The Satanic Temple keep pushing on the contradictions that exist in how US governmental institutions treat religions. Rather than simplifying matters by requiring that the government and all its agencies be strictly secular, as a reasonable reading of the Establishment Clause might require, the government and the courts have sought to find ways to accommodate religious beliefs in some form, partly I suspect out of fear there will be an outraged reaction from Christian evangelicals who strongly believe that this is a Christian country.

These people would likely prefer that Christianity be the only religion allowed in the public sphere but are willing to let other religions in provided they have a lesser role. But allowing religion in immediately raises the issue of what exactly constitutes a religion and to what extent the sincerity of the beliefs of the adherents should play a role.

The Satanic Temple seeks to exploit these ambiguities. They have an advantage over other groups like The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster that have similar goals because TST, despite being pro-science and not espousing belief in anything supernatural, has pretty much all the trappings of religion, such as a consistent body of followers, rituals, doctrines, and the like. This makes it hard to dismiss them as an obvious satirical entity. Indeed, the IRS has granted the TST the same tax-exempt status as other religions, thus conferring official.

The TST have now taken on the US Navy after it decried an email notice sent out by a group of midshipmen at the US Naval Academy about an upcoming Satanic service, as Becky Garrison reports.

Since they sent the email without first securing approval from Navy brass, the USNA was quick to respond. In their estimation, while the USNA planned to approve a study group, they did not approve any “Satanic Services.” The Military Times noted that the members of TST “were just asking for a study group space, not for a sacrifice stage or to burn a pentagram into Ingram Field or to erect a giant horned icon in front of the Zimmerman Bandstand.”

Since they sent the email without first securing approval from Navy brass, the USNA was quick to respond. In their estimation, while the USNA planned to approve a study group, they did not approve any “Satanic Services.” The Military Times noted that the members of TST “were just asking for a study group space, not for a sacrifice stage or to burn a pentagram into Ingram Field or to erect a giant horned icon in front of the Zimmerman Bandstand.”

Regardless, on what basis would they deny TST members their right to perform their religion’s rites? After all, the U.S. Navy permitted a Heathen religious service rooted in Norse paganism to be carried out aboard an aircraft carrier. And the U.S. Navy’s Faith and Belief Codes list other religions that are either polytheistic or non-theistic. The website Task & Purpose aptly summarized the issue: “The [USNA] has a message for the burgeoning satanists in its ranks: you can study Satan as a midshipman, but you sure as hell can’t hail him.”

The reasoning behind denying TST their rites appears to be political. According to the USNA, TST cannot hold services because they are “a non-theistic religious and politically active movement.” This argument appears to ignore the politicking that transpires on Navy grounds by Catholics, evangelicals, LDS-affiliated Mormons, and other religious groups who have a long history of co-mingling politics and faith on issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and erecting Christian monuments on public property.

I suspect that the navy will have to eventually back down and allow the service.