In late 2023, I had a bit of a mid-life crisis. As a life-long atheist, I was beginning to feel like I was missing out on the community and fellowship aspects of church, which religious people enjoy as a given but which the irreligious have no default equivalent for.
Some past experience with Unitarian Universalism came to mind, but I decided that I shared enough spaces with theists in my life. What I needed was a place where I could openly talk about my disdain for the encroaching theocracy, and to meet people who are as eager as I am to resist.
At this same time, many of The Satanic Temple’s efforts were making the news. I always appreciated their advocacy in the past, but this time I took a closer look at what was beneath it all. What I found felt like home. I started to learn everything I could about modern romantic Satanism, and after only a few months I began to consider myself a religious Satanist and member of The Satanic Temple.
I started Bark at The Devil because I found I needed an outlet for thoughts, rants, and ramblings about it all. There were too many ideas piling up in my head, and I didn’t want to become the guy in my friends group who doesn’t shut up about his new religion.
Bark at The Devil is (of course) a reference to Mötley Crüe’s song Shout at The Devil, but it’s also a metaphor for what I’m doing here – yapping loudly into the void, to see if anyone listens. Thank you for listening, even if for a moment.