What are satanists?

Question

what do they worship? Are they evil?

Answer 1

Satanists worship Satan! They are not Atheists! Yes I would call them evil! Satan is evil.

Answer 2

Most Satanists are atheistic, and they are normally not evil. They worship the Self, but actually have no belief in Satan or God. They use the term "satanism" because Satan, although they believe it is a myth, to them is a symbol of self-indulgence, nonconformity, and intelligence.

There are, however, theistic Satanists. These people are uninformed, uneducated, and ignorant. They believe that Satanism is simply inverse Christianity. They are not considered to be true Satanists and are looked down on by LaVeyan (true) Satanists because of this. Theistic Satanists are usually rebellious kids, mentally ill, or criminals who commit crimes in the name of the "devil." Thankfully, their numbers are extremely small.

Then there are the Luciferians. Some acknowledge the Lucifer from the Bible, and some acknowledge the Lucifer from Roman mythology ("light-bearer" he was the god of the new day and the god of twilight) They view Lucifer and Satan as 2 seperate entities. Most of them are also atheistic. They regard Lucifer as a symbol of intelligence, creation, and bravery.

Answer 3

Unfortunately the name 'Satanism' seems to obviously imply that whoever is a Satanist, must worship Satan. Not true. Many Satanists do not worship nor believe in the Devil. So why is it called Satanism? Out of an act of ignorance I believe.

Anton LaVey, the Founder of The Church of Satan (and LaVeyan Satanists credit him to creating "Satanism"), wanted to create a religion that was the very antithesis of Christianity, hence COS (church of Satan). But LaVey did not believe in the devil the way the Christians did - he believed he was simply an historical and literary figure and nothing more.

Satanism itself is more about the act of worshipping oneself, although like any religion, there are varying beliefs within that system.

When I belonged to a Satanic Group years back, it was a mixture of the following:
1. Satanists who believed they were god.
2. Satanists who worshipped the Devil
3. Satanists who saw Satanism more as a philosophy than a religion.


Magick has always been seen by Christians as a form of Sorcery. Depending on what you read, many believe that the Christians took the pagan god Pan and changed him into the Christian Devil. Without Pan, there would have been no devil. And why was he created? To instil fear and control over the people.

So what better way to get rid of those nasty pagans, then tell everyone they were have sex with the devil in their midnight meetings, and calling up demons most foul! And the Witch hunt begins.
Satan isn't necessarily who he appears to be. Most people say Satan, lucifer, devil blah blah blah are one and the same.

Some Satanists acknowledge a devil and in fact worship him -but some will say that's purely an aspect of themselves as well.

As for Pan, I'm sure the educated Satanists recognise Pan for who is he, but a majority of Satanists whom I've met and and the group I belonged to, didn't worship Satan or even recognise him as a deity. It seems to be the younger ones who want to shock mommy and daddy. It was more about putting oneself first. It just depends on who you talk to about it and what they believe.

Answer 4

Satanists don't worship anything, they think of Satan as a "metaphorical" moral. Theistic Satanists are the ones who literally worship Satan. Just because someone worships Satan, it doesn't mean they're "evil", they could be really friendly, caring, loving.

Answer 5

People that worship Satan. What else do you think they could possibly be with the moniker "Satanists"?

They're not evil, they just do things like conjur spirits and worship Satan, depending on the particular brand of Satanism. Some of the worship practices in Secular Satanism, a particular type of Satanism, includes slaughtering animals and such, so if you consider that evil, then I suppose they are. They don't have any specific characteristic as a whole that makes them all evil, though.

EDIT: I'm not a man who doesn't do my research. Secular Satanist's have been known to sacrifice animals for self indulgent satisfaction as part of ritualistic healing. Theistic Satanism, the Church of Satan, animal sacrifice isn't forbidden or condoned, but is frowned upon.

EDIT2: J.P., I apologize for associating the Church of Satan with Theistic Satanism. You've proven me wrong, and it was my mistake. Thank you for correcting me. I've edited my statement to specify between Secular and Theistic Satanism, and have made sure not to mention the Church of Satan.

Answer 6

We've often heard about the sociopaths who appear to worship Satan. I've thankfully never met any of those in real life or online.

I have met a few people online who consider themselves to fit under the umbrella term of Satanist in a theological or esoteric sense. The people I have known consider themselves Atheist--they look upon Satan or Lucifer as a symbol. Some look upon Lucifer as a Promethean character, who was punished by the Gods for giving humans access to "light."

These "Luciferian" paths seem to be very self-centered, but not explicitly evil by most definitions. They don't embrace chaos and destruction as you'd associate with the sociopaths, but they do seem to have little regard for their fellow human beings. While not explicitly evil, apathy is considered the opposite of love.

It is not a path I could ever walk. Nor could I feel comfortable with such a one in my closest community of brethren.

Answer 7

MOST Satanist are actually atheist. Sorry to kill the buzz for you. It's a form of self worship more then anything else. Really nice people and really smart ones too. We have two reguar ones here.

go to churchofsatan.com if you really want to know. It's a neat site.

Once again, I am amazed at the ignorance. Do you people actually look things up before you say things? LeVey Satanism is atheistic. READ

Answer 8

Most Satanists you will meet are members of the Church of Satan.

Most members are actually atheists, who worship nothing. They practice magic rituals, but only in the sense of using them as psychodramas.

They do not believe in Satan or God, or any other supernatural being (as a whole). Most of them are not evil, though they do tend to be unapologetic about being themselves and not trying to live up to other people's standards, prefering to stand on their own feet and by their own conscience.

http://www.churchofsatan.com/ will be able to tell you more.

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Dr. Kemp -- Please do your research. The killing of animals for anything other than food or defense is strictly forbidden by the Church of Satan.

CoS is not theistic satanism.

http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Eleven.html

Note rule #10:

"10. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food."

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Dr. Kemp -- Apology not needed. Between two academics, acknowledgement is enough. :)

Answer 9

I think, for the most part, satanists begins as atheists. They do not believe in God or any deity. I am unsure of the rest...but according to the definition of satanism it is the worship of satan or the adversary of Christian rituals. I think this is correct. The influence behind satanism is entirely wicked. Don't get to close as satan is a great deciever..

Answer 10

They don't actually worship Satan. They mostly worship themselves. Instead of putting a God first and then themselves, they make sure they're happy first.