All it takes is Research: LaVeyan Satanism

[Blade_and_Blood]

The purpose of this thread is simply to inform, not to teach. It would suck if we lost a Catholic/Christian to such a presumably small church. You’ve been warned.

The Church of Satan is a faith/lifestyle that’s been horribly misunderstood by us Christians and my fellow Catholics. I went into a bit of research (actually a lot of it), and I’ve realized that these people, as a religion, are decent.

They hold life (animal/children/their own) as precious and sacred. They don’t worship Satan… and especially don’t worship the Satan that we’re familiar with: they worship themselves. It’s not something we agree with, but it’s just a different faith we’re competing with, apparently.

They are pretty extreme in their views about relationships with other people, but for the most part, they seem to just keep to themselves… which may be why we don’t know their exact numbers. Speaking of numbers, they are very strict on membership; you have to be an adult. Teens can only join if they have parent permission AND attendence. When I read that, I found that to be very thoughtful, I won’t lie.

The only thing that offensive to me, but extremely clever was noticing that mankind created several gods for the picking; their objective is to “choose one that is useful”. Us Catholics and Christians and other have certain visual stereotypes (cross, the Bible, etc.); now I know why the original second commandment was “No Graven Images”

The only scary part about this:

These LaVeyan Satanists are very logical rather than religious.

Reading about their sins, statements, theologies, and rules of the Earth/behavior, you ultimately think to yourself, “Holy ****!” Now, there are a great deal of things about their faith that I don’t agree with (i.e. their “political agenda”), but I must say, I have to credit them for being the only ones to admit “Love and kindness to only those who deserve it.” All religions teach love, honor, kindness, etc. to ALL, but we don’t exactly live up to that. There are some people or groups of people that we try to avoid or that we discriminate… not the best thing to do after praising “Love Thy Neighbor”.

All the info can be found on Wikipedia or (my favorite website) religioustolerance.org or specifically religioustolerance.org/satanis1.htm

– be careful, though; that website’s a maze! I got lost so many times!

Having read all of this, what did you originally think the Church of Satan was?

 

[Starwynd]

There are various forms of satanism. This is just one of many.

 

[SFTor]

The purpose of this thread is simply to inform, not to teach. It would suck if we lost a Catholic/Christian to such a presumably small church. You’ve been warned.

The Church of Satan is a faith/lifestyle that’s been horribly misunderstood by us Christians and my fellow Catholics. I went into a bit of research (actually a lot of it), and I’ve realized that these people, as a religion, are decent.

They hold life (animal/children/their own) as precious and sacred. They don’t worship Satan… and especially don’t worship the Satan that we’re familiar with: they worship themselves. It’s not something we agree with, but it’s just a different faith we’re competing with, apparently.

They are pretty extreme in their views about relationships with other people, but for the most part, they seem to just keep to themselves… which may be why we don’t know their exact numbers. Speaking of numbers, they are very strict on membership; you have to be an adult. Teens can only join if they have parent permission AND attendence. When I read that, I found that to be very thoughtful, I won’t lie.

The only thing that offensive to me, but extremely clever was noticing that mankind created several gods for the picking; their objective is to “choose one that is useful”. Us Catholics and Christians and other have certain visual stereotypes (cross, the Bible, etc.); now I know why the original second commandment was “No Graven Images”

The only scary part about this:

These LaVeyan Satanists are very logical rather than religious.

Reading about their sins, statements, theologies, and rules of the Earth/behavior, you ultimately think to yourself, “Holy ****!” Now, there are a great deal of things about their faith that I don’t agree with (i.e. their “political agenda”), but I must say, I have to credit them for being the only ones to admit “Love and kindness to only those who deserve it.” All religions teach love, honor, kindness, etc. to ALL, but we don’t exactly live up to that. There are some people or groups of people that we try to avoid or that we discriminate… not the best thing to do after praising “Love Thy Neighbor”.

All the info can be found on Wikipedia or (my favorite website) religioustolerance.org or specifically religioustolerance.org/satanis1.htm

– be careful, though; that website’s a maze! I got lost so many times!

Having read all of this, what did you originally think the Church of Satan was?

Didn’t The Church of Satan go out of style thirty years ago? And weren’t they just a bunch of horny, drug-taking hippies anyway?

Best,

Tor

 

[Blade_and_Blood]

Out of style? Maybe. But there are still members among us… maybe not registered, but practicing? Definitely.

Ironically Yours.

 

[SFTor]

Out of style? Maybe. But there are still members among us… maybe not registered, but practicing? Definitely.

Ironically Yours.

BLADE and BLOOD…no kidding!

So you’re a Satanist, Blade?

LaVeyan or otherwise? I live in SF, I drive by their building now and then, if that’s still where they hang out?

Best,

Tor

 

[Swan]

The black house was sold (or otherwise passed out of the family’s hands) after LaVey’s death. I don’t know the full story but I suspect he may have had some medical and/or other debts - perhaps the house was heavily mortgaged as a result - but it was sold. Blanche, his parnter (I’m can’t remember if they were married) and their son, moved - I think to San Diego. The organization was always pretty loose but there are still members. Formation of grottos (coven type groups) was encouraged all along. LaVey encouraged people to think for themselves and do what worked for them, not follow him. While there were probably druggie, hippie types at first, considering the place and time of the founding (SF in the late 60s), LaVey was pretty anti-drug as drugs cloud the mind and judgement and he was big on knowing what you want and knowing what you’re doing, as well as understanding that our actions have consequences. This ties into him being somewhat anti-hippie as he was big on taking personal responsibility for your own life. IOW, drop acid and drop out were not ideas he agreed with. Some of those original folks were simply thrill seekers. Those who took/take it seriously, from the impressions I’ve gotten, are intelligent people, often very driven to succeed. There are also nutty teens and older nuts who buy into the animal sacrifice (LaVey loved animals and found this idea aborrent) and selling the soul, etc…, but this is not what the “mature” Satanist is about at all. Not only did LaVey not suffer fools gladly, he didn’t suffer them at all.

How do I know all of this? I’ve read all his books, some more than once. I used to be a practicing Satanist and sometimes ordered copies of various periodicals put out by the COS (Church of Satan). While LaVey did not believe in God/gods, he believed there were energies/forces that we can tap into for our benefit through ritual and/or types of meditation and creative visualization. Satan was an archetype, a symbol or rebellion. I don’t think he believed in any kind of afterlife, though he was pragmatic enough to know there was no way he could really be sure, so he just didn’t worry about it.

There are forums for those intersted in Satanism and other occult forms just as there are for Christians so if you’re curious you might just find one a do some reading. I’d caution about posting inflamatory and evangelical items, however, as the tolerance level for such is generally nil.

 

[SFTor]

There are forums for those intersted in Satanism and other occult forms just as there are for Christians so if you’re curious you might just find one a do some reading. I’d caution about posting inflamatory and evangelical items, however, as the tolerance level for such is generally nil.

Hi Swan,

thanks for an interesting post. I wouldn’t worry about any evangelizing from this one. Not in my repertoire.

I might look into it. I’m here for the intellectual stimulation anyway.

Best,

Tor

 

[bpbasilphx]

I’m not interested in knowing about the deep things of Satan.

 

[IanCorrigan]

Didn’t The Church of Satan go out of style thirty years ago? And weren’t they just a bunch of horny, drug-taking hippies anyway?
Best,
Tor

Actually, never even close. Lavey prohibited drug use among members, and the culture of the CoS was always more about Frank Sinatra than Led Zeppelin. Lavey thought Big Band was the devil’s real music.
Horny - well, they were horny, but they were horny conservatives.
Ian

 

[Blade_and_Blood]

BLADE and BLOOD…no kidding!

So you’re a Satanist, Blade?

LaVeyan or otherwise? I live in SF, I drive by their building now and then, if that’s still where they hang out?

Best,

Tor

Oh no. I’m Catholic. I’m just religiously tolerant. I enjoy researching many religions very much. This one fascinated me for quite awhile.

Ironically Yours.

 

[Jack_245814]

The worship of the self, “religious individualism”, “LaVeyan Satanism” . . . it is Satanism. The LaVeyan Satanists might not be running around killing babies, but they’re still truly Satanists. It’s the epitome of pride, and pride is the root of all sin. Many people follow this Satanic philosophy without being aware of its evil nature; in fact I’d say the philosophy of LaVeyan Satanism is extremely common.

Also there are many other satanic cults besides the LaVeyans. LaVey just took the ideas of Aleister Crowley and threw in some Neitzcheism - nothing too original; doesn’t mean there aren’t some sick people out there who really do worship Lucifer and do everything that goes along with it. They might not be very prevalent, but they’re out there…

 

[Steadfast]

LaVey was, basically, a libertine which has been defined as a free-thinker unrestrained by convention.

The word has come to have a connotation of sexuality because, of course, this is where our conventions are most clearly seen and, therefore, most clearly flouted by the hedonist.

But he wasn’t just some randy sex-monkey and his choice of Satan as his god was much more a reaction against what he believed to be the tyrrany of convention and conformity than an actual embracing of the worship of Lucifer.

What is interesting to me though is the use of ritual in his church.

For someone who, essentially, denied the existence of any deity worthy of service and worship, it is difficult to see it as anything other than a kind of process of binding.

This can be benign or malign depending on his intent, afterall, Christians do it all the time, more or less ceremonially, but then the fascists were real big on it too.