Atheism / Satanism

[Jenny A]

Hello, I'm new here and I just wanted to know what the difference between atheism and LeVeyan Satanism is? I brought it up to one of my friends and they said they were practically the same thing. Any insight into this?

Thanks in advance.

Here's one more straight answer, to what I think is a disingenuous question:

I do not believe in a god or gods.  Therefore, I am an atheist.  It's definitional.  But atheism isn't a group in the sense that a club or religion is a group.  Atheist is just a word to describe people who don't believe in a deity, like bachelor is a word to describe unmarried men, or theist is a word to describe people who believe in at least one god or gods.  Lack of belief is the only entry requirement and there are no other beliefs or philosophy that necessarily follow from atheism let alone a secret handshake.

All I know about LeVayan Satanism can be found here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaVeyan_Satanism  I don't care to know anymore.  It seems to proclaim a number of philosophic ideas, most of which I disagree with as well as some woo about "dark energy."  Most of the atheists I know would disagree with most of the LaVeyan philosophy.  But LaVeyan's are probably atheists since the site declares that they don't believe in deities.  So like Buddhists, LaVeyan Satanists appear to be a subset of atheists.  And no, most atheists aren't Buddhists either.  And Buddhists are not LaVeyan Satanists.

Many atheists, like me, are also skeptics and would reject both Buddhist and Laveyan Satanists for the same reason they lack a belief in a god or gods, i.e. lack of evidence.