The Guardian embraces Satanic Temple in fight for ‘abortion rights’

Writer Adam Gabbatt interviewed Satanic Temple co-founder and spokesperson Lucien Greaves, whose real name is Douglas Mesner, peppering the piece with his own takes on "draconian" religious Republicans, accusing them of instituting "discriminatory, pro-Christian legislation" that Satanists need to fight back against.

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Before introducing the reader to Greaves, Gabbatt framed getting Christianity out of schools and the "right" to abortion both as "fundamental issues."

"...the Temple has tackled prayer in classrooms, religious holiday displays, and the distribution of Bibles in schools," he wrote. "Now, it is taking on another fundamental issue: the right to abortion."

He went on to denounce the "extreme form of Christianity" that wants to protect unborn life.

"The overturning of Roe v. Wade last June opened the door for more than half of US states to effectively ban abortion or restrict access to it, horrifying supporters of reproductive rights," Gabbatt wrote. "The Satanic Temple – and many other observers – believe the decision of the supreme court was made on the basis of religion: specifically the extreme form of Christianity that has come to dominate Republican politics in the US."

The Satanic Temple currently has lawsuits filed in Indiana, Idaho, Texas, and Missouri — all Republican-controlled states — in an effort to gain rights to "religious abortion rituals," arguing that abortion is a religious right in satanism.

Greaves was then introduced as a "fitting frontman for a group that is regularly demonized by its Christian opponents."

"I get messages from people denigrating us for taking legal action to assert our rights, saying: 'You can't change the system from within the system,'" the Satanic Temple spokesman said to the Guardian.

"And I keep asking them: 'What the f*ck do you think you just saw happen? That's what they just did,'" he continued, referencing the Supreme Court decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion.

"We have to play the long game. They spent generations doing this," Greaves said of his game plan to attack fundamental Christian beliefs.

Gabbatt clarified that Satanists "don't believe in Satan in a literal, demonic sense," but rather as a symbol of "rebellion and opposition to authoritarianism."

Recently, the temple has come under fire for its promotion of "After School Satan Clubs," a program they created in order to counter extracurricular Bible study clubs.

The Guardian continued on, accusing Republicans and Christians of "discrimination"

"In recent years, Republicans have ushered in a wave of discriminatory, pro-Christian legislation in states across the country," Gabbatt said. "Conservatives have targeted LGBTQ+ people, in particular, with efforts to prevent transgender people using certain bathrooms, and to prevent LGBTQ+ couples from adopting children."

The "certain bathrooms" Gabbatt claims transgender people are being prevented from using are ones that are of the opposite sex. A recent Florida court decision upheld a school district's policy to give transgender students access to either the bathroom that correlates with their biological sex or a single-stall gender-neutral toilet, deciding that it is not a discriminatory practice.

A 2019 nationwide survey by The Hill found that the majority of Republicans support gay parents adopting, and that their amount of support is within ten points of that from Democrats. According to the poll, 66 percent of Republicans said that adoption groups should not be able to turn away LGBTQ parents, compared to 75 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of independents.

The Guardian article, which is on the "US News" section of the website and not under "Opinion," then made the claim that it was a "religious crusade that ultimately resulted in the supreme court's 6-3 conservative majority overturning Roe v Wade."