The Satanic Temple’s next SatanCon will be held in Boston and is dedicated to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu after the City Council refused to allow the organization to hold a Satanic invocation at Boston City Hall.
The Temple has filed a lawsuit against the city after its request for service of the appeal was denied, and it has also requested that a flag be raised at Boston City Hall in honor of “Satan Appreciation Week” in July 2021.
The city later announced that it would no longer accept applications to hoist flags on the building.
The Salem-based organization will be hosting the event April 28-30 in downtown Boston themed Hexennacht, also known as Hexennacht, a German holiday that occurs on April 30, similar to Halloween.
The Satanic Temple’s next SatanCon will be held in Boston and is dedicated to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, left, after the city council refused to allow the organization to hold a satanic invocation at Boston City Hall, right
The Satanic Temple plans to hold “SatanCon 2023” on April 28-30 in downtown Boston, which it calls “the largest satanic gathering in history.”
There will also be “Satanic Market” vendors, entertainment and a keynote presentation by Lucien Greaves, co-founder of The Satanic Temple
“A weekend of blasphemy and remembrance in Boston,” the website says, while touting the event as “the largest satanic gathering in history.”
The Satanic Temple has announced that the weekend will mark the Temple’s 10th anniversary and will include talks on efforts to protect members’ reproductive rights, promote addiction healing and build support for the group’s after-school club.
There will also be “Satanic Market” vendors, entertainment and a keynote presentation by Lucien Greaves, co-founder of The Satanic Temple.
The Satanic Temple and its members claim to see Satan not as an evil figure but as someone who dared to challenge authority.
The group, which opened its first official headquarters in Salem in 2016, primarily advocates for the separation of church and state and is known for attempting to display its one-ton goat-headed idol statue next to every monument commemorating the 10 Commandments on public reason to put up.
The Satanic Temple previously dedicated its Scottsdale, Arizona conference to former Republican Mayor Jim Lane and former Republican Councilwoman Suzanne Klapp, who also rejected a request for a Satanic invocation at a city council meeting.
The group is known for attempting to place their one-ton, goat-headed idol statue next to every monument commemorating the 10 Commandments on public property
Parents are angry at Tehachapi Unified School District’s approval of the club
After School Satan Club aims to ‘educate children and encourage critical thinking’
The Temple was in the news last month after an “After School Satan Club” began hosting meetings at a California elementary school in Kern County.
In an interview with KBAK, one parent described the decision to allow the club, formed by Satanic Temple and Reason Alliance, as “disgusting”, while another called it a “mistake”.
According to Paul Hicks, the man who will run the club at the Northern California school, that kind of reaction was to be expected.
“We’ve already received threats against us,” said Hicks, who is also a professor of critical thinking. “As I would often say, there is no hate like Christian love.”
“I understand the school has to let them in because they allow other programs after school, like kid to go to this satanic group,” said Sheila Knight, a grandparent.
The club’s presence sparked outrage online, with dozens of parents and the community joining in.
In a post on the Techapi Asks, Rants and Raves Facebook page, one man wrote that he believes the club’s organizers are misleading in their tactics and motives.
“So several people have told me that the new Satan after-school club at Golden Hills Elementary is not a religion but a philosophy club… Then why did they choose Satan? Why not the Jean Paul Satre Existentialism Club? Why not the Descartes Club?’ asked Joe Lathrop.
“They included Satan in the name for a reason. People should stop being intellectually dishonest and just stand by the fact that they want children to worship Satan as a worldly god,” the man continued.
“It’s just sick that they target elementary school kids. These are babies,” one woman wrote.
“The whole thing is a joke for a reaction,” said one commenter.
“The school board’s hypocrisy… to say they have no choice… just try to start a neo-Nazi club or a pro-life club and see how fast they run,” said another Person.
The Satanic Temple website describes the club as a path to education without proselytizing
According to Lucien Greaves, spokesman for the After School Satan Club, the club aims to “educate children and encourage critical thinking.”
Greaves says that despite the controversial name, the organization does not teach children Satanism.
“We keep religious matters out of the teachings of after-school Satan clubs, and people often ask us, ‘Well, then why include Satanism at all, since people will be offended by it?’
This is the logo for The Satanic Temple
Despite Greaves’ claims, students’ parents and family members say they are completely unsettled by the whole situation.
‘Tehachapi said yes, and I think they made a mistake. I know my grandson will not be in this club,” said Brenda Maher, another relative of a student.
In a statement released by the Tehachapi Unified School District, officials said it was against the law to discriminate against faith-based groups.
Hicks said it was the involvement of clubs like the Good News Club, already established on campus, that led to the decision to start a group supported by The Satanic Temple.
“There is currently a Good News Club there that teaches children in school how to save souls for Jesus. We want to take an alternative viewpoint,” Hicks said.