USE THEIR POWER AGAINST THEM

One of the founding principles of modern America is the separation of church and state

Meaning religion is supposed to be separate from governmental activity

Like law making and education

But this separation is coming under increasing pressure

The Christian right are pushing to include their beliefs in both education and legislature

This started out as a covert tactic

Looking to change the texts taught in schools

Or fighting to have the Big Bang positioned as a theory alongside creationism

But over time this has become much more overt

With religious statues of the ten commandments, Jesus and other symbols being erected on State property

This clearly goes against the separation of church and state

Lots of people have called this out and tried to resist

But none have done it as effectively as Lucien Greaves

He is the leader of The Satanic Temple

The Satanic Temple is an atheist social activist group

They position themselves as worshippers of the Devil

Revering all the Satanic symbolism you would imagine

Lots of horns, blood, all that stuff

Crucially they assert that worshipping Satan is their religious right

You can imagine this is the sort of religion that the Christian right feel quite threatened by

The genius tactic of the Satanic Temple is to simply ask for parity with the Christian right

So when the Christians want to add a bible study class to an after school program


They created the After School Satan Project

When the Christians unveiled a statue of the ten commandments outside a courthouse in Oklahoma

They demanded to unveil their statue of Baphamet next to it

A nine-foot bronze sculpture of a winged, goat headed Satan being adoring gazed up at by two children.


Their message is clear 


If your religion is allowed into the state

Then so is ours


The playbook of the Satanists is brilliantly simple

It is to highlight the Christian right’s attempts to mix church and state

By doing exactly as they do.

Using their power, against them.

It’s great challenger behaviour 

When faced down by an incumbent who doesn’t want you to succeed

What can you do that uses their power against them 


Oatly recently put out an add for Ice Cream was a great example of this

Faced with legal letters from the dairy industry

They couldn’t call it Ice Cream

So their ad simply said

‘We can’t call it Ice Cream, but you can’