Lilith Starr > Quotes

“In addition, TST's
religion carried with it a mandate for action ─ as one TST leader put
it, "Activism is our form of worship." By fighting for equal rights and
standing against theocracy, Satanists can follow the example of our
beloved literary symbol Satan, who stood up against an unjust tyrant.”
― Lilith Starr, Compassionate Satanism: An Introduction to Modern Satanic Practice

“The right to offend is a right, not a duty.”
― Lilith Starr, Compassionate Satanism: An Introduction to Modern Satanic Practice

“We keep quiet in the face of injustice, because we are afraid of retaliation.”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“The First Amendment protects our right to practice our beliefs, and under the Religious Freedom Reform Act (RFRA), the State must present a compelling reason for why they want to enforce rules that inhibit adherence to our religious practices. Clearly, the State of Texas has no compelling reason because these rules were not enacted to promote health and safety, but rather to harass and burden women who terminate their pregnancies. For these reasons, members of The Satanic Temple are not required to comply with the Texas rule on fetal remains.”
― Lilith Starr, Compassionate Satanism: An Introduction to Modern Satanic Practice

“To say you are opening yourself up to persecution by choosing to become a Satanist is an understatement. The fact that you are willing to take that risk for an idea alone means you do not let fear dictate your choices and actions in life. You have already learned not to listen to fear.”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“In fact, you might be surprised to find that many Satanists are the kindest, most loving people you know”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“In my personal life, I will no longer fear the extreme opposites that threaten to tear me apart from the inside. I will recognize the creative depths roiled up by those storms instead, and use them as inspiration.”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“I believe it’s time to move to a more effective, science-based model of treating addiction, one that doesn’t rely on an external power to heal. I believe it’s time we put our efforts into mental health care, social justice and universal access to proven treatments instead of leaving recovery up to these twelve-step groups.”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“It's up to you to build a life of personal meaning. God or external forces won't step in and guide you in the right direction. Satanism teaches us that this life is all we have, so let's learn how to make it count. What brings you most joy? Where is your passion? How can
you personally make a difference in creating a more just, compassionate world? Let your own heart lead you.”
― Lilith Starr, Compassionate Satanism: An Introduction to Modern Satanic Practice

“As has often been said, atheism describes what we are not. Satanism describes what we are.”
― Lilith Starr, Compassionate Satanism: An Introduction to Modern Satanic Practice

“Romantic Satanists find meaning in the narrative of Satan as a symbol of rebellion against unjust and arbitrary authority, teaching that it is one's duty to actively fight tyranny and work toward a better, more just society.”
― Lilith Starr, Compassionate Satanism: An Introduction to Modern Satanic Practice

“So deciding to be a Satanist doesn’t require you to abandon the rest of your spiritual path, unless that path declares rather emphatically that you are not God and that something else is, something you must obey blindly without question. Any other path, especially one that emphasizes inner solutions, curiosity, and thinking for yourself, is completely compatible.”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“Women were seen as lesser-than, passive and weak, the source of the Original Sin that plunged humanity into endless suffering, good for little else other than bearing children and keeping house for the men who more or less owned them.”
― Lilith Starr, Compassionate Satanism: An Introduction to Modern Satanic Practice

“Compassion must begin with self-compassion, and that is where I see Satanism stepping in. You must have compassion for yourself just as you are, in all your supposed sin and flaws and shortfallings. You are doing the best you can in an insane, dysfunctional world. And there is nothing wrong with you, despite the fearful shrill voices of that world yelling at you that there is.”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“believe the first step is simple: end our isolation. Drop our masks, reach out to others, dare to show our true colors and share our real stories. We have the capacity for great compassion and great positive change. I believe if we connect over the vast global net, change will come as we realize we are all just people,”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“But when you are hobbled by self-doubt and crippled by Church-dictated ignorance”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“You won’t see us going door to door in your neighborhood anytime soon, asking “Have you got a minute to hear the word of Satan today?”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“Certainly we admire Satan as a symbol of the questioning mind, the refusal to serve, the refusal to blindly obey authority.”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment

“Satanism is much more like a philosophy than a religion, and as such it is highly compatible with almost any other spiritual approach except those that demand fearful obedience to a made-up deity. Obviously, Christianity, Judaism and Islam are right out. But many other paths, including many Eastern practices, do not conflict with Satanic beliefs in the slightest.”
― Lilith Starr, The Happy Satanist: Finding Self-Empowerment