This is a non-theistic space, not an anti-theist space.

We don’t talk about negatively about “religion” because the problems we have with particular religions are not located in their beliefs in the supernatural or their rituals.

We oppose harmful superstitions, like gender essentialism and white supremacy, beliefs that people believe in and act on to hurt others. We oppose hierarchies, like patriarchy and capitalism, like ableism that says some people’s comforts are inherently worth more than others’ needs.

But we don’t oppose religion absent those things, and we do oppose those things absent religion.

Communities with shared beliefs and traditions that help them navigate the world now or have continuity with their ancestors are not the enemy or worth us being The Adversary toward. Materialism has space for how people really feel and what helps them achieve the ends they want, from mnemonic devices to prayer.

When someone says, “I hate religion” they agree with Dominionists about all religions except the last one.

This is why figures like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris can be so popular among white nationalists who hate Muslim refugees or Mexican Catholic immigrants. It’s why animus toward “Abrahamic faiths” in societies that are overwhelmingly Christian does not threaten Christians but does help target already marginalized Jews and Muslims.

If we were Satanists in Saudi Arabia, we’d be the Adversary of Sunnis and Wahhabism, not the Christian Filipino workers. If we were Satanists in Iran, we’d be the Adversary of Twelver Shias, not Armenian Christians or Kurdish Yarsans.

“I hate religion” stated universally or even “Abrahamic religions are bad because you just have to accept things on faith” is not only a statement of profound ignorance (e.g. lo ba-shamayim hi – “the Torah is not in heaven”), it makes you a tool of oppression rather than an enemy of it.

Do better than agreeing with Mike Pence about every religion but the last one.

Ave Satanas.