I dislike religion and sports for the same reason: both are so organized they tend lose their original meaning.

When you start crafting rules - daily rituals / practices - emotional ties - books - institutions - etc. then the original point of your entire endeavor can easily get lost.

Hence when I read or hear about Satanism all I can think is, "Huh, that's cute. What's the difference?"

- You're still creating an organized system

- You're still pushing some kind of belief

- You're still establishing rituals, dogma, books, practices, etc.

Were you meaning to be anti-Christian or anti-establishment? Because the simple answer to that is to just not be Christian or step away from established practices and let go.

Most Satanists I've met are people who thrive on pushing other's buttons by choosing to engage them on the same terms / field. They're reactionary, not revolutionary, and while I don't begrudge their efforts I'm just not sold on the ultimate efficacy of their ideals.

Personally I don't believe in the Bible, Christ, Satan, God, angels, heaven, hell or the rest of it. As far as I'm concerned it's all made up. One culture's made up theory of how things began isn't any more true than another culture who believes the world sits on the back of a cosmic turtle. Honestly I'd rather bet on the turtle guy even if astronomy contradicts him; remember your religion believes in winged and horned people riding on sunbeams for Christ the lich's sake.

This is a bold question. I’m curious to see how the people on this site react to such a topic given there are many Prosers who are quite open about their faith. Now, are we talking about Laveyan Satanism/The Church of Satan/Joy of Satan or Satanism according to groups like say, The Satanic Temple?

From my understanding, Satanism and Satan worship are two very different philosophies: Theistic vs. Atheistic. While there are people who truly do regard the devil as a patriarch and engage in rituals to honor and engage the entity, it would appear that the philosophical/atheistic Satanists are more common.

Atheisic-based believers regard Satan as no more than a symbolical figure, and see him as a representation of man’s choice to break away from tyranny and seek thought and action independent of enforced dogmatic beliefs. A lot of them reject supernaturalism of any sort. While many people see Satanism existing solely as a direct mockery of Christianity, these groups (such as The Satanic Temple) view themselves differently and instead choose to focus less on mocking religion and more so on not allowing religion to dominate where it shouldn’t. Groups like TST are heavily involved in political and social activism for that reason, and do a surprising amount of charity work.

I’ve read some of Lavey’s stuff and I believe he is more geared toward the supernatural aspect of things. Some of his philosphies are pretty intense, but the overall themes of personal power and not buying into the light/dark dichotomy is very strong and I can see how it would speak to people. I’ve seen offshoots of Lavey’s stuff that was strongly anti-Semetic though, and found that to be unsettling.

Not saying I’m an expert on the matter. But I very much enjoy studying various religious and philosophical beliefs and Satanism is one of the more fascinating ones I’ve come across. Talking to followers of Satanism about their beliefs, interestingly enough, is easier than talking to believers of more staunch religions as they tend to be more flexible and varied in their world-view. In my personal studies, I have found that oftentimes, when speaking to people of strict faith, you must alter your speech and walk on eggshells in order to set them at ease and not insult them.

I met one of the founding members of The Satanic Temple at an event in Atlanta and he had some interesting insight on the Temple and their practices.

Sources: personal research online, reading the literature and talking to followers