Satanism: Misunderstood

[Wadders]

I just think the Church of Satan feels a bit like a big practical joke.

Agreed. For a religion/ movement that seems to be based on being your own master, and worshiping the god inside yourself, a Church of Satan seems remarkably hypocritical, as well as being more than a bit reactionary to the Christian Church.

Thats exactly why it was set up like that. All the 'Black Masses' basically mock Normal Masses that Christians have with very dramatic imagery. They have destroy massses where they tear a doll in half as a representation of someone who had caused them grief in the last week.

Yes. It is a direct reaction to Christianity. That kind of "Satanism" is just posturing and isn't really a religion, it's just a bizarre parody of Christianity, that does the opposite of the Christian Church without its own proper belief system.

OT: I'm not getting messages in my inbox when I'm quoted, is anyone else having this trouble?

 

[Spartan Bannana]

The issue is that many satanists interpret it badly, take that guy Crowley from the 60s, he had people eat a young woman, and they were just all too drugged out to care.
That's the issue with it, many people who practice satanism perform odd, sometimes grotesque rituals and some even practice cannibalism or commit murder.

 

[Ace of Spades]

Well, you can't have good without evil, in theory. A superhero needs a supervillain to fight, and the church needs an example of [strong]how not to do it[/strong].

 

[masterjiji]

gah. anyone who bitches about satanism needs to go reread the bill of rights. starting with number one.

 

[G1eet]

If Jack Nicholson believes in it, I don't think it's for me.

Buddhism is, though.

 

[Insanum]

i found that to be a satanist you have to accept there is god.

To be evil you have to have some spectrum as to good. you cannot be the opposite to something that you are ignorant too.

 

[Pimppeter2]

I doubt that this is how every satanist feels. I bet the guys that cut themselves and plot weak murder attempts till their mom calls them for dinner think this way

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

Sorry if this view offends anyone, but to me Satanism has always seemed rather purile. It just implies that you're going deliberately against established faith for the hell of it (terrible pun, I know) without making any real point as you're still following the same idea, just on the other side of the equation rather that actually thinking anything different. It's like some maladjusted kid trying to break the rules for the sake of breaking the rules rather than because of any real reason. I know that my inability to feel faith means I'm probably not thinking about this in the same terms as the rest of you.

Don't hold me to this, but I think some of the hollywould ideas about satanism, such as virgin sacrifice, actually come from some old aztec beliefs. The rest is just the random superstitions that built up around the stories about witchcraft, which was mainly an atempt by the church to increase prejeduce against other religions.

 

[5stringedbandit]

But I can still sacrifice the occasional virgin to the great horned one right?

You can but its more fun if you steal their virginity first.

 

[ragamuffingirl]

A lot of Christians think that Satan is just an idea. I personally don't think their is a literal guy who follows you around making you do bad things. Jesus even calls Peter Satan at one point.

 

[Wadders]

Sorry if this view offends anyone, but to me Satanism has always seemed rather purile. It just implies that you're going deliberately against established faith for the hell of it (terrible pun, I know) without making any real point as you're still following the same idea, just on the other side of the equation rather that actually thinking anything different. It's like some maladjusted kid trying to break the rules for the sake of breaking the rules rather than because of any real reason. I know that my inability to feel faith means I'm probably not thinking about this in the same terms as the rest of you.

Don't hold me to this, but I think some of the hollywould ideas about satanism, such as virgin sacrifice, actually come from some old aztec beliefs. The rest is just the random superstitions that built up around the stories about witchcraft, which was mainly an atempt by the church to increase prejeduce against other religions.

Nooooooo. And yes. Kind of. The whole "sacrificing virgins and burning churches" part of Satanism, is as you have said, just breaking the "rules" for the sake of it, as a reaction to Christianity. The Church of Satan and all that guff is just funny.

As far as I can gather, Satanism just comes down to being a bit selfish, believing in yourself and, if you like, the god inside you, rather than wearing inverted crosses and drinking blood and shit. I think. I'm not a believer in anything, I just find it interesting.

 

[Rob Shogun]

I'm actually suprised at how grown up this discussion has been (with a few exceptions from some twats trying to be funny, no names) and I think some really interesting points have been raised.

I think that a lot of the negative stereotypes that are associated with 'satanism' (note the lower case s) are just the oppositions of what christianity pushes on people. Obviously many of the pagan traditions were coined as 'Satanic' but that is purely as they are anti christian. Its pretty shocking when you realise the influence that christianity has on a society/ country/ies that it dominates. A prime example being (you'll have to excuss the fact that I studied film at uni) vampires and dracula in film. The original Nosferatu had an aversion to sunlight and was a myth from Transylvania, the character was not harmed by the 'cross,' in fact I dont think it appeared once in Nosferatu. When the very famous Dracula was released (the one starring Bela Lugosi) very anti-christian traits were added to the character to make him more 'evil.'

That leads to the second point which I think needs to be addressed as a lot of people have kind of touched on it: the concept of good and evil, right and wrong.
A lot of people have posted on here saying that God is good and Satan/Lucifer/whatever is evil but good and evil is all a matter of point of view. If you do read the satanic bible it doesnt really say that the christian god is evil, it just says that their views (a satanists views) are just slightly different to christian beliefs. Its all stuff like "dont turn the other cheek, if someone hits you, you should hit them back."
I think its just giving an alternative to faith and giving a different philosophical view on things and therein lies another problem. People, not everyone but a silly amount, rely on faih, on a belief of some higher power and if they were to be without it they would fall apart.... but maybe thats another topic for another time.

I think I've ranted enough for now

(I dont think my notifications are working either but checks will have to be made)

 

[ExaltedK9]

I only just found this out and I think its logic you simply can't argue with. But Satan isn't that bad. All he is is an IDEA. He's what you make of him. According to The first High Priest of the Church of Satan, Anton Szandor LaVey, there is no heaven or hell after death. But it's always with you in life. Your actions reflect the consequences in life and that this one life that we are given was meant to be lived. Its the almsot exact opposite of Christianity (Obviously).

'Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years.' (The Ninth Satanic Statement)

The guy who wrote this was a true philosopher and completely turns religion on its head.

NOTE: I would like to say before this turns into a big chain of hate that I am NOT a devil worshipper. I do not rape women or murder Children. Im actually Buddhist. Satanism goes against Buddhism completely as I believe in multiple lives after death whereas Satanism believes in one life that needs to be lived fully.

Im considering buying The Satanic Bible jsut for a good philosophical read. I would like to see what LaVey has to say in more depth.

This is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard.... I am a christian, and I don't even know where to begin here.

 

[TheLefty]

Satanism has always been more of the worship of power, or at least that's what the discovery channel tells me.

Don't believe everything the television tell you.

Back on topic. From what you've got it doesn't sound to bad. I'm one of the people who think dogmatic religion is kinda bogus. I'm not trying to convert anyone so don't start sending me hate mail.

 

[Corjha]

I only just found this out and I think its logic you simply can't argue with. But Satan isn't that bad. All he is is an IDEA. He's what you make of him. According to The first High Priest of the Church of Satan, Anton Szandor LaVey, there is no heaven or hell after death. But it's always with you in life. Your actions reflect the consequences in life and that this one life that we are given was meant to be lived. Its the almsot exact opposite of Christianity (Obviously).

What Lavey is talking about is a lot closer to enlightenment than I ever expected of someone in his line of work. I'm thoroughly impressed

 

[Cliff_m85]

I only just found this out and I think its logic you simply can't argue with. But Satan isn't that bad. All he is is an IDEA. He's what you make of him. According to The first High Priest of the Church of Satan, Anton Szandor LaVey, there is no heaven or hell after death. But it's always with you in life. Your actions reflect the consequences in life and that this one life that we are given was meant to be lived. Its the almsot exact opposite of Christianity (Obviously).

'Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years.' (The Ninth Satanic Statement)

The guy who wrote this was a true philosopher and completely turns religion on its head.

NOTE: I would like to say before this turns into a big chain of hate that I am NOT a devil worshipper. I do not rape women or murder Children. Im actually Buddhist. Satanism goes against Buddhism completely as I believe in multiple lives after death whereas Satanism believes in one life that needs to be lived fully.

Im considering buying The Satanic Bible jsut for a good philosophical read. I would like to see what LaVey has to say in more depth.

Just buy Ragnar Redbeard's "Might is Right" and a copy of "Atlus Shrugged", since LaVey basically plagarized his work from those two books.

 

[Cliff_m85]

I only just found this out and I think its logic you simply can't argue with. But Satan isn't that bad. All he is is an IDEA. He's what you make of him. According to The first High Priest of the Church of Satan, Anton Szandor LaVey, there is no heaven or hell after death. But it's always with you in life. Your actions reflect the consequences in life and that this one life that we are given was meant to be lived. Its the almsot exact opposite of Christianity (Obviously).

What Lavey is talking about is a lot closer to enlightenment than I ever expected of someone in his line of work. I'm thoroughly impressed

It could be because he stole his ideas from Ragnar Redbeard and "Atlus Shrugged".

 

[dodo1331]

If you read the Bible, you'll see that God...

1) accepts human sacrifice
2) drowns the whole world except for a dude and his family
3) controls people's minds and punishes them for their actions (God "hardening" the Pharoah's heart)
4) makes bears eat kids because the kids made fun of a guy's baldness (no, really)
5) burns cities to the ground because they had some gay prostitutes in them
6) says "you can beat your slave as hard as you want so long as he doesn't die" (pretty much an exact quote)
... and so on.

The Bible doesn't really give any specific instances of Satan doing anything bad (The Bible doesn't say that Satan convinced Eve to eat the fruit, it was just a talking snake with legs).

All of that is from the Old Testament. The New Testament is pretty much all about loving everyone.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Kinda surprised to find a discussion on LaVeyan Satanism here of all places. I'm far too fond of the concept of altruism to consider following the religion myself, but I don't have any objections to it.

It even manages to avoid drawing the contempt I feel for Objectivism, which is kind of bizarre. Might be that whole "leave animals and children the fuck alone" specification, or the fact that its founder seems to follow his philosophy...