Fr. Hardon during his lifetime wrote an interesting piece on Satanism. I think one of the reasons why satanism is growing in our days is precisely because people are trying to fill the void left by a culture that is secular and materialistic, devoided of all spirituality. The prevalent materialism, hedonism, secularism are perfect seedbeds for satanism to flourish and appeal to the inordinate passions of the human being. According to Fr. Hardon there are three main forms of satanism. The first one is philosophical, that is the kind of satanism by which evil is deified, such was the case of the Manicheans. St. Augustine himself was a Manichean before he converted to Christianity. In this kind of satanism one does not offer worship to the Deity per se, but it is more about a matter of beliefs, where one sees that there are two uncreated deities that are in opposition to one another, the good god and the bad god. The other kind of satanism is the one prevalent in most polytheistic religions whereby a person offers sacrifices to the deities that represent evil, mostly out of fear, so the person tries to appease them by different rituals. Fr. Hardon mentions that in Africa is very difficult for Christianity to make inroads because the people in Africa after becoming Christians blame any evil or accident to the anger of the evil deities that somehow are not being satisfied in their thirst for offerings and sacrifices. The third kind of satanism is the cultic type that involves the recognition of satan as powerful and shrewd, and as a being that is to be worshipped for personal gain or in order to bring an evil on another person.
Satanic churches are growing in number and also in membership. More young people have more experiences with the occult than ever before, and satan uses many ways to attract young people into his abode. Some of those means can include the promises of material rewards, and the rewards of sensible pleasure under the forms of uninhibited sex, drugs, even sadistic and masochist practices. All is fair game, and satan appeals to our wounded nature and our desire for immediate gratification. Another common by which satan continues to enter into the minds of many young people is through the porn industry by which satan continues to corrupt the minds and the hearts of many young people, in many cases creating such powerful addictions that these young people cannot follow the call of the Lord to the consecrated life or the priesthood, nor can they remain faithful to their spouses and their commitments. Satanic influence is also seen in the cult of freedom, undetermined freedom, my choice is my god. The worship of choice can imply the death of my own son or daughter in the womb. Indeed there is something very diabolical about the whole abortion industry. The cult of choice can also entail the type of sexual relationship I am going to engage, from bestiality to homosexuality and anything in between, is the cult of indulgence which is one of the premises of the satanic manifesto. Heavy metal music is also another means that satan uses to corrupt the minds of young people. Fr. Gabriel Armoth, the exorcist of Rome wrote about the fact the heavy metal music recordings are consecrated to the devil in particular acts, and that many music bands such as Black Sabbath, Deicide, and others are openly satanic in nature. Finally books that delve into the occult like Harry Potter are also seedbeds for the potential opening of the soul of the child to the fascination with witchcraft, incantations, or any other desire to manipulate others and control others through the power of evil.
Satanic churches are growing in number and also in membership. More young people have more experiences with the occult than ever before, and satan uses many ways to attract young people into his abode. Some of those means can include the promises of material rewards, and the rewards of sensible pleasure under the forms of uninhibited sex, drugs, even sadistic and masochist practices. All is fair game, and satan appeals to our wounded nature and our desire for immediate gratification. Another common by which satan continues to enter into the minds of many young people is through the porn industry by which satan continues to corrupt the minds and the hearts of many young people, in many cases creating such powerful addictions that these young people cannot follow the call of the Lord to the consecrated life or the priesthood, nor can they remain faithful to their spouses and their commitments. Satanic influence is also seen in the cult of freedom, undetermined freedom, my choice is my god. The worship of choice can imply the death of my own son or daughter in the womb. Indeed there is something very diabolical about the whole abortion industry. The cult of choice can also entail the type of sexual relationship I am going to engage, from bestiality to homosexuality and anything in between, is the cult of indulgence which is one of the premises of the satanic manifesto. Heavy metal music is also another means that satan uses to corrupt the minds of young people. Fr. Gabriel Armoth, the exorcist of Rome wrote about the fact the heavy metal music recordings are consecrated to the devil in particular acts, and that many music bands such as Black Sabbath, Deicide, and others are openly satanic in nature. Finally books that delve into the occult like Harry Potter are also seedbeds for the potential opening of the soul of the child to the fascination with witchcraft, incantations, or any other desire to manipulate others and control others through the power of evil.
Satanism oddly enough is growing by leaps and bounds in Italy. In fact the largest followers of satanic sects are found there. Colombia is the second country with the largest number of satanic followers and the USA comes third with the greatest concentration in the state of California, particularly the city of San Francisco, no surprise there either. So this is the phenomenon that we must face constantly, St Paul reminds us "For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens." (Ephesians 6:12).
As Christians we cannot be afraid of the devil, but we must be aware of his treacheries. In fact as long as we remain in Christ we have power over all evil spirits, thus, the evil spirits are the ones that should be afraid of us. However, the devil is real, and we cannot underestimate his cleverness and power, although his power is limited and ultimately the devil remains a creature, entirely dependent on God from whom he derives his existence and power. God is the only one that is Almighty, God is the only one that is to be worshipped, and it is in God that we find peace, joy, love, and all the other fruits of the Holy Spirit. We rejoice in Christ because as Scripture tells us "For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" (Rev. 12:10-11).
Posts
I try to read C.S. Lewis' "Screwtape Letters" at least once a year. The book is a great meditation tool for keeping a watchful eye on how Satan can infiltrate our lives in very small steps. I am not as afraid of Satan being blatant - I am afraid of his subtleness.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could get my two sons to understand that the music they choose to listen to is satanic. They are products of "the culture" and see nothing wrong with bands that use skulls, skeletons, satanic symbols or blatantly offensive language. And these are two faithful Catholic boys (men)! Imagine how lost those children are who have no Christian training or background. I pray for my sons every day.
ReplyDeleteJoAnn,
ReplyDeleteWe had the same problem with our son who would listen to that kind of music, but we told him that we did not allow filth in our house of any kind, so he could not bring any of it in our home, and when we found CD's, we destroyed them. We also really started introducing him to really good music and got him interested in learning to play the guitar. We introduced him to contemporary artists like Jack Johnson, and Christian artists, contemporary ones like MercyMe, and he now done with the evil ones. It just took an awful lot of effort and prayer to get him to come around, and it definitely did not occur overnight.
The Church of Satan wishes to remind you that prejudice and bigotry aren't sufficient reasons to lie about another legally recognized religion.
ReplyDelete“Satanic churches are growing in number and also in membership.”
The Church of Satan has seen a proportionate increase in membership with the advent of the internet.
There are no other “Satanic” churches. There are many devil worshiping sects of Christianity that may be growing, but they generally lose as many as they gain due to the simple factor of growing up.
However, this is a perfect example of how YOU, yes YOU, Christians create devil worshipers and then blame us Satanists:
. “Some of those means can include the promises of material rewards, and the rewards of sensible pleasure under the forms of uninhibited sex, drugs, even sadistic and masochist practices. “ and "However, the devil is real, and we cannot underestimate his cleverness and power,"
Now, some bored kid hears that and BAM! He believes that is Satanism and he wants to join. Sadly, as you have warned him against it , he won’t read The Satanic Bible and find out that drugs are prohibited, minors are not welcome, that sexuality carries responsibility, and masochism is frowned upon. He would also learn there is no devil and that he alone is responsible for his actions.
So, while we Satanists are religiously mandated to create responsible humans who are law abiding and embrace justice, you Christians are creating the very monsters you fear!
Satanism is not devil worship.
True Satanists, as atheists , do not worship anything or any body. “Study not worship” is a Satanic motto.
Devil Worshipers worship the Christianized Devil.
Satanists are prohibited from any sort of sacrifice. When you deny all gods, goddesses, demons, angels and hobbits there is no one to sacrifice to.
Taking a page from Leviticus, Devil Worshipers sacrifice animals and occasionally people to the Christian Devil.
The Church of Satan excommunicates Satanists for committing criminal activity .
Devil worshipers revel in criminal behavior knowing that no matter what Christians are obligated to forgive them.
Satanists are born, not made. Satanists do not recruit, or go door to door---they rely on the inherent intelligence of the Satanist to seek out The Satanic Bible.
Devil worshipers are created in the pews of Christian churches. Through ignorance and prejudice Christian ministers tell lurid lies and stories about “Satanists”---glamorizing them in the eyes of bored church goers. They imply the devil has real power, thereby encouraging the mentally deficient, who already feel “different,” to seek out this powerful being to align themselves with.
Frankly, we're getting a bit tired with having to clean up your messes and being slandered by you.
Surely, if your God existed, he would be ashamed that you mask your bigotry with lies to rationalize your prejudice.
Intentional ignorance is not an excuse.'needing a scapegoat isn't a good reason either.
Feel free to dislike us Satanists because we don't believe in or pay homage to your god, but please stop lying about us and creating these bastard children of Christianity---the devil worshiper.
Magistra Ygraine
Church of Satan, Clergy
PS:
For more on the difference between Devil Worship and Satanism see http://magistrayrainetwo.blogspot.com/
or, for proof regarding Satanism: http://www.churchofsatan.com
Magistra, it is true that there is only one church of satan as such, however there are many other churches or communities that although do not bear that precise name are ultimately oriented towards similar principles. Since you are a member of the church of satan founded by Anton Lavey you are right in saying that the principles of such so called "church" are atheistic in principle. The teachings that you follow are based on individualism, self-indulgence, and "eye for an eye" morality as described by Anton. However not all forms of satanism are atheistic but there are many strains that are theistic, and many deify the devil. You may deify the devil unknowingly though. The fact that you are an atheist that calls herself atheist is a proof, although you may not be aware of it, that you are indeed a child of satan, a child of darkness, but whom Jesus Christ has redeemed and wants to bring into the light. It is interesting that you say that there is no devil and you are against Christianity, and yet the very name of your so called church bears the name of satan who is the devil in Christian and Jewish Scriptures. So if you say there is no devil why use the name of the devil as defined by the Christian scriptures as the basis for your own identity as a church?
ReplyDeleteThat is like saying there is no Christ and calling myself a member of the Church of Christ, it does not make sense. Satan has been called since the beginning the father of lies, the DECEIVER, and this is again proof of his work among your group. And even more interesting is also the fact that you use the word church, ecclesiae, a Christian word by nature, which means a community of believers in Christ, and yet you take this very word as part of your identity. There is a great contradiction even in your own name, you detest Christianity yet you cannot live without it, as you detest God whose existence you deny and yet you cannot live without Him who is the soource of your very existence right now and even allows you to exist despite your stubbornness and your choice to live in darkness. Magistra God loves you, and perhaps it is time that you open your heart to Christ, the LIGHT OF THE WORLD!
Aight I wanna respond to the post made by JoAnn. I assume your kids listen to heavy metal. Metal isnt evil, and musical taste isnt a sin. Your kids arent gonna get possesed by the devil if they listen to Metallica. If these lyrics 'offend' you, then your kids are winning the battle. They want you to piss you off. Dont let them. If this is really a phase, just let it go. If you force your will upon them, there not going to listen and may become worse. Let them find there way on there own. However, be vigilent on them getting into the culture. If they do they may never come out. The heavy metal culture has a ton of evil floating around, from drugs to alchohol to whatever. But if they just listen to the music and are still faithful to God, there is no problem.
ReplyDeleteOh and Father, Black Sabbath isnt evil. In fact Sabbath sings about Satan as a thing to be feared. The first song by Sabbath, 'Black Sabbath', is about a man getting attacked by a demon. This is based on a actual event. Bassist of BS, Geezer Butler, was really into witchcraft when he was young. He painted his apartment black and put a bunch of pentegrams and inverted crosses all around the place. One day Ozzy Osbourne gave him a book on witchcraft. That night Geezer woke up to a black figure at the end of his bed. Geezer flipped, threw the book out the window, painted his room orange and got a bunch of proper crucifixes in there. After that Sabbath wore crosses to all there live performances, to protect them from evil. However Deicide is evil, there just really bad at doing it.
And Magistra, have fun worshiping the greatest loser in the history of the earth. Have fun with your group of computer nerds running around with the whole 'Hail Satan' deal. Poser. Oh, I take great offense that your group has taken our metal salute (corvo) and turned it into your little stupid symbol of individuality and sticking it to the man instead of a symbol of comraderie and brotherhood. Realize this my friend, you are giving into your carnal desires and becoming very weak at the same time. I once thought like idiots like you, but I realized that hatred only hurts yourself and no one else. It makes you weak and alienates all around you. It took from the me the only woman I ever loved. So before you hurt yourself my friend I suggest you drop your little masquarade and speak to a priest, because the only salvation in this world is through \m/ Jesus \m/.
Stay (sic)!
Steve
Dear Steve,
ReplyDeleteYou did me a huge favor.
I wrote about it.
http://magistraygraine.wordpress.com/2009/01/28/famous-last-wordsi-hope-not/
Be well,
Ygraine
Haha thanks Magistra. Believe or not, even though you insist your not worshiping the devil, you kinda are. You accept all that is wrong with your body, your emotional first reaction. Like when some dude cuts you off in traffic, your immediate reaction is 'get back at him'. After all that is what Mr. LaVey preached, an eye for a eye. There must be disicpline. If some dude cuts me off in traffic, I dont get mad. I leave it to God. See to me God is the great judge of the earth. If you screw up, it will get you in the end. If you go out and hurt people randomly and the like, in this world or the next there will be justice. And thats what I like about God, God brings justice. And I find that comforting. See you have realize that human nature is inherintly evil. Human beings are programmed to do the wrong thing. We need to resist that urge to do evil. And that is very hard to do. Of course you guys are ethical, moral, etc, and I'm not hear to change you. But see when you go down that path of self-gratification, bad shit happens. And that ultimately leads to weakness.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for finding God, I believe that everyone must find God on there own. They can have all the knowledge of the Vatican thrown at them and they still wont believe. People need to get there own proof of his existance. I found my proof in a certain girl, I mean she was something. She was something no chemical or DNA could create, there had to be a designer to something so friggin beautiful. And then I screwed it up, thanks to my weakness.
Good luck with yur surgery.
Stay (sic)
Steve
I need to point out that, myself, as a Satanist do not hate your, so-called "god". As a Satanist, I feel like I am god myself, I am my own redeemer, and I blindly follow no one but myself. I have no feelings, whatsoever towards your weak, one dimensional and dead god, and I feel no need to fight against your outdated religion and change people's lives, for my commitement to mankind is minimal. Besides, if I went out converting people to Satanism, that would make me as bad you christians. Having said that, I have long time good friends, with christians, catholics, jews and even muslims and not once we clashed over religion. I may not respect their faiths, but I respect that it is their choice to believe in those faiths.
ReplyDeleteI just don't get it..... but you said it! You feel like god, yourself. So what you believe in then is a mere figment of your own imagination. You merely have a "feeling".
ReplyDeleteOur GOD spoke the world into existence, - your world too, since there is only one world, right? So too, there is only ONE TRUE GOD. All life was created by one source, the same TRUE GOD.
Now please, - the intention of my comment here is not to argue with you, but be assured that I will be praying for you, and you will FEEL IT. There will come a time when you feel peace deep within your heart, - remember this comment then, - OUR GOD is reaching out to you. Yes our GOD, - because HE created you too.
GOD gives us freedom of choice, - so I would then certainly be out of place to force my beliefs on you.
I plead with you to consider this :
What if you discover that our GOD existed after all, - but you discover this only at the end of your life. You do realise that it will then be too late to alter your beliefs. Is it therefore not worth rather risking your beliefs in this life. What do you have to lose?
When I read your comment, - I never detected anything "evil" about you. I respected your comment about enjoying friendships with people from all walks of life.
All life was created by GOD, - some call it the "big bang" - but "someone" created the big bang to start with!
You see, - I know that you were created by GOD, which means that you were created in his own image and likeness. He created you perfectly. Sadly though, - life casts evil ways upon all of us. We need to stand united and fight this.
Your straying from your creator, is no different to a child straying from their parent/s.
ALL life is precious, - yours too. For this reason I felt urged to reach out to you. This just happens to be the first time I have ever commented on a blog too, - so I trust that I am being led by GOD, - who longs to have you turn to HIM whilst you still have the chance to do so. GOD BLESS YOU.
Not wanting to submit to God is a matter of pride, which is the root of all sin. God resists the proud, and calls the meek blessed to the extent that they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)
ReplyDelete"Who are the meek? Those who are meek before God. They are not those who are meek before Satan. They are also not those who are ethically weak. They acknowledge their total dependency on God, and their need to obey His revealed word. But they recognize that it is this meekness and obedience that bring ultimate victory, in time and on earth...
"The religion of Satan is a power religion. Satan sees all conflict involving a power struggle. God sees the struggle as ethical. Whose name do we honor, man's or God's? This is the chief ethical question." Some trust in chariots, and some in horses:but we will remember the nameof the LORD our God" (Psalm 20:7)...
"The question is: Before whom will a man be meek? If he is meek before God, God says he will inherit the earth. If he is confident in his rebellion against God, he will lose both the earth and his own soul. Satan wasn't meek before God; he will perish under the judgment of God. Meekness is what we call an inescapable concept. It's not a question of "meekness vs. confidence." It's a question of meekness before whom or what?" -Gary North, 75 BIBLE QUESTIONS YOUR INSTRUCTORS PRAY YOU WON'T ASK, p.163-164
Hello Magistra, I think your name is very clever, you are also brave to stand up to much criticism. As a celtic Catholic I appreciate the honourable tradition which supports your beliefs. Our Catholic Church needs to be humble and to love the truth, and how much more so do the lurid Bible-thumping churches of the half-educated,who preach more about the dangers of Satan than about the Goodness of God. Your belief in your own divinity is only a partial truth, but at least you identify yourself with God,so you have a good attitude to God, Your respect for this word "God" will increase even more when you realize that God will do all the hard work, and you can have all the fun, just accept that the loving friendship of God is worth more than all the pleasures of this world put together.
ReplyDeleteSincerely Desmond.
your god didn't speak the world into existence. He was derived from OLDER gods like Enki, El, and Ea.
ReplyDeleteThe Genesis story was derived from earlier Sumerian creation stories.
It's degrading to say that the bible is the word of god. You mean to tell me that book of mythology is the best that the almighty creator of the universe can do?
How sad!!! How degrading!!
Anton Levey-author of the satanic bible and high priest of the religion. A famous quote of Levey, "There is a beast in a man that needs to be exercised, not exorcised." His dying words were, "Oh my, oh my, What have I done, there is something very wrong, something is very wrong.
ReplyDeleteProverbs 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him. But the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
ReplyDeleteEphesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
ReplyDeleteA New Agenda: We the people need no gas & no electric to have a man child with the spouses of our youth around the world. We shall build homes without electric, without gas, without roofs that exceed 7 & 1/2 feet, & with incinerators to burn garbage, burn dung, burn urine, & burn blood rags so that the entire sisterhood has a man child with the husbands of their youth.
TAKE MY CONFESSION WITH YOU. I have smoked cigars for 11 years & have no lungs, liver & kidneys at 45 years old. I continue to live through the Lord Jesus Christ as I received the Holy Spirit at 4 years old & was baptized as an adult in 1997. I continue to read my Bible& now use burned dung, urine, blood rags& tobacco butts to make meat offerings to eat. The Old Testament says that burned dung, urine, & blood rags were a part of the laws of Moses. Yes, it was in 2001 while I was driving to Florida that I was talking to the saints in heaven& Isaiah said, "You know that 70 years from now the sun will be dimmed in the sky" Oh, I said, “I don’t know.” I went back over the Old Testament& it said, “The sun shall be dimmed in the sky” & "I shall make them eat the grass of the field.” & “all these things shall come to pass” before theLord Jesus Christ returns.
5 years ago I was stamping my feet at work over the excessive electric usage & complaining that I didn’t have a husband & children to God the Father. I prayed, kneeling at my bed as to adopting children. Then while I was at work I adopted over 500 children in Swahili (I was born with a spot-was a reject in Hebrew) to find out what day it was. I had been taught prophesy at Wheaton Evangelical Free Churchin 1979 & 1980. We went back & forth in time while Governor Blagovich was verifying. We came up with 17 years of darkened sun before July 29, 2081.
July 29, 2081-the rapture of believers in Christ Jesus-all those who received the Holy Spirit-at the trumpet sound in heaven-1st the dead & then the living ascended to heaven in a twinkling of an eye
July 29, 2081-2088-the Great Tribulation-God’s wrath is poured out on the earth, Judgment of the Believers in Christ Jesus & the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in heaven
2088-3057-the Reign of Christ Jesus-(the Bible stated “1000 years” & in actuality it was 969 years)
3057-3059-the Devil is loosed out of the pit –(the Bible stated “a time & a half” & in actuality it was 1 & three fourths years)-the battle of Armageddon-the nations are drawn together for the last battle in the Valley of Megiddo-the Lord Jesus comes down of a white horse with the words, “King of Kings, Lord of Lords” written on His thigh & a sword comes out of His mouth to destroy all who are in the battle. The bible says that the blood runs a “horses’ bridle high” & birds feed on the bodies.
3059-the old heavens& the old earth pass away & the new heavens & new earth are created by the Lord Jesus Christ-at this point in time the Lord Jesus says,“Depart from me I never knew you.” to all who died in the battle of Armageddon, to those who took the mark of the beast in their right hand or forehead during the tribulation, to all who died during our time without receiving the Holy Spirit, & to all those who died during the flood of Noah’s day in wickedness. Jesus says, “In this world you shall have trouble, but I have overcome the world.”
Jesus says, “If we confess our sins He is faithful & just to forgive us our sins & to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Blessed are those whose sins are covered to whom the arm of the Lord has been revealed.
Times posted are subject to change.
Fear Him who can kill the soul.
Sincerely through Lord Jesus Christ, Allison Grace Karalus