It’s not much of a stretch to say American politics — at least when you ask a specific side — is theocratic in nature. Lots of talk about God and scripture and the Bible being thrown around in the halls of law and justice these days. To combat those sentiments and to directly oppose an ongoing tour by self-described Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht at various state capitol buildings, the avant-garde industrial band Satanic Planet is planning to also play state capitols, but they need your help.
Announced earlier today by Satanic Planet frontperson and Satanic Temple Co-Founder Lucien Greaves, the “Let Us Burn” is raising funds to directly challenge Feucht’s “Let Us Worship” concert series.
“Feucht is openly a theocrat who courts the attention of politicians and seeks to proselytize through his performances. He has his opinions, and we have ours, but one thing the government can not do is preference his viewpoint over ours by giving him exclusive access to perform a concert on the Capitol grounds. That stage is every bit as much ours as it is his, so, in the name of pluralism and religious liberty, there are some state capitols that are likely soon to be hosting Satanic Planet shows.”
Satanic Planet is considered a supergroup of sorts, with current members being Luke Henshaw (Planet B, Sonido de la Frontera), Justin Pearson (The Locust, Dead Cross, Swing Kids, Deaf Club), and Greaves.
As the Satanic Temple is wont to do, they’re relying on precedent and settled law to back up their opposition, as the Constitution protects religious expression by demanding that no government agency favor one belief system over another. Therefore, if a Christian tour on public property is being approved, so too can a Satanic tour.
Since the band can’t sell tickets if they want to perform at a public venue, the band is crowdfunding to help them play locations that Feucht has already been. Couple that with the fact that there will undeniably be protesters at the event so they’ll need security, and you’ve got costs that balloon before you even take lighting and stages into account. While he admits it will be difficult to handle, Greaves said he’s certain it will all be worth it in the end.
“We will not be able to sell tickets to the capitol grounds, we will surely draw protests, the stage and sound will likely be difficult, and the cost will not be insignificant. That said, however, we can not stand by idly as theocratic extremists are given such an elevated public platform to spread their divisive message without reminding everybody that that stage is equally theirs as well. Feucht seeks to use the stage to announce a theocratic stranglehold over the United States government, and we seek to rectify that by re-establishing pluralism.”
The band has already submitted a request to play at the Indiana State Capitol on August 12. If they’re denied there or at any other capitol for that matter, the band warn that there will be a legal battle to contest their denial.
No matter your beliefs, it should go without saying that true American values would allow Satanic Planet the chance to play any public venue they wanted (within reason, of course). Barring any artist on religious grounds is instantly antithetical to the Constitution, after all.
If you’d like to check out their past music videos, I’ve got them listed below. Their crowdfunding effort can be found here.