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The two organizations are very different in a number of ways. Panos Shady's answeris horribly misinformed about “their ideas aligning definitely” so I’ll attempt to clarify exactly how the two differ.
First, their common ground. Both the Church of Satan (CoS) and The Satanic Temple (TST) are atheist religions, meaning they don’t believe in, let alone worship, a literal Satan.
The Church of Satan: The CoS was created in the late 1960s when Anton LaVey wrote The Satanic Bible, the main corpus of text for the group. Philosophically, the group embraces hedonism and ethical egoism, and draws on writings like Ayn Rand, Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard, and some readings of Nietzsche. While not believing in a literal Satan, the CoS does believe in the supernatural, as the Satanic Bible teaches a range of magical rituals and their supposed effects.
I would argue that the CoS to a large extent defines itself in contrast to the Christian church and sees itself as a kind of anti-Christianity. See for instance The Nine Satanic Statements - “Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek” etc. The CoS sees Christianity as something that hinders man in achieving his true potential, and sees Satan as a sort of ‘antidote’ to this.
The Satanic Temple: The Satanic Temple was created in 2014, and does not have one single central written work, but a canon depicting their view of Satan as a narrative construct of rebellion against dogmatic thought. This canon includes works by Milton, Blake, Anatole France etc. Philosophically, TST emphasizes rationalism, personal freedom, and compassion. You can go and read their Central Tenets to learn more, but here are some relevant excerpts: “One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason”, “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone”, “Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world”.
TST values highly secularism and personal freedom, and often picks a fight when either is threatened, especially if by the Christian church, which according to TST holds an inappropriate position of power in general, and in the US in particular. TST sees Satan as the picture of rebellion against power exerted by dominant, dogmatic thought, and uses this in concrete political campaigns e.g. for reproductive rights for women or against violent punishment to schoolchildren.
The differences: Hopefully, some differences are already quite clear by now. As an organization, the CoS is much older, although the canon of TST extends way back to the 17th century, and some of their imagery, such as the Baphomet or black masses, are much older. The CoS believes in magic, whereas TST rejects any supernatural beliefs, as those don’t conform to our best scientific understanding of the world cf. their central tenets. Ethically, the CoS preaches selfishness/ethical egoism, whereas TST values compassion and explicitly rejects the ethical viewpoints of the CoS.
What mainly grinds my gears about the CoS is the blatant sexism in The Satanic Bible, in which Lavey recommends for instance using a table for rituals only if one does not a naked woman to play the role of the table handy. He also, in all seriousness, uses stereotypes like “woman is nature’s passive receiver.” Compare with TST which is fighting for gender equality and even includes a “satanic feminism” logo in their newsletters.
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-...LaVeys-Church-of-Satan-and-the-Satanic-Temple
First, their common ground. Both the Church of Satan (CoS) and The Satanic Temple (TST) are atheist religions, meaning they don’t believe in, let alone worship, a literal Satan.
The Church of Satan: The CoS was created in the late 1960s when Anton LaVey wrote The Satanic Bible, the main corpus of text for the group. Philosophically, the group embraces hedonism and ethical egoism, and draws on writings like Ayn Rand, Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard, and some readings of Nietzsche. While not believing in a literal Satan, the CoS does believe in the supernatural, as the Satanic Bible teaches a range of magical rituals and their supposed effects.
I would argue that the CoS to a large extent defines itself in contrast to the Christian church and sees itself as a kind of anti-Christianity. See for instance The Nine Satanic Statements - “Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek” etc. The CoS sees Christianity as something that hinders man in achieving his true potential, and sees Satan as a sort of ‘antidote’ to this.
The Satanic Temple: The Satanic Temple was created in 2014, and does not have one single central written work, but a canon depicting their view of Satan as a narrative construct of rebellion against dogmatic thought. This canon includes works by Milton, Blake, Anatole France etc. Philosophically, TST emphasizes rationalism, personal freedom, and compassion. You can go and read their Central Tenets to learn more, but here are some relevant excerpts: “One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason”, “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone”, “Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world”.
TST values highly secularism and personal freedom, and often picks a fight when either is threatened, especially if by the Christian church, which according to TST holds an inappropriate position of power in general, and in the US in particular. TST sees Satan as the picture of rebellion against power exerted by dominant, dogmatic thought, and uses this in concrete political campaigns e.g. for reproductive rights for women or against violent punishment to schoolchildren.
The differences: Hopefully, some differences are already quite clear by now. As an organization, the CoS is much older, although the canon of TST extends way back to the 17th century, and some of their imagery, such as the Baphomet or black masses, are much older. The CoS believes in magic, whereas TST rejects any supernatural beliefs, as those don’t conform to our best scientific understanding of the world cf. their central tenets. Ethically, the CoS preaches selfishness/ethical egoism, whereas TST values compassion and explicitly rejects the ethical viewpoints of the CoS.
What mainly grinds my gears about the CoS is the blatant sexism in The Satanic Bible, in which Lavey recommends for instance using a table for rituals only if one does not a naked woman to play the role of the table handy. He also, in all seriousness, uses stereotypes like “woman is nature’s passive receiver.” Compare with TST which is fighting for gender equality and even includes a “satanic feminism” logo in their newsletters.
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-...LaVeys-Church-of-Satan-and-the-Satanic-Temple
