Why do people think Pagans worship Satan?

Question

I hate to break it to everyone..but we don't believe Satan exists. To name an evil is to create it. Pure evil upsets the balance of the universe. We don't believe in hell either. So why am I always accused of worshipping Satan? Does that mean Allah is Satan too?

*Side note. We do not believe in hell because the soul is reborn. Its not a one time you are screwed deal. You come back to learn your lessons and you keep at until you get it right. If at first you don't succeed and all. And Hitler and Mother Thersa don't have the same shot.

Answer 1

Satan is a figure in Middle Eastern traditions, like Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Most pagans do not focus on Middle Eastern traditions. The idea that pagans worship Satan is propaganda from those who do not know the truth of the matter. Or it's from those who feel their god is universal, so they think that all other gods must actually be their Satan in disguise. I have not met any other pagans who worship evil in any form. Our gods and goddesses are generally positive. Some have light and dark aspects, like nature itself, but none are pure evil. Anyone who does some research will see that what I'm saying is true.

Answer 2

It is important to remember that the most radical fundamentalists of Christianity give the rest of the crowd a bad name. While the Jerry Falwells of the world insist we're all worshiping the devil, I'm pretty sure most people don't believe that all pagans worship Satan, but many have heard this rumor from the depths of the religious right and don't know the truth of the matter. If someone asks you about it, it's best not to get upset but to understand that the asker probably just wants to know more and to be reassured that you aren't doing anything dreadfully evil. Answer calmly and rationally, and most of the time all will be well.

What led to the belief? I'm no historian, but I can offer a possible explanation. A couple of thousand years ago, there was a long-standing tradition amongst warring tribes that, when tribe A defeats tribe B, tribe B's gods are now demons and devils who were killed by the gods of tribe A. The catholic church's displacement of widespread paganism took a similar approach. The pagan gods were demonized, and the populace was urged to follow the "one true god". I encourage you to read about the history of the early Christian church if you want to learn more.

Answer 3

pagans tend to have an inherent dislike of Satan, as Christians try to demonize anything pagan as Satanic. So even the pagans who adopt some Christian imagery tend not to pick up the Satan aspect of Christianity. But if you consider major aspects of Christianity of being actually pagan (the trinity, the quasi-divinity of Mary, Christmas), than Christians would be the only pagans who could worship satan.

Answer 4

I had a tour of the national gallery the other day, and I read the history of a painting with bacchus in it, it effectively answered this question. Pagans originally worshiped the spirit and nature, and for the catholic church to denounce this, a history of renesence art basically propagated a the myth of the devil associated with natural things. Eg, the most natural thing in the world, procreation was made taboo when once it was worshipped, men and women were bad to have sexual thoughts and were made to be ashamed of their bodies. This is personified in bachus, who was originally more like a santa fat guy, was turned into a grinning thin horned half-human, representing the devil. i suppose popular culture latched on to this drivel. Ps what i dont get is people who worship GOD, but deny there being a devil- surely you cannot have one personification without the other?

Answer 5

I'm not pagan but am Gnostic Christian. Hey, I probably worship Satan to most traditional Christians too. Christianity is based on paganism and Eastern religion more than people want to admit.

Ignorance is error and suffering.

Knowledge is bliss.

:)

PS. Satan is your lower, carnal, animal self, not that red guy with a tail and horns with a fumanchu sitting in Hell Fire. Everyone has Satan self in them until they turn towards God/the good self/the Kingdom within and dedicate themselves to that. Little Horned Dude, THAT is a myth!

Answer 6

because people think if you don't worship God you probably worship satan,God made everyone and everything good has a bad[every light has a dark] and hell could exist because where do evil people go if there is no hell then that means Adolf Hitler has the same same fate as Mother Terisa

Answer 7

That is merely a far-fetched generalization and I highly doubt it is the majority consensus of people. However, I believe the reason why some, and possibly yourself think this is because simply the earth is dust... and has no spiritual substance. This is associated with Satan, as Satan is bound to the earth and is the "prince of the air" here, meaning he currently runs free attempting to decieve the world. God is not a part of this. Yes he created everything, but he himself is not indwelling within the dust. He is not carnal. Everything that is carnal will perish.

Answer 8

People think that pagans worship Satan because of ignorance.

Sort of a 'if you don't believe as I do, then you are evil or in league with the devil' type of thing.

I personally wouldn't bother even answering people that accuse you of such a thing to begin with, because regardless of your answer they are going to believe what they will believe.

Answer 9

Do you mean you are a s.atanist and people say you worship the d.evil? Sadly, many people (cough cough *Christians* cough) dont bother to study other religions enough to make educated statements about them. Its probably the name. I mean, the name s.atanist implies you worship s.atan.

I am a Christan, and i am sorely dissapointed by lack of religious study by most Christians. In my opinion, only a fool accepts one religion without a) proof its true by miracles or whatnot or b) studying all religions and picking the one that feels most right.

Good luck getting everyone to stop bugging you. Everyone calls me S.atanist because I know a fair well about it, and I feel for you.

Answer 10

Because many of the pagan beliefs were demonized when christian influence swept through much of the western world. The horned god became the archetype for the christian devil, women were the originators of sin when pagans felt that women were sacred, their holidays were turned into either christian holidays or reduced to the status of children's games. It's all about control. That's all it's ever been about.