109 of 122 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
it's not what you think..., November 16, 2006
This review is from: The Satanic Bible (Mass Market Paperback)
I have owned this book for quite some time and have read it several times through. When i first purchased it i wasn't looking for a religious experience, nor did i find one. I have always been an Atheist and i like reading about the world;'s many religions so i can offer a non-biased view of this book.
Most christians would have you believe that the Satanic Bible is a 'set of rules' one would follow on the pathway to Hell, yet it is not. On the contrarty, a 'true' Satanist' does not indulge in the many wicked practices church-goers would have you believe. Of course, that is because they are only repeating what they have been told by the preacher of their said church.
Satanists hold the ohysical body of man and woman on high as a temple, much like christianity, and do NOT perform rituals of bloody sacrafices at night in the nude. Just as christians are bound by the 7 virtues, Satanists hold the so called 'seven deadly sins' high up to keep their way of life a good one. Here is a part from this very book for reference about this:
"The seven deadly sins of the christian church are: greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth. Satanism advocates indulging in each of these 'sins' as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification.
A Satanist knows there is nothing wrong with being greedy, as it only means that he wants more than he already has. Envy means to look with favor upon the possession of others, and to be desirous of obtaining similar things for oneself. Envy and greed are the motivating forces of ambition--and without ambition, very little of any importance would be accomplished.
Gluttony is simply eating more than you need to keep yourself alive. When you have overeaten to the point of obesity, another 'sin'--pride--will motivate you to regain an appearance that will renew your self-respect.
Anyone who buys an article of clothing for a purpose other than covering his body and protecting it from the elements is guilty of pride. Satanists often encounter scoffers who maintain that labels are not necessary. It must be pointed out to these destroyers of labels that one or many articles they themselves are wearing are not necessary to keep them warm. There is not a person on this earth who is completely devoid of ornamentation. The Satanist points out that any ornamentation of the scoffer's body shows that he, too, is guilty of pride. Regardless of how verbose the cynic may be in his intellectual description of how free he is, he is still wearing the elements of pride.
Being reluctant to get up in the morning is to be guilty of sloth, and if you lie in bed long enough you may find yourself commiting yet another sin--lust. To have the faintest stirring of sexual desire is to be guilty of lust. In order to insure the propagation of humanity, nature made lust the second most powerful instinct, the first being self-preservation. Realizing this, the Christian Church made fornication the 'Original Sin.' In this way they made sure no one would escape sin. Your very state of being is as a result of sin--the Original Sin!
The strongest instinct in every living thing is self-preservation, which brings uo to the last of the seven deadly sins--anger. Is it not our instinct for self-preservation that is aroused when someone harms us, when we become angry enough to protect ourselves from further attack? A Satanist practices the motto 'If a man smite thee on one cheek, smash him on the other!' Let no wrong go unredressed. Be as a lion in the path-be dangerous even in defeat!"
This is taken directly from the Satanic Bible, chapter 3 page 46. Anton Szandor LaVey is the original founder of the first Church of Satan and these are but some of his words. As i read the book thoroughly, i found quite a bit of it interesting as much of it contradicts what the Christian Church would have you believe a Satanist really is. But what ruined the book for me personally was the last few chapters on rituals of/and magic. Now, i am a man of science so i don't believe in such things but for those who do, you may very well be delighted with what you read. The funny thing is that the book tells you more than once that it does not condone, nor do Satanists practice habitually, rituals of human sacrafice.
The rituals contained within are akin to 'voodoo' and the like in that you do certain things in front of an alter such as chime a bell and whatnot, and then you 'pray' for certain things such as better fortune or karma if you will on one that has wronged you or a loved one.
The whole premise of the book is that man is not much different than the animals we dominate. Our basic instincts and drives are what helped us to populate the earth and we should not try to now separate ourselves from those instincts.
Of course, you may be thinking that this is barbaric, but if you do infact read this book you will note, as per further reading of the 'sins', that if all of man kept himself to the seven sins, much of the wrong that plagues the woprld would be very much avoided.
Pride seems to be praised alot as it seems to be the sin that keeps the others in check. Your pride won't let you get fat, be lazy, sleep around, hurt others unnecessarily out of anger, or envy others too much because if you do then it will motivate you to work harder to achieve the things you do envy.
I gave this book 5 stars because it contains ALOT that has been hidden, twisted and made to be misinformed to those unaware. And though i would have given it four stars because of its parts on ritual magic, i realize that my personal beliefs do not matter when offering this review to others.
Pretty much, it is the same as Christianity, with Lucifer/Satan (he has many names in the book) taking the place of Jesus as the angel of knowledge. And where Christianity focuses more on submissive compassion, Satanism focuses more on confident and real expectations in our every day world.
It doesn't harp on the notion that if everyone becomes a Satanist then this world would be at last with peace for it says that world peace is quite impossible simply because of our primal instincts. And that, as it presents itself, is the way it should be; just as in all of nature.
Nor does it tell you to go around forcing your way to get what you want. The 'if a man smite you one one cheek, smash him on the other' mantra is only a metaphor not to be taken literally. It is meant to represent the confidence one is supposed to have in themselves to achieve what they desire and not let others impose upon them as they do the same.
I can sum up most of the teachings of this book with this:
"The harder you work for the things you wish to achieve, the more likely you will achieve them."
If you still think that Satanism is nothing but a religion where you are allowed to willingly hate others for your own expense then i urge you to buy and read this book. It will prove to you otherwise. It even says that a Satanist does not waste their precious time hating others as this is only a waste of your own time.
Weird how much Christianity and Satanism actually have in common. The thing i find most fascination is that one could not exist without the other, as you will see in reading this book.
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