I
f there is one trend in Modern Satanism thatbothers me, it is the trend of defining pseudo Satanists and Satanic organizations. It is the trend of “If you’re not with us you’re against us or not a real Satanist.”
This is a trend in Satanism, like most trends, that began with the Church of Satan. As any Satanist knows, the Church of Satan holds the view point that the only true Satanists in the world are its own members and even then only members of rank. Even though they claim that you don’t need to be a member of the church to be a Satanist, in their “Bunko Sheet” they pretty much outline every thing that is not considered Church of Satan approved or affiliated. This includes
individuals. By their view point, if you’re not a member then you’re not a Satanist. This standpoint has been taken up by several other organizations as well.
Let me be frank. This prerogative from any one is simple horse shit! It is reminiscent of christian
churches continued view that their individual church is the only correct path to God. Satanism is meant to stand in total opposition to anything christian or at the
very least it is intended to take a reversed stand point of their views.
Who in this world has any real say so on whom or what another person really is? The answer is no one, not even the so called authorities of any one particular religion. Is a person who follows the path of The Brotherhood of Satan wrong or fake? Or is Peter H. Gilmore himself a fraud? It is not up to any one person to decide these things, and certainly it is wrong for any one to criticize any one person or organization just because they have a differing view point that you or your organization.
Now don’t take me wrong on this, I’m not intentionally singling out the Church of Satan in this, they just make for a good example as a well known organization. I personally think great deals of its members are very intelligent and productive members of the Satanic Community. And they do act as an example of what the basic view points of Modern Satanism should be with their take on the world. I will never call any of its member’s fake of false, but I will say that they are rather presumptuous in their thinking that they are the only venue or outlet for real Satanism. Simply put they’re not. Nor are they the sole authorities on the subject. They themselves started this whole mess on who is a real Satanist and who is not, and for what? To monopolize Satanism for themselves?
It is organizations that take this view point that miss the bigger picture and become, in a nut shell, stuck
in the mud. They don’t progress forward at a reasonable pace and become the random road side show for
entertainment. Trying to hold a total monopoly of a religion is like trying to hold water in you bare hands. You will constantly have some spillage. Is the spilled water any less water than what you hold? Just because it is on the floor does it some how become some other substance with less value? It is still water it just took a trip and gained a few new properties. It can be cleaned up and reused.
Satanism has so many legitimate venues and differing groups and organizations whose views are equally as valid as the Church of Satan’s. They simply take a different approach to the religion. Granted there are indeed groups out there who are very unsavory to encounter, but they in their own right also make the religion a little richer. Like with the christians West Borough Baptist Church, who is most certainly not fun to be around and demonstrate the ignorance of that religion, Satanism too has its groups that equally do the same. This doesn’t make them any less than what their respective religious beliefs make them or tell them to be, they just have differing takes on them. The West Borough members are still christians in every respect of the word, they’re just blatantly ignorant ones who behave with poor manners and plenty of bad behavior. But they do demonstrate to the rest of the christian community how many non-christians view them.
who, though they behave poorly and at times set a terrible example of what a Satanist is, they do remind us of how we are viewed at times. I personally may not like a particular person or organization in our religion, and I may hold many qualms with them. But that doesn’t give me the right to call them fakes or frauds. Our differing view points don’t make either one of us any less Satanic than the other.
Don’t misunderstand me, there are indeed those groups and individuals who actually do masquerade as Satanists or Satanic organizations, and they must be watched for. All I am saying is to be mindful of your self and your opinions. Don’t be a troll about thing or consider yourself superior to another person or group with out a valid reason. If they blatantly demonstrate their ignorance that’s fine but remember a lack of knowledge only means that there is room to learn, ignorance never teaches. Calling people names and harassing them only shows your ignorance and lack of wisdom. In the end what does it accomplish? Very little to tell the truth. One thing I will give Gilmore and the Church of Satan credit for is that they don’t feed
directly into online squabbles and often chose to simply ignore things. To a large point this is a good approach as it allows one to simply shrug off most of the slander and continue forward.
Their approach to a lot of things I will say is a good one, the major exception being their ignorant stubbornness in failing to acknowledge other groups
organization. Satanism is not about being ignorant to anything. On the contrary it is about being
knowledgeable about a great many things and learning new things. We always tell people to prove our views to them selves and develop their own view points. It is simply un-Satanic to sit there and try to pound your personal opinions down another persons throat who doesn’t ask for your thoughts, and to do so makes you no better than those who would sit around calling every one else fakes.
LaVey himself let members of his own group have a psychological belief in a real anthropomorphic Satan. He did not criticize these members of his organization during his time, so why are these people now targeted and ostracized? It makes little sense as they in their own ways add to the over all enrichment to the ritual setting. Many of them, aside from their actual faith, act and think in almost an identical manner to those members of Satanism who do not consider Satan as an outside entity.
This behavior is one reason that Satanism has found itself splitting into multiple denominations, that in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but with each group sitting there on their high horses calling every one else a fraud, very little ever gets done in the long run.
Now we have come to the cyber era, in which many people hold entire relationships on line and run complete organizations from the comfort of their home
computer. To many people the internet is considered open ground. This of course is only an illusion hosted by the persons mind. The internet is no more open ground than any other form of media. The difference is that it reaches a lot more people every day. It is with this regard that many Satanists take to heart the notion of “destroying” any person that bothers them while failing to remember the first part of the verse that says not to bother anyone yourself.
How many open flame wars have transpired across the web between groups who have taken offence to something said? More than I can count. Many people forget that the internet is not the real world and that they can end the situation quite rapidly by letting the other person blow themselves out without even giving them any response. The individual will destroy
themselves by their continued obsession with hurting you while you just continue to mosey on like they don’t even exist. There is a little thing on most forums and chat hosts called an ignore button that blocks every thing said by a person from your computer screen, and in some cases it will block your words from them, too. If more people would learn to use this feature then our own personal worlds could be more peaceful with each person living quite happily in their own little bubble.
But instead people turn into drama queens and follow the whole “he said she said” routine. Which is of course very childish and only serves to make the rest of us look bad.
No one has the right to tell you who is a fake and who is real. That is left solely in your own hands to decide for yourself. If you find that you don’t agree with a person then do what the Church of Satan does and ignore their very existence. If on the flip side you find an agreement with a person then pursue it until you find the limit of that agreement then stay with in your respective boundaries to honor your shared thoughts.