From: David.Rice@ofa123.fidonet.org
Newsgroups: alt.atheism
Subject: Satanism: Why It's A Good Idea.
X-Sender: newtout 0.02 Oct  1 1992
Date: 24 Oct 92  20:03:56

Tag: ikonen casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Ian Konen)
I said: "Whereas most Christians believe in the occult (God / devils /
angels /  demons / etc.) Satanists for the most part do not.  In fact,
most Satanists do not believe in Satan, let alone worship it/him,  and
consider the belief of such things silly.
 
IK said:  "Please  do.    This  is  not  the  first  time I have heard
Satanists refered to as people who  neither  worship  nor  believe  in
Satan.  What is the difference between a Satanist and an atheist?"
 
There are three basic types of Satanists.
 1) Religious Satanists
 2) Teen Rebel Satanists
 3) Intellectual Satanists
 
These can be broken down further.
 
 1.1 Believe in Satan but do not worship Him/Her/It.
 1.2 Believe in Satan and worship Him/Her/It.
 
 2.1 Takes on what is percieved as Satanism to shock parents
 2.2 Takes on what is percieved as Satanism to impress peers
 2.3 Takes on what is percieved as Satanism to counter authority
 
 3.1 Setians
 3.2 Church of Satan
 3.3 Promethians
 3.4 Hell Raisers (Men's club)
 3.5 Political Satanist
 3.6 Lucipherians
 
Of  these, versions 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 have the most likelihood of
commiting crimes "in  the  name  of  Satan."    I  say  "percieved  as
Satanism" under "Teen Rebel" because they tend to play the role of the
Satanists that authority figures in their environment fear the most---
they  learn  what  "Satanism"  is by reading Christian literature, and
then attempt to live that life.
 
Intellectual  Satanists  are  aware  of  the  metaphores  that   Satan
represents, and  they  use  those  metaphores.   One book, called "The
Satanic Bible," is  an  excellent  example  of  parody,  grabbing  the
metaphore and running with it.
 
Atheists,   however,   COULD   possibly  be  hammered  into  the  hole
"Intellectual Satanists," though that would be streaching it  quite  a
bit.
 
Clyde  Z.  Nunn  found  that  the belief in Satan, regardless of ones'
religion, correlated  to  intolerant  behavior,  opposition  to  civil
rights activities, and the belief that groups of people different than
oneself are  a  threat  [1].    I  would paraphrase Nunn and say ones'
belief in Satan's existance shows a correlation to bigotry and racism,
regardless of whether or not one is Christian, Islamic,  or  religious
Satanist (variation  1).    This is the outcome of externalization and
scapegoat mentality, where some other  outside  force,  be  it  Satan,
Communists, or Ethnic Minority, is to blame for ones' problems, fears,
and frustrations.
 
As for the "Satanic Conspiracy," of which tens of thousands of stories
have been told (and unknown millions of dollars has been made from the
telling  of  these stories), it seems no one can find reliable victims
or witnesses, or evidence that said crimes  are  being  commited,  let
alone  that  Satanists are responsible. [2] Yes, many crimes have been
commited in the name of Satan and Satanism [3], but no where near  the
numbers  claimed  by  conservative  Christians in their scare- tactics
books.
 
Last year ~1,200 people died from falling  objects.    In  this  year,
46,000 women  will die of breast cancer.  Yet I have been able to find
only a few dozen people killed in the name of Satan or Satanism in the
LAST DECADE. Why, then, the hysteria?   Instead  of  the  millions  of
dollars spent in promoting the Satanic Crime hysteria, why do churches
and theists not give this wasted money to cancer research?  They would
help save a great many lives!
 
Kelly  wrote  [4]  that "very little of what is currently being called
Satanism is  actually  religious  phenomena,  let  alone  a  religious
movement.  It is almost all media hype and hysteria."  The media tends
to  sensationalize  all  reports of bizare events, whether criminal or
not, to the point where the story will  sell  the  most  papers.    In
Orange County CA suburbs, dead animals "Satanically mutilated" started
to appear  in  unprecedented  numbers  in 1986.  House cats, dogs, and
squirels were found in streets and on people's  lawns.    Neighborhood
watch  programs were set up to keep an eye out for the large number of
Satanic covens that were assumed to be roaming the streets looking for
animals to sacrifice.    Yet  when  animal  control  officials,  local
ranchers,  and  vetrinarians reported that in almost all cases cyottes
were responsible, the media underreported that opinion.  It is  to  be
noted  that  in  1986,  Orange  County developed thousands of acres of
brushland and natural habitat of the cyotte,  forcing  them  into  the
suburbs for food. [5]
 
[1]  "Casting  out  the  Devil"  Center For Policy Research, 1974. [2]
"Looking Reasonably at Outrageous Religions: Satanism as
 a Stage of Religious Maturation," 1986.  Theologian Aidan
 Kelly, Holy Family College. [3]  "A  Question  of  Conspiracy,"  from
"Satan Wants You," 1988,
 Arthur  Lyons,  p.1-7.  [4]  Kelly,  op.cit,  p.1.  [5]  L.A.  Times,
September 2, 1986, Section I, p.2.

--- Maximus 2.00
Newsgroups: alt.satanism,alt.religion.sabaean