Lucien Greaves

Lucien Greaves
Greaves in March 2016
Born
Detroit, Michigan
Other namesDouglas Mesner, Douglas Misicko[1]
OccupationSocial activist[2]
Websiteluciengreaves.com

Douglas Mesner, better known as Lucien Greaves,[6] is a social activist and co-founder of, and spokesperson for, The Satanic Temple.[11]

Greaves was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States.[5] His mother was a Protestant who took him to Sunday School.[12] He studied neuroscience at Harvard with a speciality in false-memory syndrome.[13]

Greaves has spoken on the topics of Satanism, secularism, and The Satanic Temple at universities throughout the United States,[14][15][16] and he has been a featured speaker at national conferences hosted by American Atheists,[17] the American Humanist Association,[18] and the Secular Student Alliance.[19]

Greaves has been instrumental in setting up the Protect Children Project, the After School Satan project, and several political demonstrations and legal actions designed to highlight social issues involving religious liberty and the separation of church and state.[20][21]

Greaves has received many death threats, and deliberately does not use his legal name to avoid threats to his family.[5][22]

Greaves and his colleagues envisioned The Satanic Temple as a "poison pill" in the Church/State debate: Satanists asserting their rights and privileges where religious agendas have imposed themselves upon public affairs, serving as a reminder that such privileges are for everybody, and can provide a religious agenda beyond the current narrow understanding.[4] Neither Greaves nor members of The Satanic Temple worship Satan; instead, their beliefs focus on personal sovereignty, independence, and freedom of will.[4]

Greaves appears throughout the 2019 documentary film Hail Satan? regarding religious freedoms and early days of The Satanic Temple.[13] Greaves contributed the foreword to The Little Book of Satanism by La Carmina (2022)[23][24] as well as artwork for multiple endeavors by Shiva Honey.[25]

  1. ^ Manganis, Julie (May 30, 2018). "Satanic Temple cries foul over Twitter treatment". The Salem News. Danvers, Massachusetts: CNHI. ISSN 1064-0606. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Lewis, Helen (October 1, 2023). "The Social-Justice Rebellion at the Satanic Temple". The Atlantic. Washington, D.C.: Emerson Collective. ISSN 2151-9463. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Miller, Matt (November 21, 2015). "Why the Satanic Temple Is Opening Its Doors to American Muslims". Esquire. Hearst Communications. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Bugbee, Shane (July 31, 2013). "Unmasking Lucien Greaves, Leader of the Satanic Temple". Vice.com. Vice Media. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "Lucien Greaves of the Satanic Temple". Detroit Metro Times (Interview). Euclid Media Group. May 27, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  6. ^ [2][3][4][5]
  7. ^ Oppenheimer, Mark (July 11, 2015). "A Mischievous Thorn in the Side of Conservative Christianity". The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  8. ^ Ebrahimji, Alisha (July 22, 2020). "The Satanic Temple is offering 'Devil's Advocate Scholarship'". CNN. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  9. ^ Crimaldi, Laura (February 27, 2019). "Satanic Temple cofounder accuses Boston City Council of discrimination". The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  10. ^ Brady, Tara (August 24, 2019). "Hell yeah! How the satanists became the good guys". The Irish Times. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  11. ^ [7][8][9][10]
  12. ^ Morrow, Sally (October 18, 2016). "After School Satan? Church-state group plays devil's advocate in public schools". Religion News Service.
  13. ^ a b Eisner, Ken (May 1, 2019). "A Satanic panic over church and state in Hail Satan?". The Georgia Straight. Vancouver: Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corporation. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  14. ^ Greaves, Lucien (October 4, 2017). The Satanic Temple and the law. University of Chicago Law School Secular Legal Society. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  15. ^ Kuta, Sarah (November 9, 2016). "'Satan at CU?' Student group brings Satanic Temple leader to Boulder campus". Daily Camera. Boulder, Colorado: Prairie Mountain Media. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  16. ^ Berg, Alison (October 15, 2017). "Satanic Temple co-founder promotes respect, secularism". The Utah Statesman. Logan, Utah: Utah State University. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  17. ^ Muscato, Dave (September 16, 2014). "American Atheists Tackles Bible Belt for 2015 Convention" (Press release). Cranford, New Jersey: American Atheists. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  18. ^ "Lucien Graeves". Americanhumanist.org. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  19. ^ "Lucien Greaves". Secular Student Alliance. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  20. ^ Oppenheimer, Mark (July 10, 2015). "A Mischievous Thorn in the Side of Conservative Christianity". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  21. ^ Marcotte, Amanda (May 6, 2015). "Satanists Support Abortion Rights, Conservatives Freak Out". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  22. ^ Laycock, Joseph P. (2020). Speak of the Devil: How the Satanic Temple Is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 37, 72. ISBN 978-0-19-094849-8.
  23. ^ Carmina, La (October 25, 2022). The Little Book of Satanism. Ulysses Press. ISBN 978-1-64604-422-1.
  24. ^ "Religion Book Deals: February 9, 2022". Publishers Weekly. February 9, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  25. ^ Honey, Shiva (2020). The Devil's tome: A book of modern Satanic ritual. Serpentīnae. ISBN 978-1-393-76364-2.