Dark Matter
Satanic Readings : Theistic or Traditional Satanism
Information on Satanic beliefs. Articles, comments, links, recommended books, and more.

What Satanism is not.

Satanism is not

- An ideology that says that might is right.
Satanism is not an ideology. Might is not necessarily right. From Plato to Kant and Wittgenstein philosophers have come to the conclusion that all philosophy is basically moral philosophy, - and moral philosophy is basically objecting to the notion that might is the only right. We cannot accept it, for we are humans, not animals, and we have never been able to accept it. We should never accept it. The social Darwinist ideology, advocated by some individuals and groups who like to call themselves Satanists, is plain bad thinking; a pseudo-philosophy founded on what is known as the naturalistic fallacy (see http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolphil/social.html). It is quite literally non-sense; it is not in accordance with reason, - and it has nothing to do with Satanism.

- Anti-Christianity.
Satanism has to do with Christianity. Certainly. Very much so. Even though I do of course agree with Diane Vera when she says that, "Although the idea of Satan is derived from Christianity, Satanism is too far outside the pale of Christian belief to qualify as a Christian heresy" (see http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/dvera/pagan/Xian-heresy.html), since Satanism has in fact so much to do with Christianity, I wouldn't personally object to anyone calling me a Christian heretic. I too read the bible, and since no-one has yet bothered to develop a sound Satanic theology, and since Satanism is far too young a religion to have any real tradition of its own, I rely heavily on Christian theologians, and Christian tradition, when trying to explain my own beliefs. I'd suggest that you do the same. The Christians have been doing theology for 2000 years, and they're good at it. Also, since Satanism has come from Christianity (see Why are Satanists so preoccupied with Christianity?), Satanists and Christians naturally have a lot of things in common. Some Satanic beliefs are contrary to Christian beliefs, but Satanism is not anti-Christianity. For obvious reasons, theistic Satanism has much more in common with Christianity than it has with LaVeyan atheism, for instance, or with Marxism.

- Rebellion against society.
Giuseppe Ferrari once wrote an article in the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, in which he listed some of the motivations "which draw people to practice satanic rites". One of them, he said, was "the desire of confronting society in an eccentric and belligerent way" (see http://www.cin.org/lor/satan1.html). No doubt he was right about that (see On Satanism as a sub-culture phenomenon). However, Satanism is not about confronting society. Some Satanic rituals are not suited for public display, and therefore they are performed in private. Most regular people at times do stuff in the privacy of their own homes that they wouldn't invite people to come witness. That doesn't mean that they are against society, or that they are (as has been claimed about Satanists) a danger to society. Furthermore, since Satanism is not generally accepted, many Satanists prefer to keep silent about their religion. Such silence should not be confused with malignancy. Philippians 2:15 tells the Christians, "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel", - but this does not apply to Satanists. Satanism is not a religion for the many, but a religion for the few, and we feel no great need to proselytize.