I thank God for Stephen Bradford Long. The poet Carolyn Forché speaks of opening “the book of what happened,” and I devote a lot of time to finding and studying people who are up to that rare and essential work. Stephen is peculiarly committed to this activity and his determination to hold his own experiences out with open hands is an inspiration to me.
Here’s a recent offering I found myself reading today. Stephen and I deploy particular words differently, but, when we take it slow, difference is the sunshine. I don’t want Stephen to change his terminology to match mine. The fact that he doesn’t is a gift of discernment to me. I’m enriched by it. Here’s a teaser passage if you haven’t clicked the link: “My own path to Satanism was borne out of lies, anguish, and torture in the Christian world. After being Satanized for so long, only a fool would be surprised by my Satanism.”
Do y’all know the word “prurient?” I find it hard to pronounce and a little difficult to define. It’s like it’s an adjective that collapses in on itself, becoming something by trying to contain, control, or corral something else, a fixated and relentlessly fixating fastidiousness. I think of prurience—or varied forms of prurience—when I believe I’m in the presence of someone trying to wield the power of offendedness in an effort to avoid or obscure a moral realization. I wonder if something like it might be akin to the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, knowingly fronting in the presence of someone else’s honesty. Anyway, I say all that to say that I hope Stephen’s conversation with me only vouchsafes light unto all who hear it. His engagement with my work is among the greatest honors of my life. He’s profoundly committed to expanding the space of the talkaboutable in his own life and the lives of others.
For more on The Satanic Temple, which is almost certainly not quite what you think it is, click here.
Thanks for sharing this. The tenets of the Satanic Temple seem more in line with what Christ teaches than what I associate with Satan. Reminds me of the line from Sarah's song We see Satan fall like lightning. We still want to hear your story. Everyone has a story... hallelujah.