The Russian government has officially dropped the ban hammer on The Satanic Temple, referring to it as an “undesirable” organization that is supported by the United States. I mean, our Constitution allows folks of all religious faiths to practice their beliefs, but I don’t know that I would say The Satanic Temple has the support of the country. But this is Russia we’re talking about. However, I do think banning such an organization is probably a good idea, especially seeing as how they are hedonists and are big proponents of indulging in any and all activities one finds pleasurable.
According to a new report from The Christian Post:
Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced the designation Wednesday in a statement accusing The Satanic Temple (TST) of promoting “occult ideology” and using Satanic symbols to “discredit traditional spiritual and moral values.” Russian authorities also claimed the organization spreads “destructive pseudo-theological ideas” and justifies violence, an allegation a TST co-founder has denied. Additionally, the statement alleged that the group, based in the United States, receives support from U.S. government agencies and is involved in fundraising efforts to support the “Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
“The Satanic Temple actively supports participants of extremist and terrorist movements, speaks negatively about the special military operation [in Ukraine], and calls for the overthrow of the constitutional order in Russia,” the Prosecutor General’s Office went on to say about the issue.
Lucien Greaves, the co-founder of The Satanic Temple, put up a post on Substack saying the organization is not in support of “extremists or terrorists” and clarified that they have never made any call for Russia to reform its government.
“But there is nothing subjective about the claim that we were ever fundraising for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is a flat lie,” he said in the post. “When Russia invaded Ukraine, we fundraised to relocate members of The Satanic Temple away from the war and into safety. It defies credibility to imagine that anybody could possibly have truly mistaken that effort for a fundraising effort for Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
The temple’s co-founder then questioned Russia’s use of the phrase “occult” and stated that the organization does not “promote any belief in the supernatural.”
Under Russian law, organizations labeled “undesirable” are required to dissolve, and any involvement with such organizations is illegal following an expansion of a 2015 law earlier this year. Over 175 organizations have been designated as undesirable by the Russian government, including The Moscow Times and prominent human rights groups such as Memorial and the Free Russia Foundation.
Under its new status in Russia, TST joins other organizations that have been forced to cease operations in the country under the 2015 law, including the Church of Scientology and Jehovah’s Witnesses. The statement also claims the TST website “provides information on fundraising for the Ukrainian armed forces,” in an apparent reference to the site’s Ukraine relief page.
If this organization does not support the belief in the supernatural, why do they consider the act of abortion as a ritual?
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The Satanic Temple’s religious abortion ritual exempts TST members from enduring medically unnecessary and unscientific regulations when seeking to terminate their pregnancy. The ritual involves the recitation of two of our Tenets and a personal affirmation that is ceremoniously intertwined with the abortion. Because prerequisite procedures such as waiting periods, mandatory viewing of sonograms, and compulsory counseling contravene Satanists’ religious convictions, those who perform the religious abortion ritual are exempt from these requirements and can receive first-trimester abortions on demand in states that have enacted the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
I think Satan, a clever deceiver, is attempting to build a religion based on hedonism that looks exactly like the kind of cult he would build to worship him, while downplaying all of the supernatural elements publicly so it’s not off putting to the masses. We must be prayed up as believers and ready to tackle anything, whether it is heresy or whatever, that could come from such a “church.”