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Revisiting Satanism

 
 
 
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Jolly_Penguin

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I recently met somebody who calls herself a "Satanist", in the Lavey sense. I understand it to be an atheist philosophy that acknowledges that we are animals and that we should submit to our carnal desires, and respect those who are worthy, etc. It seems like hedonism to me and has a tit for tat sort of approach, not claiming to endorse "unconditional love" (who really endorses that anyway?) and placing self-interest as paramount. It seems to embrace Satan symbols just mostly to freak out Christians. I remember this was a bigger thing and was more talked about back in the 80s and 90s. I hadn't encountered it for at least a decade.

with this ultimate focus on self-interest above all else, is Satanism the opposite of Socialism? Or is Socialism Satanic? How about Libertarianism? That seems to match the focus on self-interest.
 
Jolly_Penguin said:
I recently met somebody who calls herself a "Satanist", in the Lavey sense. I understand it to be an atheist philosophy that acknowledges that we are animals and that we should submit to our carnal desires, and respect those who are worthy, etc. It seems like hedonism to me and has a tit for tat sort of approach, not claiming to endorse "unconditional love" (who really endorses that anyway?) and placing self-interest as paramount. It seems to embrace Satan symbols just mostly to freak out Christians. I remember this was a bigger thing and was more talked about back in the 80s and 90s. I hadn't encountered it for at least a decade.

with this ultimate focus on self-interest above all else, is Satanism the opposite of Socialism? Or is Socialism Satanic? How about Libertarianism? That seems to match the focus on self-interest.
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LaVey declared that humans are their own Gods, which renders his brand of Satanism a theistic, rather than an atheistic, philosophy - unless you think that he was lying, joking, or otherwise incorrect in his declaration :)

I don't see any direct opposition nor concordance between Satanism and either Socialism or Libertarianism; The former is a religious philosophy, while the latter are economic philosophies; and historically religious beliefs can be (and frequently are) used to justify widely differing economic beliefs. I see no particular reason why a person could not be a Satanist Libertarian, or a Satanist Socialist.

Most Socialists see their philosophy as one of enlightened self-interest anyway - It's in my interest to pay a bit more in tax, for the benefits to me of living in a society where I don't have to worry about poor people making the place less pleasant.

Libertarians and Socialists both believe that their approach will lead to better conditions for all, and to better conditions for themselves - the difference is in the order in which they expect these things to occur, and the relative priority they place on achieving them.

The Socialist says 'I shall sacrifice wealth now for the good of society, confident that this will lead to good outcomes for me, as well as for others'.
The Libertarian says 'I shall worry about my own situation, and others can worry about theirs, and I expect that this will lead to improved conditions for all, but as long as I have mine, it's not really my problem either way'.

The Satanist says 'we can offer love to those who deserve it, and deliver our wrath upon those who seek to cause us (or that which we cherish) harm' - which is capable of interpretation as compatible with either of the above (and is a direct quote from the official website of the Church of Satan).

This flexibility of interpretation certainly makes Satanism look a lot like theism to me ;)
 
Saying atheism is Satanic is extremely poor reasoning by a Christian. From a Christian point of view, abssolutely anything that doesjn't come from God is Satanic.

Which means that America itself is Satanic because it does not come from God. Nebulous things like cars, bicucles, computers are Satanic too, and so are all books.

Itg's an incredibly ignorant position to have.

It would be like condemning all Christians for Heaven's gate or Fred Phelps.

Which is something they balk at, but continue to use poor reasoning so they don't have to think and so they can feel special and important, more important than anybody else.

In regards to actual Satanism, LaVey's form is just a rebellion and a way of blowing off steam, for the most part, There are many different paths of Satanism, some are more virulent than others, such as the path of Luciferian.

For example, according to some conspiracy lore and beliefs, the Bohemian grove, and many world leaders that include the Bushes, Clinton, and Obama, they are part of the Luciferian path and are responsible for a lot of the crap that you see happening in America, in order destabilize it for their One World Order.
 
LaVey was kind of a nutter if you take him at face value. He taught about casting spells and performing magic rituals. He was also rather misogynistic. A better Satanic religion, in my view, is the more recent Satanic Temple, which is basically a big middle finger to dogma of any kind without the supernatural beliefs. They adopt demonic symbolism because it pisses off Christians, mainly. Otherwise, they are essentially a secular humanist organization that values science, social progress of all kinds, and treating others compassionately. Shame about the logo.
 
I have a theory that Satanism was made up by christians in order to give themselves an excuse to look at soft porn.
 
I see what you mean about the difference between the Lavey people and the Temple people. The temple people seem far more sensible.

I really like the symbology of Satan. He represents bringing knowledge, open inquiry, anti-dogmatism, and anti-authoritarianism. What's not to like? Adds in a bunch of anti-religiousity and he's the perfect symbol for all that is good in the world :D
 
I'd think the practice varies, but in essence it's just a way of approaching one's life. Not a very good or fulfilling one, imo, but an approach.
 
I mean, on the plus side if you truly only look out for yourself you'll acquire a ton of material wealth. On the down-side if you're the kind of person who only treasures material things, you're probably a bit of an idiot.
 
I suppose people must ponder on the thought ; if the old argument against a section of Christian fundies and more noticeably today at Islam who are said to practice their faiths to the "extreme" would no doubt be pondering the same for a particular area of satanism.
 
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