I. Spies There has been much ruckus as of late coming from the Satanic Council about the Church of Satan putting out spies to infiltrate and destroy various sites not associated with it. The main "spy" they focus on is one Jason Roberts. I am a personal friend of Jason, have known him personally for quite some time. I have seen his birth certificate and his drivers license, thus I know he is not these people the Satanic Council says he is. Jason Roberts is Jason Roberts, there is no point arguing that. He has not for any length of time worked as a "spy" for the Church of Satan. By posting his IP address they have endangered his privacy, something that many people strive to protect on the internet, and on their website, they have presented libel about Mr. Roberts, because of these actions he is pursuing legal routes. This whole spy issue is ridiculous and I feel sorry for the new satanist who is exposed to this, thus feeling a sense of having to take sides and getting pulled into this useless drama. II. Communism Communism is the elimination of all individual personal property, thus making life "fair" and "peaceful". The application of this to Satanism is a contradiction. Satanism is a catagory of belief systems which advocate individuality, self, and independence. If someone wishes to give up their own personal property and become a communist, that is heir desicion; but to state all should do this is akin to Christianity stating all should follow its strict rules. It is asinine and not Satanic. III. Herdism Herd mentality has been rampant thru-out Satanism as of late. Everything's a trend in this day and age, and Satanism has followed suite. I think it would be best for everyone who is a true Satanist to remember that this is a religion of strength and self. We need to stop being so accepting. Yes, it might be in our best itnerests to improve the general public image of Satanism before some wacko in the Government passes some law banning it (it wouldn't be the first time an amendment was overthrown), but the extent it is being taken is insane. Everyone and their dog has a pentagram or baphomet these days and it makes me sick. Im not claiming to be "the first", or "an original", but I am true to myself and this is far from a trend for me. There are many of us out there that are true to this, but so many mroe who arent. Watch out for the posers... IV. War War is an inevitable fact of life. In all species and cultures it occurs, in one form or another. There is usually a purpose behind it... teritory, mates, etc. Then we have the war against Christianity. It is a war for mental freedom. The large majority of Satanists do seek an end to the lies and oppression brought forth by Christianity over the last two-thousand years. Do we want them all dead? I can't speak for the Satanic community as a whole but personally I do not. What do I want? An end to it being the most widely accepted religion. Maybe a balance...but this is irrelevent. The point I am making is thus: when you are in a war of any sort, petty inner bickering does nothing but slow the whole's progress down. Would we be alot further is people werent spending so much time attempting to discredit one another? Yes, I am quite sure we would. Now we have Lucifer's Den/Satanic Council trying to "expose" "CoS spies" like it is some big silly conspiracy [see above] and all I can do is laugh. On the other side we have Rev. Schlesigner, the CoS's head of online security (I believe that is his role, correct me if I'm wrong) bulldog having sites taken down (so I've heard). If they were taken down, it was most likely due to content as I find it hard to believe a host would delete a site from it's servers without looking thru it. So if you fell "victim" to this, you should have watched what you put up, it was inevitable. Am I a CoS supporter?, not in the least. Am I a CoS basher?, nope not at all. Many will say Im a spy because of this, but that would be their own paranoia talking. there is a general feeling that if you are not a CoS supporter then you must be a basher...well I break that conformist mould. My views? I could care less either way. Really, it doesn't bother me what they do. I wouldn't have even written this statement had the Satanic Council and the CoS-Files not picked out a friend of mine to slander. There has always been a bit of controversy surrounding the truth about "Anton Szandor LaVey", aka Howard Stanton Levey. Whether or not he was actually a deist, what's his real name, when was the CoS actually founded, did he really do the things he said he did, etc. Ask me if I give a fuck. He put together a decent book for beginners, one which helped me a great deal. Did he write it? Not really, a great deal of it is paraphrases from other books. Does that make it bad? Nope, not at all. It is your choice whether or not you choose to buy it. The controversies between the First Church of Satan (which came second), the Church of Satan (which came first), and the First Satanic Church (which came last, founded by LaVey's daughter Karla) are frankly none of my business. Who's right, who's wrong who gives a fuck. I'm not advocating Satanic unity but shouldn't we all be a bit more grown up than this? Damn near everyone on the internet uses a pseudo-name, so why should everyone be all in a huff about Mr. Levey using one as well, when a good deal of writers do as well? It seems kind of asinine to me. Were his claims about his past true? Maybe, maybe not. I have viewed evidence to suggest they are false, but so what if they are? Many writers also develop a character writer as well, as it adds to the effect, the feeling, the mood. Would I do it? No. Do I feel like I have to consistently try to slander everyone involved because of this? No. Why, you may ask? Because I have a life. This is pathetic and anyone involved should really take a look around and one at themself. And above all else... YOU ARE WARRING ON THE FUCKING INTERNET! C'MON, GROW UP! IF YOU WANT TO SO BAD DO IT IN REAL LIFE!!! |