Just saying hello

[dogsmycopilot]

It's been so long since I have been new on a forum I forgot to come in and introduce myself!
Hi everybody!
My name is Jenni. I'm a mom of two two-legged children and three four- legged ones. I do taxes for a living but I used to be a professional astrologer. I normally hang out at Debate Unlimited and Atheist Toolbox and you can see some of my essays on Martin's DU site but I was introduced to, and intrigued by, this forum by a Twitter friend and thought I'd come check it out. You guys have a nice place here.
I plan to poke around, see if I can contribute anything.
I guess other interesting and relevant things about me would be that I am a satanist by philosophy, which makes me an atheist. I do live in the bible belt, and before I was atheist I was pagan. I came to atheism late I guess, I was almost 30. I was pagan for years and never thought well of christians but it took quite some time to let loose of my paganism and come all the way over to atheism. I would not have, had it not been for LaVey and Willett.
But I'm here now and I try to use my skills to debunk things like astrology and tarot.
I adore animals, and take in rescue and foster dogs when I can. I bake, I write as much as I can, oh and I am a sucker for Eddie Izzard. I love his act!
I guess that's all the good stuff.
Happy to be here and thanks for having me!

[elliebean]

...I am a satanist by philosophy, which makes me an atheist.

How does that work? My understanding is that satanists believe in god (the judeo-christian one, iirc) and I get that the "by philosophy" part lets you out of that... I guess... but how does that make you an atheist? Just curious.

Anyway, glad to have you join us and I look forward to reading more posts from your unique perspective.

Welcome to the forum.

[TheOGMamaBear]

Hi!

I'm a mom of two children as well, but they are little yet. My eldest is 2 and my youngest 3 months!

[dogsmycopilot]

...I am a satanist by philosophy, which makes me an atheist.

How does that work? My understanding is that satanists believe in god (the judeo-christian one, iirc) and I get that the "by philosophy" part lets you out of that... I guess... but how does that make you an atheist? Just curious.

Anyway, glad to have you join us and I look forward to reading more posts from your unique perspective.

Welcome to the forum. lol! Some people seem to think people who hate god are satanists or that satanists worship the devil but those are not satanists, those are misguided theists. Satanism was really set down and quantified by Anton LaVey in the sixties and is most definitely an atheistic philosophy, not just me, all of them are atheists. Anton LaVey never advocated anything “spiritual.” I call it a philosophy because that's what it is, a unique philosophy that refuses to deny the physical, the earthly, the ego. We have some things in common generally like, love of and respect for animals, a desire for swift justice, and an aesthetic sense that demands that things rise above the mediocre, but overall we are a very diverse group with only basic satanic principles holding us together. Satanism means the person embraces indulgence not abstinence, wisdom rather than self deceit, we see man as just another animal. The structure, the name are for shock value and our aesthetics. Remember this was done long before Dawkins and the new groups of people like Brights. I admit I am shocked more atheists aren't aware satanists are atheists. Saying one is a satanist is kind of like saying one is a humanist, or a liberal, it's really just a statement of one's views on things. Saying "how does that make you an atheist," is kind of like saying "but you're a pacifist, (or some other -ist) how can that mean you are an atheist?" The two are separate categories, really. But I admit the myths are rampant!        

I'm happy to answer questions although I do not wish to bombard you guys with a bunch of links or anything. I certainly do not promote satanism as it is not at all for everyone. If anyone is really interested all sorts of material can be found at the Church of Satan's website, the theory and practice section contains the basics. One of our root philosophies is Epicureanism, so I suppose you could also learn about us that way.

I appreciate the welcome!

Hi!

I'm a mom of two children as well, but they are little yet. My eldest is 2 and my youngest 3 months!

Wow, so you totally have your hands full! I remember those days. Mine were about two years apart as well. In retrospect I wish I had waited- it was overwhelming, but luckily I had a good support system and a hubby who changed diapers! It's nice to meet you! I hope we will get to exchange war stories, !

[ClicheGuevara]

Welcome.

[pinkocommie]

Welcome to the forum!  Thanks for explaining the satanist point of view for us.  I remember a satanist who posted here a few times, but the guy was annoying as all get out so I think a lot of people may have ignored his explanation when he differentiated between LaVey satanists and theistic satanists.  Honestly, the only reason I know as little as I do about LaVey satanists is because I read Marilyn Manson's autobiography when I was a gothy teen.    I don't think it's very well known or understood unless you happen to have run across it like I did or had a specific desire to look into it.

I hope you like it here!

[elliebean]

I wouldn't be bothered by those links.

I'm actually quite interested, if not in satanism itself, at least in becoming more informed. I have heard or read from other sources (one person speaking as a representative of the church of satan, I think it was, and also a few "satanist" websites.) that a theistic belief was requisite to joining the religion of satanism. This was from a really long time ago, so I'm fuzzy on the details. I'm really disappointed that, because those were the first and (until now) only sources of information I'd encountered on the subject, I rather quickly dismissed it as another theistic religion and never learned more about it. For that matter, given how far off I was apparently led by those sources, I could fairly say I know absolutely nothing about it. TBH, looking back on it, none of those were particularly reliable sources to begin with and I'd be more inclined to doubt them than you, but I'd still appreciate being pointed to more detailed information.

[TheOGMamaBear]

...I am a satanist by philosophy, which makes me an atheist.

Hi!

I'm a mom of two children as well, but they are little yet. My eldest is 2 and my youngest 3 months!

Wow, so you totally have your hands full! I remember those days. Mine were about two years apart as well. In retrospect I wish I had waited- it was overwhelming, but luckily I had a good support system and a hubby who changed diapers! It's nice to meet you! I hope we will get to exchange war stories, !

Trust me, I'm beginning to see I will have lots of war stories. In hindsight I wish I would have waited a bit longer in between the girls as well, but obviously I wouldn't go back now. If we ever choose to have another it won't be they are both potty trained and in school.

Speaking of war stories, yesterday my oldest was having a tough day. She barely slept the night before because of a cold. I just wanted her to go down for a nap...then she ate a huge coat button.

I took her to the er. They gave her an xray and think it should pass. *sigh*.


Just tell me it gets easier when they are older? ha ha.

[elliebean]

Confused by your quote tags^  

*shrugs*

[dogsmycopilot]

I hope you like it here!

Thanks! I know, I came across Manson's bio too! It wasn't bad I just never got into him as a singer/band. Sad childhood in a way.    

I wouldn't be bothered by those links.

I'm actually quite interested, if not in satanism itself, at least in becoming more informed. I have heard or read from other sources (one person speaking as a representative of the church of satan, I think it was, and also a few "satanist" websites.) that a theistic belief was requisite to joining the religion of satanism. This was from a really long time ago, so I'm fuzzy on the details. I'm really disappointed that, because those were the first and (until now) only sources of information I'd encountered on the subject, I rather quickly dismissed it as another theistic religion and never learned more about it. For that matter, given how far off I was apparently led by those sources, I could fairly say I know absolutely nothing about it. TBH, looking back on it, none of those were particularly reliable sources to begin with and I'd be more inclined to doubt them than you, but I'd still appreciate being pointed to more detailed information.

Ok, well then try these:
http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/NineStatements.html This one is the nine satanic statements. They are the basic foundation of the philosophy.
http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Eleven.html Eleven rules of the earth
http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Sins.html nine satanic sins
http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/PentRev.html These are the long term goals of satanists.
These four are the basics of what satanism is.
http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Bunco.html This is the Bunco sheet, it explains the likes of the individuals you are most likely to encounter claiming to be satantists and in the process points out the common myths of satanism such as the whole sex-drugs-animal sacrifice thing.  
http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Map.html Basically more up to date bunco/myth information. Gilmore is the lovely man who has taken over since LaVey died.  
These two are basically what it is not.
http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/LaVeyBiography.html A little about LaVey himself. The Wiki page isn't half bad either.

A theistic belief is completely antithetical to satanism. I can only express my sympathies for your prior experiences and say that so many have latched on to LaVey's coattails it gets hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. It gets annoying to us, too. I also admit, back in my pagan days I wrote it off as just another religion, "opposite christianity" I thought. But I was looking in a local bookstore one day and way down on a bottom shelf almost stuck behind the shelf next to it was a little copy of the Satanic Bible. Just because I was in a cheeky mood that day I bought it. But when I got it home and read those first few pages that had those nine statements in it, I just felt like I found what made sense. It was absolutely like LaVey says, satanists are born, not made, even when we don't know our label yet.  

Let me assure you if you want to learn about it, the best place to start is LaVey himself. Satan Speaks, or even the LaVay biography is a good choice. Satanic Bible is not really as helpful. It's good but it was LaVey's first effort from the 60's, it's geared for its time and although a good read just doesn't have the kind of interesting back story I know I'd want.

Trust me, I'm beginning to see I will have lots of war stories. In hindsight I wish I would have waited a bit longer in between the girls as well, but obviously I wouldn't go back now. If we ever choose to have another it won't be they are both potty trained and in school.

Speaking of war stories, yesterday my oldest was having a tough day. She barely slept the night before because of a cold. I just wanted her to go down for a nap...then she ate a huge coat button.

I took her to the er. They gave her an xray and think it should pass. *sigh*.


Just tell me it gets easier when they are older? ha ha.

:/

*I can't find what I did wrong with the quote tags but if you'll point it out I'm happy to fix it.