The Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple is holding an event in Boston this weekend billed as “the largest satanic gathering in history”. Called SatanCon 2023, the event celebrates the tenth anniversary of the temple’s founding and is a landmark of 700,000 members. The sold-out event will feature rituals, entertainment, discussion panels, a marketplace, and a wedding chapel. Organizers said the event also celebrates the tenth anniversary of the temple. Lectures will include “Re-imaging Lilith as an Archetype for Reproductive Justice,” “Sins of the Flesh: Satanism and Self-Pleasure,” “Reclaiming the Trans Body: A/theistic Strategies” and “Deconstructing Your Religious Upbringing.”
About 800 people gathered at the opening of the three-day event on Friday with organizers, more than twice the number that attended last year. The event began with the shredding of “symbols of oppression,” including a “Thin Blue Line” flag and a copy of the Bible.
“We stand here today in defiance of their siege and destroy their symbols of oppression,” one leader, a woman, announced to the crowd before shredding pages from the Bible, according to a report.
‘HAIL SATAN!’: SatanCon-goers shred Bible, pro-cop flag during opening ritualhttps://t.co/opwkVYQazM pic.twitter.com/aKqvuXN8X8
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 30, 2023
The Satanic Temple claims to be “a nontheistic religious organization, seeks to “encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits.” Its members meet to engage with political and public affairs that “advance secularism and individual liberty.” While claiming not to be politically partisan, the group has the ‘right to abortion’ as one of its tenets.
VIDEO: Hundreds of “satanists” attended the Satanic Temple’s SatanCon in Boston, which included presentations and discussion panels. Religious protesters opposed to the event gathered outside the venue. pic.twitter.com/lBCpKb23P3
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 2, 2023
Groups spreading Christianity stand in protest against #SatanCon2023 @MarriottCopley this weekend #wcvb pic.twitter.com/EIV8VMd36l
— Rhondella Richardson (@wcvbrhondella) April 28, 2023
