[from http://www.image.dk/~vad/satan/cos/s_per2ed.html ] Some Personal Opinions Regarding Satanism And Neo-Satanism by Hr. Vad I regard Satanism as a philosophy that emphasizes the natural, biological, instinctual and healthy. I take the element of nature extremely serious and I consider Satanists that do not act or think Naturally to simply not be Satanists. In my view the sad and horrible fact is that a lot of so-called Satanists are incredibly ignorant in regard to Nature and Her laws. This may sound hostile, if not arrogant, but really, how do Satanists imagine that they can grow up in a stifling, Xtian culture and not have their instincts and natural ways twisted in a way that they may not immediately be aware of? See Convalescence From Xianity by Jantsang and Hill for a concrete, spelled-out clue and consider your own homelife honestly. Be Honest with yourself! This is perhaps the curse of Neo-Satanists: even in becoming Satanists they cannot automatically follow their likes and dislikes. If they really indulge in their most apparent pleasures they may well be living out some of the perverse and unnatural urges instilled in them by Xtianity. They may be reacting to Xianity; which is not Satanism at all! In this sense, they are in a double bind! "To be, or not to be." "Who will you be?" "Who should you be?' Well, that by this time, you no longer have a self that is being! You might be acting; but that's not being. The very self-consciousness involved in "neo-satanism" is a reaction to prior Xian conditioning. And it shows loud and clear to people who are not conditioned or not "in" or "of" Xianity. Though, some Satanists have quite succesfully divorced themselves from that religion and now have only limited influence from Xtianity's conditioning. However, so far that total liberation isn't possible, the Satanist have the option of indulging his pleasures without hurting anyone. It's not very easy to give precise examples of what it means to be a Satanist and still be thouroughly influenced by Xtianity. However, I'll try to give a few examples for the reader to ponder. One tell-tale sign that the neo-Satanist has not divorced himself completely from Xtianity is seen in the "Little Lord Syndrome" that some have. For example it is not unusual to see Satanists talk about how they wanna be "strong, fearsome beings who will now rule over those weak Xtians". It's pretty common knowledge that those who have been bullied as children will often become bullies themselves. Most Satanists I know have certainly been "bullied", understood in the sense that their desires have been bullied by Xtian society which has tried to lord their morality over them. To uncritically import from Xtianity the notion that "we have to rule over people" is un-Satanic. The "bully behavior" of "ex" Xtians is often seen translated into Satanism as meaning "the strong must lord stuff over the weak". Satanism certainly speaks about acquiring power and strength, but that strength is to be understood in an inner sense at first. We must be strong willed enough to withstand the onslaught of Xtian social and physical pressure. Then, secondly, it may be wise to gain outer strength. But to what ends would one employ this strength? Here, unfortunately, some are still married to their former master (mistress?) -- Xtianity -- and they are apt to employ their new gained strength by being a "Little Lord" towards these Xtians. Actually this kind of clinging behavior has some analogy to psychic vampirism -- the neo?Satanist has become a psychic vampire clinging to Xtianity instead of becoming emotionally independent of it. It would certainly be rational to employ any outer strength to protect oneself against Xtianity and Xtians, and it would also be rational to battle Xtianity's influence in society, but it may not actually be rational to go on a rampaging "revenge-trip"; the short term rush may be outweighed by the persistant long run pain (as with drugs). Yes, Satan represents revenge, but I submit it is subject to the revenge being rational and furthering personal (and Satanic) goals. Remember, an eminent purpose of ritual is often to purge the Satanists of obsessive thoughts such as revenge -- obsessive thoughts being considered counter-productive! Satan certainly represents revenge, as expressed in the Nine Statements, but remember it is a statement that tells us to accept such feelings of vengefulness in order to rationally use these emotions. Xtians hypocritically denies having feelings of revenge, and this is why their revenge, when executed, becomes an abomination torn loose from any and all reason. Satanists, on the contrary, try to deal with these feelings in a rational manner -- this sometimes means foregoing physical revenge for ritual revenge. The same "import of essentially Xtian ideas" goes for unrealistically Hobbesian people. They subscribe to an utterly unnatural way of life that glorifies strife, war and stoic, emotional numbness. In their attempts to live up to this fantastic, pie-in-the-sky ideal these sorry excuses for humans kill every last bit of emotion within them. They become the ultimate Xtian: completely cut off from their carnal nature. They become the perfect Cartesian dualists, having cut their natural and healthy instincts off emphasizing the importance of the "soul". What these unnatural "Satanists" lose are natural feelings such as love, compassion, helpfulness and empathy. If these people were perfectly healthy and natural beings they would instinctually know that the pure Hobbesian Man is an abomination. All they need to is remember what monsters their parents (or whoever responsible) were to understand it: they (the Satanists) were the victims of Hobbesian Xtian people! Many people probably wouldn't have become Satanists if they had grown up in a funny, truly loving Xtian home to begin with. They would have grown up naturally and had no reason to turn to Satanist! Satanists aren't Hobbesian Men, rather they're cooperative, sharing types that demand others share back. That is: if these Satanists have any of their natural instincts left after Xtianity messed with them. Nazis are just Xtians who exterminated the last bits of their compassion, New Agers are morons who believe the Opium that "thou shalt be meek", Racists are just Xtians that still need a Devil blame, and they choose another race to vent their anger at. all of these people are instinctually broken. They're messed up in a deep and profound way, and they just doesn't make sense! Satanist are the exact opposite of these perverted freaks: we are natural animals, carnal joy buzzers. In us the Dark Force flows strongly. Satanism is, indeed, about man as a natural animal, but we have to be careful about just "what is natural" if we come from Xtian backgrounds. Xtians know nothing about Natural, yet it is such Xtoid learning that has been the neo-Satanist's frame of reference all his life (usually well into the teens). That is, until he encountered Satanism that just said "be Natural" without going too deeply into the meaning of just that. I believe Anton LaVey got it right when he commented how the Xtians and their ilk are unable to feel any real love, and I think he was right when he said that only Satanists would truly be able to feel love. So do not look to the Xtians to find love! (Just look at their disastrous male-female relationships.) Don't tell me how "there's too much love in the world and that's why it's being destroyed" (yes, I have heard Satanists utter such nonsense, believe it or not!). There are Xtians everywhere, so how can there be "too much love"? Remember, we just agreed that they weren't even ABLE to properly experience this feeling. Satanists who buy into the lies that "Xtians are loving people" should have their heads examined! And they should be committed to an insane asylum if they keep insisting that "Satanists shouldn't feel compassion, empathy and love, because that's what the Xtians do." Well, Xtians don't! And Satanism just isn't an excuse for being an asshole or "against everything", nor is it just a reaction to Xtianity. Just because Xtians gave love a bad name doesn't mean we should stay away from it, and let us not let "Satanists" give Satanism a bad name.