Satanism is the ONLY Rational Religion

[WesOlsen]

Satanism is the only religion that promotes freethought & atheism. Yet it can also provide the dogma & ritual that man needs, something plain ol' atheism can't do.

I'd contest that man needs dogma or ritual. At a push i'd say there are certain cultural rituals that atheists CAN enjoy, purely out of sentimentality more than any burning innate requirement. Christmas dinner is an example of a ritual that I enjoy partaking in, I wouldn't call it a need though. I certainly don't want or need dogma. Dogma is the very basis for religion. It is dogma that allows religion to propogate and perpetuate. Free thought, for me, is the absolute polar opposite to dogma. I detest dogma and the hostility towards pragmatism and pluralism that its proponents peddle (there's a tongue twister for you). I read the satanic bible after a friend let me have it for a bit. The first half of the book was a run of the mill critique of Levey's personal experiences with christianity, which whilst valid, have been articulated in much better ways by other writers (Take Dan Barker, preacher turned atheist). The second half of the book was all about magic, as i'm sure you're aware. Whether Levey was permanently open with its utter ineffective nature or whether he believed in supernatural guff is largely irrelevant to me. I can't relate to any of the magic rituals, I certainly don't believe any of them do anything other than stimulate an emotional response in only the most avid believers. Every satanist i've ever met is an immature goth or emo hipster who forgot to shimmy out of the purile 'fuck my parents' stage. I'm sure they don't all conform to this image, I won't indulge in the character assasinations too much.

Levey basically struck me as an ego goblin. Some sentiment in this thread suggests that this is a good attribute. I disagree for the most part. Entertainment aside some time ego clouds judgement and is substituting for something else. If you could provide us with some sources that suggest Levey encourages his followers to take the rituals with a big pinch of salt then fine, but if he did express such sentiments then they've largely been lost on most of his followers. Most genuinely seem to believe in summoning spirits and changing eye colours and all sorts of other pretentious shite. In fact that's how i'd sum up Leveyan satanism in a single word; pretentious. I developed in to an atheist precisely because i'm only interested in the objective search for truth. I can enjoy a cultural ritual as much as the next man, but not one that relies on submitting to pseudo-science, spooky hot topic magic or paraspychology in order to enjoy.

Any way, to sum up, the entire satanist movement has basically hybridised ritual with theatrics. They show a good command of semiotics but when you scratch the surface away you basically find a bunch of pretentious circus performers who have simply substituted one cult for another. Rebellion takes many forms, satanism just doesn't offer anything for me, I don't have a need for a stupid haircut or a wizard costume, I can do that shit over xmas dinner with my work colleagues.