Religion or Trolls?

Abstract

Abstract Many of The Satanic Temple’s political campaigns and legal actions depend on invoking their religious rights. However, critics have responded that The Satanic Temple is not a “real” religion but merely “trolls” who only pretend to have sincerely held beliefs. These critics typically point out that The Satanic Temple do not believe in a literal Satan or any supernatural force. This argument featured prominently when The Satanic Temple sued the state of Missouri over its abortion laws. This chapter makes several theoretical interventions into this controversy. First, the category of “invented religions” is helpful for thinking about how The Satanic Temple can be sincere despite lacking supernatural beliefs. Second, it is argued that The Satanic Temple possesses characteristics common to more familiar religions. Finally, it is suggested that the very act of invoking religious liberty has caused Satanists to think about their worldviews differently.