Opinions on Satanism?

Question

I find others belifes, and ideas very interesting, and was reading a bit about Satanism, I was wondering why people choose to worship something that is 'evil'.

Some of the laws, and ideas seem understandable, but most are...interesting....

This answer goes out to everyone, Christian, Satanic, everyone, what are your ideas about this....belife?

Answer 1

I almost went that, but I realized God was my Lord. If ur a Satinest its like...okay to go to h**l.

Answer 2

i dont understand eather y would u want to worship some body evil ik pple who are but they just think its kool but i think its way more than that they just think there messing around......

Answer 3

I own the satanic bible. I thought some of the views expressed were quite interesting untill it started talking about magic.

For people who don't know much about it Satanists don't worship anything. Not God, not Satan, nothing.

Answer 4

I wonder the same thing about people that worship god. god has the better resume for being the source of all evil with all the acts of genocide and evil deeds done by him and his followers.

Answer 5

Satanism isn't worshiping "evil". Satanist believe that we are god and that we should approach our animal instincts because we are animals. I love the beliefs, I think its the most realistic 'religion'/beliefs than any other.

Answer 6

I like the fact that you have to be 18 to join the Church of Satan.  If only all religions were that dead set against childhood indoctrination.

Answer 7

What's the point? To be different? To walk a path less threaded?

You must think, should someone want you to join their circle they would'nt put demoralizing things in their bible. Such is the same with christianity and satanism, yet it is how a religion should be built upon; truth.

Contradicting? l believe it was found by a group of people who wanted to be different, who coveted two things; being unique and seeking to ability to inflict harm upon others cuz that's the combination to another form of power.

It is our most basic human wants to stand out among our peers, to be special. Some people loosely combine this want and the yearn to go against society's norm, it was what made this group.

Should this belief at any time hinder the good or neutral others, l would not hesitate to put it down, down into the abyss. You may covet your greed but l covet keeping you and all your kind in check, even if it means your destruction.

Answer 8

I understand your point of view. I used to think Satanism had to be somethng only stupid or evil people would follow. Then I met a guy who's a LeVey Satanist, but he seemed intelligent, nice and had a Christian girlfriend. I wanted to find out more about it, so I read a few posts in the Religion and Spirituality section about Satanism to get different views.

There are 2 main types of Satanism, Spiritual or Philosophical.

Philosophical Satanists don't believe in a spiritual being called Satan. "Satan" is just a metaphore for their views about how the individual is only ultimately responsible to himself, and there is no Heaven or h**l for eternal reward or punishment.

Spiritual Satanism does believe in a Being that can be called Satan, but like in Luciferianism, they think he's been misunderstood and isn't really a bad guy.

In the Chirstian myth of the Fall of Lucifer (or Satan) , the Devil can be portrayed as a kind of hero because he resists authority and follows his own will, no matter what the consequences. He can also be seen as one who challenges the statis quo and brings about needed change.

Myths can be interpreted in many different ways, depending on someone's point of view. Where a Christian will usually only interpret the Devil as something evil, someone else might look at the Devil's good points and only focus on those.

Of course, there are also the immature or evil-minded people who worship the negative, evil aspects of the Devil. These are what we usually think of when we think of Satanists.

- P.

Answer 9

Your question is a bit like asking for opinions on all forms of Paganism - people have a limited understanding of a couple of branches, but very rarely get the bigger picture - no disrespect intended. I merely find it frustrating to see people asking genuine questions about Satanism only to hear about one branch - LaVeyan Satanism. Unfortunately everyone here who has thus far spoken about Satanism has only really broadly talked about LaVeyan Satanism - while they're not wrong, the viewpoint is limited.

EDIT: Silver Thunderbird has got an excellent and respectfully more broad viewpoint. While the viewpoint that Satan created the earth and all on it were created by Satan is not a belief held by all, it is a more common fact that according to the Bible Satan is the God of this earth, not God. Persephone also has a great point, well done to the pair of you ;).

I'm an eclectic Pagan, I find the various branches of Satanism...peculiar, but fascinating. I'm still contemplating converting to the Church of Azazel for what it offers on a theological front, but I'm still exploring my beliefs so I may not choose this one.

A couple of common misconceptions:

1) Theistic Satanism is about devil-worship. Not so. Although theistic Satanists are highly respectful of daemons and devils, and will often perform rituals or ceremonies to contact and honor such beings, it is far from "worshipping them". There is no animal/virgin sacrifice, blood rituals are still not necessary nor called for, almost every theistic Satanist also learns respectful daemon summoning and banishing still.

2) LaVeyan Satanism is the only "true" form of Satanism. In fact, LaVeyan satanism is a branch that is rather public - in fact probably the most public of all, but it is the only branch I have come across so far that claims to be Satanistic in its' approach, yet does not believe in Satan, daemons, h**l, etc. Honestly, I still find this an unusual viewpoint, but different strokes for different folks. While I'm sure it is not alone in its' atheistic ideals, people commonly assume that when referring to Satanism, that LaVeyan Satanism is the one to be referred to.

3) The Wiccan Horned God and Satan are the same figure. Not exactly. Yes, they have similar imagery, but the Wiccan Horned God is a god of the wild, the bestial and beautiful sides of nature wrapped into one figure-head, able to give life as much as take it away. The Horned God also embodies sexual energy, fertility and other such similar principles.

On the other hand, Satan is often seen as a promoter or figure-head that pioneers scientific achievement, challenges dogma of all kinds - and while Satan can also promote the more carnal, animalistic side of man, sexual energy and fertility like the Horned God - Satan's field of effect goes far beyond nature and the wild compared to that of the Horned God. I find it gravely disrespectful to confuse the two deities.

4) The Inverted Pentagram is evil. In essence, it can be regarded as an "evil" icon by some, but ironically the inverted pentagram is even used in some forms of Wicca to represent a recognition of the inner dark within all of us, that we cannot overcome unless we accept. The Inverted Pentangle (the one with a circle) often represents the elements of existence and the embodiment of man within that fold, or can be used to represent the goals and ideals of Satanism, or even the roles of rising deities within various forms of Satanism.

That aside...I find the principles of personal enlightenment fascinating, and the theology put forward in many respects can be seen as very logical or intelligent. It is regarded as rather taboo due to mass media portrayal, but I would be happy to see more variants of theistic Satanism around. That being said, I am happy Satanism is in the minority - it would defy the point of Satanism altogether should it ever become mainstream.

www.JoyofSatan.com (IMO, not a great one, but good for a broader education)

www.ChurchofSatan.com (Standard LaVeyan Satanism)

www.ChurchofAzazel.com (My favourite form of theistic Satanism - intelligent, logical, well reasoned)

www.AquarianSatanism.com (not checked this one out much yet, so I can't say)

A couple of links that may help

Blessings and Toodles

Answer 10

They are not worshiping satan or anything evil. That is not why it is called satanism

It is calle that because satan is the opposite of god and they believe in everything that is not god if you understand what im saying. They are not believing in evil they are believig that Christianity; the belief in God, is basically a load of Bull Sh*t.

For example they feel that Christianity is like the slave trade. That the religion is ruling our lives. That people would do things for cristianity that they would never consider doing in normal life

Satanism is not the belief in satan, it is the belief in not believing god, if you see what i mean. it is not a religion in such, as there is no god, and i suppose there are too few believers to class it as  a religion also.

A lot of the facts made by satanists and in the satanic bible make a lot of sense, but as metioned previous;y a lot of it is tripe.

Do not be alarmed  am not a satanist, i just pay an interest in other peoples perspective.

I really hope this helped.

Answer 11

My opinion on Satanism is much like what others have expressed here. It is an interesting belief, but not one I have any interest in exploring.

I've read LaVey's bible and encountered this tenet of Laveyean Satanism that immediately put me off the idea of exploring any further:

Satanists have as their duty the exploitation of other people's weaknesses. So, if you encounter a man or woman with low self-esteem, you are encouraged to exploit that to your benefit. Use their weakness to your gain if you can.

Intentionally malicious behavior is the true opposite of what most religions propose as their mission: intentionally benevolent behavior. I'm not arguing that anybody has ever succeeded in that regard. And at least the Satanists are being honest. Still, I'm not going to go out and sign up. I'm happy being a part of the only group to never start a war or destroy a culture (correct me if you think I'm wrong, but be prepared to back it up with lots of evidence). I'm an atheist.

Answer 12

hon, not to be rude or anything, but if you were reading about sataism, then you would have figured out that they don't worship anything evil.  You sound to be christian, and that's fine, but please keep in mind that Satan is only evil to christians and Jews.  I personally don't believe in Satan, and i don't see him/it as evil, because something that's nonexistant can't be evil. But to Satanists, Satan isn't evil, he's just kinda there... according to satanists, Satan was with jehova (god) when he created the world, and satanists believe that Satan, not jehova created everything.  I've seen nothing in the satanist religion that points to 'evil' in my mind... nothing negative, and nothing hurtful.  

Good for you for doing some research.  ;)  

I apologise to any satanists that i may offend with any ignorance on my part, so, if i'm wrong, i'm sorry, please correct me.  ;)

BB All, )O( STB

Answer 13

Thank God this thread stayed out of the religion category.  This was refreshingly well thought out, civil, and educational.

Kudos.

Answer 14

its no more ridiculous than christianity.

Answer 15

Good for you for wanting to know about others' beliefs without judging them. I'm not sure why people would want to worship something evil. Personal preference i guess. It's all a matter of opinion. It's hard to understand why people would choose that but everyone's different and we have no right to judge them. My personal opinion is that I don't believe in satan, and if i did i wouldn't worship him. I'm wiccan, and that is often mistaken for satanism, so i read up about it and it is not the same at all. It is an interesting religion though that is often mistaken for something else.

Answer 16

Hey, I understand. i was the same way and i read up on it.

What I found is the traditional satanists don't actually believe in satan.

They believe in the IDEA of satan, not the evil part, but the selfishness.

"Live for yourself" 'If you don't take care of you, no one will"

And they also believe in the s*x drugs rock and roll party lifestyle. They believe these things were ment to be enjoyed, not tabooed

Answer 17

Satanism is not the worshipping of something evil.  It's actually pretty interesting, not for me, but interesting. Here is an interesting website that will give you the basic tenents

http://www.churchofsatan.com/home.html