Devils In Disguise
The relationship between religion and education is undeniably rocky. That said, there's one notion on which most can agree: anything adjacent to devil worship has no place in our schools.
So why are Satanists regularly allowed to manipulate students on campuses across the land?
Polyonymous Practices
While ambling around American University at the end of August, I spied an ad for an event titled 'Heathen Hang.' Naturally, my antenna went up. I soon found myself wondering whether senior administrators were aware of this activity... and why it was being held inside the institution's primary spiritual building, to boot.
Since the organizer unequivocally stated that her meeting was open to all, I decided to attend.
As it turned out, the situation was twice as grim as I expected. In addition to the lady in charge, Humanist Chaplain Miranda Hovemeyer, there was another person in the room who wasn't paying tuition: a middle-aged guy (sporting a fiendish t-shirt) identified as Celebrant Steve. *
For two hours, Miranda and Steve revealed the dirty details of their belief system. First, Steve confirmed that benign terms such as secularism and humanism are linked to far uglier concepts like atheism and the Luciferian image emblazoned on his chest. It's "a Venn diagram that is mostly intersecting." Toward the conclusion of the night, he even offered to present a slideshow of the Satanic Temple's list of tenets at a future gathering.
Miranda, meanwhile, insisted compassion and empathy were the driving forces for humanists. Lofty qualities... yet hard to reconcile given the palpable hatred she has for Christians. If pressed, she'd likely argue her animosity is limited to the loosely defined "Christian Nationalism (that) is ruining everything in (her) opinion." Except mere minutes after sharing that sentiment, she contemplated aloud whether non-nationalist Christians are responsible for what their nationalist counterparts do. On top of that, Miranda coached the undergrads there to avoid bashing Christianity in public prior to whispering, "We can do that another time and place." **
Atheists Assemble
About three weeks later, Miranda brought in a real secular heavyweight to speak to the broader AU community. On 9/24/26, US Representative and Congressional Freethought Caucus cofounder Jared Huffman came to promote his new tome No Prophets. Those entering the lecture hall were greeted by a book display arranged in an inverted cross pattern. Once seated, the audience was immediately warned that recording was not permitted. [You can guess why.]
Huffman recounted being ordained as a priest at nineteen before his ideology shifted drastically at UCSB. He told listeners Kurt Vonnegut opened his eyes to humanism. Notably, he chose not to credit Professor Walter Capps for the role that mentor played in the transformation. ***
It wasn't long until Huffman divulged his absolutely outlandish worldview. He relayed how the American Revolution was tainted by Christians ignoring the biblical call for "obedience to kings." He steadfastly declared that the Satanic Temple offers something "closer to the Sermon on the Mount than the stuff you hear from (evangelical Christians)." Worst of all, he defended the "universal values" of After School Satan programs targeted at elementary-aged kids! ****
Miranda's comments during this panel weren't as overtly sacrilegious. Still, her words had the subversive hallmarks I'd witnessed earlier that month. One throughline that truly stood out was a description of her sustained attempt at infiltrating interfaith alliances. According to Hovemeyer, legitimate clerics wonder why atheists want to join these orgs. Of course, she neglected to inform the audience of her inner monologue... like many social justice warriors, she regards challenges to potentially destabilizing secular efforts to be aggressive affronts. *****
The AHA 2020 Humanist of the Year (Huffman) possesses similarly thin skin. In a recent Houston Press interview, this avowed atheist boohooed being branded "anti-religion" by Christians he stamped with a "fake persecution complex." In that same article, he also admitted to being triggered by the 'Appeal to Heaven' flag because of its association with 18th Century Christianity, even though a simple internet query shows it symbolizes resistance to tyranny.
Inhuman Humanists
I should highlight that the discussion moderator, Reverend Eric Doolittle, did not once try to thwart the constant barrage levied at supposed Christian Privilege by Huffman and Hovemeyer. This Methodist director of AU's Spiritual Life Center is a textbook example of the wing within the church that sits idly by as the faith is eroded by wicked outsiders. Whether his is an active choice is difficult to prove; although his refusal to oppose Huffmanesque voices screams volumes.
Sadly, the aptly named Doolittle isn't the only man wearing the cross while doing harm to it. Senate candidate James Talarico might just be the 2026 poster child for this phenomenon. Talarico rails against large swaths of Christianity whilst his own congregation gets caught doubting the existence of Jesus.
The Texas politician and the California congressman have both been labeled demons and antichrists, per Representative Huffman. Such extreme designations are normally unfounded and malicious, but I'm not entirely sure that's true here. While researching former members of the righteous flock, I discovered an academic who specifically cited Dostoevsky's most demonic work plus the magnum opus of self-anointed antichristlich Nietzsche. Quite the coincidence.
[Before naysayers accuse me of overstepping, check out his 9/2/26 Substack post.]
This black sheep metalcore fan, Matthew David Hamilton, ostensibly defines values for George Washington University. Yes, a humanist who originally intended to wear the collar before "ultimately be(coming) disenchanted with Christian ethics' approach to international relations" now has the opportunity to mold teens. Considering Hamilton's intricate involvement in an initiative to help AI dictate democracy, god-fearing voters have valid reason to be worried.
FYI, Matthew and Miranda are not unique at elite institutions. Harvard has its own humanist in residence, Greg Epstein. This author of Good Without God was elected to preside over the other 40+ divine leaders there while concurrently serving as MIT's Humanist chaplain. Epstein somehow also found the time to spread secularism at Tufts via a semester-long indoctrination course there.
Demonic Projection
Atheists in positions of power can pretend their motives are pure. However, who they are and what they're doing is clear. These 'humanist' heads aren't vehemently anti all spiritual affiliations. Rather, they are on a mission to destroy a single faith: Christianity. Not once did I hear a peep out of them about the perils of other religions. Even when confronted by a Free Palestine agitator in the crowd, Huffman responded with a critique of Christian Zionism while Hovemeyer advised onlookers to be more concerned with Christian Nationalism's role in the Middle East.
Couching their hatred of Christianity with evangelical modifiers gives them the cover they covet. Make no mistake -- they want to dismantle denominations from Rome to the Bible Belt. As Miranda wrote a few years back, she anxiously awaits the downfall of "Christian religious hegemony." She views Christianity as cultish but has no problem with a government official referring to Satanists as "great allies."
These venomous snakes need to be eradicated from their nests. Doing so isn't going to be easy.
By their very nature they are slippery shapeshifters. Ergo, you can expect them to indubitably shed their atheistic allusions in favor of the less charged language of secularism and humanism. No matter how they slice it, they either divorce themselves from organized faith or despise it. Therefore, they should have zero religious protections.
A team of legal crusaders is going to need to get the courts to revisit decisions that opened the door to radical apostates. Until that domino falls, the litigious sword of Damocles will dangle over anyone daring to challenge the presence of the blasphemer bloc. Only then can we limit college interfaith councils to genuine believers and keep Satanist creeps away from our younger sons and daughters. ****** For the love of God, I pray a few brave souls step up.
Note: this post may contain commentary reflecting the author's opinion.
This site does not render legal advice, nor does it intend to replace legal advice.
* For the record, Celebrant Steve is a regular cohost at AU Humanist events despite lacking any apparent university affiliation.
** Parenthetical observation: in separate conversations, Miranda and Steve referred to the world's biggest atheist thought leaders as either "real d*ckheads" or "a$$h*les." Kind of fascinating that they detest the faces of their own movement.
*** While two data points don't make a trend, it's conspicuous that Hovemeyer essentially pursues and prevails upon lost students (including those who are in their first week living away from home) after learning Huffman's separation from God was teacher-influenced.
**** Anecdotal rabbit hole: I informed a confidant of Huffman's repulsive utterings. She then fed a fragment into Gemini. That phrase ("jared huffman satanic after school programs reference") led the bot to claim people like me generally blend/conflate Jared's statements. It further emphasized how the US Representative has not sponsored or directed After School Satan... a weaselly dodge of his obvious support for the concept. If that doesn't make normal folks question the impartiality of AI programming, I'm not sure what would.
***** Mind you, Miranda bristles when someone says "God bless you, I'll pray for you."
****** No one is saying humanists can't have a club of their own. They just shouldn't be allowed to pull interfaith strings, in my judgment.
