‘… we’d love to hear more about y’all … as a meme page and a quasi-group? collective? whatever y’all wanna say. In your ideology what are some more positive aspects of y’all? Because from what Tyler said, from what y’all had to say … y’all sound great?’
Dixieland of the Proletariat
‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but y’all seem like the chillest anarchists I’ve ever met.’
Episode 66 “Hail Satan” w/Queer Satanic Heretics
Timestamp 1:12:55
‘Just gotta find myself a good community similar …’
‘I just want a fun Satanic group that isn’t garbage filled with manipulative leaders.’
‘How do I join you?’
‘Why don’t you start an organization?’
Evergreen Memes for Queer Satanic Fiends Facebook page comments
From the very moment we committed our story to written word—what The Satanic Temple calls our “manifestos” and very graciously included copies of in their federal court filings against us (please see Exhibit 5 – Document #1, Attachment #5, and Exhibit 5 – Document #26, Attachment #5)—we have received commentary like this.
Even in the latter (Exhibit 5, Document #26, Attachment #5), there is a similar comment from a third-party that TST uses as the basis for one of their newer throw-spaghetti-on-the-wall-and-see-if-it-sticks claims against us.
Queer Satanic has never been and was never intended to be an organization or official “group.” We have no organization, no members, and no hierarchy. Even the name “Queer Satanic” stemmed from the original meme page, “Evergreen Memes for Queer Satanic Fiends” and handle @QueerSatanicMemes, which we then shortened and used across social media platforms in order to spread the word of TST’s SLAPP suit against us. That’s a lawsuit that – regardless of any personal feelings – bound us together (so far indefinitely) into a group called “defendants.”
“Queer Satanic” was a moniker that fit us, that reflected the values that led to our ousting as heretics, and the principles that we wished to embrace in our lives. To put it shortly:
Queer Satanic is not an organization. Queer Satanic is vibes.
While we have remained in touch with folks who were also kicked out or who left of their own accord, those relationships are loose, purely social, and do not form any sort of official group or organization.
We’d strongly encourage you to listen to our response to Dixieland of the Proletariat’s question in the podcast quoted above.
Nelson:
I guess one of the last things we want ask— So, we talked about TST a lot. We talked about Satanism. But if y’all wanna talk more, we’d love to hear more about y’all as a meme page and a quasi- a group, collective, whatever y’all want to say. Like, in your ideology, what’s some like positive aspects of y’all? Because from what y’all have to say, it sounds y’all sound great. So I guess like, what are-
Tyler:
Don’t take this the wrong way, but y’all seem like the chillest anarchists I’ve ever met That’s coming from a tankie.
David Johnson:
Yeah, I mean, uh, if you like us, you know, when you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. So you’ve met us, now you can reject that idea. What we have told other people is that we don’t have the bandwidth to be followed. Like, I mean you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stuff. That’s cool, but don’t like follow us-follow us. Don’t do what we say, cuz we said it. If you’re looking for a, like, chill, good anti-fascist organization, that’s satanic in your area — you should make that. You should make your affinity group and build that and not try to fit yourself into a hierarchy. I mean, I think I’m a cool dude, but maybe I’m not a cool dude. Or maybe if I had a bunch of power for people, I wouldn’t be.
And so a better thing to do is to create structures where everybody’s accountable to everybody else. That’s what I would suggest to people. If you like what we do and you like the philosophy that we have, um, you should build that into your own community, and not look to us for anything, but cool memes and, uh, theory sometimes? And just look to us only for like education, but not, like, telling you how to do things or what to do, because a much better way to approach the world is find peers in your community and work with them to do the things you wanna do…. Also we’re exhausted. Like I’m- I fucking can’t- I can’t do anything more.
Or read some of our answers to similar questions on Tumblr over the years (1) (2), but since we still get these questions, we are more than happy to send out a few words of encouragement.
Don’t wait for someone else to make the perfect group for you. Make your own collective.
You don’t have to be a leader, and we’d personally advise against hierarchies altogether. Our experiences and the experiences of others who support us across the nation (or world, perhaps?) show that if you are asking for such a group, there are assuredly folks near you who would also appreciate such a group. The ideal collectives are not worldwide, not nationwide, not even statewide. They are localized communities without hierarchies who share values, serve a need, and agree on a course of action. Preferably, direct action.
Don’t look to us or anyone else to serve your needs; surely we will disappoint you. Instead, create the group that you need. Know that once the group has completely fulfilled that need, it may very well dissipate. But that’s OK – that’s the lifecycle of groups. The camaraderie you form with your fellow members may extend into another group that forms another purpose later; it may last a lifetime. Or it may only be appropriate for and last for that moment. Who can say.
There’s plenty of reading that can be done on the subject by people much more qualified than we are and with more experience than we have, if you need some inspiration or a deeper basis to draw on. We’ll link a few below to get you started, but please understand people are fallible, and so are these resources.
The driving force behind creating your own group and becoming an adversary to your most pressing tyrannies has to come from you.
We can’t wait to see what amazing things you do.
Remember: No hierarchies. Only vibes.
- How to Form an Affinity Group – CrimethInc
- Relative to their small size, affinity groups can achieve a disproportionately powerful impact. In contrast to traditional top-down structures, they are free to adapt to any situation, they need not pass their decisions through a complicated process of ratification, and all the participants can act and react instantly without waiting for orders—yet with a clear idea of what to expect from one another. … Most important of all, affinity groups are motivated by shared desire and loyalty, rather than profit, duty, or any other compensation or abstraction.
- Organizing Communities – Tom Knoche
- People get involved with groups because they present an opportunity for them to gain something they want. It may be tangible or intangible, but the motivation to get involved comes with an expectation of relatively short-term gratification. The job of community organizations is to facilitate a process where groups of people with similar needs or problems learn to work together for the benefit of all. Through this process, people learn to work cooperatively and learn that their informal association can usually solve problems more effectively and quickly than established organizations.
- The Intersections of Anarchism And Community Organizing – Dave
- Organizing is not about telling people what to do, nor should organizers go into a community with solutions to problems one identifies as an outsider. Community organizing is a bottom-up process which focuses on solutions to issues established by people who live in the community. One does not have to live in the same place as one organizes, nor does one have to fill the exact same social categories as those you are organizing with (though it definitley would help). The strength of any organizing drive is the potency of the political relationships its participants have with each other and how those relationships move the participants toward challenging relations of power.