@Joggar No. There is a difference. The Satatism argument is the same: "they're worshipping, aren't they? That makes them religious, right?"
No. Satanism is antireligion. It is a purely reactionary movement of confused and supremely unhappy people. That is not covered under, say, the US Constitution's First Amendment. The amendment states that individuals and groups are free to be religious in the public square: wearing emblems of their faith, preaching or demonstrating peacefully in public places, and proselytizing in proper ways all without interference from the government or any government entities, including police - because the state does not have the power to dictate _how_ people are allowed to follow God. (Of course, people seem to forget all about those protections when a Christian gets within 500 feet of an abortion mill, but that's a different conversation.)
Antireligion violates the spirit of the law, which is meant to protect the right of religious people to follow God in whatever way they find to be correct. Antireligion is a corrupt obfuscation of religion, and obviously should be treated as such.
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@Joggar No. There is a difference. The Satatism argument is the same: "they're worshipping, aren't they? That makes them religious, right?"
No. Satanism is antireligion. It is a purely reactionary movement of confused and supremely unhappy people. That is not covered under, say, the US Constitution's First Amendment. The amendment states that individuals and groups are free to be religious in the public square: wearing emblems of their faith, preaching or demonstrating peacefully in public places, and proselytizing in proper ways all without interference from the government or any government entities, including police - because the state does not have the power to dictate _how_ people are allowed to follow God. (Of course, people seem to forget all about those protections when a Christian gets within 500 feet of an abortion mill, but that's a different conversation.)
Antireligion violates the spirit of the law, which is meant to protect the right of religious people to follow God in whatever way they find to be correct. Antireligion is a corrupt obfuscation of religion, and obviously should be treated as such.