In our current era, there are few surprises that don’t come along with a sinking feeling, or hackles raised, or bile brewing like a double espresso. Every day something awful happens, and rather than being given time to metabolize it, we’re off on another careen through insanity on a global scale. So at the very least, Penny Lane’s new documentary Hail Satan? — pertaining to the origins and current circumstances of The Satanic Temple — is responsible for several rather pleasant surprises, and they won’t leave your guts feeling shredded.
The biggest surprise is that The Satanic Temple never really has to do a hard sell for its ideology. That’s not to say director Lane has any specific bias in favor of her subjects. Rather, the other side of the debate — contemporary Christianity of the dominionist (aka Christian nationalist) ideology — doesn’t do itself any favors. Its gestures are monolithic, power-mad, anti-intellectual and rooted in prosperity gospel. By contrast, The Satanic Temple comes off as conscientious, puckish and driven by a sense of equality that seems wildly reminiscent of the socially active teachings of Christ that seem to have been eschewed by so many contemporary Christian denominations.
With each passing week, we see more and more human rights jeopardized in the name of “religious liberty.” And it’s terrifying. It’s reassuring and inspiring to see members of The Satanic Temple start out as conceptual pranksters, then evolve into an informed and active group that battles injustice and religious tyranny — not as literal worshippers of the demonic, but rather as opponents of the grasping hands and grotesque entanglement of prosperity gospel, white supremacy and the law. Their battle against government establishment of religion is something that anyone who cares about a truly just society should respond to. Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves is an affably deadpan presence with the demeanor reminiscent of anyone who gets slowly ground down while trying to shepherd a nonprofit.
Of course, every new social movement runs into some difficulties. Having grown up in the United Methodist Church, I’ve been privy to the internecine squabbles that flourish around any kind of social bureaucracy, and that can happen in The Satanic Temple as well, as attempts to codify a nonviolent stance clang against the passionate leadership of some chapter heads. It’s a fascinating experience to see a group manage these growing pains, becoming more and more an embodiment of justice and intellectual curiosity — while having to battle death threats, ignorance and people who try to change the rules on them.
Hail Satan? is a captivating film. It’s worth seeing for anyone who feels a little too certain as to their own cosmology, and also as a sign of hope that there are people battling the erosion of social liberty on all levels. It’s a little spicy and generally amusing too, and it’s not hard to be won over enough to want to investigate further. The foment of curiosity is a virtue in any theological context.
