Satanist: “Abortion is part of my religion.”
“I’m a certified member of the Satanic Temple,” the student said, holding up a jet black card embossed with a silver pentagram.
Knowing there are multiple brands of Satanism, I asked, “What kind?”
Her response: “Not the kind that sacrifices babies, for your information.” And then she proceeded to say how abortion is part of her religion. The irony was totally lost on her. Check it out for yourself.
Common Ground Between Satanists and Christians?
When I asked her variety of Satanism, I wasn’t thinking about human sacrifice. Rather, I know that there are two broad categories of those who claim to follow Satan—one materialistic, the other supernatural. The latter believe in the biblical person of Satan. The former take him as a fictional emblem rather than actual person.
Both, however, agree on one thing: real or symbolic, Satan epitomizes autonomy. After all, we’re talking about someone who stuck it not only to the man but The Man Upstairs to prove he could go his own way. You can’t get more rebellious than that.
And it was this notion of total autonomy that the student was interested in. She proceeded to cite one of the seven fundamental tenets of Satanism: “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.”
To her credit, she was using a dialogue skill prolife defenders employ—find out what matters to your opponent and show them how this should make them agree with you. I do this consistently in college outreach. I ask students if they care about human equality, if they believe that all humans have human rights. When they respond affirmatively, I then connect the dots to abortion:
“Oh, you believe all humans are equal? Me, too. Then if the preborn baby is a human, based on your own commitment to human equality, wouldn’t she be equal to us?” Or,
“You believe all humans have human rights? Me, too. Then what about preborn humans? On your view, wouldn’t they have human rights, then?
The satanic student knew I was prolife, guessed I was politically conservative, and thus assumed I would care about religious liberty. So if she could show that my commitment to religious liberty would mean she should be free to practice abortion as part of her religion, she would win.
And, judging by the applause from the throng of students as she sashayed away, many believed she had in fact won.
Your Satanic Prejudice is Showing
But in his lust for autonomy, Satan missed the bigger picture. God is greater and always will win. It should’ve been obvious to Satan, but maybe it wasn’t. Or maybe he just didn’t care. Similarly, this student professing Satan’s name also overlooked an obvious error in her judgment.
What if one’s own body were in fact “subject to one’s own will alone”? This is a dubious claim, since we all generally agree that at least some oversight on what we do with our bodies is a good thing. But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the Satanist were right. What would follow?
It would follow that the pregnant mom alone has the right to her own body. But this says nothing about whether the mom has a right to someone else’s body, namely the baby within her.
If one’s own body truly were subject to one’s own will alone, wouldn’t that mean that the fetus alone has authority over her body? So maybe one could argue that the mother has the right to withhold support from the baby, though I doubt Satanists would argue mothers should deny care for newborns on account of their religious liberty. But it would in no way follow the mother has the right to actively kill the preborn child. And that’s just what abortion is: active killing.
The Satanist is therefore prejudiced, just like many other pro-abortion people. They confess some grand ideal—that we all have bodily autonomy—then redefine the “we” to exclude the undesirables. How is this just?
I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, though. Satan favored himself above all. So it’s fitting that those who claim his name would make personal prejudice a tenet of their faith.
“Not the one that sacrifices babies”
This prejudice manifests not merely as a vague dislike of other people. It is worked out in blood sacrifice.
The student initially proclaimed that her variety of Satanism is “not the one that sacrifices babies, for your information.” But then she proceeded to insinuate abortion is a religious rite of Satanism. And she’s not alone. This fall, the Satanic Temple sued Indiana because the state’s abortion ban would allegedly prevent Satanists from exercising their freedom to bodily autonomy.
While it may therefore be true that these Satanists are not sacrificing born children, by their own word they are sacrificing even younger children as part of their religion.
Are we supposed to clap them on the back and thank them for not being those backward bigots who place children on the altar while they do the same thing with even younger, more vulnerable children?
Forgive me if I’m not impressed by what they consider moral progress.
But, again, why are we surprised when people who pledge loyalty to the person or symbol of Satan break the bodies of the weak to clamor to the top?
The good news is we know who wins in the end. Spoiler alert: It’s not Satan or his many followers.