Hypocrites, Secularists, & Biases
Oh My!
Wherein the Wicked Witch Confesses
Shame at Being Surprised that Humans Suck
...and might even find she has one more fight left in her
Let's start with the obvious. Of course I am biased, as a member of the clergy of Church of Satan ,against the Temple of Satan. I admit it, I am proud of it, and despite of it, I can look at their actions through a secular lense. I can do that through the wonders of critical thinking, instilled in me as a child raised by atheists. I personally hold, and in my role as Magistra put forth, that they are not Satanists by my definition, by the definitions provided in Satanic Canon, and as evidenced by their actions--but forget that part of me. To this blog my feelings of their lacking in the Satanism department is irrelevant, and for this purpose the same complaints would hold against any and all religions that violate, or attempt to violate, the establishment clause (aka Separation of Church and State.)
So the TS has spent the last few years indulging in what I call TBAT--the bigger asshole theory. I spent a rather significant portion of my life promoting the same. It is simple, really. The concept is that you demonstrate the unfairness of traditional religions having their religious bullshit all over tax sponsored places and institutions by demanding equal time. Outside of the religious world this is called hypocrisy.
Example: To demonstrate the violation of the 1st Amendment of having the 10 Commandments on a monument at a courthouse, be a bigger asshole, and demand a monument that represents YOUR religion, too. 'that'll learn'em! Soon we'll be making our way through a religious maze of statues and plaques at the fucking DMV. Winning?
Now, here is where the world has gone clusterfuck in a major way. You would think that groups like American Atheists or any allegedly secular organization would say "Fuck you! Separation means separation, no matter what religion it is, and there should be NO religious monuments, of any stripe on public grounds, and no "elective" religious classes sponsored by public schools, etc...." That would make sense. Secular means, I thought, secular. Separation doesn't mean everyone gets to do it--it means it doesn't get done.
Try again. The American Atheists have had T/S speakers at their annual convention previously, and again this year. Central Florida Freethought Community is actually selling tickets for a dinner with T/S founder, Doug, and promoting the fluff film his organization is in. Want to know why this is okay? Want to know why, or why they claim this is ok? From the horse's mouth:
There are no monuments, no clubs, and no violations, Ygraine. That's what they want. You deny this over and over and over and talk about how they want religion in government when this is exactly what they are fighting against.
How can you want what you are fighting against?
Like a common preacher, this dude, this guy is asking me to disbelieve my lying eyes, and take on faith that they built that statue (that they even sued Netflix over,) and are using litigation because they DON'T want it used. Better yet, my questioning of this is some sort of jealous rivalry because I didn't bring it up on his time frame.
Do you really want to understand this better or do you just want to have a one-way conversation? If it is the first, give me a chance and reach out to me. I have been engaged in SOCAS across the state for a decade and hadn't heard of you until you were complaining about how someone was "sataning" wrong.
As a Satanist, my personal view IS that they are Sataning wrong--a lovely term that I hadn't heard before, but that no doubt validates the T/S victim complex one achieves when caught stealing, but that pales in comparison to them AMERICANING wrong, and bringing the rubes in the secular community down with them.
Forgive me for thinking I could find like-minded SECULARISTS in a secular group. Forgive me for having spent 4 decades advocating for ALL alternative religious rights, and choosing, instead, to spend the balance of my life working toward a secular government. This fucker hasn't heard of me. Ouch. It is almost Trumpian to deny expertise and experience in lieu of the bright and shiny media whoredom Doug has embraced with such success. This 'community' (that word should have given me a clue...mea culpa) is free to ignore over 1000 news articles (back when they actually read the news on paper, and online) over 300 local and national televised news interviews, over 2000 students, lectures at 27 colleges and universities, and my being an expert in...shit, I can't count how many court cases and police investigations. Maybe I should be more like Doug and build a religious monument to get national attention and have some cache' in this dick's eyes--except, NO. Principles still matter. I may be the most wicked of witches, but I am fucking Pollyanna Purebred when it comes to my obsessive dedication to the Bill of Rights.
So, my questions to them, the atheists, and others who support this:
1. If the T/S are building these monuments, fighting to have them erected, and WIN, will you turn on them in the same way you'd be against the 10 Commandment monuments, crosses, creche displays, etc....? In other words are they only useful as long as they lose?
2. Is this a backwards, reverse psychology thing? Should we attempt to murder to demonstrate murder is wrong?
3. What other religious organizations have been embraced--surely if it is ok to attempt monuments and school clubs for pseudo-Satanists, you must be ok with the "elective" Biblical Literacy legislation being fought in several states? Which of those churches do you support?
I get Captain Dipshit being concerned that my bias is influencing my position. Hell, I WAS CONCERNED MY BIAS WOULD INFLUENCE MY POSITION, but I employed a little thing we call logic. I asked myself the following:
Would a secularist or atheist support the construction of a Christian statue or support Christian elective classes, to be placed on tax sponsored public land.
No.
Then why are they supporting a supposed Satanic one--and if it is claimed that it is only cool because they are making a point or because they lose in court, how is that not hypocrisy?
&
What if they win? If they were told they had the right to have those classes, and they could place that monument, firmly establishing legal precedent for ALL religions, how does that create a more secular country?
It doesn't. It does the opposite.
In this case my only bias is a disgust at such short sighted hypocrisy.
In the final analysis I find I am actually hurt. I offered years of experience, proven accomplishments in the realms of religious freedom, advocacy, and education, and instead these 'secularists' are impressed by the celebrity factor of a guy who is doing precisely what they claim to be against. Back in the day we called that 'selling out.'
So, if unwanted in that particular group, and that group claims to be something they aren't, I kind of feel obligated to demonstrate the principles they have forgotten. Hell, after years of turning down all but small podcasts, I might discover I miss the spotlight. I might find that this sort of unAmerican embrace of religious bullshit is just the sort of thing that brings me out of public/media retirement. Maybe then, they will "hear of me." I'm no Doug, of course, he is young and pretty and incredibly well spoken, but as my ATHEIST mother taught me,
