Satanism - an atheistic religion of common sense

[Inevitable Droid]

First, I define Satanism as the philosophy codified by Anton Szandor LaVey* in The Satanic Bible** and institutionalized by him in the Church of Satan***.
 
* LaVey: http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/LaVeyBiography.html

** The Satanic Bible: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0380015390/churchofsatan

*** Church of Satan: http://www.churchofsatan.com/home.html


Secondly, I don't in any sense, direct or indirect, real or implied, officially represent Satanism, Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Bible, or the Church of Satan.  I am merely somewhat knowledgeable with respect to all four, having applied time and energy to the study thereof.

I noticed a thread from earlier this year, in which a modicum of curiosity with respect to the topic of Satanism was expressed by a few people.  Since the topic is entirely relevant to atheism, and since I know something about it, I offer this thread, in case a modicum of curiosity still lingers.

Satanism is an atheistic religion of common sense.

Yes, just as non-religious theism exists, as demonstrated by New Agers and Deists, so too does atheistic religion exist, as demonstrated by Satanists.  In fact, I debated whether to place this thread in the Religion forum, but opted ultimately for the Philosophy forum, because I think most people will have better comprehension of my points if they start from a premise of philosophy rather than religion.  Nevertheless, Satanists describe what they do as a religion.
 
An axiom of Satanism is, "Satan demands study, not worship."  That alone was sufficient impetus for me to place this thread here in the Philosophy section.  Most people would view a system of thought and behavior that demanded study, not worship, as philosophy rather than religion.

Satan is strictly a symbol.  It represents a variety of things, but what it doesn't, absolutely doesn't, represent, is any sort of sapient entity.  What it also doesn't, absolutely doesn't, represent, is what the Christian means by the name, Satan.  I'll get to what the symbol represents at the end of my post, but first, I'll offer nine statements about common sense.  These nine statements are paraphrases of nine other statements authored by Anton Szandor LaVey.  I will end this post with the original nine statements from LaVey.  But to establish the right mindset, I will begin with my paraphrases.

I define common sense as, "animal wisdom, empirical and logical, never contrary to your survival, never contrary to your competitive advantage, and never contrary to your happiness."

I think common sense is a good anchor and compass.  Perhaps you agree.  

Consider, then, these nine paraphrases:


1. Common sense suggests there is no reason to abstain from enjoyments that are neither dangerous to oneself or others nor counter-productive to one's goals.

2. Common sense suggests earthly success and happiness are likeliest if earthly success and happiness are made the center of our attention.

3. Common sense suggests filling our heads with false or unfalsifiable propositions will sabotage common sense.

4. Common sense suggests there is no reason to help those who refuse to reciprocate when an opportunity presents itself.

5. Common sense suggests retribution as the response to deliberate injury, with self-preservation and competitive advantage the only counter-arguments.

6. Common sense suggests there is no reason to help those who refuse to help themselves.

7. Common sense suggests we are animals and all of our motives animalistic, better acknowledged than denied.

8. Common sense suggests ignoring the moral pronouncements of those who lack or ignore common sense.

9. Common sense suggests hell is a marketing gimmick, nothing more, designed to make heavy with donations the collection plate on Sunday.


What's your response to the above?  I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself nodding your head nine times.  A great deal of the Satanist's mindset is expressed in the above.  What remains, if the above is sifted out, is a certain aesthetic, plus usually a sense of the dramatic, plus often a disdain for those who lack common sense.  You'll get a sense of all of that when you read the original Nine Statements that I was paraphrasing above.  The aesthetic, the sense of the dramatic, and the disdain, are all integral to why a person would go beyond mere head-nodding, choosing to invest time, energy, and relatively small amounts of money into further study, and, possibly, engagement with the institution and/or its members.

Incidentally, some Satanists peform rituals, though many don't.  Of those who do, some think their rituals impact the material world, though many don't.  Those who don't think that, see ritual as a vehicle for self-expression, fun, and catharsis.  Here again, the aesthetic, the sense of the dramatic, and the disdain, all come into play.  Those who think their rituals impact the material world, usually interpret this in terms of quantum mechanics and the inexplicable impact consciousness seems able to have on material phenomena.

Furthermore, most Satanists are students of human psychology, and employ their knowledge thereof to further their goals.  They see human motivation as a field of opportunity and they take whatever opportunities present themselves, albeit they stop short of breaking the law, and most stop short of causing injury.

Satanism forcefully denounces breaking the law.  It also forcefully denounces harming animals for fun or profit, and forcefully denounces harming children for any reason.

I conclude this post, then, with The Nine Satanic Statements, authored by Anton Szandor LaVey, and appearing on page 25 of my copy of The Satanic Bible, the very first page following the Table of Contents, Introduction, Preface, and Prologue:

1. Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!

2. Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams!

3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit!

4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates!

5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!

6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires!

7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all!

8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!

9. Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!

[Heretical Rants]

Satan also represents just another weird and unnecessary belief system.

I do find Satansim to be better than Christianity in most regards, however.

[Asmodean]

I don't really have much more against satanists than I do against the motorcycle gangs. Poker nights and strip shows are cool. Animal sacrifices and mutilated graveyards - not so much. (Not that that second part can be attributed to most LaVeyan Satanists, but there it is still. Group stereotyping is wonderful, yes?   )

Basically, as long as they behave, I'm cool with whatever they do.

[OldGit]

Satan also represents just another weird and unnecessary belief system.

Indeed.  It's only a reaction to the Bible religions from which it derives.  IMHO a damn silly one at that.

[Inevitable Droid]

Satan also represents just another weird and unnecessary belief system.

It may be weird or unnecessary to a given person but Satanism isn't a belief system, just as atheism isn't a belief system.

[Inevitable Droid]

Indeed.  It's only a reaction to the Bible religions from which it derives.  IMHO a damn silly one at that.

It is to some extent a reaction to the absurdity of the bible religions, just as atheism is to some extent a reaction to precisely the same thing, but Satanism doesn't derive from the bible religions, just as atheism doesn't.

I'll also note that one man's silliness is another man's fun.  But of course the reverse is equally true.

[Whitney]

If it is not a reaction to the Bible then I would assume to find the word Satan had origins in religions which predate the bible...couldn't find any indication of that searching google (other than it being implied on satanist sites).

[Sophus]

Satan also represents just another weird and unnecessary belief system.

It may be weird or unnecessary to a given person but Satanism isn't a belief system, just as atheism isn't a belief system.

How so? Atheism is simply lack of belief in God. LaVey wrote nine "tenets", if you will.

[Inevitable Droid]

If it is not a reaction to the Bible then I would assume to find the word Satan had origins in religions which predate the bible...couldn't find any indication of that searching google (other than it being implied on satanist sites).

Satanism is to some extent a reaction to the bible, as I had noted.  But it doesn't derive from the bible.  I'm distinguishing between reacting to X and deriving from X.  For example, the Constitution of the United States is to some extent a reaction to the excesses of monarchy, but it doesn't derive from monarchy.  The Framers despised monarchy's excesses, so they devised a democratic republic.  Anton Szandor LaVey despised biblical absurdities, so he devised an Epicurean and materialistic outlook, an atheistic religion of common sense.

[Inevitable Droid]

How so? Atheism is simply lack of belief in God. LaVey wrote nine "tenets", if you will.

Those tenets aren't beliefs.  They're decisions.  Satan is a symbol redefined by LaVey to mean what he said it meant, because he said so.  He made nine decisions, wrote them down, and distributed them in a book.  Readers of the book decide, first, to read the thing, then decide, second, whether they agree with its outlook, and then decide, third, whether they will take on the book's outlook as their own.  Deciding yes all three times, the Satanist has decided that, for the Satanist, the symbol of Satan means what LaVey said it meant, not only because LaVey said so, but because, now, the Satanist says so too.

I'll take this a step further.  But what I describe in this paragraph will be my own reaction to Satanism.  In this paragraph I'm not describing what Satanism is.  I'm describing my own reaction to it.  My nine paraphrases in the OP represent, for me, the logical conclusions to be drawn, given the premise of the non-existence or at least the irrelevance of God and God's will.  Left to my own devices, unrestrained by any fear of God, I would logically conclude a variety of things about how to live, nine of which are described in my OP.  To me it seems self-evident that the non-existence or at least the irrelevance of God and God's will has ramifications easily extrapolated by the thinking person.  Why wouldn't I enjoy myself, absent harm or counter-productiveness?  Why wouldn't I center my attention on earthly success and happiness?  Why wouldn't I empty my head of false or unfalsifiable propositions?  Why wouldn't I refuse to help people who refuse to reciprocate when an opportunity presents itself?  You get my drift.  Satanism is a body of common sense conclusions about how to live, easily extrapolated from the premise that God and God's will either don't exist or don't matter.

[Inevitable Droid]

Incidentally, I got amusement from the fact that my OP was, for me, post number 366, as close as I could come to the Number of the Beast.

[Sophus]

Why wouldn't I enjoy myself, absent harm or counter-productiveness?  Why wouldn't I center my attention on earthly success and happiness?  Why wouldn't I empty my head of false or unfalsifiable propositions?  Why wouldn't I refuse to help people who refuse to reciprocate when an opportunity presents itself?  You get my drift.  Satanism is a body of common sense conclusions about how to live, easily extrapolated from the premise that God and God's will either don't exist or don't matter.

Sure, but not everybody agrees with "common sense", as silly as it sounds. If Satanism is a collection of conclusions then I don't see how it's not a set of beliefs, common or not.

[Inevitable Droid]

Sure, but not everybody agrees with "common sense", as silly as it sounds. If Satanism is a collection of conclusions then I don't see how it's not a set of beliefs, common or not.

OK.  If you would say you believe touching a hot stove hurts, or that you believe it makes sense to keep your hand off a hot stove, then I guess you would consider Satanism a set of beliefs.

[Inevitable Droid]

Since a few people have been at least interested enough to challenge my assertions, I guess I'll take this thread one step further.

I'll repeat my caveat from the OP: I don't in any sense, direct or indirect, real or implied, officially represent Satanism, Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Bible, or the Church of Satan. I am merely somewhat knowledgeable with respect to all four, having applied time and energy to the study thereof.

I'll define folly as, "self-inflicted earthly harm or risk insufficiently balanced by earthly benefit actual or potential."

An atheistic religion of common sense would disapprove of folly and the sources of folly.  The latter are what I would consider practical vices, the sorts of behavior patterns an atheistic religion of common sense would call out as its sins.  That last word probably sounds bombastic or grandiose, but as I had noted in my OP, in Satanism there is a certain aesthetic, and a sense of the dramatic, and disdain for lack of common sense, which, all three taken together, sometimes play out as bombastic or grandiose language, a source of entertainment and honest self-expression for adherents.

Satanism specifically calls out nine sources of folly.  As in my OP, I am here offering first my own paraphrases, to be followed at the end of this post with the original language authored by Anton Szandor LaVey.  The nine sources of folly, then:

1. Other people's folly accidentally absorbed due to a failure of the mental immune system.

2. Buying into your own false advertising.

3. Basing your strategies and tactics on the assumption that other people will react as you would.
 
4. Short-circuiting your own mental immune system out of fear or desire.

5. Knowing something is folly but doing it any way because otherwise people will disapprove.

6. Failure to look at the big picture.

7. Ignorance of the past, where knowledge of it would have illuminated the best course.

8. Unwillingness to lose face, when what you'll lose instead is much more substantial.

9. Being blind and deaf to beauty and ugliness, putting you at a competitive disadvantage, since beauty and ugliness drive much about human behavior.


The Satanist is encouraged to avoid the above, so as to survive, and win, and be happy, the three generalized common sense goals.

What follows is the original language authored by LaVey.  You'll notice immediately the particular aesthetic, the sense of the dramatic, and the disdain for lack of common sense.  When you see the phrase Lesser Magic, what's denoted is the use of psychological tactics to get from people what you want, without breaking the law and without, necessarily, hurting anyone.

The Nine Satanic Sins

1. Stupidityâ€"The top of the list for Satanic Sins. The Cardinal Sin of Satanism. It’s too bad that stupidity isn’t painful. Ignorance is one thing, but our society thrives increasingly on stupidity. It depends on people going along with whatever they are told. The media promotes a cultivated stupidity as a posture that is not only acceptable but laudable. Satanists must learn to see through the tricks and cannot afford to be stupid.

2. Pretentiousnessâ€"Empty posturing can be most irritating and isn’t applying the cardinal rules of Lesser Magic. On equal footing with stupidity for what keeps the money in circulation these days. Everyone’s made to feel like a big shot, whether they can come up with the goods or not.

3. Solipsismâ€"Can be very dangerous for Satanists. Projecting your reactions, responses and sensibilities onto someone who is probably far less attuned than you are. It is the mistake of expecting people to give you the same consideration, courtesy and respect that you naturally give them. They won’t. Instead, Satanists must strive to apply the dictum of “Do unto others as they do unto you.” It’s work for most of us and requires constant vigilance lest you slip into a comfortable illusion of everyone being like you. As has been said, certain utopias would be ideal in a nation of philosophers, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, from a Machiavellian standpoint) we are far from that point.

4. Self-deceitâ€"It’s in the “Nine Satanic Statements” but deserves to be repeated here. Another cardinal sin. We must not pay homage to any of the sacred cows presented to us, including the roles we are expected to play ourselves. The only time self-deceit should be entered into is when it’s fun, and with awareness. But then, it’s not self-deceit!

5. Herd Conformityâ€"That’s obvious from a Satanic stance. It’s all right to conform to a person’s wishes, if it ultimately benefits you. But only fools follow along with the herd, letting an impersonal entity dictate to you. The key is to choose a master wisely instead of being enslaved by the whims of the many.

6. Lack of Perspectiveâ€"Again, this one can lead to a lot of pain for a Satanist. You must never lose sight of who and what you are, and what a threat you can be, by your very existence. We are making history right now, every day. Always keep the wider historical and social picture in mind. That is an important key to both Lesser and Greater Magic. See the patterns and fit things together as you want the pieces to fall into place. Do not be swayed by herd constraintsâ€"know that you are working on another level entirely from the rest of the world.

7. Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxiesâ€"Be aware that this is one of the keys to brainwashing people into accepting something new and different, when in reality it’s something that was once widely accepted but is now presented in a new package. We are expected to rave about the genius of the creator and forget the original. This makes for a disposable society.

8. Counterproductive Prideâ€"That first word is important. Pride is great up to the point you begin to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The rule of Satanism is: if it works for you, great. When it stops working for you, when you’ve painted yourself into a corner and the only way out is to say, I’m sorry, I made a mistake, I wish we could compromise somehow, then do it.

9. Lack of Aestheticsâ€"This is the physical application of the Balance Factor. Aesthetics is important in Lesser Magic and should be cultivated. It is obvious that no one can collect any money off classical standards of beauty and form most of the time so they are discouraged in a consumer society, but an eye for beauty, for balance, is an essential Satanic tool and must be applied for greatest magical effectiveness. It’s not what’s supposed to be pleasingâ€"it’s what is. Aesthetics is a personal thing, reflective of one’s own nature, but there are universally pleasing and harmonious configurations that should not be denied.

[Velma]

You know, Inevitable Droid, the world would probably be a better place if more people kept all those things in mind.  They would seem to be common sense - unfortunately, common sense isn't so common and many of those items would require a knowledge of self, human behavior in general, the past, and the present that too few people are willing to take the time to learn.