Weekend 'Round the Web: Satan vs. Satan
Plus evangelical power-signaling, and Boy Meets Girl
It’s not common knowledge, especially among Christian churches, but the two major “Satanist” organizations in the United States don’t actually believe in a literal Satan at all. And they do not like each other.
The Satanic Temple is the one that gets in the news most often, for fighting for separation of church and state, usually by insisting that if Christianity gets representation in government, Satanism should too. The Church of Satan were more active decades ago, when founder Anton LaVey (not to be confused with Aleister Crowley, by the way, who semi-inspired L. Ron Hubbard and did believe in the occult) was still alive.
In a nutshell: The Church of Satan is basically Ayn Rand Obectivism as a religion, and The Satanic Temple is basically liberalism as a religion, both using traditional demonic imagery to make their points. Both have had documentaries made about them: Hail Satan, featuring The Satanic Temple, makes them look pretty good overall. Realm of Satan, featuring The Church of Satan, maybe not so much.
In a review he admits is biased, Satanic Temple head Lucien Greaves reviews Realm of Satan, and finds it lacking, even as debate fodder.
For some of us, the real evil comes wearing the false trappings of goodness. I guess we’re passed the statute of limitations and allowed to say Charlie Kirk’s net effect on society was not positive. When his widow appeared to grope the uber-hypocritical Vice President, in a way any evangelical teen would be punished for, a couple of Substack writers pointed out how the power dynamics in Fundie World allow for it.
First, Stephanie Jo Warren discusses the “Billy Graham Rule,” more recently known as the Mike Pence Rule, in which men can’t be alone with any woman other than their wife, because they might not be able to help themselves, and that of course is the woman’s fault. How does it apply here?
Next, Charlotte Simmons wrote about The Long Walk through the lens of political violence:
Tyler Blaine Wilson, meanwhile, looks at the biblical-historical roots of martyrdom. was it all real, or is some of it just hype?
As a chaser for all that serious stuff, Dave White isn’t just one of my very favorite film critics, but also excels at going off on micro-focused tangents, like demonstrating he knows more about the Boy Meets Girl song “Waiting for a Star to Fall” than you or I ever will, and he’s going to tell you all about it, in his inimitable style:
The video for “Waiting For a Star to Fall” is sepia, which is also how you knew something was for grown-ups in the late 80s. Whichever Peggy Olson-esque creative director of the early 90s invented “the touch the feel of cotton” for the organic textile industry got her ideas from this very wholesome, married-with-children video. You buy your own groceries to this song and you feel satisfied. It will be your peanut butter and your grape jelly.**
The entire clip is a guide to normal heterosexual white everything. No one is showing skin. There are marriage pranks (I’m soaked! Oh you.) Some kids on some kind of playdate with big bubbles. A scene in a barn? Another one at a beach? Are they renovating the barn for a home recording studio?
Obligatory…
What have you all been reading lately?
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