Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Church of Satan

2008-02-11T03:32:28Z

Lawwid: /* God in Satanism */

The '''Church of Satan''' is a modern religious variation that has little to due with traditional satanism except for the title, as there is not actually a belief in [[satan]] himself. The founder is [[Anton Szandor LaVey]], as outlined in The Satanic Bible and other works. "Satan" is taken as a positive symbol of this [[world view]], an [[archetype]] or the ultimate symbol of the self and egotism. LaVey explains in an interview with The Washington Post magazine: "Satan is just a symbol, nothing more.... Satan signifies our love of the worldly and our rejection of the pallid, ineffectual image of Christ on the cross."

==God in Satanism==

Satanists do not believe that he is a god; rather the function of God is performed and satisfied by the Satanist him/herself. That is, the needs of worship, ritual, and religious/spiritual focus are directed, effectively, inwards towards the Satanist, as opposed to outwards, towards God.

LaVey proposes instead that as all gods are creations of man, worship of an external deity is worship of its creator by proxy. He suggests, then, that the rational Satanist should instead internalize his god, and therefore worship himself; hence the Satanic maxim, "I am my own god."

It follows that Satanism shuns the idea of belief in all other deities as well, including, to the surprise of many, Satan. Satan is viewed as a literary archetype, along the lines of John Milton's epic hero. This archetype is viewed not as a negative figure, but as a positive image of pride and mastery in opposition to servitude, faith, and humility.

Belief in any such externalized deities is generally considered grounds for excluding someone as a Satanist, and devil worship in particular is considered nothing more than a misguided inversion of Christianity.
Satanists are usually some of the most reliable people on earth. They Live by very reasonable rules and are in all ways superior in mentality to thick and simple christians.

== Cult beliefs ==
===The Nine Satanic Sins in the Church of Satan===
{{cquote|
#[[Stupidity]]—The top of the list for Satanic Sins. The Cardinal Sin of Satanism. It’s too bad that stupidity isn’t painful. Ignorance is one thing, but our society thrives increasingly on stupidity. It depends on people going along with whatever they are told. The media promotes a cultivated stupidity as a posture that is not only acceptable but laudable. Satanists must learn to see through the tricks and cannot afford to be stupid.
#Pretentiousness—Empty posturing can be most irritating and isn’t applying the cardinal rules of Lesser Magic. On equal footing with stupidity for what keeps the money in circulation these days. Everyone’s made to feel like a big shot, whether they can come up with the goods or not.
#[[Solipsism]]—Can be very dangerous for Satanists. Projecting your reactions, responses and sensibilities onto someone who is probably far less attuned than you are. It is the mistake of expecting people to give you the same consideration, courtesy and respect that you naturally give them. They won’t. Instead, Satanists must strive to apply the dictum of “Do unto others as they do unto you.” It’s work for most of us and requires constant vigilance lest you slip into a comfortable illusion of everyone being like you. As has been said, certain utopias would be ideal in a nation of philosophers, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, from a Machiavellian standpoint) we are far from that point.
#Self-[[deceit]]—It’s in the “Nine Satanic Statements” but deserves to be repeated here. Another cardinal sin. We must not pay homage to any of the sacred cows presented to us, including the roles we are expected to play ourselves. The only time self-deceit should be entered into is when it’s fun, and with awareness. But then, it’s not self-deceit!
#Herd [[Conformity]]—That’s obvious from a Satanic stance. It’s all right to conform to a person’s wishes, if it ultimately benefits you. But only fools follow along with the herd, letting an impersonal entity dictate to you. The key is to choose a master wisely instead of being enslaved by the whims of the many.
#Lack of [[Perspective]]—Again, this one can lead to a lot of pain for a Satanist. You must never lose sight of who and what you are, and what a threat you can be, by your very existence. We are making history right now, every day. Always keep the wider historical and social picture in mind. That is an important key to both Lesser and Greater Magic. See the patterns and fit things together as you want the pieces to fall into place. Do not be swayed by herd constraints—know that you are working on another level entirely from the rest of the world.
#[[Forgetfulness]] of Past [[Orthodoxies]]—Be aware that this is one of the keys to brainwashing people into accepting something new and different, when in reality it’s something that was once widely accepted but is now presented in a new package. We are expected to rave about the genius of the creator and forget the original. This makes for a disposable society.
#Counterproductive [[Pride]]—That first word is important. Pride is great up to the point you begin to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The rule of Satanism is: if it works for you, great. When it stops working for you, when you’ve painted yourself into a corner and the only way out is to say, I’m sorry, I made a mistake, I wish we could compromise somehow, then do it.
#Lack of [[Aesthetics]]—This is the physical application of the Balance Factor. Aesthetics is important in Lesser Magic and should be cultivated. It is obvious that no one can collect any money off classical standards of beauty and form most of the time so they are discouraged in a consumer society, but an eye for beauty, for balance, is an essential Satanic tool and must be applied for greatest magical effectiveness. It’s not what’s supposed to be pleasing—it’s what is. Aesthetics is a personal thing, reflective of one’s own nature, but there are [[sexy|universally pleasing and harmonious configurations]] that should not be denied.<ref>http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Sins.html</ref>}}
=== Satanic Principles ===
According to the European-American Evangelistic Crusades, the church of Satan believe in nine Satanic principles, among these:<ref>http://www.eaec.org/cults/satan.htm</ref>

*Indulgence, not abstinence.
*Vital existence, not spiritual pipe dreams.
*Undefiled wisdom, not hypocritical self-deceit.
*Kindness to those deserving of it, not love wasted on ingrates.
*Vengeance, not turning the other cheek.
*Man as just another animal - the most vicious of all.
*Gratification of all ones desires.

==See also==
* [[pentagram | inverted pentagram]]
* [[satanism]]

==Reference==
<references/>

* ''Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged'', W.A. Neilson, T.A. Knott, P.W. Carhart (eds.), G. & C. Merriam Company, Springfield, MA, 1950.

[[Category: Paganism]]

Heavy metal music

2008-02-11T03:28:06Z

Lawwid: /* 1970s */

'''Heavy metal''' is a genre of rock music, characterized by its loudness and aggressiveness.
It emerged from bands like [[King Crimson]], [[Black Sabbath]] and [[Led Zeppelin]], amid the [[society|social]] upheavals of the late 1960s. [[Rock and roll|Rock music]] was by then being recorded and [[marketing|marketed]] as a counterculture which opposed the normal and functional culture that was dominant in society, a marketing [[strategy]] which mirrored the developmental process of [[adolescent]]s, the main audience for rock music, who first reject the world of their parents, then once independent re-assess their own values, and finally rejoin society on the terms of these recreated values.

The first style of rock which grew from this was the loud, distorted [[blues]] sound created by [[San Francisco]] based [[psychedelia]] band, '''Blue Cheer''', whose influence on electric blues bands could be seen from [[Cream]] to [[Jimi Hendrix]] to '''ZZ Top'''. The second style was [[progressive rock]], which in 1968 was led by [[England|English]] band '''King Crimson''', combining jazz, classical, experimental, psychedelic and folk music. The precursor to this sound was [[The Beatles]], arguably the first band to leave the standard rock format, creating longer song structures, many of which were narrative or [[opera|neo-operatic]]. This was the main inspiration for later bands such as '''Camel''', [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] and [[Yes (band)|Yes]].

The third strand of rock music was the emerging "dark rock" epitomized by [[The Doors]]. Where other rock bands had focused on love or peace, the Doors brought a [[Nietzsche]]-inspired morbid subconscious psychedelia to rock music, and were the origins of much of the neo-[[Romanticism]] which later bloomed into Heavy metal.

By 1969, the influence of these seminal artists had saturated those parts of the public consciousness which were focused on rock music as a developing art form, and contributed to the explosion of hard rock by, for example, [[Led Zeppelin]] and [[Deep Purple]] and the so-called "proto-metal" of '''Black Sabbath'''. This year is now seen as the watershed for loud forms of rock, which hybridized in the next decade and became the Heavy metal as recognized today.

Black Sabbath originally started out as an electric blues band named "Earth", but after discovering there was already a band using that name they changed it, inspired by a poster for the 1964 [[Boris Karloff]] movie ''Black Sabbath''. Developing a new sound, drawing on the neo-[[Gothic]] [[nihilism]] of The Doors but relying almost exclusively on power chords, a bassier distortion and the narrative structures of progressive rock, they achieved almost immediate success both on the radio and in record stores.

Heavy Metal is the greatest music on earth.Conservatives are full of crap if they think it is satanic in any way.

==1980s==
During the early 1970s three British bands were formed that would arguably become the most dramatically influential of the genre during the 1980s: [[Judas Priest]], Motorhead, and [[Iron Maiden]]. The 1980s also gave rise to the American thrash metal movement with notable bands being [[Metallica]], [[Megadeth]], Anthrax, and Slayer. During the 1980s glam metal also became very popular with bands including Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, and [[Stryper]].

==Criticism==

A musicologist wrote:

:The development of heavy metal music in the '60s and its continuing popularity through the '70s, '80s, and '90s coincides, for one thing, with the period of the greatest popularity horror films and books have ever known. Both mark a transitional moment in our history: the end of Pax Americana; new economic crises; de-industrialization, the decline of unions and the rise of low-pay service jobs; revelations of corrupt leadership; powerful social movements challenging dominant policies on race, gender, ecology, and consumer rights; new challenges to the stability of social institutions such as the family; and redefinitions of political themes such as freedom. Much of the culture of the past twenty years has functioned to restore the sense of security undermined by these disruptions. Heavy metal, like horror films, has provided ways of producing meaning in an irrational society. <ref>[http://www.superseventies.com/stairway.html Dr. Robert Walser, Professor of Musicology, Dartmouth College] - author of ''Running With the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music''</ref>

==Etymology==
The term was first used in a musical context by [[Canada|Canadian]] rock band '''Steppenwolf''' in their 1968 hit record<ref>Billboard Hot 100 singles chart: highest position #2</ref> ''Born To Be Wild'', which contained the line: "I like smoke and lightning, Heavy metal thunder..." The song received worldwide exposure the following year when it was used in the soundtrack of the 1969 [[counterculture]] movie ''[[Easy Rider]]''. However, the phrase "heavy metal" had previously been used in 1962 by [[William Burroughs]] in his novel ''The Soft Machine'',<ref>ISBN-10: 0802133290 ISBN-13: 978-0802133298</ref> which contained a character named "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal Kid". In 1964, he used it to describe mass technological destruction to the point of biological toxicity in his novel ''Nova Express''.<ref>ISBN-10: 0802133304 ISBN-13: 978-0802133304 </ref>

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Music]]