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I'm a secular Satanist. I believe Christianity and Abrahamic religions are inherently unethical. I have very strong utilitarian principles that run even deeper,

I'm a secular Satanist. I believe Christianity and Abrahamic religions are inherently unethical. I have very strong utilitarian principles that run even deeper, which is ultimately what pushed me to Satanism. I'm a member of the Satanic temple, but in some ways it's more of a political organization than religious. I'm open to the possible existence of the paranormal, but I do not trust it at all and would question the intentions of such entities.

dhimes 5y ago
I only recently learned that the Satanic Temple split from the Church of Satan. The ST moved next door (to Salem, MA).
- Subsentient 5y ago
  The Church of Satan was on the right track in some areas (such as viewing Abrahamic God as evil and nonexistent), but in others it is clear that it is an incoherent "first attempt" with lots of contradictory statements, such as the belief in magic yet the disbelief in Satan, and its hatred of abortion despite its otherwise Social Darwinist leanings. More damning (no pun intended) is how the Satanic Bible (LaVey's work) simultaneously condemns the authority of "God" yet says that dictators are good Satanists. It was very much the views of a single man, Anton LaVey, which while not entirely without merit and LaVey not being necessarily a completely terrible person, are far off course in my view in many ways. Anton loved Ayn Rand. Many TST members are appalled at Rand's ethical ideology, or lack thereof, myself especially included. You'll find that in many areas, The Satanic Temple is diametrically opposed, and represents a much more coherent, logical, refined ideology, and wholly rejects social darwinism as mostly discredited, advocating instead for empathy and compassion, recognizing their evolutionary benefit. What both organizations have in common is the demand for rationalist thinking, the belief in the immorality of God, the belief in personal freedom, and deriving their ideologies partly from the sciences of their respective time periods.
  - dhimes 5y ago
    Sorry I'm so late in my reply. I largely agree with you. After reading the "manifesto" of TST I find that it's much more to my taste (although keeping "Satan" in the name is a bit much of an "inside joke" for me- the evangelicals in my family can't get past it.
hackingthelema 5y ago
> I'm open to the possible existence of the paranormal, but I do not trust it at all and would question the intentions of such entities. I think you're already making a mistake in thinking about it as 'entities' and 'paranormal'. Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae sub figura VI has a great bit about this: > 2. In this book it is spoken of the Sephiroth and the Paths; of Spirits and Conjurations; of Gods, Spheres, Planes, and many other things which may or may not exist. It is immaterial whether these exist or not. By doing certain things certain results will follow; students are most earnestly warned against attributing objective reality or philosophic validity to any of them. Which combined with the Mathers/Crowley Goetia gives more insight into a different perspective: > The spirits of the Goetia are portions of the human brain. Would you question the intentions of parts of your own brain? :) Maybe! But this gives a pretty different perspective on them than external 'entities' influencing you. In the end, all that matters is that note from Liber O -- by doing certain things, certain results will occur. Whether it is external entities or parts of your own brain is kinda irrelevant to causing results.
anon9001 5y ago
Atheist here and I've been pretty impressed with the work of the Satanic Temple over the last few years. What's membership actually look like? I'd consider joining in a secular/political sense, but I have no interest in hanging out with people who believe in and actually praise a "Satan" deity.
- Subsentient 5y ago
  I'm not too active in the Temple because of work, but you will only generally find atheists, agnostics, or at worst "woo lords" in TST. Such irrational thought is frowned upon by TST, so it is discouraged. TST does lean a bit left, but as the old offensive saying goes, "reality has a liberal bias". They do not, however, typically look kindly upon SJWs. Someone tried that once and was fired by TST itself. You will hear people say "Hail Satan!" a lot, but it's meant more in the sense of what Satan stands for from the Satanic viewpoint, which is, among many other things, primarily freedom and knowledge. I do believe in their tenets myself, I think they're remarkably well distilled principles. I think the first and fourth tenets are especially important for the current times. I think what you'll find a lot of Satanists believe is "an it harm none, do what ye will", and you'll find that they take that principle more seriously than others who espouse that, such as Wicca.

dhimes 5y ago

I only recently learned that the Satanic Temple split from the Church of Satan. The ST moved next door (to Salem, MA).

Subsentient 5y ago
The Church of Satan was on the right track in some areas (such as viewing Abrahamic God as evil and nonexistent), but in others it is clear that it is an incoherent "first attempt" with lots of contradictory statements, such as the belief in magic yet the disbelief in Satan, and its hatred of abortion despite its otherwise Social Darwinist leanings. More damning (no pun intended) is how the Satanic Bible (LaVey's work) simultaneously condemns the authority of "God" yet says that dictators are good Satanists. It was very much the views of a single man, Anton LaVey, which while not entirely without merit and LaVey not being necessarily a completely terrible person, are far off course in my view in many ways. Anton loved Ayn Rand. Many TST members are appalled at Rand's ethical ideology, or lack thereof, myself especially included. You'll find that in many areas, The Satanic Temple is diametrically opposed, and represents a much more coherent, logical, refined ideology, and wholly rejects social darwinism as mostly discredited, advocating instead for empathy and compassion, recognizing their evolutionary benefit. What both organizations have in common is the demand for rationalist thinking, the belief in the immorality of God, the belief in personal freedom, and deriving their ideologies partly from the sciences of their respective time periods.
- dhimes 5y ago
  Sorry I'm so late in my reply. I largely agree with you. After reading the "manifesto" of TST I find that it's much more to my taste (although keeping "Satan" in the name is a bit much of an "inside joke" for me- the evangelicals in my family can't get past it.

hackingthelema 5y ago

> I'm open to the possible existence of the paranormal, but I do not trust it at all and would question the intentions of such entities. I think you're already making a mistake in thinking about it as 'entities' and 'paranormal'. Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae sub figura VI has a great bit about this: > 2. In this book it is spoken of the Sephiroth and the Paths; of Spirits and Conjurations; of Gods, Spheres, Planes, and many other things which may or may not exist. It is immaterial whether these exist or not. By doing certain things certain results will follow; students are most earnestly warned against attributing objective reality or philosophic validity to any of them. Which combined with the Mathers/Crowley Goetia gives more insight into a different perspective: > The spirits of the Goetia are portions of the human brain. Would you question the intentions of parts of your own brain? :) Maybe! But this gives a pretty different perspective on them than external 'entities' influencing you. In the end, all that matters is that note from Liber O -- by doing certain things, certain results will occur. Whether it is external entities or parts of your own brain is kinda irrelevant to causing results.

anon9001 5y ago

Atheist here and I've been pretty impressed with the work of the Satanic Temple over the last few years. What's membership actually look like? I'd consider joining in a secular/political sense, but I have no interest in hanging out with people who believe in and actually praise a "Satan" deity.

Subsentient 5y ago
I'm not too active in the Temple because of work, but you will only generally find atheists, agnostics, or at worst "woo lords" in TST. Such irrational thought is frowned upon by TST, so it is discouraged. TST does lean a bit left, but as the old offensive saying goes, "reality has a liberal bias". They do not, however, typically look kindly upon SJWs. Someone tried that once and was fired by TST itself. You will hear people say "Hail Satan!" a lot, but it's meant more in the sense of what Satan stands for from the Satanic viewpoint, which is, among many other things, primarily freedom and knowledge. I do believe in their tenets myself, I think they're remarkably well distilled principles. I think the first and fourth tenets are especially important for the current times. I think what you'll find a lot of Satanists believe is "an it harm none, do what ye will", and you'll find that they take that principle more seriously than others who espouse that, such as Wicca.