Excerpts from "Why Are You A Satanist?" By Blanche Barton. I feel this is pertinent to us right now, and we could do with seeing another faith/philosophy's perspective:
"As you’ll notice elsewhere on this site, we’ve made a policy announcement discouraging participation in chatroom “conversation.” This is because conversations don’t occur in these forums — only schoolyard scuffle and petty bickering that give people a negative impression of Satanism and a false view that all our representatives are busy throwing poo-poo at each other instead of living indulgently. The Internet has grown steadily and we’ve had enough time now, through trial and error, to find out what’s productive about it and what should be avoided. We’ve offered advice to all parties to encourage improvement; there’s only been further degeneration. The very structure of chatrooms has proven itself to be counterproductive to adult interactions, and, in the broadest sense, at odds with Satanic thought and method. It discourages reflection, discipline, wit and innovation. People vomit forth the first thing that comes to mind and that seems most often to be cheap put-downs and juvenile taunts. The entire show appears very like the corner of Hyde Park in London which is reserved for soapbox oratory. But instead of being confined to a lonely corner of Hyde Park, illiterate, muddle-brained poseurs can have their pearls of excrement broadcast worldwide with one keystroke."
(...)
"Go back in time to when you discovered Satanism, when you finally picked up a book that described your thoughts, experience and attitudes so clearly for the first time in your life. These days, once such a discovery is made, people immediately turn to the Internet for further information. Imagine an enthusiastic young Satanist seeking to broaden his knowledge of the Dark Arts, passionate and hungry for more… just as you were. He finds the Church of Satan website and knows he’s come to the right place; Anton LaVey’s ideals are still being enacted and defended by a vital, intelligent group of individualists. Then he wanders into a chatroom, seeking more immediate interaction with reasoning, rebellious souls — and he walks into the middle of a raucous food fight, with many of our appointed officials throwing the most muck, and any “newbie” getting the worst of it! How can this kind of childish posturing be justified as serving the goals of Satanism? It drains the vital energy of our productive members in endlessly trying to moderate such forums, and it is discouraging to valuable new members and inquirers. If there were any defining element of Satanic philosophy being challenged or debated in chatrooms, I would see their value and perhaps even enjoy participating. But there are no such debates taking place, only petty head-butting. It is demeaning to all of us who work hard to represent the strength, composure and majesty of the Infernal Ones."
(...)
"What better way to de-fuse dissenting voices than by putting them all in a big room together and letting them tear each other to shreds? There will only be a handful of them going at it, but, because of the international reach of the Internet, it will create an effective illusion of disharmony and dissension so that the group will be deemed petty and insignificant by anyone seeking alliance with any “Alien Elite.” The format of the chatroom, specifically, only allows for superficial, confused interaction and therefore doesn’t provide a true picture of what another person is like. There must be time, reflection, trust and relaxed conversation for healthy, complex, intelligent relationships to develop. Chatrooms are the antithesis of that. Opinionated types are bound to grate on each other and, ignoring wider goals, destroy themselves from within. At the very least, any group will be left wounded and impotent, too distracted fighting accusations of “schisms” and internal strife to organize any resistance."
(...)
"We are all ego-driven. But surely we can feed our egos more effectively by making things happen in the real Devil’s realm, by exercising our Mastery of the Earth, not cowering in some ephemeral electronic ghetto, playing cheap mind games and invading people’s privacy. The Internet is the new opiate of the masses, the PC LSD, and it leads to equally embarrassing delusions of omnipotence and godhood. It’s easy to get caught up in the fray and think you’re valiantly serving Satanic ends Dr. LaVey would applaud. He wouldn’t. He recognized the danger of lack of cohesion, on-line or otherwise, and didn’t tolerate squabblers and shit-disturbers. Neither will we."
FULL TEXT: http://www.churchofsatan.com/why-are-you-satanist.php
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