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as an atheist, i find the idea of Satan appealing. i know this is preposterous. however, i got this idea after watching "hail Satan" a documentary about a group of secular nonbelievers who found it necessary to have the statue of Baphomet next to the wall where the ten commandments is. their claim was: "atheism is boring, you need something more challenging"!. i am pretty sure that they don't believe in Satan as an actual existing figure but rather a figurative approach as it opposes the christianized nation, and the need to re balance the overall image of the country and that is a secular nation according to the founding fathers of America. it also appeals to me. but i would like to hear some random opinions about this topic.
Ave Satanas.. Hail Satan.

Basem 7 Aug 25
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7

Satanic Temple’s Seven Tenets Are Morally Superior To Ten Commandments
[patheos.com]

i prefer the 8 The ‘I’d Really Rather You Didn’ts’

[pastafarians.org.au]

6

Mine is not opinion, in so much as it's what I've learned researching the Satanic Temple. They are a non-theistic organization that sought to be classified as a religion to promote the separation of church and state. The Baphomet statue was an example. Their point was one religion can't receive special treatment; so if bible bangers can put up symbols of their faith on public property, Satanists must be afforded equal recognition.

Anyway the Satanic Temple is a great concept, and I love the seven tenents of the Satanic Temple.

JimG Level 8 Aug 25, 2020

have you seen the film?

@Basem No. I didn't even know their was one. I followed the story in real time as it played out in the courts.

They are actually a non deistic religion.

@tsallinia Yes, I should have mentioned that they succeeded in the effort to attain recognition as a religion. In fact, I've been tempted to convert 😊 but telling people I'm an atheist is enough of a shock for most people.

5

The same word can mean 3 different groups.
The "real" satanists who really worship Satan as a supernatural being

The Philosophical satanists that uses Satan as a symbol of rebellion, freedom that generate a more spontaneous and instinctive way of life (that can come with or without supernatural and spiritual touch)

The "lets use the symbol that goes against the main religion" atheists, that use this name to oppose Christianity as a political force without any real supernatural touch. Most of these guys use the equivalence of religion to nullify any attempts of Christians to take over public spaces

Every time that I see some reference about satanists in posts is the 3rd type, but people insist in commenting about the first and second.

My opinion is that the way the laws are written you need a "religion" to fight against other religions, because using the metaphor of a TV station. Only TV stations are regulated, the "off channel" have no regulations or protections.This is the equivalent of creating a channel that transmit a black silent screen the whole time so people can have no TV in a world that only give rights for people that watch some channel.
Until the laws are re-written in a way that the right to not have a religion is n the same level as the freedom of religion, this "anti-religions" will be needed. Plus they show how easily is to abuse this freedom and equivalence.

I say that I am a Pastafarian and I am amused when by any logical system and (should be reflected in) laws, the flying spaghetti monster have the same legitimacy as any "mainstream" mythology (that should be none...)

5

I think identifying as satanists is counterproductive. We don't want xtians thinking that atheists worship their satan and it would keep away many new non-believers. But to each their own.

I completely agree with you.

The word "Atheist" is automatically associated with many negative aspects ... immoral, satan worship, just about anything evil. I use the expression "Secular Humanist" instead of Atheist for that reason.

@jlynn37 the word "atheist" is a religious term, i prefer "rational" or "rational human" instead.

4

Satanic Temple Victory Could Mean Big Things For The Separation Of Church And State
[richarddawkins.net]

3

Netflix has all 8 seasons of "Lucifer"... vastly entertaining, snarky, absurdist yet touching, plus major music! Give it a whirl!

3

Not exactly my cup of tea, but if it makes you happy. 😉 I prefer to piss them off with science. 😉

i love science and philosophy.

3

Satanists did not:

  1. Threaten you with eternal damnation.
  2. Create megachurches that support the idiots in Washington
  3. Start the wars for profit.
  4. Elect the clowns in Washington
  5. Drop bombs on people in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya.
  6. Call non-believers "swine", i.e. ("do not throw your pearls before swine" ).
  7. Lie to the world to start a war.
  8. Send billions of dollars to support the racist, Zionist Israel.
  9. Encourage a merger of christianity and government.
  10. Produce pedophiles, hide their deeds, and continue to support them.

You stopped at 10, you know they didn't stop at 10. 😁 Those are just the famous ones. 🤔😆

3

Hail Satan! Satanists are actually humanists.

are they? can you elaborate more please

If Satanists=Humanists then why don't they join Humanists USA??? If Satanists=Humanists, why do they call themselves Satanists?

@Basem Satanism rejects the existence of deities, body and soul dualism, and life after death. They don't believe that Satan really exists and don't worship him. I would be one, but it's hard enough to be accepted as an Atheist. I wouldn't want to push the envelope too much.

@tsallinia What do you mean why? They're doing there own thing. They have got this strange need for Satan ritual and community. I don't belong to Humanist-USA either or anything else for that matter. To me one of the advantages of being an Atheist is I don't have to be bothered with any of that. Atheism is personal to me. I was born alone and I'll die all alone. I might as well get used to it. That's me. You belong to Humanist group, they are involved in this Satanist nonsense. To me it's too close to a church group. I'm not interested.

@barjoe O would strongly suggest you to inquire a bit more. Starting with the question: what is religion? You are going to be surprised...

I would find it a shame to abandon one religion, for the shake of another ...

@barjoe Taking some info from Hail Satan.

  1. They have unchangeable tenets.
  2. They have rituals
  3. They have founding fathers (two) , and hierarchy. That woman who didn't agree with them, got excommunicated (pardon me the expression).

The resemblances to a religion are striking .

@tsallinia No thanks. I don't believe in God and I don't need to meet with people who don't believe in God to talk about what we don't believe. I don't care. What is religion???-It's a fairy tale written by those who are afraid of death, so they make up a creator and an afterlife to make them feel better about their mortality. So silly.

@tsallinia Yes. I agree. Satanism is bullshit. So is humanist community. That's my opinion.

@barjoe ok

2

While the Bible never claims that the serpent in Genesis is Satan (which isn't really even a name, but I digress), Christians have interpreted it that way for… a while. I don't know all the history behind it. But anyway, the serpent in the garden is the only honest character in that entire interaction. God straight-up lied, Adam tried to shift the blame, Eve was either ignorant or naive or both, but the serpent told the truth. So if Christians insist that the serpent is Satan, then I guess I'd have to be a Satanist, because I'd rather be honest than lie to achieve my goals.

2

If you think about it, Satan wanted everybody to be saved. However, god wanted the amusement of watchign men turn against other men, sort of like how the Greek gods found amusement watching and interfering with mortals.

2

Ugh...no. I have more respect for actual believers than Satanists. I dunno why. Maybe it's because the Satanists appear to have simply readopted religion and attached a contrary figure within the faith, perhaps just to spite their Christian community. A contrarian fake religion? Gimme a break...

I suspect that most Satanists are from deep Christian families and schooling and this their way of stating their rejection of Christianity...but they still really like the rituals and spiritualism of Christianity and are likely fascinated with and attracted to evil and dark things. Or atleast what they think are evil and dark things. To me its mostly sad nonsense.

Maybe its because I dispise religion, and Satanism is just people who want religion but have no faith...or at least say they don't...but maybe they do but are afraid to admit it?

I can't fathom why anyone would want to pretend believe in Satan. Trying to piss off your parents? Trying to be a badass? One of those people who think dressing in black and practicing occult is "edgy"?

Whatever it is, it's dumb. And feels disingenuous. More dumb and disingenuous than actually believing. Atleast the believing person is being genuine.

let me correct your perspective a bit.
satan does not exist in christanity only. he exists in islam too and there is a big chunk of islam's prayers asking allah to protect muslims from shaytan as pronounced in arabic.
from a philosophical point of view, allah/god did not earn his godhood until he put satan into the misery he is in till the judgement day. believers curse satan everyday in all of their prayers for something actually god had done. so, when we the rational people decide to judge it fairly, i think we ought to take satan's side, not because there is satan but to piss the believers off and show them how unfair their religion is.
i personally do not pretend to believe in satan coz i know there is no god or satan. however, i would like to take the side of satan just to re balance the god tilted side of the table. and to have fun.

Some people like a "good' god, some people like the 'bad' one. And many actually believe both exist. I can believe charles manson worshiped the devil, and he wasn't considering himself 'edgy'.

It's sad people CAN believe crap like this, but they do.

Gonna have to disagree with you there. Me and the only other nurse on my old unit who was an atheist in a sea of devout and pushy Christians decided one day that we were going to convince everyone that we had been converted to a new religion that worshipped Xenu. We basically explained it as the equivalent of Satanists for Scientology. We really played it up, too, learning all about Scientology to profess our new beliefs the way they did all the time. When they started making fun of the things we "believed" we would quickly show them the corollary to their own religion in the hopes they'd see the stuff they believed was just as idiotic. It was a blast. It actually all culminated in this huge quilt with a bunch of churches and Christian symbols being removed from display on the wall behind the front desk and the pushiest Christian nurse being forced into sensitivity training. It was amazing.

@Basem im not sure why your talking about the prevalence of Satan. That is irrelevant in my post. I was talking about Satanists. The last part you wrote is relevant - and youre making my point, you are knowingly being disingenuous! I really don't like those who lie to manipulate. Lie to be safe, lie to protect feelings, but don't lie just to manipulate people or the rules.

@JeffMurray
Consider this: lets say a christian you know started pushing Intelligent Design as a equal science to Evolution, pushing it to be taught in classes, and you find out that they were just doing that so they could abuse the rules to promote Christianity by diminishing science taught to others...well that person just proved they are willing to be disingenuous just to achieve a shallow victory. This is not the right way. The end does NOT justify the means.

@MakeItGood Of course I think that's wrong. It's that sort of shit we were fighting against. Our method got people to actually engage in a discussion and allowed us to point out that they believe completely nonsensical things, too. Furthermore, it achieved two ends in our favor that we probably would not have accomplished otherwise. But I'm not saying the ends justify the means, I'm saying the means don't need justification. You feeling it's disingenuous to fake believe something does not make the fake belief more dangerous than other actual beliefs. Or in your example, diminishing science taught to others to promote Intelligent Design is just as dangerous as diminishing science taught to others to teach creationism.

2

The point is if you insist on putting up a monument to your imaginary friend on public property we all get to do an art project for the town square.

2

There are no gods, no religions, no heaven, no hell, need a crutch in order to believe in something? Believe in yourself.

i am totally aware of that sir.

but the law don'r recognize rights of no-religion. So to be treated equally you have to assume a "mock religion" until laws are re-written

@Pedrohbds post does not mention anything about rights, treated equally how? not paying taxes? Fuck that shit! Religions should pay taxes, all of them, the rest is bullshit!

1

Hail,unto the Oh great and mighty Sultanas and thy Divine sons the Raisins....LOL.

1

You're welcome to come join our group, Satanic Agnosis.

how from all this distance?

1

Research satan not as a proper name but as satan mean adversary. If you are opposed to someone then you are there satan.

Nowhere in the Old Testament does Satan appear as a distinctive demonic figure, opposed to God and responsible for all evil. In 3 cases the ..

The Hebrew name Satan (pronounced SA-tan) actually means “adversary,” and most often in the Hebrew Bible it is prefaced by the direct ...

Word Level 8 Aug 25, 2020

this is exactly the idea of satanism, to be the opposite

@Basem so biblical text is about helping widows and orphans while avoiding worldly corruption. You believe in hurting widows and orphans and being involved and causing in worldly corruption?

James 1:27 Religion ... pure and faultless is this: to help widows and orphans in need and avoiding worldly corruption.

1

After watching season 15 of "Supernatural" I wonder how their depictions of Biblical characters affect viewers especially younger folks. After all Chuck (god) is a real asshole. Lucifer isn't much better but it does make jest of all of them. Usually a lot of the demons are more likable than the angels. I really hoped Chuck would get wasted but it ended as a hanger and there are teasers of either another season or a one-off episode. I would like to see an ending. A lot of folks have followed this 15 season series faithfully and I would guess it has made a lot of people view the Biblical characters in a completely different light.

gearl Level 8 Aug 25, 2020
1

I agree, and I have sometimes used the Satanic angle, or Atheist angle just to mess with people who are christians, despite the fact that I am an Agnostic. Funny thing is, christians will attribute all that is wrong with the world with Satan, when you would be hard pressed to fill a football stadium with the actual Satanists that live in the USA, or the world for that matter. Additionally, usually what is wrong with the world has a lot more to do with the christians that it has to do with anything else, they are the ones with the most people in government!

0

Satan as we know him today is part of god belief coming through a twisted and long road system to be what modern Christians want. This does not interest me because nothing is factual in the bible. At one point we have Lucifer, the light bearer, and a little evolution brings him around into a popular TV series character called "Lucifer." I think he is a cop in this one but I have not watched a single episode and could not care less.

0

"Better to reign in Hell than be a slave in Heaven."
Satan in
Paradise Lost - Book II by John Milton

0

It's all about stories & ritual. If ya like that kinda shit.

0

I consider the 7 tenets to be almost as good as the 3 laws of robotics.

7 tenets

  • A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  • A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  • A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
0

There is of course an organization in the US who purport to be satanists in order to protest religious privilege. As a supporter of religious tolerance I'm happy to tolerate their religion. Since I object to religious privilege then I should object to their exercise of religious privilege, but of course they exercise that privilege ironically to demonstrate their own, similar objections. I'll take that on a case by case basis.
On the whole I find them entertaining but I remain to be convinced that they're doing me any favours.

There also people who do believe in satan and believe that the stories in the bible written by the winners portray satan unfairly. Or at the very least there's at least one person who drank at the Dublin Castle who claimed that's what he believed. He and by extension anyone who believes the same would in my view be somewhat of a twat. Firstly they appear to be attempting to treaty with a being billed as the prince of lies. Secondly their existence adds unwarranted validity to the hysterical claims often being made regarding satanic groups.

The satanic temple
[thesatanictemple.com]

@AtheistInNC yes that is the organisation I referred to in the first paragraph.

0

If there is no god then there can not be a satan either

no one said there is a Satan...

Pifflie poo! We'll always have supernatural beings out there. They only transcend logic.

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