Satanic Temple Loses Lawsuit in Boston

The Satanic Temple is a puzzling entity, one that repeatedly challenges common conceptions about devil worship, religious freedom, and the United States Constitution. While many assume that this religious organization openly worships evil, many Satanists insist that their faith revolves around critical thinking and free speech. A recent lawsuit in Boston sheds further light on the Satanic Temple, although it perhaps raises more questions than answers. 

Satanic Temple Fails to Assert First Amendment Violations in Boston

In August of 2024, Reuters reported that the Satanic Temple had failed to prove that the Boston City Council had violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This lawsuit stems from the City’s longstanding tradition of allowing religious leaders to offer prayers or sermons before city council meetings. When the Satanic Temple tried to provide their own sermon, the City of Boston sent them away. 

As a result of this dismissal, the Satanic Temple sued the City of Boston, arguing that their First Amendment rights had been violated. They also stated that the religious leaders were selected based on how much money they contributed to their communities – and that this selection process went against their stated goals of religious diversity. 

The Circuit Court Judge presiding over this case disagreed with these arguments. She pointed out that the City of Boston had invited a wide range of religious faiths – suggesting that the Satanists were not rejected on the basis of their religion alone. She also reminded the plaintiffs that many of the councilors were not even familiar with the Satanic Temple, implying that bias was impossible without this understanding. 

Flaws in the Court’s Decision

However, there are a few potential problems with this ruling – and the judge herself acknowledged some of these issues. For example, she admitted that issuing speech invitations to only certain religious leaders could eventually become unconstitutional – but only if these invitations curried favor with certain electorates in a strategic fashion. 

One also has to question one of the judge’s main assertions: That the councilors could not have possibly exhibited bias against the Satanic Temple because they were not aware of the religion. It goes without saying that a name like “Satanic Temple” is somewhat self-explanatory. A counselor does not need detailed background knowledge of Satanism to form a bias against this faith – especially if they are Christian. 

Previous Legal Victories

The Satanic Temple plans to “explore other appellate options,” but they may need to accept this legal defeat and move on. They have plenty of other legal victories to celebrate, and many of these victories occurred within the past few years. 

In 2023, the Satanic Temple reached a $200,000 settlement with the Memphis school district – having previously filed a federal lawsuit. In 2015, the Satanic Temple scored another win in a lawsuit involving Oklahoma’s 10 Commandments requirements (a subject that was recently revisited). Earlier this year, a Christian vigilante faced felony hate crime charges for destroying the Satanic Temple’s display at the Iowa Capitol, as discussed in this blog. The Satanists will undoubtedly “lick their wounds,” learn from this loss, and return with new lawsuits filed across the United States. 

The Universal Life Church Respects Diverse Faith Backgrounds

The Universal Life Church (ULC) respects people from all different faith backgrounds. Although the situation in Iowa has critics on both sides, we encourage everyone to strive to do that which is right and respect diverse points of view. To learn more about the Universal Life Church, do not hesitate to reach out.