Satanic Language: A Question About The Satanic Temple

Satanic Language: A Question About The Satanic Temple

Gavin Baltes

Religion is a fundamental aspect of American society, one that has become so interwoven into the fabric of our culture and politics that many don’t actively realize the true extent to which religion has subverted what should, in truth, be a secular institution. This paper notes the way in which one new religious group, The Satanic Temple, has decided to fight back against this religious overreach by utilizing a method best described as “fighting fire with fire”. The Satanic Temple is known for using satire, their satanic nature, and religious language to provoke opponents into inadvertently aiding the Temple in accomplishing its goals, and in doing so revealing these acts of overreach for what they truly are. By analyzing several pieces of literature related to the Temple, including novels, articles, movie interviews, and even the direct writings of the Temple itself, this paper aims to not only understand how exactly the Temple’s methods, especially those related to religious language, function, but also how the Temple’s actions draw attention to the surprisingly biased way in which American society views religion and religious freedom. Through the use of shock and awe tactics, and by manipulating the religious superstition of their adversaries, the Temple forces their opponents to either afford the Satanic Temple equal standing or admit their own hypocrisy. Furthermore, the actions the Temple takes forces those who witness them to question the paradigm many have long taken for granted. Finally, in doing so, the Temple forces us to reevaluate long-held beliefs about what can and cannot be considered a religion.