Education, jobs, jails—and a Satanist agenda?
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Steve Hill–comedian, atheist, Satanist, and former Marine, is running for California’s 21st district Senate seat. He’s looking to reform public schools, reduce the state’s mass incarceration rates, and create jobs. But we know voters and readers alike will be suspect of his being an atheist and a Satanist, when just one of those titles will raise eyebrows.
Hill was previously a write-in candidate during a special election, and this year he claims he’s getting shunned by the Democratic establishment because of his extreme views, which may make him run independently.
“I’m a Satanist as far as trying to get people to understand that I don’t believe in the devil any more than I believe in God,” Hill said in an interview. “All of it is stupid. But if I have to tell people I’m the devil to get them to listen, then, OK, I’m the devil.”
Atheism and nonreligious affiliation are two growing subgroups of voters and citizens in America over the past few years, but Satanism, which is not “devil worship” but rather a form of anarchic humanism, loses people with its moniker and association.
Hill says he reconciles his affiliations by not believing in any sort of deity and instead adheres to the Satanic Temple’s goals like keeping church and state separate. The tenets also include:
- One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.
- The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
- One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
- The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own.
- Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.
- People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused.
- Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word
What do you think? Many people who are not religious avoid such labels as “atheist” and “Satanist,” so is Hill guaranteeing his defeat or breaking new waters for religious and philosophical titles?
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Photo: YouTube still