Understanding Satanism

My path from atheism to Christianity and back to atheism was not a straight line. There were a few detours along the way which led me to various dead ends. One of these was Satanism. If there is one stance on religion that is more misunderstood than atheism, it would have to be Satanism. In this series, I will attempt to clear up some of the misconceptions about Satanism, highlight some of the important similarities and differences between Satanism and atheism, and even make the shocking suggestion that we atheists could learn something from the Satanists.

Two Forms of Satanism

I want to distinguish between two forms of Satanism so that the reader will understand what I am talking about here and not get bogged down in Christian hysteria or inaccurate media portrayals. There have been way too much of both.

What most of us think of when we heat the term "Satanism" does not really deserve to be called Satanism at all. Think of this as the catch-all category containing all the various forms of unorganized mysticism involving dark, Satanic themes with which many American teenage metal fans are fascinated. This is the form that Christians tend to become hysterical about, to exaggerate, and which the U.S. news media loved to cover in the 1980s and early 1990s. If you lived in the U.S. during this period of time, you'll know exactly what I mean.

I am not proud of this at all, but this is the primary form of Satanism in which I dabbled as a teenage metal fan. I still love metal, the darker and more "evil" the better, but I've outgrown the desire to emulate these darker themes. But back in the day, I was into this stuff. I never sacrificed anything, robbed graves, or did most of the other things that the hysterical news media wanted you to believe was epidemic in the 80s. I did do (and did believe) some pretty ridiculous things back then though. In my defense, this was little more than short-lived experimentation. It did not take me long to move on.

The second form of Satanism is what I want to focus on: the real Satanism. There are several schools of Satanism with some important differences among them. The particular form you've probably heard the most about is the religious philosophy and ritual established by Anton Szandor LaVey in the form of the Church of Satan and described in The Satanic Bible. This is certainly not the only school of Satanism, and not all real Satanists see eye-to-eye with the Church of Satan.

For the sake of brevity and because it is not my intent to make this an exhaustive exposition on Satanism, I am going to take the liberty of temporarily referring to the Church of Satan and their belief system when I use "Satanism" here. Again, I recognize that there are other forms of Satanism which could be considered "real Satanism" and which depart in some important ways from what I describe here. At some future date, I may come back to them.

If you are not familiar with the form of Satanism involving the Church of Satan, here are some things to keep in mind:

• The Church of Satan came out of San Francisco in the late 1960s, and LaVey's initial following included a magician, a filmmaker, various authors, at least one local politicians, and even foreign royalty.
• These Satanists do not believe in or worship a literal Satan; they use the symbol of Satan to shock, challenge, and unsettle. Satan is merely a powerful image of an adversary.
• These Satanists are atheists and are intensely anti-theistic.
• This form of Satanism explicitly prohibits human and animal sacrifice.
• The Satanic rituals practiced in this particular form are based on psychodrama and are as much if not more about personal transformation than belief in the supernatural.

In the next post in this series, we will examine the relationship between Satanism and atheism, identifying the relevant similarities and differences. Stay tuned.

Now This is a Deterrent to Proselytizing!

Door-to-door proselytizing by evangelical fundamentalist Christians strikes most atheists as pointless, at least in the sense that it is extremely unlikely to convert anybody. Whatever point it may have is probably more about strengthening the religious beliefs of those who do it than "saving souls." Bur regardless of why they do it, I suspect I have lots of company in preferring to see less of it. I consider it a nuisance, but I will acknowledge that some of the more extreme forms I have encountered irritate me more than that.

The combination of a "no soliciting" sign in my yard and an anti-proselytizing symbol in the window next to my front door has been very effective at deterring proselytizing Christians. I would say that it has reduced non-religious solicitation by at least 90% and Christian proselytizing by roughly 80%. What else could an atheist do to make it clear that he or she wants to be left alone by those wanting to spread the "good news" about their mind virus? A reader emailed me this picture of a welcome mat he had made, and I am quite jealous.

I Get Email From an Entertaining Christian

It is not uncommon for me to receive entertaining emails from Christians. I don't share most of them here, but every now and then, I like to do so. What follows is a verbatim email I received from a Josh Spolar, reproduced here for your amusement (and mine).

Hey man (or woman), I really hope God has mercy on you
Christian trolls? Seriously what are you like 6? Grow up and have the same amount of respect for Christians (and all religions) that you would expect from us.

You fall into the category of every typical atheist; you most likely don't have any understanding of how reliable of a source the Bible is (historically and what not), and you probably blindly accept every flawed/true new idea that the evolutionist scientists throw out.

look buddy you need to do some realizing. If religion was such a stupid, non-supported idea, then why would sooo many people still believe it?

the answer to that riddle is because no one has proved it wrong, and no one will.
Evolutionists and whatever can come out with these new "missing links" and stuff, but a lot of them end up proving the exact opposite of what they have been saying all along, so they have to completely change some of their theories. But people follow so blindly they never realize what's going on, or all the mistakes that scientists make. Like Lucy, for example, whom scientists extremely stretched the facts to make her look more human than ape. Truth is she wasn't, but almost every kid you ask nowadays will say, "oh she was that austrio-something right? a missing link?"

Your site is crude and distasteful, but to be honest it's exactly what I expected from an Atheist website. Look if everyone expects religious people to be understanding and respectful of all the liberal, secular things that pass for socially acceptable today, then you atheists and agnostics need to do the same.
But i can't expect much from people who think that they are great-great-great-great cousins of fish or monkeys who fling poop at each other

It is difficult to pick a favorite part because so many of the trite Christian absurdities shine through (e.g., one shouldn't believe in science blindly, but the Christian bible is different). I love the anti-science nonsense, but I suppose my favorite would have to be the idea that my site is "crude and distasteful," which was what he expected...before he came here anyway. Hmmmm...I wonder what that says about him?

The most puzzling part, though, would have to be the last part about how "everyone expects religious people to be understanding and respectful..." Who expects this? The only people I've encountered who expect this from religious people are other religious people. I certainly don't expect it! To the contrary, I expect religious people to be quite hostile to anyone who believes other than they do (kind of like Josh).

Yes, There Are Atheist Republicans and Libertarians

Image via Wikipedia

I'd like to be very clear about two things. First, I acknowledge the existence of atheist Republicans and Libertarians. Second, I am neither a Republican nor a Libertarian. You see, I've been taking some heat lately from a handful of readers who are evidently disgruntled with my liberal political bent and the fact that I express it from time-to-time here. The criticism does not bother me, but I do find it somewhat puzzling.

I have never made any secret of my liberal political orientation. In fact, I mention it in the About section prominently featured underneath the banner at the top of this page. It is part of who I am, and I am uninterested in hiding it. I do not consider "liberal" to be a dirty word.

What I find puzzling about this sort of criticism is that it almost appears as if the critics think I should be politically neutral. But I make no pretense of being neutral about what I do. Atheist Revolution is not some sort of objective news site; it is a blog. In fact, it is an atheist blog dedicated to breaking free from irrational belief and opposing Christian extremism. The fact that the modern Republican Party has thoroughly embraced Christian conservatism places me in direct opposition to them (at least to those of them who embrace the current leadership).