Speak of the Devil Quotes

“Discourse about religion and it’s distinction from adjacent concepts such as philosophy, cult, or troll is always an exercise in power.”
― Joseph Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“Concerns that an organizational structure has become "unsatanic" demonstrate what Jesper Petersen calls the "Satanic Procrustean Bed" of individuality versus the collective. How can a philosophy that celebrates individuality and rebellion against "arbitrary authority" not only form a collective identity but also organize for effective social action?”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“How can a philosophy that celebrates individuality and rebellion against "arbitrary authority" not only form a collective identity but also organize for effective social action?”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“The claim that a particular set of beliefs about a particular God has so much historical importance that the government must erect monuments to impress the significance of these beliefs on the public certainly seems like a government establishment of religion.”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“You said in your heart “I will ascend to heaven I will raise my throne above the stars of God I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds I will make myself like the Most High.”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“Finally, Greaves argues that an inherent principle in LaVey’s writing is that Satanists should follow the best available evidence. Therefore, if modern Satanists have better scientific evidence about the function of altruism, by LaVey’s own reasoning, their philosophy should adapt accordingly.74”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“I’m all for a police state; no messing around. There should be an armed guard on every street corner. The Israelis have the right idea: school bus drivers and MacDonald’s managers carrying Uzis.”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“Let us instead look at contemporary Satanism for what it really is: a brutal religion of elitism and social Darwinism that seeks to re-establish the reign of the able over the idiotic, of swift justice over injustice, and for a wholesale rejection of egalitarianism as a myth that has crippled the advancement of the human species for the last two thousand years.”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“The Satanic Temple . . . was as much the cause of a schism within Modern Satanism as it was the result of one. —Lucien Greaves”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“the Randazza controversy as a “purity spiral.”47 Sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning define a purity spiral as a phenomenon in which members of ideological and religious movements “strive to outdo one another in displays of zealotry, condemning and expelling members of their own movement for smaller and smaller deviations from its core virtues. . . . The result is an ever-increasing demand for moral purity, and ever-greater effort to meet the standards of the group.”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“feel I have to comment on the comic relief of these flabby old men who fashion themselves the master race. They may not be fine physical specimens, but they’re not fine intellectual specimens either. Nor were they able to rally a good counter rally. But I’m sure your mommies thought you were handsome little boys.”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

“One June 5, Brian Lynch, a Catholic priest from Belle Plaine, gave a five-minute address to the City Council urging them to reject TST’s monument. Lynch argued the monument was illegal because it constituted an “offense against decency.” Furthermore, he speculated that the monument would attract Satanists, making Belle Plaine, “a place for theistic Satanic ritual activities that victimize our children.” Lynch testified that Satanic ritual is “known” to include sex with children. Since the monument was in a public park, Satanists could use it to “groom” children for abuse. After his address, Lynch led some thirty of his parishioners from the City Council to church to pray the monument not be installed.”
― Joseph P. Laycock, Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion