something i posted on a different message forum where the merits of Satanism seem to get discussed every couple months... "Kittens" is a guy i knew in DC, who moved out to LA to work in porn production, who declares himself a "card-carrying member of the Church Of Satan"

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here's my take on it, right or wrong. because i'm not a Satanist, i'm allowed to offer up my opinion without being asked. phew!

maybe a true Satanist is all about self-empowerment. that's probably the best-case scenario, right? i'm inclined to think that for every Satanist who's all about empowering himself, there are a much greater number who are misguided fuckups who are into notions like worshipping the Devil, or acting sadistically toward humans or animals in some ritualistic way that they probably embrace as being Evil. i'm going to guess that the number of misguided fucks vastly outweighs the elitist intellectuals like Kittens who are members of the fancy-pants Church Of Satan.

how is this different from Christianity? really, it's not. it's very easy, in an analysis of Christianity, for folks to focus on all the shitheads out there who are "Christians" who act in ways wholly at odds with the teachings of the generic Christian Church, who act in ways wholly at odds with the teachings of Jesus according to the text of the Bible. this is exactly what LaVey recounts (his experience as a church organist or some such) in the intro to the Satanic Bible if i remember correctly. it's been easily 12 years since i've looked at that book, so i apologize if i'm wrong. but if i remember right, it was LaVey's disgust with the drunken, debaucherous patrons of a Christian church that led him to invent the Church Of Satan.

so long story short, both religions have some small number of folks who are super-thoughtful and really take to heart the prescribed methods and beliefs that the respective religion lays out. and both have a much larger number of shitheads who are doing things all wrong. in the case of Christians, you're talking mostly about people who are drunks or drug users, are cheating on their wives, are beating their kids, are stealing, etc. and in the case of Satanism, you're talking more about primarily younger males who are listening to bands like Deicide, chopping up their neighbors dogs, and generally acting as "Evil" as they can.

in both cases, the folks who have missed the point are kinda ugly to observe. but the key difference, to me, is in the people who really get it. there, in the case of the Satanist, you've got somebody who is selfish, bent on doing whatever the fuck they want, and ultimately worshipping and serving himself as much as he possibly can. and in the case of the Christian, you've got somebody whose life's focus is to help others who are in need, to make personal sacrifices in order to make others' lives better, and to be as giving as he possibly can.

something that seems kinda funny to me?

Satanism is roughly analogous to a religious version of Capitalism

Christianity is roughly analogous to a religious version of Communism

i find that really funny, considering the USA's notorious hatred of Communism and embracing of Capitalism, and the fact that the citizens of the US, according to the US census, describe themselves as vastly Christian.

basically its all about crutches

some need the crutch of the church to get thru life, others satanism and aothers drink / drugs etc..

my take is ..if you dont preach to me or harm anyone then do what you want.. i think no more or less of you if you just leave me alone..

salfordboysclub wrote:my take is ..if you dont . . . harm anyone then do what you want..

Satanism's "Golden Rule", more or less.


Change the Communism to Socialism, and I agree somewhat with tmh's analogy. The thing is - Satanism (not to be confused with Devil Worship, etc.) isn't really a religion in my book, as it makes no claims on the supernatural, no claims on cosmogony, no claims on morality, other than promoting amorality. So it becomes kind of an apples to oranges matter. Comparing the philosophical component of Christianity to Satanism is a good comparison, I think, and it does seem like a Socialist to Capitalist comparison.

Also:
Satanism: Crap. Humans survive and thrive to the extent that we cooperate. A philosophy/religion/belief system that elevates the individual over all else is bad for humanity. Fortunately, it got named "Satanism", so it will never catch on. Unfortunately, it also goes by "Libertarianism", and that might catch on.

Sorry if I offend, but religion, IMO, is for the weak minded who cannot take the realities of this world. The idea of an organized religion just does not make sense to me. Buddhism is the only religion I know of that has it close to being believable and based in any sort of reality (aside from their version of Creationism, reincarnation, etc.)

bent_christian wrote:Sorry if I offend, but religion, IMO, is for the weak minded who cannot take the realities of this world. The idea of an organized religion just does not make sense to me. Buddhism is the only religion I know of that has it close to being believable IMO (aside from their version of Creationism, and reincarnation).

_zen_ buddhism has no mythology 't all. and it's beautiful.

in fact, it's not a religion either. it's barely even a thing. but you know, close enough.

i met a satantist once too. maybe i am a little sheltered. i believe he also was la via dc (?). so he wears this church of satan medallion ring and all black and i'm like, so what's up with the satan thing? and he's like, "it's not a thing..." and sort of starts going into a bunch of hyper-intellectual rhetoric i'm not very interested in (also i was drunk... and driving). when i'm sober it's sort of interesting, mostly cause i'm into the idea of people organizing opposition to a religous group by forming their own and saying it's not. i mean, how self-defeating... and then wear all black and dark purple, spit shine the dark pompadour, and tell me not to confuse you for some dorky goth dude into christian devil iconography.

as for it against or with other major religions: it's all the same. having, not having, the scripture of one enlightened vs the scripture of another enlightened, the wack ass post-death hallucinations (bloated floating red faces, black void, heaven) in all the major religions, the contradictions and talent of mixing rural paganism... all pretty interesting methinks.

I don't know...Satan seems pretty cool. Not as cool as Jesus, but to each their own.

What does seem odd is to make so much of an effort to show why you don't think someone's beliefs are valid. Who cares? I'm sure they don't, just like if I would tell a Christian I don't believe in their faith. I'm certainly not going to spend any time tapping away on the internet trying to "prove" an opinion. So lame.

Pretty slick site:

http://www.churchofsatan.com/

Magistra Peggy Nadramia, High Priestess

All fear the wrath of Peggy!

Ha ha! Peggy!

bent_christian wrote:Sorry if I offend, but religion, IMO, is for the weak minded who cannot take the realities of this world.

I think a Satanist would say the same thing. Except for the "Sorry if I offend" part, because Satanists are too cool to care about people's feelings.

tmidgett wrote:_zen_ buddhism has no mythology 't all. and it's beautiful.

Maybe not in theory. But as practiced, like all religions as practiced, it has its mythology.

Like this guy: