(OPINION) Christian leaders are responding to The Satanic Temple’s (TST) announcement about its second public convention – “a weekend of blasphemy” – to be held in Boston, Massachusetts this upcoming weekend.
The event known as “SatanCon 2023” will take place from April 28-30 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. It’s being advertised by the TST as the “largest Satanic gathering in history.”
The official theme is “Hexennacht in Boston” or “Witches Night,” an ancient German holiday that occurs annually on April 30. In response, Christians are sounding alarms and planning to fight a spiritual battle to push back against the darkness.
In what’s been described as a spiritual “counter-offensive” to SatanCon 2023, revivalist Dr. Jaymz Sideras, co-founder of ReviveBoston, and his wife Pascale have scheduled a three-day revival in Boston the same weekend.
Christian services will be held at 7:00 p.m. nightly on April 28-30 at the Revere Hotel Boston Common, 200 Stuart Street, which is less than a mile from the TST convention. A street evangelism campaign is also being planned by ReviveBoston to be held Saturday, April 29.
“Now make no mistake friends, this is an all-out war between the kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God for the soul of America,” Sideras said in a video trailer for ReviveBoston April 2023 posted to YouTube.
Author and evangelist John Ramirez, a former occultist, gave CBN News some insight into the Satanic group. In his book, Out of the Devil’s Cauldron: A Journey from Darkness to Light, he tells the story of how he was trained to be the third-ranked high priest of a satanic cult in New York City, casting powerful witchcraft spells and controlling entire spiritual regions.
Ramirez told CBN News in a telephone interview recently he’s not surprised at how TST has sought the public spotlight in recent years.
“They’re being aggressive now,” Ramirez said. “They’ve always been vocal, but now they’re being aggressive. It doesn’t surprise me. The Devil’s telling them now ‘Amp up your game. Amp up your hearts. Get aggressive.'”
After several decades of living as an ally of evil, God opened Ramirez’s eyes. He was born-again and gave his life to Jesus Christ, and everything changed. Now he warns people about dabbling with the darkness. He understands “how the game is played” with the Devil after years of participating in the demonic realm.
“They know they have a time frame to establish something that the Devil has given them,” he told CBN News. “And if they don’t abide by that time frame the Devil has given them, then they have to deal with the consequences spiritually. I know that because I was in that for 25 years, so I know how the game is played.”
Founded in 2013 and based in Salem, Massachusetts, TST says it doesn’t technically follow Satan but describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organization” that advocates for secularism.
On its website, under the question “Do You Worship Satan?”, TST answers: “No, nor do we believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural.” Ramirez explained that no matter what Satanists may say, their methods and goals are very real. (READ MORE)
