*moved* Satanism?

[Negative]

There are a couple of hundred definitions out there on what satanism really is.
Here's what I think satanism is about - based on Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible.

In 1967, Anton Szandor LaVey created the Church of Satan (and not on Walpurgisnight 1966 as he liked to claim).

Q: Is Satanism a religion?

A: Satanism is not a religion, it's an UNreligion.
Satanists do not believe in the existance of Gods, The Divinity
of the Bible, Angels, Heaven or Hell, The Devil, Satan, Spirits, Demons,...

Satanists do not hold belief in supernatural beings. Period.

But then again, it depends on your definition of 'religion', I guess. If religion is a synonym of 'belief', satanism is a religion.

Q: Do Satanist worship Satan?

A: Satanists are not 'Devil' worshippers (The Greek word 'diabollus' means 'great deceiver', everything a Satanist opposes to). Satan comes from Hebrew 'an opposer'.

The Roman god Lucifer (from Latin lux=light, and ferre=to bring) was the bearer of light, the personification of enlightenment. In Christian mythology he became synonymous with evil, the fallen angel. In the Bible (Isaiah 14:12-15), the King of Babylon is referred to as Lucifer. Satanists refer to Lucifer in the original meaning of the word.

The being Satan is the scapegoat / invention of Christians and monotheistic dualistic
theories, and not a real being.

The belief that "Satan, The Dark Lord" (and therefor a real
entity) is the strongest of two (good and evil) forces, or the evil component of a cosmic
dualistic battle, is devil-worshipping, and has got nothing in common with satanism.

During the late Middle Ages, Catholic Church taught that some "Witches," mostly women, worshipped Satan, killed babies, flew through the air on broomsticks,... Satanism as it is most commonly referred to, is an invention of the Catholic Church.

--> Satanism is a human potential movement, based on real objects, real things, real events in what they perceive to be the real world. Satanists recognize themselves as gods, and they hold their own perspective on life as holy and revere their own experiences as the only truth we can ever know.

[Zonewalker]

hallelujah! I wasn't going to post anything to this thread for about half a million reasons, but then I read some of the misconceptions that some have about Satanism - for the record I'm not a Satanist but I do have friends who are Church of Satan types and thus have also read the Satanic Bible (for those worried Christians, yes, I have also read the Bible) .

Then I read Negative's post - couldn't have put it better myself and I am SOOOooooo glad that he did put this up. People, Negatives post does a good job at being unbiased and informative - take this as a basis for inquiry and you might make some headway into broadening your mind, your knowledge and your appreciation of other people. I cannot thank Negative enough for stopping me getting into a religious debate

Incidentally - if any of you are interested in dualistic religions i.e. eternal struggle between good and evil, try looking into Zoroastraianism it is really quite fascinating.

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PS by the way I do agree with most people, a security forum isn't really the place to discuss religion, still at least you can be assured of at least one reasonable answer from some one here

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[prodikal]

Have you tried totse.com they have a religion section but negative summed up what is mostly what all the texts are about i have read some on this outta boredom on totse so here is a link if you are still interesred
http://www.totse.com/en/religion/satanists/index.html and when i got to the frot page to get the link for you i noticed a new paper called "My Dark, Satanic Love" i havent read it so i aint got a clue what its about here is the link http://www.totse.com/en/religion/satanists/satan1.html

[hatebreed2000]

im sure enough info has already been given but i just wanted to make sure that when you do start looking into the topic, you must go in with a open mind.why you ask? because there are sooo many misconception of the unreligion.if i were you id start with the satanic bible by anton levay which was mentioned earlier.his daughter wrote a book called bitch craft if you would like some insightful views from a womens stand point.im sure you will find alot of info on the net but just remember that satanism is NOT devil worshipping....those are those goofy f--kers runnin around that think they can take on the powers of satan.satanism is about you being your own god and having noone more powerful then your self.hope this helped, take it easy.

[KorpDeath]

Keep in mind it also includes things like self-preservation, at any cost. At any cost.

And as far as I'm concerned www.totse.com is a childish, at best, site. Of course, that is my OPINION, for those of you who don't understand the concept of OPINION.....

[rcgreen]

http://www.popsubculture.com/pop/bio...r_crowley.html

[prodikal]

KorpDeath i agree that the BBS on totse is childish its just people flameing each other constant quite funny though reading through it i only go there because the articles and papers are interesting and yes you are entitled to you're opinion i have always thought highly of you're opinions and posts here

[SodaMoca5]

Just wanted to stick my nose in a bit. As stated before there are two (or more) Satanisms. Anton Levay's is a rejection of the entire basis of Judeo/Christianity and only uses the Satan figure as a symbol of that rejection.

The other Satanists accept the Bible as a spiritual text but reject its conclusions and choose to worship the ultimate antagonist of the Bible. This religion has never gained much ground or popularity and is usually limited to recognized nut cases or temporarily misguided teens working through a difficult and rebellious age, especially those wearing battle axes that look like upside down crosses

If you are looking to study comparative religions then you may be better served starting off with some of the major ones and then looking at some of the new pop ones (which often claim ties to ancient religions).

Judaism and its off shoot Christianity have a long history. While Christianity started much later it is a direct branching from Judaism. Hinduism is a wonderful example of Polytheism, Buddhism is more of an unreligion than Levay's Satanism with no real gods but many paths to attempt to reach enlightenment. Wicca and the related Earth Mother religions are good examples of naturism and (this could get me in trouble) Mormonism is an example of eventual Deism although there are some early Heretical cults from Christianity that are far more deist than them. Zoroastrianism is an excellent counter study to Judaism and Christianity because both are dualistic in approach with ultimate good and evil. Moslem is an interesting study because of its mix of peace and tolerance with violence and righteous anger. It is also more mono-theistic than Christianity or Judaism because they both recognize a triune God and Moslems only recognise a single entity.

I believe the study of various religions should be enlightening, enjoyable, and should help you to cement what you really think. I know when I did this I was looking for truth in my life and seeking to know if I believed what I believed because of how I was raised or did it make real sense to me. I found that Christianity not only made sense to me but was the only religion that offered salvation as a free gift rather than something to be struggled for (please realize some of the religions don't recognize salvation as a need so there is no reason for it to be a gift). While people can evoke all the bad things caused by religion as a way to reject it I find the thought of a loving God who would sacrifice his son for me to be a very powerful and needed part of my life. I hope in your search you can clarify what you are looking for and find it as I did.

One last note. If you just want some interesting titilation on the subject don't go with Levay, instead look for information on black witchcraft. It is probably mostly sensationalism but it has the eerie, chilling, entertaining aspect you may really be wanting.

[bugsthecat]

there is whole list of links (of satanists) at www.vehm.com as well as tons of other weird links to radicals,scientologists(i consider them worse than satanists),haters and general weirdness ,this site is hours of fun and i highly recommend it .

[rcgreen]

"Pity they let the old punishments die out... hangin' by your thumbs in the dungeons.... God I miss the screamin'..." -Filch

http://andra480.tripod.com/andraspotterworld/id5.html