Satanists Infiltrate United States Naval Academy
Of the five service academies in the United States, the Naval Academy is the oldest. It is an institution rich in tradition, ceremony and history. But now, it is the latest target for the adherents of the Satanic Temple.
According to a source at the Naval Academy who forwarded screenshots of an e-mail to author Rod Dreher, a service member at the Academy sent out a message to cadets advertising a weekly Satanic discussion group. The group, reported the e-mail, was supposed to meet on the grounds of the Academy itself.
In an addendum e-mail, the unnamed Satanic affiliate included a brief Q & A about the event, as well as his personal beliefs and those of the Satanic Temple. Although the writer of the e-mail claims that the pro-satanic initiative is his own and not that of the Satanic Temple, he nonetheless describes himself as a “card carrying member” of the organization.
At first, the Satanic discussion group had been denied the ability to assemble on the grounds of the Academy for two reasons. First, they submitted a request which did not include provisions for the “religious services” that were advertised in their e-mail, which is a violation of Naval Academy Protocol. Second, the legitimacy of their organization has been called into question by Academy authorities who say that the Satanic Temple is a “a non-theistic religious and politically active movement,” which service members are forbidden from being involved in.
However, Military.com reports that “Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy who have beliefs associated with The Satanic Temple now have a study group available to them, according to the military institution.”
A Devilish Deception
While some would defend the “right” for Satanists to exist at the Academy, it is clear that Satanism and Christianity cannot coexist. In the United States, the Satanic Temple has a long history of attacking the Christian religion and the history and traditions of the country, including attacking claims of abuse by victims of occult sects, engaging in homosexual acts over graves, public black masses, encouraging children to swear, defaming saints, and publicly mocking Christmas traditions. Clearly, this move is yet another attempt to offend the beliefs of Christians.
Curiously, the group which claims to be atheist, but also somehow a religion, denies its belief in the figure of a satan, yet also said that they “were coming out to say how happy we were because now our Satanic children could pray to Satan in school."
Questions also arise in regards to the statements made in the aforementioned e-mail. In spite of claiming that the attempt to bring the ideology of the Satanic Temple to the Naval Academy was not an initiative of the organization itself, the group has recently issued its own statements saying that it has reached out to the USNA on the matter and intends to engage in legal action if the group is not granted official status there.
Voices of Opposition
Many people have begun to speak publicly about this new evil trying to take root at the Academy.
In the words of one anonymous source, “How can this chief claim no sponsorship or endorsement from the Satanic Temple, even as he admits he’s a member? He claims not to conduct or promote symbolic evil, when that’s what Satan is in literature (and he’s the closest thing to evil incarnate in the real world). The website he links to talks about Black Masses and ‘unbaptisms’…
“I feel like a large group praying outside the room (if they meet), asking the Catholic priests on the Yard to do exorcisms, and other supernatural tactics, ought not to be abandoned, and might even witness to other midshipmen that Christians don’t just get pushed around all the time. I think Christians should force the decision on people: God or Satan?”
Responses are not just limited to the Academy’s Catholic population, however. One Protestant cadet noted the antagonistic game behind the Satanic discussion groups, “The Satanic Temple (TST) as it were is calculated for shock value. It is a clever exercise in narrative building and optics manipulating.” He goes on to link its beliefs to that of the French Revolution, “[I]ts principles would be right at home in a meeting in the Temple of Reason of revolution era France. It is a simple repackaging of old humanist ideas that have been around for centuries.”
A Call to Action
Satanism is evil. From the supernatural sense, it is an attack on the truth of the Faith and God Himself. In the civil sense, it is an attack on the beliefs and practices of Christians which attempts to find cover behind the same laws that are supposed to protect those beliefs.
Rod Dreher, who first reported on this issue, noted, “Sometimes, you don’t need to ‘understand’ — you need to resist… [I]f the Naval Academy Satanists were proposing to revive Nazi occult rituals, nobody would have to give this a second thought.”
The reality is that for a Christian, there is no other option but to resist and to fight. If one truly loves God and His Church, how can he stand idly by while They are mocked and attacked? Make no mistake, this is an attack on the Christian religion and the traditions of this country. It is evil. And evil has no rights.