Satanism & Witchcraft

[Seanij]

What're your views on satanism & witchcraft, I dont believe satanism is a bad thing.. it might be portrayed by that by Xianity/Christianity, but maybe its not evil as they say it is, maybe God, is the evil being that portrays Satan as evil instead..

[Bulldog_916]

There are some scientific studies that say that potions can heal. Shamanism was also considered witchcraft by Christians for a long time, but that is considered now to be a new age type healing practice.

I dont see witchcraft as evil at all.

[Canon]

What're your views on satanism & witchcraft, I dont believe satanism is a bad thing.. it might be portrayed by that by Xianity/Christianity, but maybe its not evil as they say it is, maybe God, is the evil being that portrays Satan as evil instead..

Satanism is interesting. they believe in the demons of the bible (the ones ive had experiance with) but they dont believe the bible to be true, which is ironic because their gods are the demons in the bible. they have rules which i cannot recall, but they arent violent and they dont harm animals. they dont view their satan as the one in the bible.

witchcraft i know less of, they believe in mother earth for the most part. they believe that healing comes from the earth which is true if you think of modern medicine, but once again i dont know alot about witchcraft.

as far as both go.. its the same concept as the public has with hookah, they are misrepresented. when people think of satanism they think of people doing bad things, and with witchcraft they think of weird potions and brooms.

[gaia.plateau]

What're your views on satanism & witchcraft, I dont believe satanism is a bad thing.. it might be portrayed by that by Xianity/Christianity, but maybe its not evil as they say it is, maybe God, is the evil being that portrays Satan as evil instead..

Satanism is interesting. they believe in the demons of the bible (the ones ive had experiance with) but they dont believe the bible to be true, which is ironic because their gods are the demons in the bible. they have rules which i cannot recall, but they arent violent and they dont harm animals. they dont view their satan as the one in the bible.

Satanists don't actually worship or believe in Satan or demons... they're basically just ultimately ammoral atheists. I've known a few Satanists and have done a bit of research on it, and my understanding of their philosophy is simpy that "if a man or woman wants something, and has the power to obtain it, they should do so regardlessly of moral implications". Sounds a lot like utilitarianism to me.

For example... if 6 midgets, 2 donkeys and a 300 pound woman are feeling lustful, there's no reason for them not to start an orgy. If you want your neighbour's wife, and are more attractive and powerful than your neighbour, it is your right to seduce her. If you are competing with a weaker but more dilligent and liked office worker for a promotion, it is your right to kill him or her for your personal gain.

I don't find these tenets to be appealing, but I can understand why some people do.

[TheScotsman]

I thought there were really 2 groups of satanists, the Theistic and the LeVeyan, with the Leveyan being exactly what our frozen Canadian friend describes. Theistic satanists is the crowd that are running around thinking they can summon dark entities, and the prince of darkness as an actual entity.

[Canon]

What're your views on satanism & witchcraft, I dont believe satanism is a bad thing.. it might be portrayed by that by Xianity/Christianity, but maybe its not evil as they say it is, maybe God, is the evil being that portrays Satan as evil instead..

Satanism is interesting. they believe in the demons of the bible (the ones ive had experiance with) but they dont believe the bible to be true, which is ironic because their gods are the demons in the bible. they have rules which i cannot recall, but they arent violent and they dont harm animals. they dont view their satan as the one in the bible.

Satanists don't actually worship or believe in Satan or demons... they're basically just ultimately ammoral atheists. I've known a few Satanists and have done a bit of research on it, and my understanding of their philosophy is simpy that "if a man or woman wants something, and has the power to obtain it, they should do so regardlessly of moral implications". Sounds a lot like utilitarianism to me.

For example... if 6 midgets, 2 donkeys and a 300 pound woman are feeling lustful, there's no reason for them not to start an orgy. If you want your neighbour's wife, and are more attractive and powerful than your neighbour, it is your right to seduce her. If you are competing with a weaker but more dilligent and liked office worker for a promotion, it is your right to kill him or her for your personal gain.

I don't find these tenets to be appealing, but I can understand why some people do.

the people ive talked to are different as far as satanism goes. i talked to one chick basically, she believes in different gods and all that, all of which are mentioned in the bible and i argued with her for a while because she said her beliefs had nothing to do witht he bible though all of her gods were mentioned in the bible. maybe theres different types of satanism. but ive never heard of the kind you mentioned.

[thecoalition]

when you say witchcraft do you mean wicca or one of the other offshoot branches? because technically voodoo can fall into that area as well.

[ZenSilk]

Wait wait wait... Satanism as in SATAn worship or Satanism as Church of Satan (LaVey Satanism)??? If you know the difference.

Witchcraft in my opinion is just the same as those people who pretend they are Vampires. They awere on Insomniac one time a couple years ago.. The show with Dave Attell. . It's just bull shit, but people think it's real.

Now if you mean Devil Worship Satanism, there's a bunch of different ways to look at that. The practice many things, including Dark Magic, and Lucid Dreaming. One of these organizations is known as The Temple of Set. They practice occult worship, including Initiaton, Philosophy and Magic. (This stuff get's really deep, i have read about it and studied it before. Try just serching it online. ) Each Organization focuses on different points of the Occult, for instance the Ordo Templi Orientis (which has many sub-organizations), but they tend to lean more toward Extra-terrestrial life and Dark Supernatural beings.

If you mean LaVey Satanism, then that is much different. This is a book based off of the "The Satanic Bible" , a book written by Anton LaVey. They consider themselves a religion, but I do not think they are recognized as one. It has a common Hierarchy. The Idea nehind the Church is Self-Indulgence, basically doing what you want. BUT, despite misconceptions, these ideals are in fact very useable in today's life. If you can find the Nine Satanic Statements and the 11 Satanic Rules of the Earth, read them for yourself and you will see (some of these include "Do not Harm Children", "Do not Kill Animals Unless You are Attacked"). Some of them have a violent way of dealing with things, and that is the only problem i see. Personally i view this as an extremely applicable religion (MUCH more than Christianity).
They don't believe in a God or Gods, they believe that the individual is the God, and they should treat themselves as a God on Earth.

EDIT: To add, I found the website and the afore mentioned ideals.
http://www.churchofsatan.com/home.html Edited March 17, 2008 by ZenSilk

[ZenSilk]

What're your views on satanism & witchcraft, I dont believe satanism is a bad thing.. it might be portrayed by that by Xianity/Christianity, but maybe its not evil as they say it is, maybe God, is the evil being that portrays Satan as evil instead..

Satanism is interesting. they believe in the demons of the bible (the ones ive had experiance with) but they dont believe the bible to be true, which is ironic because their gods are the demons in the bible. they have rules which i cannot recall, but they arent violent and they dont harm animals. they dont view their satan as the one in the bible.

Satanists don't actually worship or believe in Satan or demons... they're basically just ultimately ammoral atheists. I've known a few Satanists and have done a bit of research on it, and my understanding of their philosophy is simpy that "if a man or woman wants something, and has the power to obtain it, they should do so regardlessly of moral implications". Sounds a lot like utilitarianism to me.

For example... if 6 midgets, 2 donkeys and a 300 pound woman are feeling lustful, there's no reason for them not to start an orgy. If you want your neighbour's wife, and are more attractive and powerful than your neighbour, it is your right to seduce her. If you are competing with a weaker but more dilligent and liked office worker for a promotion, it is your right to kill him or her for your personal gain.

I don't find these tenets to be appealing, but I can understand why some people do.

Yes, of course, but the Neighbor would then have the right to "Destroy" you.

And don't Non-Satanists do this anyway...?

Midgets are people too you know! Edited March 17, 2008 by ZenSilk

[thecoalition]

ive read the satanic bible. actually almost got suspended for having it in school but I argued that if other kids were allowed to have a holy bible in school then i could have the satanic bible. a threaten from a lawyer helped to make the school know its role. anyway, i read it and some stuff was interesting. as an atheist i like to just learn about all the different religious views. there as alot of .... well for lack of better words....crap in the book. but then again. aren't all religious texts this way?

[r1v3th3ad]

why is the thread witchcraft and satanism? they are two paths nowhere related

I'm a witch, or Pagan to be exact. A large majority of pagan based religions don't believe in Satan or a pure evil...they believe that their deities are both good and bad, need both to balance the universe. I.E. there is no such thing as "white" or "black" magick, just "grey". Sure some will practice in a manner that pertains to "white" because that is their way of life, they may not believe in some aspects. Just like some may use "black" magick, both are necessities in the balance of the equilibrium. As someone mentioned above, it is an earth based religion, many different forms. There are the druids, the wiccans, the shamans...and the list can go on and on.
And no, it is not a bullshit religion, it has been one of the longest practices in the history of man.

[ahwahoo2006]

I have all sorts of problems with any organized religion, and, as such, choose not to practice any religion. That being said, I don't think that being moral and religious are mutually exclusive, and I respect everyone's freedom to choose the religion (or lack thereof) which meets their needs.

[r1v3th3ad]

um rivet dont go offending others religion. i believe this thread was started with good intentions so lets make sure we keep it that way. no one is attacking either

I was just going off pissed off at what was said in direction to the faithline I had followed for years, I get pissy. Lets face it, religion is a sensitive subject...I was raised Catholic and converted some 9yrs ago or so, so when I get in those moods I vent and 9/10 times the worst of me shows...
here is the post I was referencing to:

Witchcraft in my opinion is just the same as those people who pretend they are Vampires. They awere on Insomniac one time a couple years ago.. The show with Dave Attell. . It's just bull shit, but people think it's real.

generally I am very accepting and open of all faiths, I just let that get the best of me...plan on continuing on in my father's footsteps and studying the religions of the world....

[ZenSilk]

I really don't understand why religion is such a touchy subject. people are Pussies obviously.

I don't know anything about Wiccans or witches or any of that, but I like actually hearing from someone who consideres themself a witch, and would like to hear more.....

P.S. (People need to stop getting so butt hurt about their religion. The only reason they do is because they have a thought in the back of their mind telling them that it's of course true, and the only way to fight that thought off is to get angry and butt-hurt).

[r1v3th3ad]

P.S. (People need to stop getting so butt hurt about their religion. The only reason they do is because they have a thought in the back of their mind telling them that it's of course true, and the only way to fight that thought off is to get angry and butt-hurt).

+1
I dunno, maybe after I get this big ass hookah subculture paper done, I'll have the time to post a bit on it if your interested

[thecoalition]

word rivet. i know exactly where youre coming from. fortunately for me i wasnt born or raised catholic and was lucky to have 2 biology majors for parents. nothing better than telling other kids in my kindergarten class that the laws of nature prevent god creating man. and yes i got kicked out of that class for that one.

[Voski]

how do the laws of nature prevent god from creating man?

[ZenSilk]

how do the laws of nature prevent god from creating man?

Cause there's no God.

Ohh fine. Cause we have tailbones! Wow that's a good one.... I just disproved Intelligent Design with one simple word.

[St. Goodypants]

Ah-HA!!!

By the way, why was the thread started on both witchcraft (I'm assuming you mean wiccan) and satanism. They ARE completely seperate things.

[haunt1]

I thought there were really 2 groups of satanists, the Theistic and the LeVeyan, with the Leveyan being exactly what our frozen Canadian friend describes. Theistic satanists is the crowd that are running around thinking they can summon dark entities, and the prince of darkness as an actual entity.

This is accurate. I have several friends who are "Satanists", some Leveyan and one that is in the Temple of Set and practices Black Majicks. In my opinion, they are all as valid as the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but I'm an Agnostic.

[Sethram]

Are you hurting others or greatly hurting yourself through these beliefs?

That's the question I'd ask to determine whether or not any belief system is bad.

[gaia.plateau]

Are you hurting others or greatly hurting yourself through these beliefs?

That's the question I'd ask to determine whether or not any belief system is bad.

It depends on one's definition of hurting oneself...

If you consider the self-denial of understanding, knowledge, and unconditional compassion to be a great hurt, then all religions are "bad".

[Sethram]

Are you hurting others or greatly hurting yourself through these beliefs?

That's the question I'd ask to determine whether or not any belief system is bad.

It depends on one's definition of hurting oneself...

If you consider the self-denial of understanding, knowledge, and unconditional compassion to be a great hurt, then all religions are "bad".

That's the catch there. If you're just going to plug your ears, say "lalala" and live in ignorance because your faith and belief can't accept reason, logic or pursuit of knowledge then there's a problem.

[St. Goodypants]

Here's the other side gaia:

If finding knowledge gives you shocks that the belief system which has held you up all these years can't handle is knowledge bad?
Those shocks can be damaging to a person.

[gaia.plateau]

Are you hurting others or greatly hurting yourself through these beliefs?

That's the question I'd ask to determine whether or not any belief system is bad.

It depends on one's definition of hurting oneself...

If you consider the self-denial of understanding, knowledge, and unconditional compassion to be a great hurt, then all religions are "bad".

That's the catch there. If you're just going to plug your ears, say "lalala" and live in ignorance because your faith and belief can't accept reason, logic or pursuit of knowledge then there's a problem.

Isn't that what the vast majority of religious people do?

Now I've been defending Islam in another thread for the past few days, let me spin around to the other side for a moment.

The very core foundation of Islam is to not allow reason and logic to enter life. God's word always trumps everything else, and the Qur'an is absolutely inerrent. The very word Islam means "to submit".

Many Christians I've met are just as bad, but it's easier to use the example of Islam. Edited March 20, 2008 by gaia.plateau