Salutations everyone, Im new here. I registered out of boredom and thought that it would be appropriate for me to help educate people on Satanism as espoused by Dr. Anton Szandor LaVey. Id like to start off by saying that Im a member of the Church of Satan, and Id rather not give out my status within the organization.
Im sure that some of you know that on Walpurgis of 1966, Anton LaVey formally incorporated the Church of Satan as the first aboveground organization dedicated to the carnal beast within man which we call Satan. It was on that day that Christ and God symbolically died in the hearts of man, even though Nietzsche had already announced it. The Church of Satan was reactionary, and was an answer to the hypocrisies and foolishness found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other "white light" religions. The Church of Satan was designed meticulously in such a way that it could and does crush any opposing view or philosophy that doesnt agree with it. The original Church of Satan still stands and is stronger and larger than ever. What you have to understand is that our Church was the very first registered and chartered institution consecrated in the name of Satan in the history of the world. By that very fact we have the responsibility and legality to define what Satanism really is, and nobody else. Those who slightly deviate from the canon wrote by Anton LaVey is dead in our minds. Satanism is a selfish religion and its largely a dictatorship. Those who wish to twist the canon by even one word or belief will be booted.
The literature, interviews, and media left behind by Anton LaVey is very literal and direct. There is no room for interpretation, esoteric levels, and twists to the canon. You either believe exactly what it says or may rot in the ground as far as our policy is concerned. Anton LaVey once said, "Do you have to agree with everything I say? The answer is yes!" He did not and never believed in a literal anthropomorphic spirit or deity, and he actually wrote about that fact and continually stressed that again and again. He did not "secretly" believe in an actual Devil, what kind of a silly urban myth is that? What did he have to hide, and what kind of reputation would he have to ruin by doing so? Such a notion is against the entire purpose of the philosophy. Satanists and the Church of Satan are up front, blunt, and honest about their beliefs. All the crap you hear that say otherwise are the perpetuated myths of people who got kicked out of the big bad Church of Satan for believing differently. They werent big enough or smart enough to play with the big boys and were banished to the garbage dumps. We have no purpose for them nor the idiotic conspiracy theorists. We live in reality, and they dont.
Satan is actually a pre-Christian word which means, "adversary, one who opposes/or one who questions," and that is exactly what we do. The word Satan belongs to us and not the Religious Reich. We copyright own it and nobody else. Any other person or organizations are pretenders to the throne. Now we are religiously tolerant and we believe in a plurality of beliefs, but when you mess with our label we get pissed. The Mormon Church doesnt acknowledge Warren Jeffs as a Mormon and we dont acknowledge Lord Egen the II & Royal Poobah of the Infernal Dunces of the Order of the Black Ram 33rd Degree "First Church of Satan" as a Satanist. He is not only a fat slob, but he is a liar who was banned from the original Church of Satan. Did you guys know that the Pagan hippie Isaac Bonewits was thrown out of the Church of Satan as well, and quite literally by Anton himself? That is the only reason Pagans are constantly riding on our coattails. But enough discourse.
To us Satan is symbolic, allegorical, and polemic. When we talk about him, its in pre-Christian, abstract form. The Satanist is his own God. And since the Satanist is his own God then that ends the discussion of Gods. There are no aspects of inverse Christianity, and there are no duelist concepts. Were essentially Atheists, or as some of us like to say were Itheists. We believe in ourselves, and our own subjective universe. As for good and evil, we dont acknowledge that such terms exist. Those terms are dead to us and eliminated from the debate. We see ourselves as the Ubermensch, as encapsulated by Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. Were beyond good and evil.
I dont have time for an in-depth analysis. I will now answer questions.
Im sure that some of you know that on Walpurgis of 1966, Anton LaVey formally incorporated the Church of Satan as the first aboveground organization dedicated to the carnal beast within man which we call Satan. It was on that day that Christ and God symbolically died in the hearts of man, even though Nietzsche had already announced it. The Church of Satan was reactionary, and was an answer to the hypocrisies and foolishness found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other "white light" religions. The Church of Satan was designed meticulously in such a way that it could and does crush any opposing view or philosophy that doesnt agree with it. The original Church of Satan still stands and is stronger and larger than ever. What you have to understand is that our Church was the very first registered and chartered institution consecrated in the name of Satan in the history of the world. By that very fact we have the responsibility and legality to define what Satanism really is, and nobody else. Those who slightly deviate from the canon wrote by Anton LaVey is dead in our minds. Satanism is a selfish religion and its largely a dictatorship. Those who wish to twist the canon by even one word or belief will be booted.
The literature, interviews, and media left behind by Anton LaVey is very literal and direct. There is no room for interpretation, esoteric levels, and twists to the canon. You either believe exactly what it says or may rot in the ground as far as our policy is concerned. Anton LaVey once said, "Do you have to agree with everything I say? The answer is yes!" He did not and never believed in a literal anthropomorphic spirit or deity, and he actually wrote about that fact and continually stressed that again and again. He did not "secretly" believe in an actual Devil, what kind of a silly urban myth is that? What did he have to hide, and what kind of reputation would he have to ruin by doing so? Such a notion is against the entire purpose of the philosophy. Satanists and the Church of Satan are up front, blunt, and honest about their beliefs. All the crap you hear that say otherwise are the perpetuated myths of people who got kicked out of the big bad Church of Satan for believing differently. They werent big enough or smart enough to play with the big boys and were banished to the garbage dumps. We have no purpose for them nor the idiotic conspiracy theorists. We live in reality, and they dont.
Satan is actually a pre-Christian word which means, "adversary, one who opposes/or one who questions," and that is exactly what we do. The word Satan belongs to us and not the Religious Reich. We copyright own it and nobody else. Any other person or organizations are pretenders to the throne. Now we are religiously tolerant and we believe in a plurality of beliefs, but when you mess with our label we get pissed. The Mormon Church doesnt acknowledge Warren Jeffs as a Mormon and we dont acknowledge Lord Egen the II & Royal Poobah of the Infernal Dunces of the Order of the Black Ram 33rd Degree "First Church of Satan" as a Satanist. He is not only a fat slob, but he is a liar who was banned from the original Church of Satan. Did you guys know that the Pagan hippie Isaac Bonewits was thrown out of the Church of Satan as well, and quite literally by Anton himself? That is the only reason Pagans are constantly riding on our coattails. But enough discourse.
To us Satan is symbolic, allegorical, and polemic. When we talk about him, its in pre-Christian, abstract form. The Satanist is his own God. And since the Satanist is his own God then that ends the discussion of Gods. There are no aspects of inverse Christianity, and there are no duelist concepts. Were essentially Atheists, or as some of us like to say were Itheists. We believe in ourselves, and our own subjective universe. As for good and evil, we dont acknowledge that such terms exist. Those terms are dead to us and eliminated from the debate. We see ourselves as the Ubermensch, as encapsulated by Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. Were beyond good and evil.
I dont have time for an in-depth analysis. I will now answer questions.
