THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS –
Dec. 29, 2021 – The Satanic Temple (no relation to the Church of Satan) is a nontheistic organization that rejects superstition as a prerequisite for religion. It describes its Satanism as one of compassion, bodily autonomy and anti-authoritarianism. TST members don’t worship a literal supernatural Devil, but view Satan as a symbol of resistance—the “Eternal Rebel” fighting unjust power.
Sober Faction is TST’s peer support program for addiction recovery, hosting the type of group meetings broadly associated with Alcoholics Anonymous. It first met in June 2020, and was popular enough to become an official TST campaign by April 2021.
Sober Faction’s main focus is substance addiction, but supports a number of members in or seeking recovery from process addictions (gambling; eating disorders; video games; sex; porn). Its practicesintegrate components of cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing with seven physical rituals.
“A lot of people come in here and hear the word ‘ritual’ and think it’s some spooky woo-woo stuff, so, that’s not our approach,” TST Reverend Jon Eldritch told Filter. “For us, ritual is not a belief in the supernatural; it’s practices that we’ve found really give us a sense of empowerment. As opposed to just, ‘Alright, I’m done with Step 1, let’s start Step 2.’”
