The devil’s always in the details

If you’re bored by conventional religions, consider what another option has to offer

The key moment in the documentary Hail Satan? — and perhaps the reason why there’s a question mark in the title — comes about midway through the film, when a group of members of the Satanic Temple deliver a hearty “Hail Satan!” followed by an uneasy chuckle. You don’t get that kind of nervous rejoinder to a heartfelt “Praise Jesus” or “God is great.”

That’s because the vast majority of Temple members don’t actually worship the devil. They certainly don’t aspire to evilness.

As director Penny Lane’s thoughtful if somewhat dry documentary explains, people join because they don’t fit into mainstream religion, or it doesn’t fit them.

“It’s called Satanism because there’s nothing else to call it,” says one adherent. “Being an

atheist is boring. It’s defining what you’re not.”

Satanists define what they are, which is a loose group advocating egalitarianism, equal rights, civic responsibility and the separation of church and state. Much of the film follows the group’s efforts to erect a statue of Satan next to one of the Ten Commandments outside a U.S. state courthouse. But when the Christian statue comes down, they stop pressing for theirs to go up.

Lane spends a lot of time with Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves. That’s not his real name: Most Satanists pick cooler-sounding alter egos, because being “Doug” is boring. Mild-mannered to a fault, Greaves is a reluctant but committed anti-Messiah, sometimes donning a bulletproof vest in the wake of death threats against him.

The Satanic Temple was founded in 2013, which I guess makes this the year 7 anno satanas, and it’s fascinating to see the nascent religion grappling with questions of organization and dogma. There are seven fundamental tenets, of which my favourite has to be #5: “Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.” Hardly the Devil’s creed.

We also witness the excommunication (or should that be communication?) of Jex Blackmore for her extreme views that include a call to murder the U.S. president. In interviews she comes across as more performing artist than radical revolutionary.

But it’s an interesting lesson about how, in a large enough group of outsiders, there will always be a fringe of the fringe.

Hail Satan? opens Friday in Edmonton. (It’ll play everywhere when hell freezes over.)