Poll: Satanism

[InfiniteSingularity]

It falls under the same boundaries that any religion finds it self under. Religion is (generally speaking) a way to impose control over a populous. Some religions even give you a sense of self control by telling you not to let anyone control your life, yet in the same chapter will give you rules/guidelines on how to do this. In reality what most religion boils down to is a collection of fairy tales. Some may be the mother goose variety, while others fall under Grim's. I do not mean to knock anyone's religion as I feel religion is important, it is where a good portion of our societal morals come from (as you may notice when you travel, different cultures may find strange things perfectly normal). If you feel a spiritual connection with your religion or deity, who am I (or anyone) to stand in the way of your journey.

On Topic: I find that satanism is defined by the way it is practiced. If you can practice it in a way that doesn't interfere with someone else living their life, then I find nothing wrong with it. If you feel that your desires come above someone else's need for survival then I would say it is bad (the same can be said of any creed).

May i point out that the primary philosophy of Satanism is against control, and for individualism and free choice. And of course it will give you guidelines, because it sort of has to, because the morals of Satanism are one of the easiest to exploit. And the other side is that Satanism does not ask you to follow it, so if you don't like the rules, don't follow the religion. It is also by nature a religion which allows you to pick and choose what parts of the religion you see fit, as that is the primary philosophy of Satanism applied to itself. So it's emphasis is on the self

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

Theistic or LaVeyan Satanism? I think theistic Satanism is just idiotic, and I think LaVeyan Satanism is just childish.

Being a LaVeyan Satanist, i would like you too explain your reasoning.

Well the commandments of Satanism would effectively, if followed to the letter, make you Charlie Sheen. If a child wants something he takes it. If a child is angry he responds with violence. Yes, it is because it was once natural to do that, but now, it is irrelevant and idiotic, humans have evolved beyond that.

I will not disregard the truth in your statement but that assumes that the person goes about following everything exactly. I follow the commandments as "mind your own business" stand point, as do many others that I have met. But i will disagree with "humans have evolved beyond that" they never truly will. Look at Jihadists (spelling?) North Korea, even "hostile" business takeovers can be viewed in the respect you condemned.

I will rephrase my statement then, Humans have evolved beyond the need for that. Also, had the question been, "what do you think of Satanists, I would have answered differently, but the question was "What do you think of Satanism" and so that remains my answer.

Going with the derogatory explanation is fine. You see satanism as childish. I view it as an admission of human nature. Everyone wins.

 

[tzimize]

Satanism is about self worship. What most people think is satanism is devil worship and a completely different thing. There's different types of satanism just like with christianity.

Basically this.

Satanism as a "hail satan, boo god"-thing...utter fail.

Satanism as a self-worshiping ideology...well...imo most people are at least a BIT like this. Complete selflessness is non-existant. If you are completely self-sentered though you are going to have a poor life.

Friendship and other social relationship comes at the cost of sharing, taking AND giving. If you only take, you will be ditched.

I follow some aspects of satanism. I dont like "vampires" for example. Leeches. People that only take. My solution is not to slay them though (heh), I simply exclude them from my life. I can be merciless to people that harm me or my "flock", and I CERTAINLY do not turn the other cheek for the sake of it. But I also offer respect, and service to those I feel deserve it.

Edited for some spelling.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

As a through-and-through atheist i don't really care about what sort of deity you're worshipping, so as religions go i judge them from what way of life they put onto the follower.

Judging from this, and seeing how most followers of satanism don't exactly live a life by every norm, i'd say it's not so bad. I don't really care about what they do since, around here, they keep to themselves and don't bother anyone.

 

[ANImaniac89]

The idiotic practice combine teenage level rebellion ageist religion and organized religion (perplexedly) into a religion of there very own. granted a completely retarded and laughable religion but a religion non the less.

An organization that only exists for cheap shock value.
Just people thinking that if they walk around with inverted crosses and pentagrams dangling off their neck It will somehow make them different and special, instead of making them look like a complete asshole.


Oh and if a person truly wanted to be evil all the need do is join up with the Westboro or possibly the Catholic churches.

 

[John the Gamer]

It's a religion, so who cares? Muslims have Allah, Christians have God and Jezus, Jews have Jehova(God), Buddists have buddha etc. Let them have their evil god. Balances things out.

Spoiler: You need one of each. Makes it fair.

 

[barbzilla]

It falls under the same boundaries that any religion finds it self under. Religion is (generally speaking) a way to impose control over a populous. Some religions even give you a sense of self control by telling you not to let anyone control your life, yet in the same chapter will give you rules/guidelines on how to do this. In reality what most religion boils down to is a collection of fairy tales. Some may be the mother goose variety, while others fall under Grim's. I do not mean to knock anyone's religion as I feel religion is important, it is where a good portion of our societal morals come from (as you may notice when you travel, different cultures may find strange things perfectly normal). If you feel a spiritual connection with your religion or deity, who am I (or anyone) to stand in the way of your journey.

On Topic: I find that satanism is defined by the way it is practiced. If you can practice it in a way that doesn't interfere with someone else living their life, then I find nothing wrong with it. If you feel that your desires come above someone else's need for survival then I would say it is bad (the same can be said of any creed).

May i point out that the primary philosophy of Satanism is against control, and for individualism and free choice. And of course it will give you guidelines, because it sort of has to, because the morals of Satanism are one of the easiest to exploit. And the other side is that Satanism does not ask you to follow it, so if you don't like the rules, don't follow the religion. It is also by nature a religion which allows you to pick and choose what parts of the religion you see fit, as that is the primary philosophy of Satanism applied to itself. So it's emphasis is on the self

I understand where you are coming from, and agree with you on many levels. I do not see overt control over the masses through satanism, mostly because this isn't a mainstream religion. It also has no social foundation (much like early Christianity had over the western world at one point) so no "need" to impart one's specific morals on the populous. I do see some more subvert control features in it though (from the point of someone on the outside looking in). When dealing with a purely psychological ideology, you can't bully someone into it. There is no divine retribution to worry about, and thus no major drive to be "safe". So in order to pass along your teachings there needs to be a reward. In the case of satanism, your reward is making yourself the center of your universe. Already sounds good, however the best way to have your teachings imparted on those who do take the time to learn is to allow it to become their choice, their idea. Once you have begun following a religion it is natural to seek out other members of the community. The more you commune with your fellows, the more likely you are to standardize your practices to theirs.... Through this act comes some form of control. (I would like to reiterate that I don't see satanism as an overtly controlling religion by a long shot, but control can and will play a part.)

If you are well versed in satanism you probably know a great deal more than I. I was only making some generalizations and giving my opinion on satanism based on said generalizations/observations.

 

[Haydyn]

If Satanism could work, then that would be a nifty thing to be in. However:

If everyone was a Satanist, there would be complete loss of all morals.

Worshipping Satan confirms the existence of God, and by doing that you are acknowledging Heaven and Hell, and choosing to go to Hell.

Satan is by definition, evil. By worshipping evil, you see it as the good thing to do, and people worshipping good as evil. Thus you cannot worship Satan, because whatever you worship you believe to be good, and Satan is evil.

Good and Evil are just perspectives. Common Sense is just prejudicies in the mind. The only thing we can really go on is that we have no programmed moral compass, but if your actions deprieve others of their own personal freedom, then that is wrong, as it is upsetting the balance of freedom. But then doing something good for someone would also be upsetting the balance. By that logic, doing anything at all is evil. Thus, we are all Satan worshippers. But you can't worship evil without condoning it, unless you don't know you are evil, than you get away with it. But after reading this, you now know that you are by nature evil in everything you do, justifying everything you do, because either way you are going to be evil.

But then again by walking the thin line between good and evil, by striving to do good and by your very own nature doing evil, we all create a balance in life. Even though doing good causes evil, evil can cause good. Everything has a silver lining. Being too good or too evil is the wrong answer.

The answer to life is to live a moral life, but not to overdo it. I am a Christian, but I am pro homosexuals having the right to marry. I smoke weed when I get the chance, and I lustfully crave any reasonably attractive girl in my age group. Satanists naturally commit evil acts, and choose to do so, thus upsetting the balance. Chaotic Neutral is the correct alignment, as laws only represent the intentions of man, which are by nature evil. Well, my download is done.

 

[Trucken]

It's a religion just like all the others. It's there to give people comfort when the big questions in life become too scary. My view on satanism is the same as on all the other religions; believe in whatever you want to believe in, just don't hurt anybody.

Oh, and don't be smug about it. This goes for atheists too actually, don't be a dick against people that believe in something.

 

[shroomie]

Theistic or LaVeyan Satanism? I think theistic Satanism is just idiotic, and I think LaVeyan Satanism is just childish.

I agree with this.

Off topic: Does anyone else think that Anton LaVey looks like Ming the Merciless?

Haha, thats what I thought the first time I saw what he looked like. Back on topic, Satanism works for those who want it or need it in their lives, just like Christianity or any other religion. Both believe or acknowledge the existence of super natural being so you may as well go for the one with a more epic god.

 

[tzimize]

I tend to dislike organised religion in general.

Funny fact that upside down cross that Satanists use to show that they are against god is actually one of Christianity's most holy symbols. It refers to St. Peter being crucified upside down. Don't believe me then what's it doing here.

yep that's the popes chair and the reason that cross is upside down is because the upside down cross is more respectful to god apparently.

Dumbass Satanists.

That depends on which Satanists you're calling dumb there. I've never known a satanist that actually worships the icon of an upside-down-cross. (To be fair though, I don't know very many)

As far as my opinion on Satanist religion, and religion in general, I'm a discordian (AND an Odinist), and that should say enough about what my views are.

Never heard about Discordianism before, had to look it up. Now my brain hurts

Off topic: That golden apple from the sacred chao reminded me of Assassins Creed (havent played Brotherhood yet, so no spoilers if you decide you answer my post with anything )

 

[ANImaniac89]

My opinion of Satanism is that it is like Scientology in that it was invented purely for commercial purposes. After looking over the texts it appears that Satanism is children's logic mixed with the 'cool' parts of Christianity.

Both are detestable and both rely on the supernatural to advance its agendas, which I dislike as an atheist.

There isn't much comparison to Scientology, because Satanism doesn't ask for your money, or your complete obedience, or your devotion to the "religion", so it's not really in it for commercial purposes

No he's right, I agree that Satanism reads like a mix of children's logic on how the world should work and some aspects of Christianity. I also see how its a lot like Scientology as they are both "LOOK AT ME" religions done manly for attention.

 

[Vibhor]

As a prudent follower of Vibhorism, I am bound to tolerate other people's belief so yeah Satanism is as okay as Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism.

 

[TheRobotandtheBeast]

Where's the apathy option?
No poll is complete without an apathy option

 

[Jonluw]

I don't mind it any more than any other religion. Except for when one of those pricks decide to go and burn down one of our cultural heirtage buildings. I don't care if the stave churches are christian, they're really awesome, so stop setting fire to them already.

 

[Ruffythepirate]

Oooh I though this was a thread about santa.

I love you for that comment. Wanna go and make a thread about santa?

I'm all for it, should it be about his horrible elfin labor practices?

That and the declining quality of his presents.