Ave Satanas,

Let us stand now, unbowed and unfettered by arcane doctrines borne of fearful minds in darkened times.

 My name is Tim Leviathan. I am currently a Minister of Satan and, as of right now, one of the co-congregation heads of TST-DFW. I want to start by saying that I have devoted years of my life and an immeasurable amount of time energy, and my own money, to The Satanic Temple, and its communities, and still stand behind its mission, its values, and its tenets. I love the Satanic community that has been built, to which I am proud to say I have contributed much. My Satanism is intrinsic to who I am as a person. I deeply value the Satanic principles espoused by The Satanic Temple at large. Everything that TST has publicly proclaimed, from its tenets to its invocation and beyond, is core to my own principles as a Satanist and Humanitarian. For me, The Satanic Temple has been a breath of religious fresh air, and a welcome change from the status quo of living in the Bible Belt. As a minister, I have proudly stood beside, for, and with my fellow Satanists, resolute to provide a place for the “othered” people to call home.

Let us embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the Tree of Knowledge and dissipate our blissful and comforting delusions of old.

Living in the Bible Belt as a Satanist is difficult. Being a Minister of Satan in the Bible Belt is exponentially more difficult. Being a queer, gender apathetic Minister of Satan in the Bible Belt is almost certainly a death note. But despite all of that, I have prevailed. I’ve paid my dues, become a minister, and will stand with my local Satanic Community, as well as the greater Satanic communities that I have been fortunate enough to have been a part of over the last few years. I have spent immeasurable time, money, and energy to be a part of this organization, because I wanted to. The Satanic Temple has been a bastion of light to me, in a darkened theocratic world. The Satanic Ministry program has been a dream come true for me. There is nothing I would rather willingly devote my life to than supporting Satanic ideals in a semi-professional setting, with an organization so deeply aligned with my own personal beliefs.

Let us demand that individuals be judged for their concrete actions, not their fealty to arbitrary social norms and illusory categorizations.

Recently, within The Satanic Temple, a schism has occurred. To put it briefly, a Minister shared a meme privately that he considered to be lighthearted, in response to silence from Executive Ministry, regarding the cancellation of Satancon and other events. In response, Lucien Greaves, the founder and spokesperson of The Satanic Temple responded with an invitation to the offending Minister to leave the organization. In Lucien’s own words, the minster was fired. I have not, and will not take the side of defending the offending Minister. I do not know the minister, nor can I speak for his intentions. I can however say that the minister in question seemed to be highly dedicated to the organization. The minister acted in a way that was not representative of or beneficial to The Satanic Temple’s greater good. I can understand the damage that can be caused by words against an organization from within. I am willing to take Lucien’s feelings, as a human being, into consideration as well. I, myself, have made comments that I thought were innocuous, which ended up being hurtful. I am aware that I am fallible as a person. I agree that people should be held accountable for their actions when they are hurtful or harmful.

Let us reason our solutions with agnosticism in all things, holding fast only to that which is demonstrably true.

Throughout the following days, accusations have been thrown around from all sides, memes have been made, names have been called. People from both sides have been hurt, as well as hurtful. Many people who defended the Minister’s actions have been removed from the organization forcibly, or have resigned willingly, of their own volition. Many people have devoted themselves to Executive Ministry and defending the actions of Lucien Greaves. Throughout the schism, congregations have been dissolved, or have been left without leadership altogether. Personal friends and chosen family have been removed, or have left the organization willingly, because they feel it does not currently represent their ideals of Satanism. The issue has become extremely divisive. People are choosing a side, for one reason or another. I will not condemn the actions of anyone who has acted in a way that they determined to be in their own best interests.

Let us stand firm against any and all arbitrary authority that threatens the personal sovereignty of One or All.

Personally, I do not, will not, and simply cannot defend Lucien’s response to the infraction. There is a process for handling complaints internally, which Lucien did not adhere to. Lucien fired a highly motivated Minister, via email, and then consented to the public sharing of screenshots on Twitter. Then he wrote an extensive blog defending his actions, within which he called Ministers at large “Internal Nobodies”. Then, after much pushback from Ministers, he went on a podcast publicly with a couple of ministers who had broken the internal Code of Conduct, in order to climb the Satanic ladder, just to rub elbows with Executive Ministry. Lucien did not follow internal policy, then rewarded others for also ignoring internal policies, while simultaneously and systematically removing anyone who disagreed with his actions. In one instance, a close, personal friend of mine, who had spoken out against Lucien’s actions, was removed from duty as a Minister during a live streaming Tuesday service that they were moderating the chat for. They were reinstated by another Minister, and then immediately removed again. No explanation was ever given.

This demonstrates to me, and to others, very clearly, that Executive Ministry is not interested in adhering to internal policies, unless it benefits them specifically. Executive Ministry currently seems to be more concerned with establishing their own ideas as law, than with cultivating a Satanic community or adhering to their own philospohies. This strikes me as treading dangerously close to cult territory, and I simply cannot abide that behavior. It seems if you backstab enough people hard enough, and break the rules in the right way you can invite the Satanic prophet onto your shitty podcast. Break the rules in their favor? No problem. As long as it benefits Executive Ministry.

In the aforementioned podcast, Lucien disparaged Ministers and leaders in the organization who disagreed with him. Among other denigrations, Lucien asked, referring to Ministers, “Have these people ever had jobs?” I assure you that most of us have. Those of us who are able have surely toiled for years, sometimes unhappily, sometimes for years in a dead-end job that they hated. Some of us are fortunate enough to have careers that we love. I personally own my own business, and have applied the seven tenets as much to my career as I have to my life. This question on Lucien’s behalf was surely to demonstrate that no one who ever worked a job would ever disparage their company of employ. I seriously doubt that an organization exists without a single negative internal critique. And in those circumstances, there are processes by which to deal with said infractions. Although I will admit that most of us haven’t had a job where fighting against arbitrary authority was a prominent part of the job description. Standing up to authority is built into Satanism. It stands to reason that Lucien is the authority in this situation. Why would a person create an organization with the sole purpose of fighting arbitrary theocracy, and then get mad when that’s exactly what its members accomplished?

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, arbitrary authority is defined as A. : not restrained or limited in the exercise of power : ruling by absolute authority. an arbitrary government. B. : marked by or resulting from the unrestrained and often tyrannical exercise of power.

This perfectly and succinctly describes Executive Ministry. In this situation, Executive Ministry IS the arbitrary authority, whether they realize it or not. By that definition, there isn’t a person alive that would dispute this fact. Executive Ministry, as it stands, is arbitrary authority, with absolutely zero oversight. I paid for my ordination. I spent time, money, effort, and energy, sometimes at the detriment of my own mental health and wellbeing of my family. I am bound by the rules and codes of the Satanic Ministry program. My Ministerhood is transactional, at very least. I pay the money for the coursework, complete the coursework, agree to the rules, play nice, and I get to continue fostering my Satanic community and progressing the agenda of The Satanic Temple. Executive Ministry, however, is obviously not bound by those same rules. There are no checks and balances for Executive Ministry, there are no repercussions if they misbehave. There is no method by which to control Executive Ministry, nor is there any Code of Conduct they are required to follow. There is no official way to vote them out, request a temporary leave of absence, veto any decision made by Executive Ministry, and there is no oversight for their actions. This is arbitrary authority, no one should be so surprised that Satanists would generally be against that.

 Lucien, at the very least, has ultimately failed to adhere to the first, fourth, and sixth tenets, which I assume he had a hand in writing. Perhaps he failed to apply those tenets to himself and needs to reflect on that. At worst, he has become the tyranny that he was determined to fight.

That which will not bend must break, and that which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise.

Executive Ministry has become a cult of personality. They cannot handle the slightest scrutiny, and have strayed from the path of Satanism. In the years to come when a new large scale Satanic organization arises, out of the ashes of TST, some will revere the Executive leadership of days gone by. Some will desperately cling to the words of Lucien Greaves as the most Satanic Prophet of all times. Most, however, will laugh at the cringeworthy meme that The Satanic Temple has become, much like we currently do with the Church of Satan. Lucien has become nothing more than a figurehead, only interested in his own legacy, which he is actively destroying.

I have not publicly spoken about this, because I deeply value my local congregation and the greater community, and was afraid that I would be forcibly removed from those places if I were to criticize Lucien’s actions. Upon greater reflection, I understand that that wasn’t very Satanic of me. I’d like to sincerely apologize to everyone for that. Sometimes fear is hard to overcome. But I know that I must not be controlled by my own fears.

Satanism is my religion. The Satanic Temple is my church. I was a Satanist long before The Satanic Temple was formed, and if it ceases to exist tomorrow, I will continue to be a Satanist long after it is gone. I’m not involved in this organization to be a cult member. I’m not in a leadership position to become Satan famous, as others have been accused of. I am perfectly content being an internal nobody. I exist in this organization because it appeals to my nature as a Satanist. I am in this organization because I saw the opportunity to do something good, while simultaneously practicing my preferred brand of Satanism, my chosen religion. I’m in this organization because I deeply align myself with the tenets, goals, and mission statements of The Satanic Temple. Although I do love The Satanic Temple, and everything it stands for, I am not a blind brand loyalist. This was one avenue for genuine good, among many on the left-hand path, and this path has become too crooked, and the leader has lost his way. The Satanic Temple has become unaligned with my views of Satanism.

It is Done.

Please consider this my letter of invitation, inviting you, Lucien Greaves, personally, to either acknowledge that your actions are not in line with the tenets, or invite me to resign, which I will happily accept. The concrete actions of yourself, and others around you who champion your tyrannical ideals, have deeply damaged the organization which myself and others hold dear. I would love for you to come to your fucking senses and realize that. Until that happens, or I am defrocked, I will be here, hailing Satan, acting as an adversary, operating under the title of an internal nobody, showing empathy and compassion, putting in the work on the ground level, whether from within the organization, or without it.

Hail Satan.