As a non-believer, what are your feelings on the Satanic church?
Church, is a church, is a church. They are all counting of the weak minded individual who has to believe there is something greater than themselves. They can't except that there isn't something out there that is perfect unlike themselves. I believe in one thing, me. I am responsible for what good happens for me and the bad I except as just happening even if it isn't anyone's fault.
There are a number of so-called "Satanic" churches.
Some are Atheist and took the name from being called that by Xtains
Some have nothing to do with Satan, but are called satanic anyway by Christards, such as pagans, Buddhist, Wicca's, druids etc who have no concept of Satan in their doctrine
Some do worship a being who they believe is the true god and who has been usurped by the true devil YWHW.
And there are people, who like to get naked, work themselves in to a frenzy and shag each other all night, and use as an excuse.
Satan is a fiction that was created by Jehovah worshipers, and later embellished by Jesus worshipers, because the Bible god is so bad that his followers felt like they needed to create someone who was even worse to make their own deity look better by comparison.
This ruse was only partially successful. In fact, sometimes even the Bible can't tell the difference between the Jehovah and Satan. Compare 2 Samuel 24 (especially Verse 1) with 1 Chronicles 21 (especially verse 1).
Or, watch my 1 minute YouTube video that discusses this and provides some historical/Biblical context,
They are really good at keeping religion out of schools.
I do not believe in anything supernatural. No god, no satan. What I do know is that Satanists have used their group in the way that religion would in order to deal with totally ignorant laws involving public schools and religious ideas. For this they should be commended.
I have read a little about them. They are atheists. Satan is just an idea to them, I think a symbol of rebellion. Their tenants are far superior to the 10 commandments. Just google them for yourself. I would never join because of the stigma but I think their ideas are better than christianity, at least the limited amount I have read on the subject.
Another delusional group arguing for the proliferation of the anti-testimony to a fictitious character ....
Satanists are atheists. They do not believe in any deities including satan.
@Nuke Then do they themselves satanists? Silly idea.
@Nuke In which case they are not "Satanists" they are just anarchists.
@GoldenDoll Satan for the Church of Satan is a symbol but not a being. Maybe it is silly. I do not know enough about it to say.
A church is a church is a church. My Best Man in my wedding was a Satan Worshiper You don't get the nickname Taboo in church. Anyways, no feelings from my part. He is no longer with us.
Could Satanism exist without Christianity? If not, isn't it a just branch of Christianity. After all, Christians and Satanists both worship beings from the same Pantheon. Just wonderin'.
Satanists are atheists
Surely atheist believe that no gods exist. But satanists worship the devil as a being in opposition to god, specifically, Jesus Christ. Or at least that is how I understand it. Do you have other sources, @Nuke
@Paul_Clamberer have you read the"Satanic Bible?" I would guess that @Nuke has. They do not worship Satan they exploit the symbolism of Satan and the Black Mass to mock . Google their 7 tenants.
@Paul_Clamberer I went on their website and I also emailed them questions about satanism. The way I understand it is that to them Satan is not a being but an idea. If I recall correctly Satan is just a symbol of pride for them.
Actually most popular images of Satan predate Christianity by hundreds of years.
Below is the earliest ever known depiction of the devil in christian iconography (in the church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna), and he is the one in blue, Jesus is in red and the purple guy (a mix of the two) is God
The common image of the devil is lifted from the Pagan Horned god Cernunnos/Herne Lord of the Forest and known as the resurrected God, the trident comes from Neptune god of the sea (The fisher of men) and the hooves from The god Pan, also known as the Good shepherd.
The Church of Satan could exist in another form if there was some other prevailing form of nonsense in place of christianity.
@Paul_Clamberer according to Britannica they did not believe in the devils existence nor worship the devil. The church was founded in 1966 as a counterculture group to promote humanistic values.
Many thanks to @JimG for his suggested reading, and apologies to all especially @Nuke for for entering the discussion with only antique info. The mythical satanists of my youth have apparently morphed into real people with a structured philosophy somewhat more sophisticated than Alister Crowley's "Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law"
@Paul_Clamberer I agree with you. How do you define goodness without evil, beauty without ugliness, satan without god or something without nothing? It's difficult to define anything without recognizing its antithesis.
It’s just as pointless as any other church. But I have no idea what they do in pursuit of their “beliefs”. I have no idea if the movie versions of that church ring true.
Just as bad as any other church or maybe worse, who knows.
I disagree wholeheartedly. I'm not a Satanist, but I won't argue against their 7 Tenants.
One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.
The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one's own.
Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.
People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and remediate any harm that may have been caused.
Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.
If you're talking about the LaVey kind of Satanism, it's more like a pep talk than anything else. I remember that one of his sayings went something like If someone slaps you on your cheek, smash them on theirs, so they learn to never do that again. I remember that he held the rituals by neopagan fluffbunnies to be downright revolting.
People could do worse than being Satanists. Of course, comparing Satanism to Christianity, for instance, is like having a heated debate over which is less disgusting: vomit or feces.