Deeply Held Beliefs
by Michael Doyle

To the disbelief of our Father's Kingdom,
Satanists are sneaking in through religious freedom.
Though religious freedom is rather simple,
I cannot find myself supporting the Satanic Temple.

Only to the godless is this farcical.
It is not only Christians who are satirical.
But there is a moment in the confluence,
And designed for its dark influence.

Lucien Greaves has deeply held beliefs,
And for this I will not give him any grief.
Satan is held as the ultimate rebel against tyranny,
But we know that licentiousness destroys liberty.

The Temple went after the Baptists of Westboro.
They were hoping their infamy would grow.
And indeed it did, for the Devil told them so.
Blasphemy was the personal offense to grow.

Hidden behind religious expression
Was the desire to keep refined pluralism,
And direct the single ghastly impression -
That to be evil is to live for happiness, not depression.

To live this life is to live for Satan's renewal
And to hold this blatant mockery as a crown jewel.
Satanism is meant to be part of the culture wars.
It is to overthrow repressive tradition and social morals.

Referenced as it is as a form of liberation,
Satanism is cast as Liberty's revelation.
Spoken as if by possessed voices,
Worshippers speak of this as exercising free choice.

Absent this, they say we are kept in the chains of slavery,
And it only takes a willing slave to be up to knavery.
Nobody wants to be a useful sort of foolish tool.
Evil or divine, no one wants to be played for fools.

And yet by embracing  these concepts as they appear,
There are indeed fools who travel from far and near.
This is a black rebellion against challenged authority.
They would keep the darkness in all of its religiosity.

There are the ways of partial and pastoral blasphemy,
Filled with nostalgia for the chains of perversity
This is, indeed, what it takes to be locked in the sadness,
And to surrender one's soul to Lucifer's madness.


(c) Sepbember 1, 2026   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved