How Awful

[Malice Paradox]

burning_eyes I-uh, I came upon this when goofing off in the chatterbox. Take a look, It's awful. sad  

[Nyssa Traken]

Thus we pray and help others when they have question about our faith.  

[Wishboxx]

It's a belief system, like any other belief system. Not saying it's right, but people choose to take that route sometimes. -shrugs-  

[Fighting Fefnir]

So, does anyone here understand what those Satanists believe?

Like, at all?

Cause, y'know, I kind of am a LaVeyan Satanist, and I can clear up the misconceptions that inevitably arise.

Before I begin, I ask for an ounce of respect, please. I have been respectful to all of you, and I would ask that the same courtesy is given to me, or I shall act accordingly. Also, I would like to emphasize, I am in no way trying to convert anyone. I'm simply presenting the facts so that you all can make an informed decision and understand just what you're disagreeing with here.

To start, I've got a feeling OP thinks that Satanism deals with worshiping Satan when it's actually an atheistic religion whose goal is what I would call 'self-actualization'. Satanists strive to remove ignorance and stupidity from their lives and strive to enjoy responsible freedom. Satan doesn't mean a literal thing, but rather, stands for its Hebrew meaning, adversary, and stands in as a vast untapped reservoir of potential. LaVey says: "The semantic meaning of Satan is the "adversary" or "opposition" or the "accuser". The very word "devil" comes from the Indian devi which means "god". Satan represents opposition to all religions which serve to frustrate and condemn man for his natural instincts. He has been given an evil role simply because he represents the carnal, earthly, and mundane aspects of life." We are called to rise against those things that would be harmful to us and those we love, correct them if they're wrong, and generally strive to be better human beings for the sake of being better. God, in this religion, is synonymous with unrestrained freedom idealized by the worshiper, as God is not limited like our human forms are, and thus has no consequence for action. LaVey states: "IT is a popular misconception that the Satanist does not believe in God. The concept of "God", as interpreted by man, has been so varied throughout the ages, that the Satanist simply accepts the definition which suits him best. Man has always created his gods, rather than his gods creating him. God is, to some, benign - to others, terrifying. To the Satanist "God" - by whatever name he is called, or by no name at all - is seen as the balancing factor in nature, and not as being concerned with suffering. This powerful force which permeates and balances the universe is far too impersonal to care about the happiness or misery of flesh-and-blood creatures on this ball of dirt upon which we live."

He also make clear the view that things that cause guilt need not be so, and that Satanism is the practice of turning the perceived bad into advantageous things rather than bending over backward to eliminate the guilt. It's all about expressing emotion it a way that is constructive.

Here's the basics (in the interest of space, sized down). It's important to remember that LaVey is fond of hyperbole, meaning he exaggerates with his wording a lot. For example, when he refers to magic, he's talking not about literal magic (though he himself did believe it was real and said "when "magic" becomes scientific fact we refer to it as medicine, astronomy, etc.") but the act of ritual, a necessary aspect of human life, to focus oneself to a task, and the carrying out of such tasks. Basically, don't forget what helped you do what you accomplish. When he instructs you to 'destroy' someone, he's not talking literally, but emotionally or symbolically, along the lines of the mantra 'return what is given to you'.

11 Rules of the Earth

1. Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.

2. Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.

3. When in another’s lair, show him respect or else do not go there.

4. If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy.

5. Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.

6. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved.

7. Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.

8. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.

9. Do not harm little children.

10. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.

11. When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him.

9 Sins

1. Stupidity—The top of the list for Satanic Sins. The Cardinal Sin of Satanism. It’s too bad that stupidity isn’t painful. Ignorance is one thing, but our society thrives increasingly on stupidity. It depends on people going along with whatever they are told. The media promotes a cultivated stupidity as a posture that is not only acceptable but laudable. Satanists must learn to see through the tricks and cannot afford to be stupid.

2. Pretentiousness—Empty posturing can be most irritating and isn’t applying the cardinal rules of Lesser Magic. On equal footing with stupidity for what keeps the money in circulation these days. Everyone’s made to feel like a big shot, whether they can come up with the goods or not.

3. Solipsism—Can be very dangerous for Satanists. Projecting your reactions, responses and sensibilities onto someone who is probably far less attuned than you are. It is the mistake of expecting people to give you the same consideration, courtesy and respect that you naturally give them. They won’t. Instead, Satanists must strive to apply the dictum of “Do unto others as they do unto you.” It’s work for most of us and requires constant vigilance lest you slip into a comfortable illusion of everyone being like you. As has been said, certain utopias would be ideal in a nation of philosophers, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, from a Machiavellian standpoint) we are far from that point.

4. Self-deceit—It’s in the “Nine Satanic Statements” but deserves to be repeated here. Another cardinal sin. We must not pay homage to any of the sacred cows presented to us, including the roles we are expected to play ourselves. The only time self-deceit should be entered into is when it’s fun, and with awareness. But then, it’s not self-deceit!

5. Herd Conformity—That’s obvious from a Satanic stance. It’s all right to conform to a person’s wishes, if it ultimately benefits you. But only fools follow along with the herd, letting an impersonal entity dictate to you. The key is to choose a master wisely instead of being enslaved by the whims of the many.

6. Lack of Perspective—Again, this one can lead to a lot of pain for a Satanist. You must never lose sight of who and what you are, and what a threat you can be, by your very existence. We are making history right now, every day. Always keep the wider historical and social picture in mind. That is an important key to both Lesser and Greater Magic. See the patterns and fit things together as you want the pieces to fall into place. Do not be swayed by herd constraints—know that you are working on another level entirely from the rest of the world.

7. Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxies—Be aware that this is one of the keys to brainwashing people into accepting something new and different, when in reality it’s something that was once widely accepted but is now presented in a new package. We are expected to rave about the genius of the creator and forget the original. This makes for a disposable society.

8. Counterproductive Pride—That first word is important. Pride is great up to the point you begin to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The rule of Satanism is: if it works for you, great. When it stops working for you, when you’ve painted yourself into a corner and the only way out is to say, I’m sorry, I made a mistake, I wish we could compromise somehow, then do it.

9. Lack of Aesthetics—This is the physical application of the Balance Factor. Aesthetics is important in Lesser Magic and should be cultivated. It is obvious that no one can collect any money off classical standards of beauty and form most of the time so they are discouraged in a consumer society, but an eye for beauty, for balance, is an essential Satanic tool and must be applied for greatest magical effectiveness. It’s not what’s supposed to be pleasing—it’s what is. Aesthetics is a personal thing, reflective of one’s own nature, but there are universally pleasing and harmonious configurations that should not be denied.

Helpful link: http://www.churchofsatan.com/home.html

Reducing ignorance one post at a time. ^_^  

[Shanna66]

thank you fefnir, that was very informative. i knew that satanism was more like athiesm than devil worshiping but thats all i knew about it.  

[Lucky-Emi]

It is their choice which religion they follow. I respect their beliefs as long as they respect mine. There was one post that I saw bashing Islam, Christianity and Judaism but still, we can't just hate them. They might be decent people.  

[Fighting Fefnir]

Lucky-Emi

It is their choice which religion they follow. I respect their beliefs as long as they respect mine. There was one post that I saw bashing Islam, Christianity and Judaism but still, we can't just hate them. They might be decent people.

I bet the poster has taken it overboard. It's one thing to disagree with and not follow a religion, another to be critical of it, and still another to outright bash it. We're supposed to be critical of religions, including our own, but it's a lot easier to slip into the last category there.  

[jesusgirl115]

We are free to believe what we want.

Even if others think its the wrong religion, they have no reason to try to force it into people. I may start to tell you about what I believe but if you say you don't want to hear about it I'm not going to make you.

Thank you Fernir, for explaining. Sometime (Most of the time) people hear something and even when they don't know what it is excactly they instantly hate it  

[Lucky-Emi]

Fighting Fefnir

Lucky-Emi

It is their choice which religion they follow. I respect their beliefs as long as they respect mine. There was one post that I saw bashing Islam, Christianity and Judaism but still, we can't just hate them. They might be decent people.

I bet the poster has taken it overboard. It's one thing to disagree with and not follow a religion, another to be critical of it, and still another to outright bash it. We're supposed to be critical of religions, including our own, but it's a lot easier to slip into the last category there.

Maybe she did take it overboard, but what if someone bashed LaVey? I'm Christian, and that would tick me off.  

[Fighting Fefnir]

Lucky-Emi

Fighting Fefnir

Lucky-Emi

It is their choice which religion they follow. I respect their beliefs as long as they respect mine. There was one post that I saw bashing Islam, Christianity and Judaism but still, we can't just hate them. They might be decent people.

I bet the poster has taken it overboard. It's one thing to disagree with and not follow a religion, another to be critical of it, and still another to outright bash it. We're supposed to be critical of religions, including our own, but it's a lot easier to slip into the last category there.

Maybe she did take it overboard, but what if someone bashed LaVey? I'm Christian, and that would tick me off.

People bash LaVey all the time. I don't think they should, but they can be critical of him and Satanism all they want. Questioning is encouraged, skepticism is asked for.

LaVey said something rather specific about this, actually, and it's quoted above. You can't expect people to be at your level all the time as a Satanist. It's the 3rd of the 9 Sins, solipsism.

@others: I'm glad I could assist in educating you all about something that is important to me. ^_^  

[Scarlet_Teardrops]

I do not condemn The Crimson Guardian for his concern.

I am sure all of you (save Fefnir, which should be assumed) probably aren't exactly comfortable with it either.

We should be tolerant and respectful. But I can't say that we should be comfortable. Anyone who does not have faith in Jesus Christ walks a road with a bad end. That is why we must pray and share our faith. If people don't want to hear about it, that's fine. But you won't know until you try.

The information was quite useful, Fefnir, as I had never heard about it being a kind of atheism. I talked to a Satanist young lady a few years ago, and she told me it was like an offshoot of Wicca. Apparently she was very misguided, but I took her word for it.
 

[Fighting Fefnir]

Scarlet_Teardrops

I do not condemn The Crimson Guardian for his concern.

I am sure all of you (save Fefnir, which should be assumed) probably aren't exactly comfortable with it either.

We should be tolerant and respectful. But I can't say that we should be comfortable. Anyone who does not have faith in Jesus Christ walks a road with a bad end. That is why we must pray and share our faith. If people don't want to hear about it, that's fine. But you won't know until you try.

The information was quite useful, Fefnir, as I had never heard about it being a kind of atheism. I talked to a Satanist young lady a few years ago, and she told me it was like an offshoot of Wicca. Apparently she was very misguided, but I took her word for it.

The woman you were talking to was a bit off the mark, yes. Generally, people think of theistic Satanism when they hear Satanism, which is the stereotypical devil worshiping. Between LaVeyan and Theistic Satanists, there's kind of a divide, since the Theistics trace their roots back to around the convenient year 666, though the history they purport doesn't check out, and LaVeyans were the ones who coined the name Satanism in the 1960's and Theistics swiped the name.

I told you that story to tell you this one. When it comes to Theistic Satanism, there are groups that do in fact act as if they were an offshoot of Wiccan belief and that purport to perform magic in the literal sense. They appreciate the sense of community and exclusivity provided by taking the path less traveled, and enjoy ignoring the ramifications of their actions in the name of religion. Rather than attempting to understand and actually follow through, you have a hypocrite running their mouth just the same as a Christian who goes to church for the excuse to get lunch afterward.

Basically, you had a faker on your hands, someone who liked the shock value but not the commitment of understanding things.  

[Scarlet_Teardrops]

Fighting Fefnir

Scarlet_Teardrops

I do not condemn The Crimson Guardian for his concern.

I am sure all of you (save Fefnir, which should be assumed) probably aren't exactly comfortable with it either.

We should be tolerant and respectful. But I can't say that we should be comfortable. Anyone who does not have faith in Jesus Christ walks a road with a bad end. That is why we must pray and share our faith. If people don't want to hear about it, that's fine. But you won't know until you try.

The information was quite useful, Fefnir, as I had never heard about it being a kind of atheism. I talked to a Satanist young lady a few years ago, and she told me it was like an offshoot of Wicca. Apparently she was very misguided, but I took her word for it.

The woman you were talking to was a bit off the mark, yes. Generally, people think of theistic Satanism when they hear Satanism, which is the stereotypical devil worshiping. Between LaVeyan and Theistic Satanists, there's kind of a divide, since the Theistics trace their roots back to around the convenient year 666, though the history they purport doesn't check out, and LaVeyans were the ones who coined the name Satanism in the 1960's and Theistics swiped the name.

I told you that story to tell you this one. When it comes to Theistic Satanism, there are groups that do in fact act as if they were an offshoot of Wiccan belief and that purport to perform magic in the literal sense. They appreciate the sense of community and exclusivity provided by taking the path less traveled, and enjoy ignoring the ramifications of their actions in the name of religion. Rather than attempting to understand and actually follow through, you have a hypocrite running their mouth just the same as a Christian who goes to church for the excuse to get lunch afterward.

Basically, you had a faker on your hands, someone who liked the shock value but not the commitment of understanding things.

Ah. I see.
Thanks for clarifying. ^_^
 

[Fighting Fefnir]

Thanks, thank you for not reading what those people believe as I so kindly took the time to write out.

Prove Satan is real. Then prove God is real. Then prove God is the good one. There's no obviously in there, at all, period.