Overview#

The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religious organization. Its official FAQ rejects supernatural belief as the basis of its Satanism and describes religious identity through shared commitments, symbolism, and practice.[1]

The organization is separate from the Church of Satan. Their shared use of Satanic language does not make their philosophies or institutional histories identical.[4]

Public principles#

The Temple’s Seven Fundamental Tenets address compassion, justice, bodily autonomy, freedom, scientific understanding, fallibility, and the interpretation of guiding principles. The institutional page is the primary source for their wording.[2]

Those principles describe declared ideals. They do not independently establish the conduct of every person associated with the organization. The distinction is the same one needed when describing any religious body through a published statement.

Religion and activism#

The official FAQ explains the place of public activity in the Temple’s religious identity. Its use of Satan can communicate opposition to religious coercion while also serving a shared symbolic and ritual life.[1]

Laycock’s Speak of the Devil is a scholarly account of the organization and the wider questions it raises about religion. The book provides a source beyond institutional self-description for studying the relation between belief, ritual, and public action.[3]

The presence of activism does not by itself answer whether a community is religious. Nor does the absence of supernatural belief automatically settle that question. The organization’s practices and self-understanding need to be examined directly.

Difference from theistic devotion#

A theistic Satanist treats Satan as independently real in some spiritual or divine sense. The Temple’s stated non-theism gives Satan a different status. Similar imagery can therefore express substantially different religious commitments.

The comparison is useful when public discussion treats all Satanist organizations as interchangeable. The question is what each community believes and does, rather than what an outsider assumes from the name.

Reading institutional sources#

Official pages are appropriate sources for tenets and explanations of purpose. Particular court cases, campaigns, officeholders, or membership figures require separate current evidence. This overview does not turn an undated general page into a complete record of every public action.

See also#

References

  1. The Satanic Temple, Frequently Asked Questions · Official institutional self-description, including non-supernatural beliefs and the relationship between religion and activism. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
  2. The Satanic Temple, About Us and Seven Fundamental Tenets · Official principles; institutional ideals do not establish every member’s conduct. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
  3. Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil (Oxford University Press, 2020) · Historical and ethnographic study of The Satanic Temple. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
  4. Church of Satan, Fundamental Beliefs FAQ · Official self-description of atheistic Satanism; no claim to represent all people using the name Satanist. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
The Satanic Templeorganizations

This encyclopedia covers traditions beyond the High Satanic Church. Church doctrine is identified as such when it appears.