PERHAPS others have picked up on the intense irony of Harvard President Drew Faust’s bargain with the devil. Committed to “free expression” at all costs, she gave the okay for a Black Mass, or a “reenactment of a Black Mass,” to be sponsored by the adult school adjunct of the university. The Satanic Temple, a cult that is also sponsoring a monument to the devil outside the Oklahoma State building, apparently infiltrated the citadel of tolerance and planned the event at a Harvard bar. It reportedly has now been canceled because the bar, not the university, backed out.

The idea that Dr. Faust, the first woman president of the university, believes in “free expression” would be quickly punctured if a similar group proposed to burn a Koran on campus. She was appointed in the wake of the resignation Lawrence Summers, who was not permitted the freedom to say that women are less successful than men in science. Dr. Faust apparently doesn’t believe the devil is real so the ideal of free speech can be safely invoked. But then probably 90 percent of the student body doesn’t believe the devil is real. After all, the devil’s not stupid.

Some of the protests of the event have been weird and off base. Decrying a satanic ritual on the grounds that it is insensitive to Catholics, as some have done (see here) is similar to saying, if Harvard students were permitted to release harmful bacteria into the water supply as part of an experiment, that this would be insensitive to the scientists who understand the effects of the bacteria.

Whining about insensitivity toward Catholics merely affirms the principles which make such an event possible. Harvard, the formerly Puritan institution, is committed to all religions, which means as an institution it takes no religions seriously, even satanic cults, even the Catholic Church. “Tolerance” is the devil’s middle name. Harvard has been making Faustian bargains for a long time. The Satanic Temple, in this case, has won. It has gained the publicity and cachet of the Harvard name, things which it no doubt consciously sought. Devil worship is going mainstream. Are you surprised?

— Comments —

James N. writes:

President Faust (you CANNOT make this stuff up) would allow a Black Mass on campus because of commitment  to free speech and out of respect for historical demonstrative activities.

So, I suppose a cross could be burned in the Yard while an effigy of Michael Sam was lynched (for historical demonstrative purposes only, of course). How about a re-enactment of the SS Blood Oath, complete with the Hugo Boss uniforms, to promote better understanding of European history?

Laura writes:

According to the latest, the event took place at a Chinese restaurant. Normally a Black Mass involves a consecrated Host, but this did not.

Laura adds:

Dr. Faust’s last name, by the way, is the name of her first husband, Stephen Faust. Her second husband’s name is Charles Rosenberg. This is very strange.

Dr. Faust, who has worked most of her life in the Ivy League, was appointed in 2007, one year after the resignation of Lawrence Summers, who was embroiled in controversy after he made his notorious remarks about women in science. At Harvard, it is scandalous to mention that women are less successful than men in science, but not to approve a satanic ritual.

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