Satanism and Expressing Opinions: Exercise Caution

Satanic Rule of the Earth #1: Don’t give opinions or advice unless you are asked.

- Anton Szandor LaVey, 1967.

There’s a very good reason for this earthly rule.  Even since before the internet, people have had a habit of opening their mouths without thinking of potential consequences for doing so, or before thinking, for that matter.

See, we live in a country where you can say whatever the heck you want, whether it’s good or bad.  Total freedom of speech.  However, you’re not free from the consequences of reaction of what you say.

The habit of speaking before you think continues to exist, and it’s more prevalent on the internet.  People will tend to take what you say the wrong way sometimes.  Or sometimes people can’t handle what you spit out even if it’s truth.  Sometimes, you don’t say things before formulating it in your mind correctly first.

These kind of shitstorms lead to drama and lost friendships.  People will sometimes not even give you a chance to defend yourself and let you explain the context of what you opined.  And even when you’ve had that chance, people will sometimes have their heads up their ass and continue to grill you for expressing your opinion.  I’ve seen it happen a million times.

No matter how right you think you are about a certain topic, you have to remember no one asked you for your two cents.  Be prepared to deal with drama anyways should you choose to open your mouth.

There’s certain topics out there where if I said what I truly felt about them, people (not gonna name any specific groups here) will grill me faster than you can say “all speech is good.”  I’d hurt a lot of feelings and piss off hella people if I shared a post with my opinion on a certain social topic.

But I keep my mouth shut.  Why?  I simply don’t want to deal with the drama.  I don’t want to have to explain anything to people.  Even if I explain what I meant, people will continue to grill the crap out of me.

Lot of times, at least for me, if people asked my opinion on a certain topic, I’d still keep quiet.  It all depends on the topic and the person you’re talking to, whether you’re talking about it in person or on social media.

There’s good reasons why Anton LaVey gave us this rule.  You avoid a lot of drama and butthurt if you just shut your mouth once in a while.  You’ll have more peace if you’re more careful with what you say.

Now I’m not saying you should deny yourself the right to an opinion.  After all, this is America.  But just know you need to think before you speak.  And you need to know that with some topics and situations, maybe it’s best if you don’t say anything, especially if no one asked you for your two cents to begin with.  Keep it to yourself, maybe write it down on a secret blog or journal.  If you need to let it out, do so in a situation where people won’t turn things into a shitstorm.  Everyone will be happy this way.

Hail Satan!

-Manny