TST has long been politically active, speaking against state abortion bans, and subverting public shows of Christian religion through parody and symbolic battles for representation of their iconography in public spaces.
The Satanic Temple has also launched “After School Satan Clubs” at various public schools around the nation as an alternative to on campus Bible studies, providing self-guided activities such as science and craft projects, puzzles, and games, while offering lessons in benevolence, empathy, critical thinking, and creativity.
TST became a recognized, tax-exempt religious organization in 2019, somewhat ironically thanks to an executive order issued by President Donald Trump that loosened political advocacy restrictions for religious organizations that had been in place since the Johnson Amendment to the tax code in 1954.
Trump’s intention for the 2017 order, titled “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty,” was to free up evangelical pastors who supported him to officially endorse him without fear of their church’s losing their tax exempt status. Nevertheless, TST became an unexpected beneficiary.
