Ultimately, Satanism is a religion and a philosophy based on man as he really is: a carnal being free from the fiction that is spirituality and one who champions total responsibility, pragmatism, and the here-and-now.

Satanism has been referred to as an “unreligion” in the sense that it does not subscribe to the notion of some being who must be worshiped, its most common misconception.  Others may even say that Satanism is challenging popular notions of how ‘religion’ is defined, not content with the dictates of Judeo-Christian realities.

The varying views on Satan aside, much like other religions Satanism has faith in a construct which Satan embodies. Satan may or may not be a real, living entity, conscious or a physical thing that can be interacted with. It is a symbol, something ethereal, something that basically doesn’t exist except as an emotional attachment and personal dream. Just like Buddhists do not worship Buddha, Satanists hold up Satan as an ultimate principal rather than an object of literal worship. Satan inspires and provokes people, like all many religions the ultimate point is self-help, doing good and finding meaning. God believers have a different opinion on what Satan is, but their opinion is a result of their own personal choices and religion.

Satanists use the symbol of Satan as a representative of various philosophical ideas, social instincts, intellectual ideals and theological statements. Here is an introduction to all of these aspects of Satan. The best way to get an understanding of Satan is to read The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey and “The Satanic Scriptures” by Peter Gilmore.  Below are the 9 Satanic Statements:

1. Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!
2. Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams!
3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit!
4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates!
5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!
6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires!
7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all!
8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!
9. Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!

Satanism is also held by its followers to not be like Devil Worship. Satanism and devil worship are two distinctly different philosophies. Devil worship is the worship of an external deity, the Devil, and can easily be seen and be labeled the polar opposite of Christianity

Yonder Mtn. String Band provides a great way to look at the Devil and the saving of the soul. Not sure they meant it this way, but it play wells and my kids dig it.

The WC Fields saying/quote of “I love Jesus, but I hate his followers” is an interesting reality. I know this might not be the exact quote and it may be someone else, but we continue to look at our religion as the only way. Is what I believe the only way to believe?

Please Note: This does have some not so good language.

Intelligent Design is different than creationism, followers believe only that the complexity of the natural world could not have occurred by luck and randomness. Some entity must have created the complexity is the core thread of thought. The designer ultimately can be anything or anyone. William Paley popularized the design argument:

If we assume that a watch must have been fashioned by a watchmaker, then we should assume that an ordered universe must have been fashioned by a divine Creator.

The limited scope of Intelligent Design theory makes it compatible with a wide range of theories. Some ID theorists believe in evolution—or at least that species can change over time. The main delta from all-in science is that intelligent design does not assume that everything has a natural cause.

What is Passover?

Passover is a religious ceremony instituted by the God of the Bible to memorialize the time when He delivered the descendants of Abraham out of slavery in Egypt. Read about it in Chapter 12 of Exodus, the second book of the Bible.  Yup Passover comes from the Bible, first mentioned in the book of Exodus. As God pronounced to the people of Israel enslaved in Egypt that he would free them, he said he would “Smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.” However, he instructed the Israelites to put a sign of lamb’s blood on their door posts: “and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

Of all the Jewish holidays, Pesach is the one most commonly observed, even by otherwise non-observant Jews. Pesach is another word for passover.  The 2 key commandments associated with the holiday are: eating matzah, or unleavened bread; and the prohibition of eating any foods containing leavening during the holiday. In ancient times there was a third: the offering of a lamb in the evening on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Nisan and the eating that night of the Passover sacrifice. The commandments have since combined into a special Passover feast called the seder, celebrated on the first two evenings of the holiday. Other customs associated with Passover include eating bitter herbs and other foods at the seder celebration.

What is a Seder?

The Hebrew term seder means “order”. It is an in-house liturgy – a set sequence of actions performed and passages recited in a religious ceremony. It has become customary to refer to the overall ceremony as a Seder.  The word Seder is a Hebrew word that literally means “order.”  It is most commonly used to refer to the Passover Seder, a Jewish holiday ritual. Passover Seder takes place on the 15th or 15th and 16th days of Nisan on the Jewish calendar.

What is Haggadah?

Haggadah means “the telling” in Hebrew. A haggadah is a script that contains the words to be spoken and that describes the actions to be taken at a Passover Seder and the order.

Related articles:

• Thanksgiving: A Festival with Hebrew Roots
• Biblical diet ‘not very healthy’
• The Grapes of Wrath and Biblical Allusions

The police noticed over time a man involved in prostitute discussion boards under the names of Sullivant Guy, Broad Street Guy and Toby, per the Columbus Dispatch. They now believe it is McFadden. Two others were also arrested in connection with the ring.

He has been charged with seven felonies, including pandering obscenities involving a minor, promoting prostitution and compelling prostitution, according to a Columbus Police Department spokesman.

Sex and Religion doesn’t stop there.  More and more training and study is needed.  Recently, The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing released a study called: Sex and the Seminary: Preparing Ministers for Sexual Health and Justice.  Are we living in a national state of emergency when it comes to the lack of connection between sexuality and religion?

In January 2008, NSRC partnered with the Center for Sexuality and Religion to create one of the first sexual literacy trainings ever for seminarians, administrators, staff & students in the U.S. labeled “21st Century Challenges to Religion and Sexuality”. The Center for Sexuality and Religion is currently focused on training seminarians nation wide around sexuality.

So education is apparently not just needed for priests, looks like everyday folk need some help. Since it appears that abstinence pledges are a little weak too.   I guess in the end , sex and religion are two different things which are forever connected by dogma and the public’s fascination.

Related articles:

• Why Do Men Buy Sex?
• Prop. K: ‘Pretty Woman’ to Walk Streets Legally?

Love is central to every religion. Hopefully we can all find a way to love each other. This Ziggy Marley video could be seen as anti-religion or at least formal, but it can also be seen as a way to embrace religion.

Love for life. Love for the future. Love for Family. Love for your God.

The childish things could be anything, since he didn’t let it out. Let’s guess:

• The thought that one could generate wealth by continuously exchanging paper of company 1 to company 2
• The concept that one really does need an interest only load for a 6000 sq. ft. house
• The hubris that the US should just go anywhere on the planet and impose our will
• That two wars can simultaneously be waged successfully

We can break down the financial mess to a failure of personal decision making and accountability, a lack of transparency and the desire for easy profits. Don’t need to be religious to think these things are childish, but isn’t that what religion has historically provided?  A moral compass.

That being said, what have churches done to challenge a culture that honors free-market ideology and consumerism, a secular concepts that challenge many religious insights into flawed humanity. Think the seven deadly sins.

Shouldn’t churches be a moral counter weight that calls on its own traditions to push back against greed? Seems like times they are changing, churches are being a little less aggressive on these warnings. Perhaps it is un-American to push back. At this point, religious voices are now virtually absent from ethical debates about bailouts, deficits and war.

I guess it makes sense that a new Gallup Poll says religion’s social influence is waning. 2/3′s of Americans say religion is losing influence on life. Just a couple of years ago it as 1/2 – mmm….

Maybe we are all looking to the government to provide the moral guides and influence, maybe we need to look somewhere else, but maybe not.