 |
|
|
|
 The UK Church of Satan says it supports a variety of views on abortion. But is the church real?
July 9th, 2013
03:27 PM ET
Satanists square off on abortion (Yes, really)By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN)- Are Satanists for or against abortion? Apparently, there's a hot debate. A group calling itself the "UK Church of Satan" on Twitter says it's open minded, tweeting out "Why Wouldn't Satanism be pro-life?" on July 5. But the High Priest of the New York-based Church of Satan says it's squarely in the abortion-rights corner. How to settle this diabolical duel? Let's back up first. As Texas legislators debated a law last week that would restrict abortions in the Lone Star State, a group of abortion rights protesters tried to drown out a group of anti-abortion protesters at the state capitol by chanting "Hail Satan!" The phrase trended on Twitter. Megapastor Rick Warren rapped our wrists (and The Associated Press's, too) for not covering the "Hail Satan" serenade. Actually, pastor, our man Josh Rubin was on the ball. The UK Church of Satan (assuming it's real) jumped on the trend, tweeting on July 3:
Which raises the question: What does Satanism represent? We asked the New York-based Church of Satan, and we got an earful. First of all, Magus Peter H. Gilmore, High Priest of the Church of Satan, told us, there is no "UK Church of Satan." "I have not authorized any of our UK members to create such a thing claiming to represent our organization, its members and our philosophy," Gilmore said. "So, whoever is behind that feed is committing a fraud." Gilmore's group, which, unlike the UK church, has a website, also keeps a P.O. Box in New York City. (Radio City Station of all places. Watch out, Rockettes.) As a matter of policy, the Church of Satan doesn't give out exact membership numbers, the magus said, but it's in the thousands. "Our organization, founded by Anton LaVey in 1966, is worldwide," Gilmore told CNN in an e-mail, "and we have many members throughout the UK and none of them have heard of any self-proclaimed 'Church of Satan in England.' There was a hoax using a title like this a year or so ago as a political prank." We put the question to the UK Church of Satan, who said, "There is no 'UK' Church of Satan. It's worldwide. We represent and connect those followers 'in' the UK." We've followed up with more questions but haven't heard back yet. To be sure, the UK Satanists' tweets have been surprisingly unsulfurous. Take this one, for example:
Or this sweet-natured nugget:
This is a church that worships the Prince of Darkness? And who in hell is JMG? Getting back to abortion, here's what the supposed UK Church of Satan said:
Yeah, kinda, Gilmore told CNN. But there's much more to it than that. Many Satanists practice "rational birth control," saith Satanism's high priest, leaving matters of personal morality up to individuals. "We generally consider the use of abortion to be the purview of the woman whose body is carrying the child," Gilmore said. "We consider sexual experiences to be an indulgence between consenting adults that should be taken seriously, particularly when the possibility of pregnancy is concerned." But the magus didn't appreciate hearing the name of his lord taken in vain. "Shouting `Hail Satan!' to abortion protesters is both ludicrous and meaningless," said Gilmore, who's led the Church of Satan since 2001. "Only attention-seeking fools would do so." Unsurprisingly, Satanists take a strong stand on separation of church and state, believing the government "should be entirely secular." "So religion should neither force upon nor deny an abortion for any woman, in our thinking," Gilmore said. "Freedom with responsibility is the hallmark of civilized behavior to the Satanist." Now that that's settled, what's the Satanic stance on gay marriage? *** In a follow-up email, Gilmore made it clear that Satanists don't actually deify Satan. In fact, they're atheist, he said, and use Satan as a "symbol of pride, liberty and individualism." "If you chose to mock us, then you should have done so based on what our philosophy actually is, rather than on an assumed `horror film' stereotype," the magus said. Fair criticism. We'll try to improve our coverage of Satanism. Oh, one more thing. Gilmore said the Church of Satan does approve of same-sex marriage.
Next entry »Did Facebook save an unborn child?
« Previous entryArizona firefighter families: `Is God punishing us?'
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
These nuts are all as bad as eachother. They all try to control you with fear of their poweful and vengeful god. Those of us capable of rational thought aren't the least bit scared by Satan but good luck with your scare tactics.
I bet you dont believe in the pope or the dolly lamer either
jenniferpa
"I bet you dont believe in the pope or the dolly lamer either"
Dolly lamer? That's a classic! lol.
How about Dolly Parton?
Whatever I don't worship him
It's the "Dollar Lama".
realbuckyball,
Yep. You can buy him at Dollar Tree.
Jenniferpa needs to read something beside the bible.
Jennifer seems to be the only smart person posting on this thread tonight
It's jenniferpa, not jennifer. And she seems to me to be the least intelligent poster tonight.
Satan would be so much more effective if he had a band and maybe a late night TV spot. At least he should do AM talk radio.
He'd be more effective if he could read. Seriously, all the dude has to do is pick up a Bible, read the last book, and make alternate plans. Some master of evil if he can't even do that.
He does
Satanism is to Atheism what South Park is to Family Guy
Or what the Vatican is to San Francisco would be a better comparison
As opinions go, that's a silly one. Why would atheists believe in Satan?
What Michelle Bachmann is to Sarah Palin ?
More like, what Sarah Palin is to Katie Couric, or any other intelligent woman.
Ppl who sell theyre souls to the devil are idiots. A lot of those who run the world sold theyre souls and now they have a lot of power and money but is it worth it to spend eternity in hell?
Do you have names?
That would be a problem, if
a. there was a hell.
b. it made any sense to speak of a temporal dimension in a spiritual realm.
You do know the Hebrew, (and therefore Jebus) did not believe i immortality.
Neither did St. Paul. What ? You never went to Sunday school ?
Forget names, do you have a receipts?
If Obama isn't a US citizen without a birth certificate, then souls aren't actually sold to the devil without a receipt!
I just gave my soul to the devil because he said he didn't have any money, and I'm a nice guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TFPOstgw3rk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-QUv9grv-WE
hey Carlyle, nice video. Want to have lunch ?
Google
Herbert Walker Bush Nazi
lionlylamb2013
Funny, there weren't any clips from the actual movie "Conspiracy Theory".
A lot of those cartoons are referring to the bombing in the World Trade Center underground parking lot in 1993.
ʇɥƃıɹ ʎlǝʇnlosqɐ ǝɹɐ ǝʍ ǝɹoɟǝɹǝɥʇ ˙ǝʌǝılǝq ǝʍ ƃuıɥʇʎuɐ ɹoɟ llɐ ʇɐ ǝɔuǝpıʌǝ ou ǝʌɐɥ ǝʍ
It's the upside down backwards writing that always gets me all giggly.
Nice & touche'
Here's something if you want some nostalgia..go through the posts and read how many 1980's hair bands were mentioned by either screen name or post content.
The image of satan is almost identical to the image of "Eros" , never noticed that before.
Cough...
Satanism is seemingly a culture that is Christendom's opposite. Satan was of God's first born sons and Christian gospels have given Him many other names such as serpent, snake, dragon etc. I have found a fondness for anyone to forever be reincarnated with not end of such in sight. Our spirited souls are constantly being assessed and reassessed by the super normal attributes of superior then us beings we will likely never know and are least understood by our simple mindedness ways.
I always thought the biggest problem for reincarnation would be what do you do when the planet stops existing. The ozone layer won't hold out forever sooner or later the earth is gonna be gone then what? We have to hope that there are other dimensions for our consciousness to exist, and we have to hope that our consciousness exists without a material base to support it...which there's no evidence to support..sadly.
Excuse me I meant the planet will still "exist" technically it just wont be habitable. Even without human involvment it eventually won't last.
Lots of other planets out there.
Hello Reincarnation
Our spirited souls are made up of the nothing that keeps all the atomic cloisters within our atomized cellular physical beings from collapsing in on its own weightiness. So if this view of mine is a noteworthy claim then, our spirited nothing is part and parcel our the celestial nothingness that holds this earthly cosmos of ours in its grasps. The strong and weak forces of gravimetric conditionngs will most likely never be fully rationalized at least in our technically young generation's lifetimes.
Reincarnation
I always thought the biggest problem for reincarnation would be what do you do when the planet stops
is Matter ever destroyed?
when sol goes boom or when Earth becomes dust, it is no different then when we die.
I do so love the ideologies around the principalities of godliness but I can admit that I hate the God who established all of celestial creationism(s). On one hand God is a behemoth of dirty done deeds against much of humanism's dispositions while on the other hand God shows little to practically no love to all our civilizations' ongoing trials of which we steadily reshape as the needs arise. Therefore the moral ad civil obligations of our country folk truly is independent of any and all godly demands. Imagine that!
My BAD for I wrote "Therefore the moral ad civil obligations" and missed an "N"!
I meant to write, "Therefore the moral aNd civil obligations"
There goes my apple tartar! LoL 👿
No brain, no headache. I save lots of money on aspirin.
Your blackened namesake tells us all that your attempts to trivialize my namesake is viewed as a reprehensible thievery in name stealing. Besides I am the original and there can be no other,,, 😀
"Many Satanists practice "rational birth control," saith Satanism's high priest, leaving matters of personal morality up to individuals." There is no such thing as "rational" birth control. "Rational" occurs in the brain. The brain turns off when the libido is turned on. Maybe this explains so many contraception "failures".
Well I can't speak for any religious group, satanists included but personally I've managed to drink an entire bottle of wine and still figure out how to put on a wrapper.
Hi there Old Schooler,
My "shrink rapper" was a young man by the name of "Mario" as in the game of Mario Brothers. We had about a ten minute rapping session and I came away with a feeling that this dude is almost as intelligent as I am,,, LoL!
Perhaps by "rational" he meant as opposed to praying, "God! Please don't let me be pregnant!"
A women's s ex life shouldn't impact her ability to take the pill once per day. But with 'apply before use' forms of birth control, it is different.
Jazz if you're too wasted to put one on have your partner put one on for you and hand someone your car keys.
Hi there "Oh please"
I didn't know that Jazzy drinks before Se.x,,,? LoL,,, I have been away from such issues, I am forgetting the rationale in such issues,,, 😀
This was a good article explaining everything with the exception of "his lord taken in vain." There is no lord in Satanism. If anyone would actually check out their website and read MOST members are Atheists! Atheists believe things based on reality and/or science. People need to quit being ignorant and think and/or research before they speak. I am assuming most of you who have commented do not have cable because a lot of the TV programming is obviously against your views OR do you not have cable because you can't afford it because you donate hundreds a week to a God-based church who has done nothing for you besides marry you (if that applies). If I am wrong then so be it but I bet half of you, if not most, watch TV shows like Bachelorette and Big Brother which it's ok to act like they do ONLY if they are Christians right? Oh and isn't ENVY against your rules and people who watch those shows are envious! You can lie all you want. My last word is going to be HYPOCRISY!
"Atheists believe things based on reality and/or science." How good is the reasoning capacity of the average atheist? We never find out. Atheists entrone their "reason" as absolute authority. Based on what? Assumption. Believers have faith, atheists have assumption. An example: atheiststs Assume that all Reality is available to them through their five senses, that the data is delivered flawlessly to the brain, and that the brain (usually the atheist's) can infallibly process the information.
@{ ! }
Everyone has a right to believe what they want to. My post was based on the article, people's comments, what I believe (which I never stated), and looking up various websites besides what this article is about. I will NOT get into a debate about this because I have the right to voice my opinion at any time and/or place I want to. Have a good day/night.
{ ! },
"Believers have faith, atheists have assumption."
Faith is based on a 2,000-year-old book and assumption is frequently based on laws of science which can easily be reproduced.
{ ! }
"atheiststs Assume that all Reality is available to them through their five senses, that the data is delivered flawlessly to the brain, and that the brain (usually the atheist's) can infallibly process the information."
No.
Data is always delivered flawlessly to the brain. That's why we have optical illusions and false memories. It's also why we atheists are skeptical about stories of miracles, prophecies and contact with gods. If anything, it's believers who assume that the writers of the bible, for example, were flawless in their perception of things way back then.
Of course, much of reality may elude our senses, but much of it has been revealed to us using math and science using advanced technology, which is not so limited. Science makes no assumptions on what it will find. It may make predictions, but those still depend upon evidence to get them accepted as the best explanation. It is the believer who makes assumptions and then defends them against all the evidence that points in another direction.
Oops, that should read "Data is not always delivered flawlessly to the brain." 😳
Oh the freaks fear their deaths.
You know, I was scared of my death...but now that I hear you call me a freak something like cancer..or being eaten alive by a shark seems minor...just so long as you think I'm cool.
Answer...seriously..you think people are freaks for wanting to survive? I suppose you also think humans are silly for wanting to breathe, copulate, and eat food once in a while.
The opinion of and on "authority".
There is not ONE person on this planet who holds absolute authority. The person you think as having any kind of authority is merely exercising "power."
Power.. through the laws that we, humans, have structured and made agreements upon.
Go bash away at your futile attempts to exert "authority" over any person on this world. It's your failure because you have none. You may carry a gun – and that – exerts power, but not authority. You "babble" crazies can endeavor to plug your nonsense bible on all the media channels and outlet but still you have no authority.
People who can recognize this single fact are themselves powerful to laugh in your face. 🙂
So suck it.
You describe wonderfully why there will never be human unity and peace under secular materialism.
You're a laugh, Bill.
And quite pathetic.
@Bill
Here is why you're so pathetic:
Describe to everyone as to why your "heaven" is not also "materialistic"?
Bill is hilarious. No reasoning, no analogy, no thought process describes, just "It's posts like yours that prove there will never be purple frog teeth!"
@ Cpt.
So are you man. You have a negative, hateful response to anything anyone says.
Answer: Bill doesn’t have a clue. Of course the paradigm of heaven and hell is all about seeking some sort of reward in a so called afterlife. One cannot get more materialistic than that.
streets of gold is materialistic and snobby
the vatican is materialistic and snobby
All hails to Capn Americana,
Two snobby in one script is a noteworthy tradition to be exalted,,, don't you think C.A.?
Hi, faith! How are you? How goes the lawsuit? I've been awaiting my subpoena.
Hi there Akira,
Someone I see from your post tells me that "Faith" or someone else is being mad. Madness is a sorrowful way for anyone to be. I, though remain as a malleable person, ever to repent upon my mental disfigurations and move on. People who put themselves into a tizzy for emotionalized reasoning have little to no fan fair among those just wanting to "fit" in.
May you Akira ever be in happiness's cuddling and joyously remember te kind times. I salute you and will remember your kindness ways regarding my past transgressions toward you.
Ll, you know who the poster "faith" is.
Again, I don't remember you doing anything so ghastly that you would think you transgressed against me...but thanks.
My most honorable Akira,
It was just a few days ago when I made an unfounded allegation against you,,, I have a tendency to remember my socialized transgressions more than my loving nature ensues of me. Thank you though for your taking note of my "repentive" words.
Lionly, I still don't know what you're referring to, but it is water under the bridge. No worries.
Hey religious freaks.. go and hide. Your death is in the future. It's a promise.
...as is yours...
Oh look at that poser man. LOL
Death is for you.
Here's a thought, being as how we all have such a little bit of time to be alive why work so hard to make that small fragment of time worse for people?
WOW !!! you are really worked up over this.
Troof, a non-exhaustive list of gods that various human societies have believed in at one time or another includes Azura Mazda, Angus, Belenos, Brigid, Dana, Lugh, Dagda, Epona, Allah Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Atehna, Demeter, Dionysus, Eris, Eos, Gaia, God, Hades, Hekate, Helios, Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Hestia, Pan, Poseidon, Selene, Uranus, Zeus, Mathilde, Elves, Eostre, Frigg, Ganesh, Hretha, Saxnot, Shef, Shiva Thuno, Tir, Vishnu, Weyland, Woden, Yahweh, Alfar, Balder, Beyla, Bil, Bragi, Byggvir, Dagr, Disir, Eir, Forseti, Freya, Freyr, Frigga, Heimdall, Hel, Hoenir, Idunn, Jord, Lofn, Loki, Mon, Njord, Norns, Nott, Odin, Ran, Saga, Sif, Siofn, Skadi, Snotra, Sol, Syn, Ull, Thor, Tyr, Var, Vali, Vidar, Vor, Herne, Holda, Nehalennia, Nerthus, Endovelicus, Ataegina, Runesocesius, Apollo, Bacchus, Ceres, Cupid, Diana, Janus, Juno, Jupiter, Maia, Mars, Mercury, Minerva, Neptune, Pluto, Plutus, Proserpina, Venus, Vesta, Vulcan, Attis, Cybele, El-Gabal, Isis, Mithras, Sol Invictus, Endovelicus, Anubis, Aten, Atum, Bast, Bes, Geb, Hapi, Hathor, Heget, Horus, Imhotep, Isis, Khepry, Khnum, Maahes, Ma’at, Menhit, Mont, Naunet, Neith, Nephthys, Nut, Osiris, Ptah, Ra, Sekhmnet, Sobek, Set, Tefnut, Thoth, An, Anshar, Anu, Apsu, Ashur, Damkina, Ea, Enki, Enlil, Ereshkigal, Nunurta, Hadad, Inanna, Ishtar, Kingu, Kishar, Marduk, Mummu, Nabu, Nammu, Nanna, Nergal, Ninhursag, Ninlil, Nintu, Shamash, Sin, Tiamat, Utu, Mitra, Amaterasu, Susanoo, Tsukiyomi, Inari, Tengu, Izanami, Izanagi, Daikoku, Ebisu, Benzaiten, Bishamonten, Fukurokuju, Jurojin, Hotei, Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, Inti, Kon, Mama Cocha, Mama Quilla, Manco Capac, Pachacamac and Zaramama.
Can you proove they do not exist?
Religious freaks have no case for their god.
Very nice list, Colin. But you left off something: how did the blind, stupid forces of nature evolve a unique being like us who has religious instincts? All those deities you name are only the expression of an inherent human impulse..... to acknowledge something larger than us. Anyone can, and has, made lists. Tackle the hard stuff.
Technology will give us a time machine.
Hopefully.
You forgot the beer god.
The need to believe in a so called 'god' isn't inherent. It is taught. This is why most people are of the same faith as their parents. Children are taught myths like Santa. The mature ones understand Santa is myth as well as the other mumbo gumbo myths their parents still believe in.
High flyer Colin oscaphy,
All your labels regarding the gods are all sons of the original God who sits on His throne all alone and beside Himself is ever wanting to be released from the arboreal places high above our celestial cosmos of teetered rationalism. Practice was made a perfection by all of God's first born sons when the Big Bang blew apart the small sizes of the atomically nuanced materialized relativism beginning moments of our becoming celestial creations we now know of as being our celestial Cosmos.
Unfortunately Lionly, you know no history.
Yahweh was the 40th son of El Elyon. His wife, Ashera, was constantly in and out of the Hebrew pantheon, up until about the time of the Exile. El Elyon was no one's son.
Scene 25
HEAD KNIGHT: Nee!
Nee!
Nee!
Nee!
ARTHUR: Who are you?
HEAD KNIGHT: We are the Knights Who Say... Nee!
ARTHUR: No! Not the Knights Who Say Nee!
HEAD KNIGHT: The same!
BEDEMIR: Who are they?
HEAD KNIGHT: We are the keepers of the sacred words: Nee, Pen, and
Nee-wom!
RANDOM: Nee-wom!
ARTHUR: Those who hear them seldom live to tell the tale!
HEAD KNIGHT: The Knights Who Say Nee demand a sacrifice!
ARTHUR: Knights of Nee, we are but simple travellers who seek the
enchanter who lives beyond these woods.
HEAD KNIGHT: Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee!
ARTHUR and PARTY: Oh, ow!
HEAD KNIGHT: We shall say 'nee' again to you if you do not appease us.
ARTHUR: Well, what is it you want?
HEAD KNIGHT: We want... a shrubbery!
[dramatic chord]
ARTHUR: A what?
HEAD KNIGHT: Nee! Nee!
ARTHUR and PARTY: Oh, ow!
ARTHUR: Please, please! No more! We shall find a shrubbery.
HEAD KNIGHT: You must return here with a shrubbery or else you will
never pass through this wood alive!
ARTHUR: O Knights of Nee, you are just and fair, and we will return
with a shrubbery.
HEAD KNIGHT: One that looks nice.
ARTHUR: Of course.
HEAD KNIGHT: And not too expensive.
ARTHUR: Yes.
HEAD KNIGHTS: Now... go!
Every day is a good day for MP.
Hey religious freaks...
Have a good time stewing in your indoctrinated fears brought by upon you by your fellow man. Keep on being the losers that you are. It makes everyone happy to see a bunch of losers crawling on their bellies.
Here's another thought. Not all of us who are scared to die are religious.
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!REMO_INVITE
u asked 4 it
"You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down." lol
deceitful practices
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!REMO_INVITE
u asked 4 it
"You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down." lol
deceitful practices
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
All of this centers around a persistent cookie called s_vi, which stores the visitor ID provided by Omniture's servers whenever a user first visits ...
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
2 late girls
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
All of this centers around a persistent cookie called s_vi, which stores the visitor ID provided by Omniture's servers whenever a user first visits ...
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
2 late girls
lol
the largest lawsuit in history
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
@ somebody
Answer has all the Answers, don't waste your time.
Of course I have all the answers. All the answers that I have concluded.
It's all thanks to rational thinking. Applying thought.
You freaks can suck it and go on with your fears. 🙂
@ Answer
Go ahead and spew that hate. Each time you do, i just hit report abuse. People come on here to DEBATE not be DEGRADED.Go ahead keep on posting.
Hello Answer,
Why so condescending upon the emotionally disparaged and pitiful ranks of the religiously imploded kinds? On a wholesome note, religions of all various denominations are a necessity when one sees all the troubles that socialism instills upon its worldly inhabitants of the human varieties. Where would we be if the whole world was atheistically dominated and secularisms ruled all nations? For there will always be a need for religiously orientated folks and come hell freezing over, there needs for some semblances of religious spirituality will ever be a flourishing detraction from all the slings and arrows of all those bitter and jealous freaks who seem not able to fathom religious wholesomeness.
The pantheon of gods in Greek, Roman, Norse, Hindu, religions are hard to fathom. But the Abr.ahamic religions have a menagerie of supernatural creatures that rivals the best of them. Sea monsters (Leviathan), Witch of Endor, ghosts, Seraphim, Cherubim, Ophanim, Angels, Giants (Nephilim), Rephaim, Anakim, co.ckatrice, unicorns, gryphons, satyrs, golems, and our favorite from this article Satan. Is monotheism any more credible than the Greek, Roman, Norse, etc. systems?
The witch of endor is an elf-witch you know, wise and powerful as the seas
From Boston to LA,
I know hardly anything regarding much of them there Roman and Greek and even Norse writings of godliness. From what I little know is that the Greeks and the Romans started their religious philosophies with a "first god" and then wrote about their first god's lineage trees. I was never one for reading books Boston, but I have watched many a television show about the Grrek and Roman God lineages and was downright in love with their televised nuptuals.