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Faithful (thelemmy.club)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/comicstrips@lemmy.world
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[–] 0 points 5 months ago* (1 child)

They did try to put a baphomet statue in front of a 10 commandments monument in Arkansas. They are fighting for a plurality of religion, not secularism.
If I wanted to contribute to a secular cause, I would much rather contribute to a secular organization to begin with.

TST does not proselytize

But the only times you hear of them is when people are trying to get more folk implied (or when they send a lawsuit, but that's an other story). TST plays the card of a non profit when they don't want to be associated with religious weirdos, and the card of religion when they want a special treatment. In the end it's a knockoff religion that hijacked the name "satanism" while replicating what they denounce of christians.

Fire is bad so we need to recruit more firefighters to fight it.

It's much closer to putting up advertisement against advertisement.

They are just an NGO.

That's not true. It's a bunch of for-profit organizations coupled with a recognized nonprofit church so they can be exempted from taxation. See here : https://the.satanic.wiki/index.php/The_Satanic_Wiki . Also, as a supposedly non-profit org, they do not disclose their financial information, which is usually a big red flag.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    But the only times you hear of them is when people are trying to get more folk implied

    Yes, and that's plain old recrutiment/advertising of their cause. Proselytization refers to trying to convert someone to a religion, which they don't do.

    It’s much closer to putting up advertisement against advertisement.

    Correct.

    That’s not true. It’s a bunch of for-profit organizations coupled with a recognized nonprofit

    Yes, so an NGO. Where did I say they are a non-profit?

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  • [–] -1 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Proselytization refers to trying to convert someone to a religion, which they don’t do.

    They do claim it's a religion. It is legally a religion. When they are recruiting, it is proselytism. Also, proselytism is part of the definition of a church in most countries, that is why, for instance, the Church of Satan is not legally a church in the US, because they do not proselytize. By their own saying and by the government, TST is a religion and they do proselytize.

    Where did I say they are a non-profit?

    You said it is just an NGO. I mean, yeah, but you could say that about pretty much anything. But clearly there is something more to it than the average NGO, with them being both a church and a couple for-profit organizations.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I've never heard of TST proselytizing. When and where have you seen this?

    Also, proselytism is part of the definition of a church in most countries, that is why, for instance, the Church of Satan is not legally a church in the US, because they do not proselytize.

    Please post evidence for this.

    The US government is pretty hands-off when it comes to deciding what is and isn't a religion. It's that whole First Amendment thing.

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  • [–] 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 child)

    Well, here and now, with the original comment asking to join them. I do have some anecdotes but they aren't really relevant here, I guess.

    Here is the CRA rule and the IRS one
    Both state that "advancement of religion" is a requirement, which is quite close to proselytizing (promoting and manifesting religious belief).
    The thing is that both countries were funded by christian people, so their definition of religion is biased towards it, so you can't really have an individualistic religion like satanism be recognized.
    We can also note that Canada is discriminating against non-theistic religions and asks quite explicitly to "support and maintain missions and missionaries to propagate the faith". Canada is still a religious state, after all.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

    The CRA doesn't use the word "and". It's "or".

    manifesting, promoting, sustaining, or increasing belief

    Meaning it's optional. Also, "promoting" is quite vague. TST doesn't qualify in any case, though, because what are they "manifesting, promoting, sustaining, or increasing belief" of?

    a religion’s three key attributes, which are: faith in a higher unseen power such as a God, Supreme Being, or Entity; worship or reverence; and a particular and comprehensive system of doctrines and observances

    So yeah. Non-theistic Satanism doesn't apply. We have reverence, we have doctrines and observances...we do not have a Supreme anything.

    TST primarily operates in the USA, so the IRS code is much more relevant. Let's see which part of this applies:

    advancement of religion

    That's it? "Advancement" is even more vague than "promoting"! I can do a lot of things that "advance" my religion without trying to recruit people. Adding more programs to my congregation, for example. Hey, now we have a book club! Satanism has been advanced.

    In fact, I think that most Satanists would say that trying to recruit wouldn't be advancement at all...it would be a big step backwards.

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