(ZENIT News / Boston, 05.10.2023).- The SatanCon convention, held in the city with the largest number of Catholics in the United States, gathered satanists and esoteric groups. Christian groups appealed for prayers to address the existing spiritual battle between good and evil.
The satanists’ meeting was held in Boston’s Marriott Copley Place from April 28-30. It was the tenth edition of the event, organized by The Satanic Temple, founded by Malcolm Jarry and Lucien Graves, who requested respect for their beliefs, who present the devil not as a reflection of evil, but of freedom. They believe that, if there are religions that adore a God, they don’t see it as a problem that they have Satan as axis.
The position of The Satanic Temple is confusing, as they state directly on their Webpage that “we don’t believe in Satan or in anything supernatural.” They fit in Deism, which rejects the existence of a personal God but accepts a general principle manifested in the laws of nature. They advocate an extreme rationalism that defends the freedom to believe in anything, as they see the area of religion situated on the subjective plane, where each individual can opine according to his taste.
It’s understandable that SatanCon gives conferences, offers exhibitions and events where they insert talks on atheism, the absence of proofs of the existence of God, defense of abortion, promotion of the LGTBTI movement and defense of masturbation.
It’s striking that the SatanCon festival is held in Boston, considered the most Catholic city in the United States, given its Irish roots.
Michelle Wu, the city’s Mayor, curiously without Irish ancestry, but Taiwanese, prohibited the Satanic Temple from using the City Hall building to launch the invocation to initiate SatanCon. The group’s leaders, who define themselves as an officially recognized religion, in order not to have to pay taxes, decided to dedicate the festival to the Head of the Town Hall.
The Archdiocese of Boston made an appeal for prayer instead of protests and gave a list of churches where Catholics can gather to pray.
The event’s organizers stress that their mission is to foment benevolence and empathy, to reject excessive authority, to oppose injustice and to undertake valuable objectives.
The Satanic Temple’s Webpage points out that it’s the only satanic religious organization recognized as church by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Judicial System. In February, the group announced the launching of a telemedicine abortion clinic. To mock a Catholic Judge of the United States Supreme Court, the group titled it “The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic.”
