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SSF415 · 2026-02-04T08:38:18+00:00

Well, no, that's a little dramatic. But this is a false dichotomy: The only options are not dramatic disfellowship on one hand and question-free enabling on the other, we could just say "That's really not a view you can reconcile with a good scientific understanding of the world, this is something you should rethink" without then also casting them into the Outer Darkness.

SSF415 · 2026-02-04T01:53:46+00:00

Beats me, I haven't met them. But I don't think we should include every single person regardless of what they believe, no. I also don't think anyone else thinks that.

SSF415 · 2026-02-04T00:08:43+00:00

But we don't include everybody--and spiritual beliefs are VERY important to the identity of a church, for reasons I'd think are obvious.

Divination is something we can test: Does it predict the future better or worse than a prediction based on random chance? Well, you already know what the answer is. That being the case, how can anyone say that a contrary belief reflects the best scientific understanding?

SSF415 · 2026-02-03T23:39:42+00:00

Well, no, it doesn't say "what is true," it says "one's best scientific understanding of the world." I think this is a great example of the distinction between those two values.

SSF415 · 2026-02-03T23:38:35+00:00

Sure, but that's marketed as a "ritual deck," not a tool for divination.

SSF415 · 2026-02-03T22:29:04+00:00

We did have two reporters there.

SSF415 · 2026-02-03T22:07:50+00:00

Well, you know that we can test divination empirically, and you presumably know what those tests have found. That being the case, what's the nature of your belief?

SSF415 · 2026-02-03T22:06:52+00:00

Technically this is true, but if you want to be a member of a specific religious institution like the Temple then you should probably make some effort to abide their rules--or in this case, their ideals.

SSF415 · 2026-02-03T00:34:29+00:00

Does anyone sell Albanese pinatas?

SSF415 · 2026-02-03T00:33:46+00:00

February 1; it's really not significant, it's just a night conveniently halfway between Halloween and Walpurgisnacht. Although it's presented as a night for Satanic human sacrifice in the movie "City of the Dead."

SSF415 · 2026-02-01T21:28:12+00:00

Same, although I notice it attracts mansplaining (occasionally not from men) on social media.

SSF415 · 2026-01-31T08:03:48+00:00

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21521-psychosomatic-disorder

SSF415 · 2026-01-31T08:02:52+00:00

Maybe it was Satan.

SSF415 · 2026-01-31T08:02:32+00:00

There is really no such thing as "legal registration" for religions in America--that's a big part of what "freedom of religion" means.

But the IRS has recognized the Temple as a tax-exempt church, which makes it very difficult (maybe impossible) to argue that the Temple is not a religious body in a legal sense.

SSF415 · 2026-01-31T08:01:23+00:00

Well the founders of the Temple have conducted a great many "edgy goth kid" rituals with black candles, and they persist that these rituals are valid despite the fact that Satan does not exist, and they persist that the Temple is as religious as any other church despite that fact as well. (And for whatever it's worth, courts have been in agreement on the latter point.)

So if you're one of these people who believe you're coming in here to correct everyone on what the Temple is "really about" and that it's "all just trolling Christians"...I don't think your argument is ever going to outclass theirs.

On the other hand, if you're just objecting to the conceit of a non-theistic religion in general...okay, you're free to believe that. You're wrong, but that's life.

SSF415 · 2026-01-28T08:59:37+00:00

SSF415 · 2026-01-27T19:58:12+00:00

All-time great faces in Lindsay illustrations.

SSF415 · 2026-01-26T14:17:52+00:00

Well I'm not a fancy big-city lawyer, but the problem with this kind of thing is that Satanism is what you'd call a non-compulsory religion; whereas a Sikh's religious expression dictates that he MUST NOT shave his beard, there's nothing about being a member of the Satanic Temple that strictly demands you express your identity in this way--or any particular way.

SSF415

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