The Satanic Temple, why refer to Satan?

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I recently read an article on The Satanic Temple.
A fairly new "religion" which proclaims to have nothing to do with Satan,
and who's members firmly state that they do not believe in Satan or even evil.

So why use Satan in their religions name?
Because surely doing so is going to attract a lot of negative attention from people
who will automatically assume that they do believe in Satan etc.

It would like me starting up a new church called Jesus's followers
and when people turn up who are into following Jesus,
its like me saying "what ever gave you that idea?"... kind of nonsense....

Interestingly enough, the Church of Satan do believe in Satan and do practice "magick"
Not that i am into that either, but am acutely aware of certain people who live in my area
which now including people who are in the police, who abuse their victims ritually...
so good to read up on what such wacko's are into, so I can then identify whats going on,
and not be provoked into committing crime due to their ensnaring me to
(also referred to as entrapment if a police officer sets it up, which is against the law)

Satan symbolizes liberation.

Got me.

Its as if "Victoria's Secret" decided to call it's self "United States Steel", even though the company has nothing to do with smelting steel.

To say that they have "nothing to do with" Satan is not quite correct. According to their FAQ:


Satan for them is a "symbol," not an actual supernatural entity, but a meaningful symbol nonetheless.

Their FAQ mentions "Romantic Satanism," a 19th-century literary tradition of favorable literary portrayals of Satan or "the Devil." I will link to some of the relevant literary works below.

CONTENT WARNING: Most of the linked items below, like an awful lot of other 19th-century European and American literature, contain occasional odds and ends of casual racist or other bigoted remarks that are rather shocking by today's standards. However, said remarks are far from central to the meaning of the items below, and could easily be excised without changing the overall meaning.

- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake
- Letters from the Earth by Mark Twain
- Hymn to Satan (Inno a Satana) by Giosue Carducci
- The Devil's Disciple, a play by George Bernard Shaw, and On Diabolonian Ethics, the relevant section of Shaw's preface to Three Plays for Puritans.

On a related topic, please see my series of posts starting here.

Satan to them represents freedom and knowledge as withheld by authority. Though they do not believe in the story of the book of Genesis, they still sympathize with the Serpent/Satan for trying to liberate and teach humanity against the wishes of a supposed cosmic autocrat.