A Frank Discussion on Satanism

[Mechaman]

I think this is a relevant time as any to bring up some misunderstood points about Satanism and what it actually means.

First off, the idea that Satanism advocates for murder, theft, incest, rape, and arson is about as honest as the Adams campaigns attacks on Thomas Jefferson in the 1800 US Presidential Election.  No sane person, not even Satanists, actively advocate committing violent destructive acts that harm another person.  In fact, as I will elaborate on, such acts would probably violate the whole libertarian ethos of Satanism, being that as it is practiced today is more of an anti-God movement than it is pro-evil (another lunacy).

I will admit, I am not a total expert on this.  Most of what I'm pulling is things I learned from PiT, Winston, and other forum members who have read up on the subject or shown some interest in it.  However, the perception that I get from talking to them is that the whole idea of Satanism is the praise of rebellion against an ultra powerful sky deity who rules the universe with an almighty fist.  It is not DIE F*** DESTROY DIE F*** RAPE MURDER WAR ARSON THEFT BURNING BODIES INTESTINES IN MY MOUTH!

I mean, let's think of the accepted story of the Fall of Satan as depicted in Dante's Inferno or whatever the hell it's called:

God creates the universe.  He rules in Heaven with all of his angels with him.  They all respect his authority and see him as the great ruler of all the universe.  Satan looks at himself in the mirror and concludes that he is a sexy beast.  He decides that it's not fair that God makes all the decisions and then starts a rebellion.  For daring to rival God, he is banished to Hell for all of Eternity.

In the very beginning, God shunned and exiled Satan for opposing his will.  The moral foundation of Christianity is this undying belief that the God of Heaven and of Earth is the ruler of the universe and everything is set in motion to his will.  Satanism, by contrast, advocates for the belief that Satan's Rebellion against God was the most necessary act in all of existence, making him the first Freedom Fighter in all of history.  The fundamental idea of Satanism, at least the modern version of it, is the worship of the freedom of the will versus what they see as the authoritarian beliefs of a culture that worships an invisible sky daddy who punishes any who dare defy him with eternity in flames.  To a Satanist "God" represents an unrepentant tyrant, not the "God" whom Christians, Jews, Muslims and many others believe is a loving father who is waging a war against "Evil".

In short, it's the religious version of Libertarianism.

FTR, I am not a Satanist, will never have any inclination to ever become one, but I think this is a very necessary point that needs to be made given some misconceptions I've heard lately.  I'm not saying this in response to somebody in a post recently who said they would never support somebody who "worshipped evil", but something that I've seen on this forum since pretty much I started posting here.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Well, I'll limit myself to commenting that while what you present as the Christian view of Satan is the popularly held one, it doesn't really square with what is present in the canonical Old Testament.  In both Job and Zechariah, Satan is not presented as the Adversary of God, but as the Adversary of Man who tries to convince God of Man's unworthiness.  It isn't until the Apocryphal writings that the idea that Satan is the Adversary of God begins to crop up, likely as a borrowing from Zoroastrianism which is a strongly dualistic religion that makes the conflict being embodied forces of good and evil a major part of itself.

[Mechaman]

Well, I'll limit myself to commenting that while what you present as the Christian view of Satan is the popularly held one, it doesn't really square with what is present in the canonical Old Testament.  In both Job and Zechariah, Satan is not presented as the Adversary of God, but as the Adversary of Man who tries to convince God of Man's unworthiness.  It isn't until the Apocryphal writings that the idea that Satan is the Adversary of God begins to crop up, likely as a borrowing from Zoroastrianism which is a strongly dualistic religion that makes the conflict being embodied forces of good and evil a major part of itself.

Granted.

It is interesting though, is it not, the comparisons you can make between the ideal of God and Satan with Zoroastrianism.  Supposedly, Zoroastrians were the first to advocate a monotheistic religion.  Not sure how true that is though, given all the forces that are part of that religion.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Judaism fairly clearly was at a minimum a monolatrous religion before the Exile, at least among the priests of YHWH, if not always the people.  Atenism is the monotheistic religion we have the oldest extant written records for that indicate a clear and undeniable monotheism, but it didn't survive.  Monotheism has cropped up elsewhere as well, so all I would commit to is that Zoroastrianism is the existing religion with the longest historical record for being indisputably monotheistic.

[DemPGH]

It's Humanism amplified by orders of magnitude. Many myths persist about it, but generally, modern Satanists are atheists who view Satan as an important literary figure and symbol. Sacrificing, physically worshipping Satan, and so on is fiction. They do like to mock formal religious practice, though. It's a psychological release, I understand.

The epic poem Paradise Lost is interesting in this regard starting in Book VIII - it becomes relatively clear that the Serpent is attempting to do Adam and Eve a favor by liberating their minds from God's control. In Book VIII, the angel Raphael essentially tells Adam a bunch of lies - about cosmic order, the universe, God's intentions, etc. So, Eve and Adam rebel by trying the fruit for themselves, and they gain knowledge and insight as a result of it - that they are naked is the starter. So God kicks them out as he did Lucifer. This is all in political context, of course. Milton disliked kings and he disliked the Catholic bureaucracy. So you have to keep that in mind.

Now, I think Satanism picks up there. There is modern philosophical discourse behind it that I'm no specialist in, but my take on it is that it's basically Humanism amplified by orders of magnitude. The soul is not important, the human and what the human can become, learn, do is. So, it's perfectly acceptable to indulge, explore, release, etc., because they're seeking self knowledge. 

[King]

If Satanists didn't want this PR misconception about themselves, they wouldn't have chosen the name Satanist.  It's a name that's meant to provoke fear. People who join Satanism are doing it to be seen as tough and deviant.

[afleitch]

If Satanists didn't want this PR misconception about themselves, they wouldn't have chosen the name Satanist.  It's a name that's meant to provoke fear. People who join Satanism are doing it to be seen as tough and deviant.

I think they are happy about the misconception.

[CatoMinor]

Except for the crazies like the black metal folk who do advocate for (and have) burned Churches....

Anywho, lets not associate Satanism with libertarianism please and thanks.

Lucifer/Satan/Techno Music/The Morning Star or whatever, wasn't cast out of Heaven for some glorious act of freedom, he chose Hell over God in an act of selfishness that "Swept a third of the stars (angels)" with him. One huge misconception that many people have about hell that it is the literal version of Dante's Inferno (good read), when it is really the voluntary exile from God. The torture isn't some weird sadomasochistic chambers that people burn in, but knowing of what you are being cut off from.

I think Satanists fall (pun intended) generally into these categories:
-Atheists who have too much time on their hands and want to look cool and edgy.
-People who actually believe and are either really naive or are in strong need of an exorcism.
-Scandinavian musicians who need desperate psychological help.
 

[DemPGH]

Well, they have a website with a lot of stuff on it - I figured they would have a fairly expansive FAQ page, and alas, they do.

Here are their core beliefs and here is their position on demons and the like (haha!). Man, can you imagine reading the general email that probably comes into the Church of Satan? Every nut known to man probably writes them all kinds of craziness.

What sticks out to me is how often they refer to themselves as an atheist society (i.e., not Devil-worshipping), and that they will not even accept children as members.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

Anywho, lets not associate Satanism with libertarianism please and thanks.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Satanism is a religion of trolls.