Let’s get a few things out of the way about The Satanic Temple, the religious/activist group at the center of the excellent documentary “Hail Satan,” which rapturously premiered Friday afternoon at the Sundance Film Festival.
First: Members of The Satanic Temple say they don’t actually worship Satan, or even believe in him. They want nothing to do with the murders and child abuse attributed to Satanism during the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s. Their only human sacrifices are tremendous sacrifices of their own time, in the name of the humanity.
They revel in shock value — their headquarters is a black house in Salem, Mass.,