Satanist visits class to demonstrate free speech boundaries
Jex Blackmore, director and spokesperson of The Satanic Temple of Detroit Chapter, spoke to Professor Timothy Boudreau’s Media Law class on Thursday, explaining her beliefs to the students.
Blackmore was invited by Boudreau to speak to the class so they could see views that would be restricted without the First Amendment.
“Her beliefs and her expression of those beliefs are protected by the First Amendment, and the First Amendment protects her right to exercise her religion as she sees fit,” Boudreau said. “I think the First Amendment is designed to protect that sort of [unpopular] speech.”
Blackmore explained to the class that her religion does not involve sacrificing goats, witchcraft, or the literal worship of Satan. Instead, Blackmore said, The Satanic Temple views Satan as a rebel standing against an all-powerful authority, a metaphor for fighting off tyranny and questioning what is sacred.
The Satanic Temple has often protested for the right to openly express their beliefs. When the state of Oklahoma allowed a monument of the Ten Commandments to be placed at the state capitol, the Satanic Temple demanded they be allowed to place a statue of Baphomet next to the monument. When the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled all religious displays illegal on public property, The Satanic Temple had the statue moved to Detroit.
According to Blackmore, the temple has received backlash for its beliefs.Blackmore says she receives thousands of threats a day, including death threats, and about one threat a month credible enough to report to the police.
“A couple of weeks ago someone sent me the kind of ammunition they were buying to kill me with,” she said.
When the Baphomet statue was unveiled in Detroit, the Satanic Temple gave attendees a decoy location as a safety precaution, where they would show their tickets to learn of a second location. There the guests would have to speak a passphrase to finally be led to the actual event.
Blackmore said she hoped the students learned from her presentation to challenge notions and facts created by the media and to use it to promote ideas that are unpopular, but necessary.
Graduate student Josh Whicker said he attended the presentation even though he was not a student of Boudreau’s.
“I’m interested in The Satanic Temple and their political activities, and also what they stand for and how that contrasts with how they’re perceived,” he said.
After the meeting, Whicker discussed setting up an RSO for Satanists at CMU and working with Blackmore’s chapter.
