Should Satanism be illegal?

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As others have pointed out, it’s a slippery slope. Right now, religious practice is protected. If we remove legal protections and pass a ban on one religion we allow for the possibility of other religions being banned. Including ours.
It is naive to assume that current laws will protect our right to practise our Faith. The way things are progressing it is likely that it will be practising of the Christian Faith that will end up being banned. Legislation concerning abortion, gay ‘marriage’, etc. are stacked against us and put us in a position where our faith may come into direct opposition to the law. Euthanasia on demand is next of satan’s agenda, then who knows what will come after that? Inter-generational ‘consensual’ sex? If such things become enshrined in law as ‘rights’ for individual citizens, then the Church can be portrayed as an institution that is suppressing the rights of individuals. Then there is the issue of future laws attempting to force the Church to ‘ordain’ women, ordain gay ‘married’ men, under equal-opportunity legislation.

A case may then be made that the Church is an oppressive organisation at odds with the legal rights of citizens. Make no mistake, it is the Church, rather than satanists who are likely to come into conflict with the law in future years.

In the light of the oppression that is coming our way, will we as individual Christians be prepared to stand firm in the face of it, regardless of the personal material consequences to ourselves and our families for doing so. Let’s hope so.
 
Of course, if the new religion involves materially violating other aspects of the US Constitution, then it should be banned. For example, if some religion imposes that you kill human beings, then it should be banned. But the reason would have to be very strong for any such action.
No. I don’t believe any religion should be banned. Now, if a certain religion calls for …say, human sacrifice…any followers who participate in an actual human sacrifice should be prosecuted for murder to the fullest extent of the law.
 
Of course, if the new religion involves materially violating other aspects of the US Constitution, then it should be banned.
That sounds like the religion of our current and most of our recent past U.S. presidents.
 
It is naive to assume that current laws will protect our right to practise our Faith. The way things are progressing it is likely that it will be practising of the Christian Faith that will end up being banned. Legislation concerning abortion, gay ‘marriage’, etc. are stacked against us and put us in a position where our faith may come into direct opposition to the law. Euthanasia on demand is next of satan’s agenda, then who knows what will come after that? Inter-generational ‘consensual’ sex? If such things become enshrined in law as ‘rights’ for individual citizens, then the Church can be portrayed as an institution that is suppressing the rights of individuals. Then there is the issue of future laws attempting to force the Church to ‘ordain’ women, ordain gay ‘married’ men, under equal-opportunity legislation.

A case may then be made that the Church is an oppressive organisation at odds with the legal rights of citizens. Make no mistake, it is the Church, rather than satanists who are likely to come into conflict with the law in future years.

In the light of the oppression that is coming our way, will we as individual Christians be prepared to stand firm in the face of it, regardless of the personal material consequences to ourselves and our families for doing so. Let’s hope so.
I am the wrong person to have this discussion with. I highly favor keeping religious beliefs out of lawmaking as much as possible.

Yes, I do believe our Constitution will protect our right to practice our faith. I also believe that the Constitution will continue to protect the Church from being forced into performing same sex marriages or ordaining women, for example.

I do not believe we Christians are a threatened species as fully 70% of our country identifies as Christian.

I see cases of consensual inter-generational sex on a regular basis. Most of them are 18 year olds dating 30-somethings. 🤷 I highly doubt there will be legalization of pre-pubescent sex. As for post-pubescent sex, many states already allow for sexual consent before age 18.

I, personally, have no issue with euthanasia provided the party to be euthanized has made the request while of sound mind.

The Church can be seen as an organization that suppresses individual rights. But she does not prevent us from exercising our legal rights. We willingly prevent ourselves from exercising our legal rights to stay in line with Church teachings. Big difference between the two.
 
Yes, I do believe our Constitution will protect our right to practice our faith. I also believe that the Constitution will continue to protect the Church from being forced into performing same sex marriages or ordaining women, for example…
The vast majority of the Church live outside of the USA. Although I’m glad you have such faith that your Constitution (written by deist freemasons) will protect your faith. I’m not sure I’d be so confident.
I do not believe we Christians are a threatened species as fully 70% of our country identifies as Christian.
How many of these 70% actually support Christian values over secular values? Just have a look at what has happened (is happening) in Europe, do you really think Christianity in the USA is safe? Look at the laws of your country, are they the laws of a Christian country? And again, the USA is just a very small part of the Catholic Church.
I see cases of consensual inter-generational sex on a regular basis. Most of them are 18 year olds dating 30-somethings. 🤷 I highly doubt there will be legalization of pre-pubescent sex…
Really? There are pressure groups and politicians in Europe who are lobbying for exactly that and they are being given ‘air-time’.

If you turn the clock back 20 years, so you really think that gay ‘marriage’ would come to be accepted by society? Gay 'marriage is just the thin edge of the wedge. Now I’m not comparing homosexuals to pedophiles, by any means, but arguments are being made along the lines that groups of people with other alternative ‘sexualities’ ought not be discriminated against either.
As for post-pubescent sex, many states already allow for sexual consent before age 18.
In Europe, the average age of consent is 15 and in Spain it is 13 (for both heterosexual and homosexual sex) and 14 in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino and Serbia.

Would it be such a huge leap to move the age of consent from 14 to 12, or 11 even? And to ensure no discrimination, this would obviously include homosexual sex also. From there it would be a small leap to remove the age of consent altogether so long as it is shown that both parties were ‘consensual’. Currently in Spain a 55 year old can have sex with a 13 year old, so long as the 13 year old ‘consents’ to this and the older person has not used ‘deceit’ to obtain consent.

Back in the 1970’s in the UK the organisation known as the Pedophile Information Exchange had the support of some mainstream political groups. There were mainstream politicians seriously considering whether or not sexual relations with adults were actually beneficial for children and perhaps the age of consent ought to be removed.
I, personally, have no issue with euthanasia provided the party to be euthanized has made the request while of sound mind.
And that puts you in complete opposition with the teachings of the Church. Suicide or helping someone commit suicide is a mortal sin. Euthanasia is something that no Catholic should ever accept, ever, under any circumstances.
 
The vast majority of the Church live outside of the USA. Although I’m glad you have such faith that your Constitution (written by deist freemasons) will protect your faith. I’m not sure I’d be so confident.

How many of these 70% actually support Christian values over secular values? Just have a look at what has happened (is happening) in Europe, do you really think Christianity in the USA is safe? Look at the laws of your country, are they the laws of a Christian country? And again, the USA is just a very small part of the Catholic Church.

Really? There are pressure groups and politicians in Europe who are lobbying for exactly that and they are being given ‘air-time’.

If you turn the clock back 20 years, so you really think that gay ‘marriage’ would come to be accepted by society? Gay 'marriage is just the thin edge of the wedge. Now I’m not comparing homosexuals to pedophiles, by any means, but arguments are being made along the lines that groups of people with other alternative ‘sexualities’ ought not be discriminated against either.

In Europe, the average age of consent is 15 and in Spain it is 13 (for both heterosexual and homosexual sex) and 14 in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino and Serbia.

Would it be such a huge leap to move the age of consent from 14 to 12, or 11 even? And to ensure no discrimination, this would obviously include homosexual sex also. From there it would be a small leap to remove the age of consent altogether so long as it is shown that both parties were ‘consensual’. Currently in Spain a 55 year old can have sex with a 13 year old, so long as the 13 year old ‘consents’ to this and the older person has not used ‘deceit’ to obtain consent.

Back in the 1970’s in the UK the organisation known as the Pedophile Information Exchange had the support of some mainstream political groups. There were mainstream politicians seriously considering whether or not sexual relations with adults were actually beneficial for children and perhaps the age of consent ought to be removed.

And that puts you in complete opposition with the teachings of the Church. Suicide or helping someone commit suicide is a mortal sin. Euthanasia is something that no Catholic should ever accept, ever, under any circumstances.
The deist Freemasons seem to have done a pretty decent job with the document they drafted.

Do the people who identify as Christian support Christian values (I am assuming you mean at the ballot box) and are the laws here the laws of a Christian nation? No. Nor would I want them to be. We are a Democracy, not a Theocracy.

We aren’t Europe.

I am not in opposition to the Church’s teaching. I wouldn’t allow myself to choose euthanasia. However, I do not believe it my place to prevent some poor suffering soul from opting out. That is between God and the sufferer.
 
We aren’t Europe.
Speak for yourself.

We are not a set of national Churches. What affects one of us, affects all of us. We are the universal Church.

And as for Europe, turn back the clock 40 years and people Europeans would not have thought things would be in the shocking state they are now. It is naive to think that things like that would never happen in the USA.
I am not in opposition to the Church’s teaching. I wouldn’t allow myself to choose euthanasia. However, I do not believe it my place to prevent some poor suffering soul from opting out. That is between God and the sufferer.
That is in opposition to the teaching of the Church. By saying that individuals ought to be allowed to decide whether or not to have their lives ended is in opposition to the teachings of the Church. The Church totally opposes euthanasia. The Church is completely opposed to any laws that allow anybody to choose euthanasia. The Church is opposed to anybody being allowed to ‘opt out’.

The Church is just as opposed to laws that allow people to choose euthanasia as it is to laws that allow people to choose to have an abortion.

As to it being “between God and the sufferer” we do not determine our own morality or what is right or wrong for us. The Church teaches that such things are gravely sinful and will wholeheartedly oppose any moves to enable such things to happen (through laws allowing it) and she expects all Catholics to obey her and follow her teaching on this in totally opposing any laws that would allow someone to legally choose euthanasia.
 
I think this thread is really about whether Satanism should be illegal in the USA (I know we forum members from other countries are in a minority). The law is applied very differently in other countries, as I’m sure everyone realises - in the UK, you can’t just say anything you like on a street corner and claim the right to free speech, if what you are saying infringes British hate laws (which cover things like religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender).

Unlike the USA, there does not have to be a threat of something provoking imminent unlawfulness for it to be illegal. It’s a significant difference.
 
I think this thread is really about whether Satanism should be illegal in the USA
If the question relates specifically to one country, then it should be stated as such.

What happens in one country effects us all. The satanic laws allowing abortion, euthanasia etc. affect us all eventually. It is naive to sit and think that our national boundaries and man-made constitutions will protect us from satan’s evil that is gradually permeating the laws of all our nations. What happens elsewhere (particularly in countries with similar cultures to ours) will be coming to us soon, make no mistake about that.

The media and political machinery that manipulate us are doing satan’s bidding. We’re at the point now where many Catholics, including even some of our clergy are either lukewarm to such laws, or even mildly supportive of them, despite clear Church teaching on these.issues. All out of a misguided sense of ‘tolerance’ and ‘liberalism’. The “smoke of satan” is indeed present within the Church.
 
Of course, if the new religion involves materially violating other aspects of the US Constitution, then it should be banned. For example, if some religion imposes that you kill human beings, then it should be banned. But the reason would have to be very strong for any such action.
And isn’t venerating Satan a strong enough reason?
 
I think this thread is really about whether Satanism should be illegal in the USA (I know we forum members from other countries are in a minority). The law is applied very differently in other countries, as I’m sure everyone realises - in the UK, you can’t just say anything you like on a street corner and claim the right to free speech, if what you are saying infringes British hate laws (which cover things like religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender).

Unlike the USA, there does not have to be a threat of something provoking imminent unlawfulness for it to be illegal. It’s a significant difference.
I’m Canadian, and I support similar hate speech laws to what you just outlined.
 
No. I don’t believe any religion should be banned. Now, if a certain religion calls for …say, human sacrifice…any followers who participate in an actual human sacrifice should be prosecuted for murder to the fullest extent of the law.
They definitely would be today. The USA has not slid down the slippery slope that far.
 
I recently stated my opinion elsewhere that I think Satanism should be illegal, and the opinion was not met with much approval.

Should Satanism be illegal, or is it wrong for me to think that?

Also, if this thread doesn’t belong here, please correct me, I’m new here.
Absolutely not! Freedom of conscience and how one approaches the Eternal is a sacred gift. No one should have their right to worship taken from them…especially because someone of another faith doesn’t like someone else’s faith choice.
 
Illegal or not it’s evil just like many different “gifts” from Satan.

This stuff below is just a little about what I found out about “The Church of Satan” which I always considered a “cult” yet according to wikipedia I guess they are now a recognized religion thanks to Anton LeVey.

from the wikipedia page

Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence.
Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams.
Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit.
Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates.
Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek.
Satan represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires.
Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development”, has become the most vicious animal of all.
Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification.
Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years.

The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth

The Eleven Satanic rules of the Earth have been given as:

Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
When in another’s lair, show them respect or else do not go there.
If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat them cruelly and without mercy.
Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and they cry out to be relieved.
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.
Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
Do not harm little children.
Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they don’t stop, destroy them.

Pentagonal Revisionism

Pentagonal Revisionism is a plan consisting of five major goals written in 1988 by LaVey:

Stratification — “There can be no more myth of “equality” for all—it only translates to “mediocrity” and supports the weak at the expense of the strong. Water must be allowed to seek its own level without interference from apologists for incompetence. No one should be protected from the effects of his own stupidity.”
Strict taxation of all churches — “The productive, the creative, the resourceful should be subsidized. So long as the useless and incompetent are getting paid, they should be heavily taxed.”
No tolerance for religious beliefs secularized and incorporated into law and order issues — “Amnesty should be considered for anyone in prison because of their alleged ‘influence’ upon the actual perpetrator of the crime. Everyone is influenced in what he or she does. Scapegoating has become a way of life, a means of survival for the unfit. As an extension of the Judeo-Christian cop-out of blaming the Devil for everything, criminals can gain leniency, even praise, by placing the blame on a convenient villain. Following the Satanic creed of “Responsibility to the responsible”, in a Satanic society, everyone must experience the consequences of their own actions—for good or ill.”
Development and production of artificial human companions — “An economic ‘godsend’ which will allow everyone “power” over someone else. Polite, sophisticated, technologically feasible slavery. And the most profitable industry since T.V. and the computer.”
The opportunity for anyone to live within a total environment of their choice, with mandatory adherence to the aesthetic and behavioral standards of same — “Privately owned, operated and controlled environments as an alternative to homogenized and polyglot ones. The freedom to insularize oneself within a social milieu of personal well-being. An opportunity to feel, see, and hear that which is most aesthetically pleasing, without interference from those who would pollute or detract from that option.”

In my opinion Satan also represents immaturity in thinking that The Church is in the business of opposing him and there are parts of the religion which would be against the law unless destroying someone or vengeance somehow became legal. Also, one might think, from what is above, the religion itself strives to promote the illegal in order to nullify laws. I mean, think about it, anyone who belongs to the “Church of Satan” can say that they killed a man who annoyed them because it was their 1st amendment right??? I don’t think so.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Satan
 
I’d rather see Westboro Baptist “Church” banned first, as they call themselves Christians and some people might be led to believe that that’s what Christians are all about.
👍:thumbsup:To quote Laugh-In, “sock it to me” and “right on!”
 
Its an interesting question. If, we ignore the specifics of the US constitution and look at it only based on the Church’s teaching, it seems to pose a dilemma.

On one had, we have the long held teaching of Aquinas (I believe I have heard it goes back to St Augustine) which tells us that vices to be prohibited by law are those which the majority of the people can abstain and from which a just society cannot be sustained without the prohibition ( newadvent.org/summa/2096.htm#article2 ).

On that account, it does seem like Satanism should be made illegal.

OTH, the Second Vatican Council has stated that the right to free exercise of religion is fundamental:
  1. This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.
vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html

Which seems to say it should not be made illegal.
 
Its an interesting question. If, we ignore the specifics of the US constitution and look at it only based on the Church’s teaching, it seems to pose a dilemma.

On one had, we have the long held teaching of Aquinas (I believe I have heard it goes back to St Augustine) which tells us that vices to be prohibited by law are those which the majority of the people can abstain and from which a just society cannot be sustained without the prohibition ( newadvent.org/summa/2096.htm#article2 ).

On that account, it does seem like Satanism should be made illegal.

OTH, the Second Vatican Council has stated that the right to free exercise of religion is fundamental:

vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html

Which seems to say it should not be made illegal.
That quote from Vatican II does include a ‘within due limits’, it could perhaps be argued that Satanism is outside those limits.
 
I recently stated my opinion elsewhere that I think Satanism should be illegal, and the opinion was not met with much approval.

Should Satanism be illegal, or is it wrong for me to think that?

Also, if this thread doesn’t belong here, please correct me, I’m new here.
Do what you want in Canada, but in the US, we have a constitution which guarantees religious freedom, and if we deny it to one, it means no one really has it.
 
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