Lucien Greaves Interview
🕑 Added 2022-03-19 21:36:44 +0000 UTCBy popular demand, we've put together a complete cut of the interview I did with Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson of The Satanic Temple. Lucien did not show face at TST's gathering in Scottsdale, partially due to the fact that a group of self-proclaimed 'Sovereign Citizens,' recently put a $100,000 bounty on his head, but we were able to catch up with him via zoom a week after the Gathering.
This interview was super interesting. Shout out to Lucien for hooking up press passes to the Gathering, and also recording clean audio and shooting 4K footage on his end.
Enjoy!!
- Andrew, Nic and Evan
Comments
The Beatbox Cyclist
What gets me about non-theistic groups is, why even bother labelling yourselves as one religion/belief system or another when you are just literally ripping out the sane parts of whatever belief system, to then teach to people. If this guy wants to teach critical thinking and science to kids, there is no reason to even do it under the Satanism banner, just teach them the core teachings without all the BS of belief/religious banners.
Jonas U
I don't know how much of this is about causing a media outrage as much as it is about helping children. They picked the name "The Satan club" obviously because they knew it would rile people up. Not that they don't have the right to pick such a name - I'm just questioning whether this is really about the children.
Kasey
Hey, thanks for uploading this full interview. That was incredibly informative and comforting.
Kenneth Pierce
I consider myself a non theistic Christian in every sense. I kind of had too to keep myself from going insane considering the horrifying idea that the Bible is meant to be taken literally.
Off Chance
In fairness, saying "Hail Satan" for them is more of an acknowledgement of what they are about, which you said yourself, is an ideology/metaphor rather than a religion. If you don't feel comfortable with that, that is fine. But I don't think you have much right to be angry that they declined you for it. No, ill feelings. Just saying my thoughts.
Brice Ambrecht
shit was good, throw that up on youtube
Angelo Tripkovski
As a paying subscriber, I would be very happy if you added this video to your Youtube channel, so it can be shared and discussed further. Many spheres of topics were covered in a digestible segment that could be very educational and inspiring for some people. This interview gave me a glimmer of hope for societal progress in the US.
James
Brilliant man. Fascinating interview. Great moves, andrew, keep it up, proud of you.
Noodle
oh weird, I joined on their website right now https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/join-us#join-become-form
joey nighthawk
I tried to join The Satanic Temple and they rejected me because I refused to say "Hail Satan". Even after I explained and they acknowledged that Satan is a metaphor they still rejected me over that stupid reason.
angry.lunchbox tv
What do modern American Christians do the most when you talk to them about topics like the American Christian missionaries influence in south America during the 70s? When they were literally giving shotguns to tribal people's in exchange for their solemn pledges to be Christians so that they could wipe out the entire bloodlines of competing tribes? They'll tell you that was not legitimate representation of the Christian church
Jolly
Ace
Jada
The gray faction bit was crazy, never even thought that was an issue in the psych field..
Nicholas O
I love how the Satanic Temple is fighting for religious rights of christians and they're getting all pissy about it.
Karl
Dude seems chill and smart
Antibios
Dude is super well-spoken and sticks to the facts. Love it
Megan Wisdom
i love how he threw channel 5 under the bus by saying no one wants to do ad hoc street interviews for youtube channels 😅
Thomas
Lucien sounds like a level-headed guy that I wouldn't mind hanging out with.
Timothy Wolfe
Guy is very well spoken. As an atheist, I don't subscribe to the whole satanist thing, but I do resonate with them for what they're doing. Atheism gets a bad rap, but these guys get it worse, so it's good for pulling the public this direction.
Nathan Hoff
Religion without God is just as contradictive as religion without drugs. Every religion has roots in druidism, and without altered states of consciousness, religion is ultimately bunk. Satanism merely points the finger at the hypocrisy within toxic tax-free mind control corporations identifying as "religions". The war of religion and free thinking goes hand in hand with the war on drugs, ritualism and free thinking; there is no separating the two.
George Becker
No u
Richard Springfield
30:34 Andrew = Awkward puppet meme
Jonathan Anderson
Satan for the Temple of Satan is used as an icon to challenge the notion of separation of church and state and religious equality in the United States. The belief is that there should be no Christian iconography in the government; if there is, then any religion should be allowed to display their iconography alongside government. Therefore there should be no issue with placing images of Satan in government buildings... see the intent? Further, there should absolutely be protections in for a philosophy just as there should be protections for a religion. It relates to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. For example, Buddhism is not a religion, but rather a philosophy. Yet Buddhist practitioners should have the same guaranteed right to practice their ideology. The government should merely guarantee this right to the people and enforce separation of church and state as long as people are not breaking the law. The unfortunate truth, however, is that the government does not practice separation of church and state.
Alex Lopez
good stuff
Keva Stewart
YESSS!!!! your clip on YT with the satanist dude had me worried we were going to be made a mockery AGAIN. thanks for interviewing Lucien <3
miles
Hell yeah!
robert pearson
a fellow lpotl listener.
billy120745
Great content Andrew, good interview, interesting stuff. I hear his points but there seem to be contradictions. He claims to represent a “non-theistic religious organization” that uses Satan as a “metaphorical icon” to center their ethics. Is that a self contradiction? What is religion in the absence of a God and instead a metaphor at its center? How is that different from a philosophy? Lucian described the viewpoints as a philosophy, or in philosophical terms numerous times. Should a philosophy be granted the same protections as a religion?
miles
hail Satan, hail Gein, hail yourselves!
Eve
Loved how you ended the interview by saying "Amen".
Andrew Steele
Y’all were right. I was wrong. Lucian has a really nice essay on the church’s website breaking down this very subject: https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/church-of-satan-vs-satanic-temple
Adam Davidson
I love this style of video! Good length, lots of great content! Keep it up lads! Try and wrangle that tiger king? Hahah
Wilson Nester
Lucien’s organization The Satanic Temple does NOT use Ayn Rand as foundational to their worldview. At least in Lucien’s words, the Levayan Satanists do.
Goodmorning Pokey
Hail Satan! Hail Channel 5! Hail Andrew! Hail yourselves! I love you all! Do as you will in peace!
Joshua Rustin
Fuck yeah
jenna
anyone else feel like he is giving alternate reality Jordan Peterson
Justin Mai
no
Elfo_the_Norf
This was so good. Thank you for sharing this. I hope they publish the weirdo hate mail book. That is legit contemporary anthropology right there.
El Swifto
Q Crowd: 26:05 - Satanist drinks Starbucks therefore STARBUCKS SUPPORTS THE DEVIL ! ! Edit - Upon further review: Starbucks CEO did endorse Hilary in 2016 🤦♀️
Endsetzliche
Loved this interview. Dude is well spoken. Going to look up their band next!
blazingsword
"Is it weird if i find someone attractive?!?!!"
Andrew McCann
That was in reference to the Church of Satan as a differentiator, if that means anything.
Andrew Steele
I loved this interview but I can’t back anyone who uses Ayn Rand as foundational to their worldview. It sounds good in theory but falls apart quickly.
Jasper Linneberg
pls do that gray faction stuff sounded interesting if you could pull it off
Jane Lane
Great interview!
Jane Lane
https://www.netflix.com/title/80063867 The National Prayer Breakfast is a great example of Christianity's influence over the White House and surrounding
DJ Brown
Yo, thanks for posting this full interview, goooood sheeeeit 🤘🏼
emkyoo
Lucien is eloquent as usual. I'm glad they exist to fight hypocrisy.
Vinny vinson
If after school satan clubs need someone to do a glassblowing demo for the kids I know an anababtist that would be willing to do that.
Toby Bryan
I'm so happy whenever these long form interviews drop <333333
melikai
sooooo good, would be so sick if y'all put this on the channel
creg
so glad you uploaded the full version!
Ada King
if they covered survivorship...jfc
Ada King
the ISSTD conferences...they're really something
Ada King
could not agree more! i would love to see callaghan's conversations with those people.
Avery Johnson
King
Todd Schreiner
Lucien Greaves is so well spoken
Christopher Spafford
Exactly how I would envision satan
fleshmetal
love this guy great interview
Peter Jordan Toatley
Dude is brilliant.
Davis Collins
This the type of guy that says Epstein killed himself
JG
Grey faction interviews would be awesome, and maybe take a deep look into the Four Winds shamans. That’s another faction/club/cult that preys on people.
Junior Chrysler
Hadn't heard of Lucien before and I gotta say wow what an intelligent and level headed dude.
Joedie Sawyer
I have a ton of respect for this guy and I’m so glad you guys have this long form interview with him. He brought up the satanic panic in the 80’s, which I grew up in as well and had a similar reaction, it was a really bizarre time. Even more bizarre are the Salem witch trials which I immersed myself in the history when I visited Salem (and of course the Satanic Temple Gallery as well). A lot of humans pick out the weakest and most different and bully them, and will go to great lengths to vilify them and even murder them. The Satanic Temple upholds a long tradition of fighting back against this treatment of women traditionally, and anyone who is different whom Christianity decides to bully into submission. Everyone has the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the right to question authority. In my experience the “authority” is usually dead wrong and should be called out anyway and only a few brave ones will try to fight it.
Kerkko Sariola
"The vibe"
George Horton
man these guys are so cool and edgy. its like they are fedora tipping atheists but they dress goth. that's whats up
Charles Petralia
damn this guy jams with dave lombardo!
A C
I dont really ever message on your videos, but pls keep up the good work, your videos have been incredible and this one highlights how willing you are to engage individuals that may be outside normal american beliefs but are spittin facts that the public need to hear
Gary Bowditch
This is so great.
Kylo
Definitely the highlight for me
William Conlin
Great content. very pleased
sinuendo
Wow, that's what a real interview looks like!
Kay Connelly
PLEASE upload this to Youtube. This is such a good interview and it would do so much to educate people on TST and the kind of crazy conspiracy theorists who threaten them for no reason
Zesty Sams
I think one of TST's greatest strength is exactly that; holding up a mirror to the ugly, authoritarian nature of organized religion in the US as it pertains to the supposed intent of the country's founding. I'm totally with you on being against antagonizing anyone and for garnering sympathy and understanding so as to attempt to move toward a more peaceful status quo. It's bound to be difficult though when these certain Christian sects seem to always try and act as the mouthpiece for TST(or any perceived opposition for the matter)'s actions whether it involves them or not, co-opting whatever visibility was meant for just general awareness into God's favorite play in the book; scare tactics, baybeeeee! Fwiw, I do C-lieve that one of the greatest hopes we have for salvaging prosperity for the working class people comes in the form of creating meaningful communities where folks can find purpose and interests that aren't tied to supporting capitalism in some way. S/o Channel 5 for doing just that.
Zesty Sams
Excited at the idea of y'all doing a piece on grey faction. Also genuinely appreciate C5's commitment to transparency. Do y'all hold onto all the full interview footage you take? If so, not sure if anyone's suggested it before but, it would be cool to have an archive for patrons to access.
Red Queen
There is a Huge sovereign citizen movement in Australia- they have been involved with the protests in Canberra- I’ve sat in on a couple of their zoom sheriff training sessions and Woweeee.. Andrew if you ever go to Aus they are a group you MUST cover- oh and they love trump 🙃 (I’m from Aus living in the US)
Alex
Excellent interview guys! Five Stars as usual! Very interesting points made by Lucien. Props on his end for hooking you up with passes and great quality footage. Also, Tucker Carlson is such a BOOB! LOL! Jeeeeessssuuuuuusssssssssssssss.
Red Queen
He’s a smart dude, big fan.. thanks for this
blazingsword
People exist to create balance... Like the purple Thanos.
FrivolousExamination
He seems like a lovely person to talk to. I got the sense that he is very clear-headed, logical, and compassionate. The multiple camera angles helped me stay focused. I would love to see you go to a grey faction. Thanks for your work, team!
Andy B
Not sure how I feel about the satanic temple. On the one hand, it feels like fighting fire with fire. If their issue is with the encroachment of religion into public forums, setting themselves up as an anti-christian movement will prejudice Christians who agree with them against them, at best splitting the movement, at worst turning potential sympathisers into opponents. However, their status as a religion gives them a unique ability to expose hypocrisy and pro-christian bias from lawmakers. On top of that, their work helping victims of religious abuse may be helped by the appearance of rejecting Christian values. Great video as always guys, it's nice to see you cover something that isn't the MAGA/Qanon right. Keep up the good work
Nick Bernstein
bro pleeease do sovereign citizens, i'm sure it would all be face blurred but thats one group that absolutely fascinates me
Samuel Brenny
Hell isnt ready for me
jbownzino
We the meeple
DW
"I don't worship Satan, but I do agree with a lot of the stuff he tells me."- Dave Attell
Felix Marsh-Wakefield
Another great interview, awesome work Channel 5!! I first came across Lucien in a documentary "Hail Satan?", which I strongly recommend for anyone else interested in finding out more about them
Danger
That June Everett, what a treasure!! 😍 June gets an award for second most fucks said during a SatanCon presentation!
Danger
Wow, that was an excellent interview! It's refreshing to see Lucien get the chance to talk without being aggressively interrupted. I agree that it would be great to see Channel 5 go to an ISSTD conference. Those people are fucking crazy, and dangerous.
Chris Meck
He is also not the type of person to do the sidewalk protests and what not. Dude is very levelheaded and understands himself and his message. Hard to find someone protesting to give a thoughtful and intellectual statement, they are there for a reason. Really enjoy sit down interviews where it's not an "I'm right you're wrong" environment
E C
I had small understanding of the satanist temple before this video series but now I have a really strong appreciation for them.
Vanessa Gomez
Thank y’all for this
Jake Chinatown
I started thinking there is no way I'm listening to this guy talk for 40 minutes and now I wish it was longer. Chill, smart dude.
Dante
This was so great! Thanks for posting!
Jay Kariesch
These guys are great. They provide a constitutional health check at their own expense, which has been a thankless public service. Buy their merch to show your support.
Spencer
Very interesting interview, thanks for uploading this one guys! I find it hilarious how the spokesperson for the church of Satan is so much more normal than just about any of the counter protestors.
Silas Andrews
I really hope Lucien releases that book with the snail mail letters
Jon Chernicky
Please try to do these types of interviews more! This is such a breath of fresh air!
Therion Gish
I’m so excited every time I see a post from you all. One suggestion if I may, and I know this is more work, but would it be possible to get subtitles and/or a transcript for your content on patreon? I watch the stuff when it hits YouTube too, but this shit is the real real and I think it would make the content more accessible. No pressure though I know you’re a small team. I’d even be willing to help out if necessary. Thanks again for all your marvelous work. I’ll be a patron for life regardless. <3
Natalie F.
"It's mainly just uno, and crafts n' shit" I loved her candor
Carl Lindquist
Oooh yes this is sick
Justin Candler
Now interview a normal Christian talking about worshipping blood sacrifice and mutilating genetalia
PizzaVenkman
Excellent interview. It’s great that Channel 5 is taking the time to actually talk to groups, which helps to break down the stigma around some of them.
DanBo
*Ouw-Awh-Awh-AhhAhh!*
Chad Farrell
So sick
Chad Nielsen
Thank you!
ryan
Foo