Manny the Satanist

Technically this happened this past April, but as of this third week of May, I have finished my graduate program and I now have my Master's Degree in Library and Information Science.  By all intents and purposes and consideration by my librarian peers, I'm now considered a librarian. I have Satanism to thank for this.  Why?  I'll try to explain this the best way I can. As some of you may know, I grew up going to the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall.  This is a religious Christian organization that suppresses individual freedom and they expect you to dedicate your whole life to Jehovah, the Kingdom Hall, and to gathering more members for the Kingdom Hall until the day you die. One of the topics of sermons that I would keep hearing over the years is about how one should basically avoid going to university because it was considered the "Devil's Playground of Sin" (well, they didn't use those exact words but that was basically the idea they were trying to co...

It seems that Roe Vs. Wade and abortion have come up again in this country.  So people wonder sometimes where Satanists stand on the issue of abortion. (A couple of things I want to make clear before I delve into this: 1. I don't represent the Church of Satan or anyone but my individual self.  I'm not even a member of the CoS at this time of writing.  Yet!!! 2. If you've seen self-proclaimed "Satanists" who are from The Satanic Temple in discussions about Satanism and abortion, they don't speak for us real Satanists, either, since they're not a legitimate Satanic group.  I said what I said.  Bite me, pseudos! Moving on...) When it comes to the issue of politics and issues like this, Satanists usually are apolitical.  However, we are pro-anything that defends our personal freedoms.  It's not to say that we are all libertarians or anything.  I personally say that individual freedoms cover all political spectrums.  We're also not required to agr...

Alrighty, I have not written anything in this blog for a little while.  Happy Belated New Year.  Time to kick things off where I left off with the first blog entry of 2022. Most of us already know what goes through many people's heads when the name "Satan" comes up: a scary-looking red guy who is the cause of all the bad things that are wrong with this planet.  He's responsible for all the evil caused by human beings, at least according to other people. However, many people have not bothered to look further.  In this blog, I want to discuss what I learned about Satan and what he means to me. Satan means many things but I want to go over some of the core basics. In Hebrew, the name "Satan" means Opposer, Adversary, and Accuser.  So when we call ourselves Satanists, that means that we are the opposers, adversaries, and accusers of all spiritual religions, religious hypocrites, and philosophies that would get in the way of our carnal pleasures and personal phil...

As many Satanists know, our religion symbolizes freedom.  However, some people have some screwed-up ideas as to what this freedom means. In the dictionary, hedonism is defined as “the pursuit of pleasure, sensual self-indulgence.”  According to my recently acquired We Are Satanists , Satanism isn’t just uncontrolled hedonism. The pursuit of pleasure shouldn’t be without lack of control or logic.  Doing whatever the heck you want doesn’t mean that very thing in the literal sense.  Obviously there are limits, especially within the context of the local laws that you have to follow. For instance, you can’t just do things like rob a bank or smoke in places you’re not allowed to do such things at, as exemplified by this guy I saw at the train station I just left as of this time of writing.  It doesn’t mean forcing your way into businesses without a mask on and acting like a Karen when someone calls you out on it. There are a few main things to remember as a Satanist: ...

Satanic Statement Number 9: Satan has been the best friend the church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years! (Anton Szandor LaVey,  The Satanic Bible , 1969). This is something to think about.  Remember my blog posts on personal responsibility and rock/metal music?  Satan is the one to scapegoat when they’re caught committing injustices and Satan is used to scare youth away from certain types of music.  These are tactics used by the church and used by their followers.  Blame Satan and utilize him for the needs of the church. It all comes down to using Satan as a fear-mongering control tool.  For thousands of years, Satan was used as a control device and a fear tactic by the Christian church in order to keep their followers in line.  The threat of eternity in hell with a demonic being who’d torture you for eternity was used to scare people into avoiding being human and living their lives the way they wanted to.  I remember all...

When people think of Satanism, they think of a cult that worships an anthropomorphic devil.  They think of black robes, drinking the blood of babies, sacrificing animals and virgins, sex orgies.  Well, that’s all wrong.  That’s basically all the crap that’s been fed by the Christian church and entertainment outlets for thousands of years. Satanism is a religion and a philosophy.  For starters, we are atheists.  This may come as a surprise to many people.  We are a carnal religion rather than a spiritual one.  We don’t believe in a literal God or a literal Satan.  In fact, we don’t even believe in or follow the Christian interpretation of Satan.  Satan is more of a symbol and mascot for individualism, freedom, individual liberty, pride, and the dark force that exists in all of nature.  Satan is the role model for what we Satanists are about. In Hebrew, Satan means “accuser, opposer, adversary,” so in that sense, we Satanists are the accus...