Satanism
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===Theistic Satanism=== | ===Theistic Satanism=== | ||
| − | Theistic Satanism believes that "Satan" is an actual independently existing being, which serves as a God-analogue. While atheistic Satanists [[atheism|deny]] that the [[Christian]] [[God]] exists | + | Theistic Satanism believes that "Satan" is an actual independently existing being, which serves as a God-analogue. While atheistic Satanists [[atheism|deny]] that the [[Christian]] [[God]] exists, theistic Satanists vary in their opinions: |
*Most deny God's existence altogether | *Most deny God's existence altogether | ||
*Some believe that God exists, but is weaker than Satan | *Some believe that God exists, but is weaker than Satan | ||
Revision as of 10:48, 27 April 2014
| Here's to my sweet
Satanism |
| Whose power is Satan |
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| He will give those with him 666 |
“”And who created Satan? It was God. Satan is the opposite of God, and, as one of His aspects, he contains a holy spark.
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| —S. Ansky |
Satanism is a loose term which has been used in a number of different ways and covers several distinct concepts, not all of which involve bowing to our Dark Lord.
Contents |
Definitions and origin
The idea of devil worship is centuries old, although the usage of the term "Satanism" to describe a specific belief system appears to date from the nineteenth century.[1] Stories of devil-worshippers existed in the middle ages and later but were largely folkloric and did not describe genuine religious practices. However, there have been a few branches of religious belief which involve the worship of Satan.
In Sweden, where the process of Christianization lasted into the second millenium AD,[2] there is evidence that Satan received a degree of popular worship into the early modern era as an ambivalent or even benign spirit of nature, possibly the result of the Judeo-Christian figure blending with traces of local pagan deities. For example, in 1739 a Swedish fisherman named Mickel Kalkström remarked that he prayed to the Devil for help in his pursuit, believing that God had little or no power over fish. Testimonies from the trials of alleged sorcerers in seventeenth-century Sweden, meanwhile, equate Satan with various traditional nature spirits. Historian Mikael Häll points out that many of these people were outlaws living in the woods, and speculates that they may have adopted Satan as a sort of patron spirit. He concludes that, while it is unlikely that there was an organised cult of devil-worship in Sweden at the time, there were people who could be termed Satanists.[3]
Beliefs
Like most religions, there are a variety of beliefs, but a few precepts are generally observed by most Satanists.
- Major emphasis is placed on the power and authority of the individual Satanist, rather than on a God or Goddess.
- They believe that "no redeemer liveth" — that each person is their own redeemer, fully responsible for their own life.
- "Satanism respects and exalts life. Children and animals are the purest expressions of that life force, and as such are held sacred and precious..." Children and animals are not abused or killed.
- They believe that one should live out their lusts and desires, and enthusiastically explore the "seven deadly sins" with other consenting adults.
- They follow many beliefs, practices and rules of behavior which are in conflict with traditional Christianity, and essentially all other religions.
- Uniqueness and creativity are encouraged.
Types of Satanism
In terms of theology, Satanists today can be divided into two main groups:
Atheistic Satanism
Atheistic Satanism does not believe that "Satan" actually exists, as such, they do not worship Satan. They believe every person is their own god and that everyone should worship themselves. To them, "Satan" is a symbol of rebellion rather than a literal figure; they do not worship Satan any more than Buddhists worship Buddha.
LaVeyan Satanism
LaVeyan Satanism is an atheistic "religion" whose chief organization, the Church of Satan[4], was founded by Anton LaVey in 1960s San Francisco. They all but admit that they chose to call their belief system "Satanism" to annoy Christians. While anti-religious, it also rejects many of the ethical tenets of secular humanism, feeling them to be too close to Christian morality (which they feel represses the individual) and instead following a combination of pseudo-Nietzschean ideas and Ayn Rand worship that it calls the "Left-Hand Path."[5] For the record, they officially frown on child and animal sacrifices, saying that we should all strive to be like children or animals. (Adult sacrifice, on the other hand, seems to be totally cool, as long as the person pissed you off.)
Theistic Satanism
Theistic Satanism believes that "Satan" is an actual independently existing being, which serves as a God-analogue. While atheistic Satanists deny that the Christian God exists, theistic Satanists vary in their opinions:
- Most deny God's existence altogether
- Some believe that God exists, but is weaker than Satan
- Some believe that God exists, and that Satan is weaker and God will ultimately triumph over him — and they will be consigned along with Satan to an eternity in hell. They believe that it is "better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven", as Milton said.
- Some believe that both God and Satan exist but that the final outcome of all this is unknowable.
- Some believe that God exists but is unworthy of worship and choose to worship Satan rather than show even tacit approval for such a God.
A prominent example of theistic Satanism is the Temple of Set.
Marginal divisions
Groups such as the Church of Satan fall into the category of Organized Satanism: publicly known Satanic groups which oppose criminal activity and have well-developed theologies which they often publish electronically or in printed form. Outside of organized Satanism we find marginal groups which can be divided along more sociological terms:
Dabbler Satanism
Dabblers are people, usually teenagers, who turn to Satanism as a form of rebellion against authority. Generally, they lack a well-developed theology, taking most of their beliefs from stuff gleaned off the internet and various books, from pop culture depictions of Satanism, and even from Christian tracts about Satanic evil (all the better to shock their parents, teachers, and pastors with), combined with an unhealthy dose of teen angst. They are often involved in petty crimes such as vandalism, although occasionally, they have been linked to more serious criminal activity, including property theft, assault, and the murder of animals, including pets. Most of them grow out of their Satanism by the time they reach their twenties, although some will develop into another form of Satanism over time.
"Sicko" Satanism
"Sicko" Satanists are criminals and psychopathic individuals who use Satanism as a justification for murder, rape, child molestation, and similar activities. They are most commonly loners or occasionally small groups, and like dabblers, they generally lack a developed theology. In some cases, the trappings of Satanism are used to try to scare victims (especially children) and prevent them from reporting the crimes, while in other cases, Satanism is used to get media attention instead. Two of the most notorious examples of "sicko" Satanism are the Ripper Crew[6][7], a gang of serial killers in Chicago in the early 1980s, and the "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, who killed at least 14 people in California in 1984 and '85[8].
Fascist Satanism
Fascist Satanism is exactly what it says on the tin — Satanism combined with neo-fascist and/or neo-Nazi ideology. In some cases, the flirtations with fascism come from historical fascist movements' fixations on the aesthetics of power, which would appeal to those in a religion that, in many of its formulations, spurns egalitarianism and the Golden Rule in favor of calling for the "great" to dominate their enemies. The shock value of openly calling oneself a fascist also plays into it.[9] In others, Satanism is seen as an "Aryan" religious alternative to "Jewish" Christianity, similar to the more racist versions of Asatru.[10]
The kids-sacrificing-your-pets, backward-messages-in-heavy-metal kind of Satanism
A controversial issue is the alleged existence of large scale, conspiratorial groups which practice human sacrifice, child molestation, etc., many of whose members allegedly occupy positions of power, authority or respect in their communities (such as doctors, lawyers, politicians, police officers, schoolteachers, etc.) Some believe in the existence of this form of Satanism; however, there is no evidence for its actual existence, so it seems to most likely be a form of urban legend or mass hysteria.
If you're looking for an article on that kind of Satanism, see Satanic Panic.
Satanism and pop culture
Many musicians and other artists have used the trappings of Satanism for artistic or "rebel cred" purposes. In some cases, the artist is an actual adherent of organized Satanism and sees his or her art as a vehicle for spreading Satanic ides. In most cases, however, Satanism is not adopted as a belief system, but rather chosen to be shocking or outrageous, or due to an artistic preference for "dark" imagery.
Heavy metal
One of the best-known examples of Satanic imagery being employed in pop culture comes from the heavy metal scene. Many pioneering metal bands in the '70s and '80s, like Venom, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, and Black Sabbath, traded heavily in references to the devil. Of course, most of the time this Satanism was just for show, done in order to win fans and make cool music, with the members of such bands often being Christians or irreligious in their private lives. For instance, Black Sabbath (together with Paul McCartney) wrote "After Forever"[11], a song whose lyrics could easily be mistaken for Christian rock if one didn't know otherwise, while in many of their other songs Satan was portrayed as a clearly evil and menacing figure and not something that should be worshiped or idealized.[12] Alice Cooper (real name Vincent Furnier), meanwhile, is a lifelong born-again Christian.[13]
However, many people often found it difficult to tell the difference. Heavy metal was the subject of a massive moral panic in the 1980s that was linked to the broader Satanic Panic of that era. On one hand, Christian groups led boycotts and censorship attempts, and whipped up a manufactroversy over backward masking, while on the other, the bands attracted misaimed fandoms from teenage dabblers who heard their parents and pastors talking about that eeeeeevil music and saw an easy way to rebel.
By the '90s, the association of heavy metal with Satanism had produced bands that very much were serious about the religious aspects of it. The heavy metal subgenre known as "black metal" emerged in Scandinavia during this time, and was associated with a series of arson attacks against Norwegian churches in the mid '90s.[14][15] The brand of Satanism practiced by many black metal musicians often took on airs of national mysticism, drawing as much inspiration from old Norse legends and myths as it did from "orthodox" Satanism. They viewed Christianity as a foreign import from the sunny Mediterranean that was alien to the frigid Nordic lands and people and had oppressed the native pagan faiths, with their attacks on Christianity often being framed as a holy war of national liberation from Christendom.
Marilyn Manson
Because so many have asked[16]: the '90s shock rockers Marilyn Manson, arguably the best-known "modern" Satanic rock band, frequently straddled the line between "serious" and "theatrical" in their image. While Manson himself (real name Brian Warner) had been made an honorary reverend in the Church of Satan by Anton LaVey, the band's music and themes were more generally concerned with anti-Christian shock value than anything specifically Satanic[17], and included a good deal of self-parody right from the start.[18]
Conspiracy theories
Apart from the black metal scene, most serious Satanic musicians tend to be fairly underground and obscure. However, this hasn't stopped some conspiracy theorists from updating the old hysteria about heavy metal to claim that Satanists are in control of the entire entertainment industry, forcing aspiring artists to literally sell their souls to Satan in exchange for fame, inserting Satanic messages into hit songs to lure impressionable young people to the Dark Side, and carrying out rituals in the guise of music videos and concerts.[19] A simple YouTube search for "<pop star's name> satanism" will turn up an ocean of videos from people with way too much time on their hands, dissecting every frame and lyric for anything that could be tenuously connected to some Satanic/Freemason/Illuminati symbol.
Such theories often show up surrounding the death of Tupac Shakur[20], claiming that the Illuminati had him assassinated after he found out about Their plans and tried to expose them to the public. The irony here, of course, is that Tupac not only didn't believe in the Illuminati, but criticized those who did[21], saying that conspiracy theories about the Illuminati were distracting people from real problems of racism, inequality, and injustice. He would roll over in his grave if he saw how the "Satanists control pop and hip-hop" crowd turned him into their Vince Foster.
See also
External links
- First Satanic Church
- Church of Satan (LaVey)
- Satanism: Real and Imaginary, Religious Tolerance
- Satanism page at rickross.com
- Temple Of Set
Footnotes
- ↑ The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1962 edition) identifies the earliest known use of the term as dating from 1562. However, this usage is defined as "A Satanic or diabolic disposition, doctrine, spirit or contrivance"; the modern usage of the term, to describe the worship of Satan, is identified as dating back to 1896.
- ↑ http://christianization.hist.cam.ac.uk/regions/sweden/sweden-process-christ.html
- ↑ Hall, Mikael (2003). "'It Is Better to Believe in the Devil': Conceptions of Satanists and Sympathies for the Devil in Early Modern Sweden". The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity. Oxford University Press. pp. 23-40.
- ↑ Church of Satan home page
- ↑ Theory and Practice of the Church of Satan. Of interest for this reference are the "Nine Satanic Statements", the "Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth", the "Nine Satanic Sins", and the "Five-Point Program" for a Satanic society, the first point of which is a firm rejection of the concept of the equality of all men. They also offer a ringing endorsement of Objectivism as being in like with their teachings, and reject compulsory education in favor of homeschooling.
- ↑ wp:Ripper Crew
- ↑ Ramsland, Katherine. "The Chicago Rippers." Crime Library. truTV.com/Turner Broadcasting. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ↑ Bruno, Anthony. "Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker." Crime Library. truTV.com/Turner Broadcasting. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ↑ Crabtree, Vexen. "Satanism and Fascism."
- ↑ A takedown of fascist and neo-Nazi Satanists by an anti-Nazi Satanist.
- ↑ Lyrics for "After Forever"
- ↑ For instance, "War Pigs", a song about warmongers being compared to "witches at black masses" and ultimately damned to Hell, where Satan gleefully prepares to feast on their souls. You also have "Lord of This World" and "Black Sabbath", where Satan is portrayed as a vicious deceiver who destroys people's lives with his mere presence.
- ↑ Patterson, Christina. "'Every Word of the Bible is True': An Interview With Alice Cooper." The Huffington Post, 17 October 2012.
- ↑ wp:Black metal#Church burnings
- ↑ Moynihan, Michael, and Didrik Søderlind. Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground (revised and expanded edition). Feral House, 1998 (revised 2003).
- ↑ For example, here, here, and here.
- ↑ Celeb Atheists: Marilyn Manson
- ↑ Case in point: this Manson T-shirt from around 1994, parodying the stereotypes of shock rock in general.
- ↑ Read, Max. "A Comprehensive Guide to the Illuminati, the Conspiracy Theory That Connects Jay-Z and Queen Elizabeth." Gawker, 28 February 2013.
- ↑ Tupac's murder is still unsolved, but generally believed to be related to either his record company or his rivalry with The Notorious B.I.G.
- ↑ As seen in this video before his death.