(New York) The satanic temple of Salem in Massachusetts was classified by the federal tax authority as a "church" and thus tax exempt.
Based in Salem, a 40,000-plus city satellite organization, the satellite-host organization recently announced that it has received notification of its new tax status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US Federal Tax Agency.
As the Temple of Satan also said, the tax exemption will help the organization in the legal battle "against religious discrimination.” The new tax status allows Satanists to apply to public agencies for subsidies granted on the basis of freedom of worship to guarantee them. It could now claim public land as other religious organizations.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) did not comment.
The Temple of Satan claims at the same time to be an "atheistic" union. The members are not devil worshipers. According to their own information, they want to use religious freedom to fight against religion.
However, the image material published on the Facebook page makes this thesis doubtful. Anyone who acts as a Satanist also seems to be a Satanist. On the other hand, it seems correct that the thrust of Satanist activity is anti-Christian.
The organization is responsible for temporarily erecting a Satanic memorial in front of the Capitol of the State of Arkansas to "protest" against the erection of a monument to the Ten Commandments.
Seat of the Satan Temple in Salem with aberrosexual flag.
In Scottsdale, Arizona, the Satanist organization demanded that members of the City Council should be banned from the prayer that traditionally begins each session.
It is "time" that they are recognized by the federal authorities as a "church", as the federal tax authority has just done, the satanists published on the Internet.
Their jubilation is great:
"The Satanic Temple is now the only federally recognized international religious Satanic organization".
Their slogan is:
"Hail Satan!"
Satanist festival in the presence of satanic sculpture.
They moved their seat according to own report to Salem, because a witch trial took place there in 1692. 19 people were executed because of puritanical hysteria for alleged pacts with the devil in the Puritan settlement. The subject has been repeatedly processed in literature since the early 19th century. This connection was brought to collective consciousness, in particular, by Arthur Miller's play The Crucible ("Witch Hunt"), which premiered in 1953. Miller was thus criticizing the defense against Communists by Senator Joseph McCarthy, which he labeled a "witch hunt".
Since then, the topic has been taken up by various authors, directors and programmers in books, films and computer games, with an upward trend in the new century. The city itself takes advantage of the macabre interest in ghost stories or "hidden forces" for tourism. Several witch museums have been set up and special events are offered on Halloween. [Maybe the Puritans were on to something?]
Text: Andreas Becker
Image: Facebook / Satanic Temple (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
