{"id":79,"date":"2021-07-17T08:03:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-17T15:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queersatanic.com\/?p=79"},"modified":"2021-07-17T08:03:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-17T15:03:00","slug":"why-you-havent-left-the-satanic-temple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qs.gehenna.ynh.fr\/?p=79","title":{"rendered":"Why You Haven\u2019t Left The Satanic\u00a0Temple"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For a long time, it\u2019s been known that The Satanic Temple\u2019s co-owner Lucien Greaves once went on an antisemitic rant about how the Nazis ruined the word antisemitism for everyone and that it was \u201cOK to hate Jews\u201d so long as you were hating observant<\/em> Jews.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

He was on a 24-hour radio show celebrating and promoting the release of a new edition of Might Is Right<\/em><\/a> that he\u2019d illustrated, so naturally Greaves\u2019 co-hosts and the guest caller then escalated immediately to hatred of all Jews and Holocaust denialism. The famous clip<\/a> of this conversation cuts off about there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucien Greaves: “I’m an Aryan king!<\/a>“<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The following apologia for that rant and subsequent conversation by Satanic blogger Stephen Bradford Long is, uh, creative <\/em>about its construction of facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be more generous, it is overly credulous toward people who have not earned it, but it\u2019s typical of how TST members continue to utilize willful ignorance to justify their continued support of an organization fundamentally structured to control and extract the free labor of members that its owners can profit off of without those owners having any reciprocal accountability to members, including telling them the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a look in more detail at what will be a very <\/em>long post using Long\u2019s blog post as a guide to examine this aspect of The Satanic Temple and its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"screenshot
stephenbradfordlong.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I\u2019ve [Stephen Bradford Long] been a member of The Satanic Temple (TST) since December 2017, and in that time there\u2019ve been occasional accusations of crypto-fascism, alt-rightism, and Nazism against TST by both outsiders and former members. This article is about why I choose to remain in the Satanic Temple despite these accusations, and why I find these accusations lacking in credibility.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Long is not really going to address the full <\/em>context of crypto-fascism and alt-righterism in his piece\u2014that’s what we’re going to try to do\u2014but Long wants to make you aware that he\u2019s<\/em> aware of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Before I continue with this discussion, though, I need to make a few clarifications:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am in no way a leader or spokesperson for TST. I\u2019m not even part of a local chapter\u200a\u2014\u200aI\u2019m a solo Satanist who identifies with the Satanic Temple. This article is not written from a position of official leadership, but from my limited perspective as a rank-and-file member. It\u2019s likely that, due to my limited perspective, that there are details that I miss.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This disclaimer is probably necessary because The Satanic Temple wraps its actual members up in \u201cdefinitely not a giant red flag for a supposed religious organization\u201d non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). The latest version of the membership agreement<\/a> they\u2019re rolling out to local chapters, erm, congregations<\/em> is likely why we\u2019re starting to see another schism now (July 2021), but which specific NDA Long was operating under\u200a\u2014\u200aor avoiding\u200a\u2014\u200ain May 2020 when he wrote this, only TST would know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That said, I do <\/em>have a bias: I have a fairly popular Satanic blog, podcast, and a big social media presence in the TST community. I consider myself good friends with Penemue, (Director of Ministry, Executive Producer of TST TV, former International Council Member) and we text regularly. I\u2019ve had quite a few TST leaders on my show. My articles are frequently shared by Lucien Greaves and the official TST twitter account, and while I wouldn\u2019t consider Lucien close enough to be called a friend, I do admire him, and he has guested on my podcast twice so far.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Long\u2019s situation has changed. Per his Twitter<\/a>, as of July 2021, Long is now on the Ordination Council of The Satanic Temple Ministry<\/a>, so it\u2019s possible that he\u2019s now wrapped up in an even more restrictive NDA than most people. He may not even be able to respond to this if he wanted to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going back to \u201cstuff not talked about\u201d, the TST leader “Priest Penemue”, who now openly goes by Greg Stevens again, is a one-time Breitbart contributor<\/a> who was on very<\/em> familiar terms<\/a> with Milo Yiannopolous and Mike Cernovich. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"My<\/figure><\/div>
\"Greg<\/figure><\/div>
\"Greg<\/figure><\/div>
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Cernovich was already a #GamerGate veteran, open misogynist, and rape apologist at that point; Cernovich also utilizes far-right attorney, \u201canti-antifa\u201d and anti-#BlackLivesMatter opinion-haver, eugenics enthusiast<\/a> Marc Randazza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Randazza will come up later in Long\u2019s blog for Long\u2019s theory of \u201ccontagion\u201d, but it is notable that Randazza isn\u2019t just a piece of shit because he goes out of his way to represent<\/em> pieces of shit; he\u2019s also, himself, very much a piece of shit.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Alex<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Back to Long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, nothing in this article means I won\u2019t be compelled to leave in the future. While I think it\u2019s unlikely, it\u2019s possible that TST will make some extraordinary mishap that will require me to follow my conscience and distance myself from the organization. As a Satanist, that option must always be available to me. While I haven\u2019t seen anything in the organization so far that conflicts with my conscience, that doesn\u2019t mean there won\u2019t be something that does in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that out of the way, let\u2019s begin.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So, Doubt.gif, but yeah, let\u2019s really begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lucien\u2019s Moment of Cringe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2003, before he was Lucien Greaves and instead known as Doug Mesner, Lucien had a cringy podcast conversation with Shane Bugbee in which he said some concerning things, and many of the accusations against TST orbit around this moment. Joseph Laycock chronicles the cringiest moments on page 69 in his book Speak of the Devil:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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[Book excerpt] The tone of the podcast is sophomoric and intentionally offensive in keeping with Bugbee\u2019s philosophy of Satanism. In the exchange in question, Mesner states, \u201cIt\u2019s OK to hate Jews\u201d if this hatred is based in contempt for their supernatural beliefs but that, \u201cIt\u2019s not OK to hate Jews\u201d if this hated is based in racism or ideas of eugenics<\/strong> [emphasis added<\/em>]. Bugbee then asks Mesner, \u201cDo you like Satanic Jews?\u201d Mesner answers, \u201cSatanic Jews are fine.\u201d Bugbee replies, \u201cOne drop of Jew blood means you ain\u2019t breaking bread with me, motherfucker.\u201d At this, someone on the podcast can be heard laughing. Mesner starts to respond, at which point Bugbee accuses Mesner of being Jewish himself. In what may have been an attempt to disarm the situation, Mesner then replies, \u201cLook at me, I\u2019m an Aryan king<\/a>.\u201d This is met with more laughter. This exchange is followed by a more serious discussion by Bugbee\u2019s wife, Amy, about how Jews exaggerated the numbers killed in the Holocaust and have exploited it for political gain, during which Mesner is silent.<\/p>\nJoseph Laycock, Speak of the Devil<\/em>, Chapter 3, “Satanic Schisms”<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCringe,\u201d huh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, to be clear, Stephen Bradford Long is quoting Joseph Laycock, a researcher of new religious movements who was in the middle of a book about how great neo-Satanism is when news of this broke big again in 2018. Long relies on Laycock to have listened to the clip and lets Laycock characterize an event that Long admits is why so many other accusations \u201corbit\u201d around TST rather than, apparently, listening to it himself and trying to find out more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In lieu of access to any of the primary information for yourself, this would be understandable. But if you read more of that section from the book<\/a>, it\u2019s immediately apparent that Laycock did some pretty shoddy work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, you may think it\u2019s nitpicking, but this is not a podcast. This is a 24-hour live Internet radio broadcast. People are calling in while listening. More importantly, it didn\u2019t take place Sep. 11, 2002<\/em>; this was 2003<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can tell from other things like archived Web posts promoting it<\/a> and printed materials<\/a>, but also the other conversations that take place throughout the stream, like arguing about the Democratic presidential primary field and people referring to the current year being \u201c2003\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s establish two things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Shane Bugbee, Lucien Greaves, and Amy Bugbee talked about a ton of stuff in the course of 24 hours<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Laycock listened to approximately none of those other things before trying to exculpate Lucien and resorting to \u201csome of Lucien\u2019s best friends are Jewish.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The fact that Laycock didn\u2019t know which year it was happening might explain why he offers up that little detail in defense of Lucien in regards to eugenics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Certainly, Lucien is not making eugenics<\/em>-based arguments, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ascertaining truth directly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Might Is Right Special : shane bugbee, amy stocky, doug mesner : Internet Archive<\/h4>\n