Why is is called satanism if some satanist claim Satan doesn't exist?

Question

Anton LaVey from the leadership of the Church of Satan claimed that to be true, so maybe other/most satanists think that is true too.. That's double-think don't you think, because the religion is obviously named after that ~being~, Satan... These are the same people who claim that stupidity should be hated.. It makes me chuckle a bit.

Don't attack me plz, ANSWER THE QUESTION.

Answer 1

There are some Satanists who believe in a literal devil of some kind. Then there are the Satanists who claim it's the "worship of the self", and that there is no God or devil or supernatural things of any kind, which would make them atheists. A true atheist would be someone more like James Randi, who disbelieves anything mystical. Most people who identify themselves as Satanists are the "LaVeyian" variety. Anton LaVey was a liar, fraud, bankrupt wife beating pimp. BTW, one idiot actually had the nerve to say "Everyone beat their wife in the fifties" when informed of this(even though he beat Diane from the 60's into the 80's). And no, not everyone did, and it was still wrong.This shows that rather than standing on their own two feet, Satanists slavishly make excuses for their cult figure, not unlike they way Scientologists do for L. Ron Hubbard, or Moonies for Rev. Moon. So really, Satanists belong to a cult of personality.

LaVey was approached by Avon books to wrote a book on witchcraft to cash in on the occult craze of the 1960's. He cobbled together "The Satanic Bible" from a forgotten right-wing political tract (Where of the material from the Book of Satan comes from), Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", and the superstitious occult material of John Dee (Enochian "Magic").

LaVey never really seemed to know what Satanism was himself. Some of his writings seemed atheistic, at other times he called Satan "the dark side of nature" and often refers to Satan as a personification. Even COS defector Aquino admits LaVey was never clear if Satan was real or not, sometimes even calling him, "the man downstairs".

Eventually, people who tried the Satanic Bible realized the spells didn't work, and so began the whole "Well, it's really a philosophy" excuse. In the 1980's, when LaVey was living in poverty he then claimed he was shunning consumer materialism ( a complete role reversal from "Indulgence instead of abstinence!") ala Pee Wee Herman's "I meant to do that!" But the Satanic Bible gives details for 3 spells, for revenge, sex, and getting Satan's compassion (!) It is quite specific about timing of rituals, instruments to be used, clothing, etc. It seems from this, LaVey was implying results could be achieved through magic. There is a chapter in the Satanic Bible called "On The Choice of Human Sacrifice" which Satanists claim means a victim is to be killed by a curse, not by actually murdering them. But therein lies a problem for the Satanists who don't believe in magic, because then how can they kill their victims with a curse?

LaVey claimed that nuts were given "the bum's rush" when trying to join the Church of Satan, but clearly nut was in the eye of the beholder. LaVey has admitted to holding a "cannibal feast" of a human leg in at least 3 books. The Satanic Bible & Satanic Rituals certainly describe many things most normal people would consider pychotic such as Nude girl is used as an altar (Satanic Bible, Satanic Rituals)A human skull is used in Die Elektrischen Vorspiele ritual (Satanic Rituals, p. 109)Human leg bone or arm bone is used in Homage to Tchort ritual (p.137)
Woman dressed as nun urinates before group into a bedpan in the Black Mass ritual (p.43) Urine is then sprinkled like holy water (p.44)Man climbs into coffin with nude woman (or nude man if he is gay) in Le Epais ritual (p.59).

As a "philosophy", Satanism could be boiled down to hedonism, which was hardly a new idea in the 1960's. Oddly enough, most Satanists don't fit the bill as swingers. Some seem to lead fairly uneventful lives. Here's an example:

"I've been forced to give up coffee - the acid was responsible for a minor ulcer and I can no longer take any chances with my health. This was my solitary vice - now it is gone. I do not drink, do not smoke, do not use recreational drugs and have nothing remotely resembling a sex life!"
--"Lord" Egan of "The First Church of Satan"

Wow! What a swinger! So then the picture begins to develop that Satanism is not so much a philosophy of life as it is a fantasy; a means to escape a life not worth living.

To anyone seeking spiritual answers, you might try the non-fiction writings of C.S. Lewis instead.

Answer 2

The reason Anton Levay called it Satanism was as he put it, "To keep out those that are part of the herd mentality!" The herd is YOU!!!
Satanism is called that because Christians DO NOT look beyond what is right under there nose! They do NOT know jack SH*T about their own religion other then what pastor bob tells them and they do not know anything about Satanism because they get hung up on the WORD SATANISM!!

It really shows how STUPID they are!!!

Answer 3

For LaVeyan Satanists - Satan is a metaphor, a symbol, for man's carnal nature and natural instincts. Satan stands for everything Christianity seems to want to stomp out like free thought, intelligence, science, knowledge, and the overall progression of the human race.

Answer 4

'Satanism' refers to several completely different beliefs.

"LaVey rejects the Black Mass, cruelty to animals, or a literal belief in (or worship of) Satan, instead considering Satan as the human instict within ourselves, which is what LaVeyan Satanism celebrates; the human instinct. Instead he supports a view of human beings as animals and rejects many social structures that inhibit our instincts."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanism

Answer 5

Lavey was ashowman, and his choice of name for his "religion" was as much to do with flash and dazzle as it was the basic tenets of the faith, which went against everything the church stood for, the virtues were sins in his eyes and the sins were virtues

Answer 6

It is not named after a real figure, it was called Satanism just to take a shot at the Christians.

It also shows that they do not believe in your fairy tales and prove it by naming their religion after your scariest figure.

Answer 7

alot of atheists like to mess with christians by praising satan

Answer 8

satan = Shaitan... the adversary... to question the norm... to feed the self... to grow and understand without the influence of the Christian hoodoo.