SatanCon2023 is dedicated to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu after Satanic Temple was barred

The Satanic Temple’s next SatanCon will be held in Boston and will be dedicated to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu after the city council refused to allow the organization to perform a satanic invocation at Boston City Hall.

The temple has presented a lawsuit against the city after his request to deliver the invocation was denied, and he also requested to raise a flag 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 fly flags on the building.

The Salem-based organization is set to hold the event April 28-30 in downtown Boston themed after Hexennacht, also known as Halloween, a German holiday that occurs on April 30, similar to Halloween.

“A weekend of profanity and remembrance in Boston,” the website claims while promoting the event as the “largest satanic gathering in history.”

The Satanic Temple has said the weekend marks the temple’s 10th anniversary and will include talks on efforts to protect members’ reproductive rights, promote addiction recovery and build support for the group’s after-school club.

There will also be vendors as part of a ‘Satanic Market’, entertainment and a keynote presentation by Lucien Greaves, co-founder of The Satanic Temple.

The Satanic Temple and its members claim not to see Satan as an evil figure, but as someone who dared to question authority.

The group, which opened its first official headquarters in Salem in 2016, mostly advocates separation of church and state and is known for trying to place its one-ton goat-headed idol statue next to any monument commemorating the 10 Commandments on public land. .

The Satanic Temple previously dedicated its conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, to former Republican mayor Jim Lane and former Republican councilwoman Suzanne Klapp, who also denied a request for a satanic invocation at a City Council meeting.

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 KBAKone parent described the decision to allow the club, founded by the Satanic Temple and the Alliance of Reason, as “disgusting”, while another called it “a mistake”.

That kind of reaction was expected, according to Paul Hicks, the man who will lead the club at the Northern California school.

“We’ve already received threats against us,” said Hicks, who is also a professor of critical thinking. As he would often say, there is no hate like Christian love.

“I understand that the school has to allow them because they allow other after school programs, like the good news, which is a Christian after school program, which I agree with, but I can’t imagine why anyone would want their child for assist this satanic group,” said Sheila Knight, a grandmother.

The club’s presence sparked outrage online with dozens of parents and the community weighing in.

In a post made to Techapi Asks, Rants, and Raves Facebook pageone man wrote that he believes the club’s organizers are misleading with their tactics and motives.

‘So, I have been told by several people that Satan’s new extracurricular club at Golden Hills Elementary School is not a religion, but a philosophy club… So why did they choose Satan? Why not the club of existentialism Jean Paul Satre? Why not the Descartes club? asked Joe Lathrop.

‘They put Satan in the name for a reason. People should stop being intellectually dishonest and accept the fact that they want children to worship Satan as a secular god,” the man continued.

“It’s sick that they’re targeting elementary school kids. Those are babies,” wrote one woman.

“This is all a diversion for a reaction,” said one commenter.

‘School Board hypocrisy… saying they have no choice… just try starting a Neo Nazi Club or a Pro Life Club and see how fast they run,’ another person said.

The club is meant to “educate children and encourage critical thinking,” according to Lucien Greaves, spokesman for the After School Satan Club.

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, if people are going to be offended by that?”

Despite Greaves’ claim, the students’ parents and relatives say the whole situation is completely unsettling for them.

‘Tehachapi said yes, and I think they were wrong. I know my grandson will not be a part of this club,’ said Brenda Maher, another relative of a student.

In a statement issued by the Tehachapi Unified School District, officials stated that it is 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 the group backed by The Satanic Temple.

‘There is currently a Good News Club there that is teaching children to go save souls for Jesus, at school. We want to give an alternative point of view,” Hicks said.