snake wrote:
My whole issue with satanism (true satanism not La Vayan) (however you spell la Vayan) is you have to believe there is a god. If you don't believe in god then how can there be a Satan? La Vayan (however you spell it) satanism isn't really satanism at all. It's more a worshipping of self with some satanic rituals. It's kind of silly and contradictory.
Sorry to rehash old threads but I'm new and bored.
It is Satanism and there are a million reasons why. The least of which is that no one else was calling their religion Satanism before Anton LaVey. The fact is Crowley, et al. were involved in their own religions that are so different that there is little common ground other than Dennis Wheatley stereotypical bullshit.
You can believe not in God and believe in Satan. Belief in Satanism is a misnomer. One should rely more on doubt and questioning and challenging assumptions. Satan is a symbol.
I do not think you've gotten far in reading about Satanism. I think you've read what's on the surface from people that are in no way associated with Satanism and those people don't get it. Most people that think they are Satanists aren't seeing the big picture.
I think you're questions are answered more thoroughly by reading a bit more about it, from Satanists.
There's more to it than Atheism with bells and whistles. Anton LaVey wrote an essay about Satanism representing a third option. I think that says enough. You're trying to frame atheism vs. spiritualism and it doesn't fit.
I am a Satanist, but absolutely would never limit anything to be confined within it. The vast majority of what a Satanist "believes" is not relevant to Satanism because we are all individuals with different needs that beliefs may nurture. It's a specific mindset more than anything and after that, it branches out quite a bit as people are wont to do. At the core though it's principles are not hard to learn and it should be an exercise in resonance, but people think that something would need to change., You've either been doing Satanism and not knowing it, or you haven't and never will. This isn't learning Karate or some bullshit like that.
Anton LaVey saw a need for a huge group of people that were not happy with the options available yet understood that not playing ball was a cop out. He's just another guy that recognized that his own way of thinking was not unique and realized he could be of service to others, which helped himself somewhat over the years, though not nearly as much as it helped others.
