}PPANASONI}                       ** THE THREAT OF SATANISM **



About  five years ago, when the movie 'War Games'came out,  there 

was a commotion in the popular press about 'computer hackers' who 

break  into top secret military computers with their  modems.  It 

made little difference to the press that they had misused the old 

computer  term,  hacker  (which really refers  to  any  dedicated 

computer  enthusiest  who spends a great deal of  time  with  his 

hobby,  especially if he is writing programs or working with  his 

hardware).  Of course, generalizing like that made all  computer-

ists  look like criminals, which is a fallacy. Now it seems  that 

the  same  sort of deffective logic may be occuring again,  in  a 

different field. The generalization we are seeing is the bunching

together  of all occultism, New age, and non_Christian  religions 

as 'Satanic'. This is especially being done by 'Christian  Funda-

mentalist', and 'Born Again Christian'media, but the publicity is 

ricocheting  into the more general press as well. As in the  case 

of the War Games hysteria five years ago, this faulty  journalism 

may be causing more harm than good. It is time to investigate

the  claims and the motives of the people behind it. WHERE  THERE 

IS  SMOKE  THERE IS FIRE Evil is appealing and  entertaining.  It 

sells things. Is it any wonder then, that the press and Fundamen-

talist  Christian  groups glorify evil?  What  they  are  talking 

about  is  Satanism,  the worship of the Devil.  But  we've  gone 

through that before. It was about 400 years ago and it was called 

the  Inquisition. Thousands of innocent people were tortured  and 

lost  their lives because of this same sort of deffective  logic. 

In more recent times, Hitler slaughtered millions of Jews,  gays, 

and other minorities for the same or similar 'reasons'.

In fact, Satanism was probably practiced during the middle  ages, 

and it is probably practiced today. But before you go jumping  on 

the  next  bandwagon, let me point out a few of  the  things  the 

Fundamentalists aren't telling us. Occult means hidden or  secret 

knowledge.  It  generally refers to a wide  area  of  philosophy, 

metaphysics, and alternative religions. Based upon that  deffini-

tion we can say that Satanism is a *type* of occultism.

We certainly cannot say that all occultism is Satanism. In  fact, 

Satanism  is  only a very small part of the occult.  Further,  it 

would  be inane to call the numerous non-Christian  religions  in 

the  world 'Satanic'. Satanism, and the glorification of evil  is 

being promoted by the very Fundamentalist groups out to stop  it. 

It is also being promoted by certain movies, books, and musical

groups.  There is a romatic attractiveness to Satanism  which  is 

appealing to *dabblers*. And the more publicity there is  against 

Satanisms,  the more dabblers there will be who  become  involved 

with it. It may even be that a few of those dabblers are perform-

ing those reprehensible acts so wildely publicised (desicrating

churches  and  cemitaries, ritual murder,  etc.).  Another  thing 

about  Satanism is that it is a form of  rebellion.  Classically, 

Satanism  is  a  Christian heresey. In other  words  it  operates 

within a Christian worldview. (Anyone not disposed to the  Chris-

tian  worldview cannot be a Satanist, by deffinition.) It  always 

was,  and  still is,  a form of rebellion against  the  Christian 

church, and the 'establishment'. That is why many 'outbreaks'  of 

Satanism occur in small towns in conservative, 'Christian'  parts  o73 

of the country. For some teenagers, Satanism may be a symbol for

feelings  of rebellion against authority. Some of the 'new  wave' 

and  'heavy metal' rock music groups capitalize on this  fact  in 

their music. 

TYPES OF SATANISM

Certainly  there is a great difference in the beliefs  and  prac-

tices  of  those  individuals we would call (or  who  would  call 

themselves)  Satanic.  We  need to define some  terms  for  three 

distinct types of Satanism. CLASSIC SATANISM, or 'true' Satanism, 

is  a  'religion' in which Satan, as the embodiment of  evil,  is 

worshipped  in deffiance of God and Christianity. Such  Satanists 

believe  that  God has betrayed the human race. The  practice  of 

classic  Satanism implies an upside-down reversal of  traditional 

values  and standards, and a perverse pleasure in practices  such 

as self-indulgence, cruelty, violence, and depression.  Certainly 

this  is the 'hard core' of Satanism. HEDONISTIC SATANISM,  is  a 

watered-down  version of the above. The tendency here is  to  be-

lieve  that Satan is misrepresented, and is not actually evil  at 

all.  Such groups cannot be considered inherently evil. They  are 

made up of mild-mannered accountants whose greatest  'perversion' 

is to follow the 'Playboy philosophy' of sensuous pleasure,  that 

is,  'it  is  alright to do it if it  doesn't  hurt  anyone.'MOCK 

SATANISM,  is Satanism for a 'kick'. Put here the  dabblers,  the 

misinformed, and certain rebellious teenagers, reacting to  their 

music and movies. They see Satanism as a romantic notion. This is 

not serious Satanism at all. Rather it is a 'fad' and media hype.

YOU CANNOT OUTLAW SATANISM

If  it  is nothing else, Satanism is a religion or  a  system  of 

belief.  It is protected under the constitution, so long  as  the 

practice  doesn't break any laws or hurt anyone.  Most  Satanists 

are off in their own world, doing their own things, and should be 

left  alone.  The very few *criminal types* who  break  laws  and 

cause  mischive,  are *individuals* who should be  prosecuted  as 

individuals,  not  as a movement. Even in the  occult  community, 

Satanism  tends to be regarded in a negative way. Mostly,  it  is 

simply  ignored.  Real  believers in Satanism are  a  very  small 

minority.

COMMON FALLACIES ABOUT SATANISM

While  it is true that some Satanists may participate in  magical 

and  occult  practices, such practices does not  imply  that  all 

occultism  is Satanic. Just because I like Italian food,  doesn't 

mean  I  am Italian. The presence of occult books,  even  of  the 

infamous  (and  best selling) 'Satanic Bible' is not  proof  that 

someone is a Satanist, any more than the presence of the Bible is 

proof he is a Christian. Similarly, the presence of an altar,  of 

candles,  or of magical implements is not specificly Satanic.  It 

may indicate an interest in the occult, but even that is a gener-

alization.  Some mainstream religions, such as Buddhism, may  use 

these things. A pentacle (ie, a five-pointed star) is not specif-

ically  a Satanic symbol. It is a legitimate symbol in  occultism 

for protection against evil. And it is a symbol in Judaism (along 

with  a six-pointed star). The pentacle  has, unfortunately  been 

maligned  by occult subject movies. When they do  their  homework 

they  *invert*  the pentacle for Satanic (or  evil)  purposes.  A 

pentacle  with the point up is a good pentacle. A  pentacle  with  o73 

the point down is considered evil. An analogy might be made  with 

the  Christian cross. Displaying the cross in normal  fashion  is 

considered good. However, an inverted cross is a Satanic  symbol. 

Of course that doesn't mean the cross itself is a Satanic symbol; 

it is Satanic only when it is inverted. 

WHITE HATS AND BLACK HATS

The  world is not a western. You can't always tell the good  guys 

from the bad by the color of the hat that they wear. And it is an 

oversimplification  to  blame the problems in the  world  upon  a 

Satanic conspiracy. There is no conspiracy. Name calling, and the

alarmist tactics being used by certain Fundamentalist groups will 

not benefit anyone. Evil is not more powerful than good. The best 

protection against evil is to be a good person. 



Phil Hansford

Mysteria

818-353-8891 (modem)

April 6, 1988. (revised)

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protection against evil is to be a good person. 
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