• MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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    13 hours ago

    Sort of.

    The satanic Temple chose their name because of the literal meaning of the word “Satan”, which may be the name of the big bad from religious types but actually means “adversary” when directly translated from Hebrew.

    Atheists can take all forms, and by no means do I assume what any individual believes, but by the very definition, atheists can be extremely passive in their belief, or more accurately, non-belief. The atheists I know are usually very live and let live, after a while because they realize that arguing the point with religious folks usually doesn’t get you anywhere.

    TST is dedicated to the fair use and representation of religions in society. They’re obviously based in the USA where there is a separation of church and state, at least, there’s supposed to be. So the state cannot show favoritism to any religion, but they often do. Usually with monuments like a depiction of the ten commandments placed on city owned land. This is a real and fairly recent issue that TST got involved on. They asked that a statue of Baphomet be placed on the same city owned land, forcing the city into a position of either allowing the statue to be placed along side the very Christian ten commandments, or admit that they are favoring Christianity, which they basically cannot do because it’s a violation of their station.

    Satanists are a bit more active, by default, than atheists. Not to say atheists are inactive or lazy, it’s just that Satanists have a very specific target.

    • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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      11 hours ago

      Look it’s cool that you’re in a philosophical moral club, but don’t go around defending religion by calling yourself a religion and saying ‘look at me as an example of a good religion’ when you don’t actually hold religious/supranatural beliefs.

      And if you do hold such beliefs, don’t claim you accept reality.

      • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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        4 hours ago

        You know, you can just say “supernaturalism” instead of “religion”. The two are not synonymous. You can have religion without supernaturalism, such as non-theistic Satanism and some forms of Buddhism. You can have supernaturalism without religion, which describes many New-Agers. I’m sure you’ve heard people say “I’m spiritual, but not religious”, and that’s what they mean by that. There are people who believe in souls and reincarnation and stuff like that, but they don’t have a religion built around it.

        In the case of non-theistic Satanism, there is a moral code, a set of beliefs, and a community of people with shared values, as well as holidays and rituals. Just nothing supernatural.

        • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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          17 minutes ago

          You cannot, but please do show this supposedly zero make-believe form of Buddhism.

          In the case of non-theistic Satanism, there is a moral code, a set of beliefs, and a community of people with shared values, as well as holidays and rituals. Just nothing supernatural.

          Exactly, it’s a club not a religion.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        6 hours ago

        Look, I actually kind of agree. And this is why I will never call myself a Satanist.

        However, I think it’s foolish to ignore the work that the TST does in fighting for the separation of religion and government.