the laws are violating Tenet 3; “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone”. They are spreading information and kicking back against a government that is disrupting their beliefs. Regardless of how you may feel about abortion, they are only trying their best to help others who think the same way they do.

Friends, I strongly encourage you to do your own dive into their website. Whether it’s for a laugh in 3rd period on your school Chromebook (if the website isn’t restricted), or you’re actually intrigued by their stances and want to know more beyond my puny article, you never know what you might find. Who knows? Maybe we’ll have to start our own congregation, maybe people will know me for the rest of my high school career as the Satan girl. Either way, I implore you to open your mind to something that might only seem like a joke. 

Side Note; for those who have read this article and have questions (that are not already answered on The Satanic Temples FAQ page), I am more than happy to email them myself for an online interview. Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments you would like to ask them that I can pass on.