Thread: LaVeyan Satanism

I like most of it, especially the emphasis on aesthetics. The only thing that irks me a little bit is the mandatory revenge.

I haven't watched the vid but I read the satanic bible and while it seemed interesting at first I realized eventually that LeVay and his entire philosophy is a crock of self-aggrandizing bullshit. I'll avoid ad hominem (not there aren't countless stories out there about Howard Levey's abusive personality) and attack the philosophy itself. I dislike LeVayism because it devotes itself to one polarity. It's not enough to reject Chrisiniaty, one must uphold all the ideas christians find offensive. I'm more into Taoism, I prefer a balance. While it's good to remind us the devil is nothing to be afraid of and our true nature is something to be neither fixed nor underestimated, I think LeVayism is a trench-digging religion and I'm into bridge building.

I might watch them later. I have looked into some types of Satanism though, and it seems they aren't really Satanists. They're just atheists who call themselves Satanists to mock Christians who think atheists are evil.

I frequently instruct people to google "10 commandments of satanism". Although I suspect they rarely listen.

I listened for a few minutes, but by about 25 seconds I was thinking "kthxbye".

I like the idea of Satanism. If you take the commandments and sins and stuff, and modernize them (take out all the shit about lairs) it actually makes for a pretty good religion. I also like that they don't believe in Satan as a god, but rather an image of themselves.

I haven't read the Satanic Bible
but I did read the Devil's Dictionary..

It seems really pointless to me.
If I must add more.. it seems silly to base all of one's ideas on the very opposite of another set of ideas just because you might disagree with a few of those values. Devil worship isn't really part of Laveyan satanism, in fact satan isn't that relevant to it at all. To adopt a name created by the very people one opposes seems a little ridiculous. It sort of gives weight to that same thing which one is attempting to detract from.

Well actually the reason it's called Satanism is because LeVay believed the Christian Church tried to oppress man's natural behavior and all incumbent religions with one swipe: Satan. Every symbol of an incumbent religion was tacked onto Satan such as the pentagram and other originally pagan, agricultural symbols. So a Satanist is supposedly someone who embraces the true nature of man as well as all the symbols and traditions that were oppressed by the church.

Not a fan of the "take revenge" part or "destroy them" part.

Much of it is agreeable though. Find happiness as long as it doesn't impede others... sounds a bit like Bokononism.

Originally Posted by ThePreserver

Not a fan of the "take revenge" part or "destroy them" part.

Much of it is agreeable though. Find happiness as long as it doesn't impede others... sounds a bit like Bokononism.

Like I said, you gotta modernize it. "Destroy them" doesn't have to mean kill them.
I don't remember which commandment had revenge in it, though, so I'm not sure what to say about it.