Satanic cult leader

[Pumpkin_Man]

I totaly agree with that, Murf. Trying to summon demons and satan worship is very dangerous, and it's just as bad to play around with seances and juija boards, too.

Mike

[Li H'Sen Chang]

I skimmed the first page of that link. I was interested in the statement that "Spiritual Satanists acknowledge science and believe everything of the occult/supernatural to have a rational scientific explanation." To me this sounds like atheistic materialism. But then the writer goes on to say that Spiritual Satanists "know Satan/Lucifer as a real being," and that he is the "True Father and Creator God of humanity." Later on he says that "the Demons are our friends and with respect and reverence in summoning through Satan, we seek to establish mutually beneficial relationships with them." So do these people believe in the supernatural, or not?

The writer is certainly correct that paganism, in one form or another, pre-dates Christianity. Obviously the various pagan cults are condemned and outlawed in the Bible. So if a person wants to go back and attempt to reconstruct whatever these pagan belief systems were, he/she is free to do so. Personally, I think it is unlikely that anything we come up with today is a true re-creation or continuation of those ancient beliefs. (For example, one of the prominent cults in Canaan worshipped pigs, which is one reason why ancient Jews were forbidden to eat pork. I doubt many neo-pagans are actually worshipping animals.) This writer is simply mistaken, however, if he/she believes that the ancient pagans didn't practice animal sacrifice. Many of them actually practiced human sacrifice (I have personally stood in one of the places where they did it, atop the Pyramid of the Sun outside Mexico City). In the Old Testament, human sacrifice is abjured through the narrative of Abraham and Isaac. In the New Testament, Jesus's sacrifice on the cross puts an end to the need for animal sacrifice. So actually, the Bible records an evolution away from blood sacrifice.

These spiritual Satanists are probably a different group from the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey. As a teenager I read a copy of his Satanic Bible and was amused by how parodic it was regarding Roman Catholicism. That is to say, all of its precepts and rituals were merely inversions/perversions of Roman Catholic rites and dogma. So that particular form of Satanism was absolutely a "reaction" to Catholic Christianity. It was totally dependent on the Roman Catholic church, in that it couldn't have existed without something to parody.

I personally don't have a problem with most neo-pagans, who as far as I can tell are people who basically worship natural forces, life cycles, that sort of thing. I think they are misguided but harmless, and frequently gentle. I can even feel the attraction of animism, the idea that a tree might have its own spirit, etc. I do begin to get uncomfortable with folks who claim to worship Satan and summon demons. I think they are playing with fire.

This is good posting so thank you for sharing your opinion on this. Anton was indeed a religious one who depends on faith to get himself the followers. He is hypocrite for sure.