The Satanic Temple-Utah Chapter has been up and running since February of 2016. Holding regular open meetings at the public library, they have encouraged the community to think rationally and to consider the separation of church and state.
The temple hosted an unbaptism for Salt Lake City on Sunday, July 24, 2016 from 7-10pm at club metro. Cost was $10 at the door. Participants were required to sign their soul over to Satan, which protected the event from those unworthy of being unbaptized (meaning protesters). About thirty people participated, dipping hands in dry ice, having upside down crosses painted on their forehead in fake blood, or being lit on fire (members of the temple).Those conducting the rites were in ritual regalia (or none), with Baphomet watching in the background. Sketch Cabaret of Salt Lake City helped provide entertainment. The chapter head of Arizona, Stu De Haan, participated in the rite in support of the Utah Chapter.
From TST’s Facebook, they posted about the unbaptism
“Within many theocratic constructs, baptism is both the key to one’s salvation and a claim placed by the church on its members. This claim is purposefully imposed on infants or children too young to understand what is being asked of them, who are expected to forever be subservient to the theocracy of their upbringing. It is a vow to never question or seek out truth, a complete relinquishment of personal power, and a lifetime of servitude to a vengeful dictator.
But here, now, we stand before you and embrace the name of Satan not as a deity but as a symbol of rebellion against these impositions. A claiming back of our inherent right to personal sovereignty and morality. We are here to shed ourselves of our previous submissions and in doing so, we are reborn into our chosen life led by Satanic ideals of liberty, justice, benevolence, empathy, and common sense.”
The event had been well advertised, with flyers posted around the city from original artwork done by one of the core council member Autumn Rogers and online with digital art done by the art director of the Arizona chapter Morgan Elizabeth. The temple hopes to make it an annual event.
(Photos used by permission of The Satanic Temple-Utah Chapter)
Flyer for The Satanic Temple-Utah Chapter done by Autumn Rogers
Flyer for The Satanic Temple-Utah Chapter Unbaptism event by Morgan Elizabeth of the Arizona Chapter.
The Satanic Temple-Utah, Unbaptism, Sunday, July 24, 2016, Club Metro, Salt Lake City, UT
The Satanic Temple-Utah, l to r back- Chalice Blythe, Nathaniel, Autumn Rogers (mask), Stu De Haan (end), Unbaptism, Sunday, July 24, 2016, Club Metro, Salt Lake City, UT
The Satanic Temple-Utah, Unbaptism, Stu De Haan (left center) and Nathaniel (right center), set on fire, Sunday, July 24, 2016, Club Metro, Salt Lake City, UT
The Satanic Temple-Utah, Unbaptism, Chalice Blythe (center) and Autumn Rogers (mask), Sunday, July 24, 2016, Club Metro, Salt Lake City, UT
The Satanic Temple-Utah, Unbaptism, l to r- Chalice Blythe, participant, Autumn Rogers, Sunday, July 24, 2016, Club Metro, Salt Lake City, UT
Scantily-clad women advocating sex, drugs and alcohol use is not a real religion. Sorry.
Those items weren’t involved at their event. They’re their own organization. They don’t advocate for those things. Here are their 7 tenets-
1. One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.
2. The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
3. One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
4. 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 your own.
5. Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.
6. People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused.
7. 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
As you can see, nothing in the tenets advocates sex, drugs, and alcohol. So, TST may do those things, but it’s perfect normal. Some, like nuns and monks may not, but the rest of us don’t care. Even if they did advocate, it’s their belief. Many faiths allow sex, drugs, and alcohol and it’s not an issue. Different spiritualities use drugs like peyote or weed to have shamanic transcendent experiences. Ritual wine is part of different churches. Wine, meed, and alcohol is common in Paganism to toast with the Gods. Many Pagans perform ritual sex, using it to bond with partners. Skyclad or nude rituals are a common part of Paganism, which helps undo ego and promotes equality before the Gods.
When faiths don’t put dogmatic rules on items, it doesn’t become an issue. With responsible use, why should they be issues? What ethical reasons are there to condemn sex, alcohol and some light drug use such as weed or peyote?
There are many religions in the world, all different for different people because each person walks their own path. “Real religion” doesn’t matter, as long as people feel fulfilled in their beliefs and how they think the divine operates in their lives. There is no “real” or “better” religion. All paths lead to God.
Somewhere in your blog, you posted the link to The Satanic Temple Utah which is now on the wayback machine, I really would like to go there and read some of their past articles, can you direct me to that link or post?
Thanks
Hi Terry,
yes, through a key word search in the Wayback Machine, and I got this error message, “Got an HTTP 301 response at crawl time,” it redirects to the main TST site, but the old link exists in the WBM, even if the pages are unreadable: http://thesatanictempleutah.com/
they do have a Utah Friend’s of the Satanic Temple, which is an active group on Facebook striving to bring back the chapter.
Good luck.