A devil-worshipping group calling itself the Satanic Temple has been working to raise funds to promote abortion-on-demand and to counter legal efforts such as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and 20-week abortion bans.
A highly publicized ceremonial unveiling of the satanic figure of Baphomet in Detroit Saturday, an event billed as the “largest public satanic ceremony in history,” sold $25 and $75 tickets, the proceeds of which will be used to support the reproductive rights legal action fund, according to a Temple spokeswoman.
The cult has also set up a donation website with Indiegogo “to challenge arbitrary, insulting abortion regulations,” which as of Wednesday, has raised more than $32,000 for its reproductive rights campaign.
The Satanic Temple is an active campaigner for rights to legal abortion on demand, and rails against all legislation restricting abortion, including ultrasounds, and abortion waiting periods. Its website states:
The Satanic Temple (TST) supports personal choice in the context of abortion and, as part of a multi-faceted Women’s Rights campaign, TST is offering religious exemptions from arbitrary, insulting, and outright harmful anti-abortion legislation that has been steadily encroaching across the nation.
Echoing propaganda from Planned Parenthood, the Satanic Temple declares that informed consent materials for those seeking an abortion “are often scientifically unfounded or medically invalid,” while ultrasounds are an “attempt to create guilt and discomfort in those seeking abortions.” Mandatory waiting periods, they contend, “serve no medical function.”
The group unveiled a one-ton bronze statue of a goat-headed Baphomet at a private ceremony Saturday in Detroit, which “hundreds” reportedly attended.
Satanism has a millennial history of association with child sacrifice, which makes its financial and moral support of abortion a logical corollary to its other activities. The Israelites struggled against the worship of Baal, another name for the Phoenician god Moloch, who demanded child sacrifices of his followers and was associated with the devil. The prophet Jeremiah speaks explicitly of the sacrifice of children to Baal, warning his readers that God finds such behavior abhorrent.
Baal was often identified with Satan, especially in the form of “Beezebul” (Lord Baal), the prince of demons, which literally meant the “Lord of the Flies.” Jesus Christ was accused of obtaining powers for his miracles from “Beelzebul,” whom he identified as Satan.
The Satanic Temple proposes the use of religious liberty exemptions for devil worshipers against any laws that would restrict free access to abortion at any time.
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter @tdwilliamsrome.