One Christian midshipman calls for 'civil dialogue' in response. A USNA source says, 'Dialogue with…
The American Conservative A reader affiliated with the US Naval Academy said that people there received this e-mail yesterday:
The reader said that e-mail set off a firestorm. A few minutes later, the Chief who authored that e-mail sent this follow-up:
(Readers, these were sent to me as screenshots. I canât copy-and-paste in a more readable format. If you are having trouble reading it, the gist is that the Chief is a confessed Satanist, and is inviting others at the USNA to participate in a Satanic ritual.)
My source comments:
Obviously, the email raises more questions than it claims to answer. How can this chief claim no sponsorship or endorsement from the Satanic Temple, even as he admits heâs a member? He claims not to conduct or promote symbolic evil, when thatâs what Satan is in literature (and heâs the closest thing to evil incarnate in the real world). The website he links to talks about Black Masses and âunbaptisms,â but they donât engage in ritual sacrifice. The list goes on.
This source said that the command chaplain, a Catholic priest, had no idea any of this was going on, and is furious. The Satanists did not go through proper channels, it appears, so this event might not happen.
Given all this, I thought this story couldnât possibly get any more interesting, but then something else happened that made me decide to write you. This afternoon, a midshipman who is very involved in one of the Protestant organizations on the Yard wrote an open letter to leaders of other Christian organizations. Iâve reproduced it here, with his name redacted:
(Disclaimer: My opinions do not represent the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, the Naval Academy, or any government institution. The opinions expressed here are solely my own and in my personal capacity as a Christian.)
Open Letter to Christians on the Yard
The Satanists have come to the Academy! As much as that tagline may elicit strong reactions in even the most casual believers, one should examine the phenomena occurring beneath the surface. The Satanic Temple (TST) as it were is calculated for shock value. It is a clever exercise in narrative building and optics manipulating. In the present culture, there is nothing the media loves to hate more than a group of angry Christians. Whatâs more, thereâs nothing the media loves more than to prove these angry Christians wrong. TST is just such a ploy.
If one examines the literature and tenets of the group, overt worship of the devil is not one of the core beliefs. Rather, its principles would be right at home in a meeting in the Temple of Reason of revolution era France. It is a simple repackaging of old humanist ideas that have been around for centuries. The insidious trick is that the Temple has opted for symbolism designed to rile up the Church. In this fallen world, there certainly are individuals who worship the supernatural being of Satan. However, the Satanic Temple is not an organization of these individuals. In fact, TST denies the existence of the supernatural altogether.
The use of the pentagram, Baphomet, black mass, and other overtly anti-Christian themes is meant to throw Christians into a rage. After all, there is nothing more antithetical to the worship of Christ than the worship of the Deceiver. The gambit is that angry Christians will not examine TSTâs beliefs and merely attack it for its symbolism. In contrast, the TST members will appear very level headed and cooly point out that they do not worship the devil. Granted, the humanist path is equally under condemnation, but dealing with humanism necessitates much different tactics. Humanists take great pride in their portrayal of religious types as superstitious troglodytes itching to burn people at the stake. It is no small coincidence that TST is headquartered in Salem, Massachusetts, the site of a series of witch trials in the early colonial days. As such, when Christians are thrown into a blind rage at the sight or thought of a group calling themselves the Satanic Temple, they play right into the trap.
The question remains, how do we respond as Christians? The first thing that should come into our minds is Matthew 5:11. âBlessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.â Jesusâ Sermon on the Mount provides a wealth of examples for Christians to follow in these types of situations. Jesus also said in Matthew 10:16, âI am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.â Satan is the father of lies. The ploy used by TST to bait Christians into vitriolic hatred should come as no surprise given our adversaryâs deceptive nature. He is the master of spiritual irregular warfare and we should by no means expect a symmetrical attack. TST is just such an asymmetrical bait and switch intended on catching us off guard…READ FULL ARTICLE HERE… – The American Conservative
