It’s Not What You Think…

I consider myself a pretty open-minded individual. Sure, I make snap judgments about people, but after taking a moment to think about said people, I usually settle on a thought with the undertones of: whatever makes them happy; because that’s what life should be about, right? Finding and maintaining happiness…? I think so.

I’m at a point in my life where I enjoy learning new things. It can be about anything: how something works or is built, different cultures, history that I’ve either forgotten about or was never aware of–simply put; things that I just don’t know. Where was this enthusiasm for learning when I was in school…? I listen to an array of podcasts, watch YouTube videos from varied content creators, and read any book that can keep my interest (which isn’t easy). I enjoy having my mind opened and my boundaries pushed. As of late I’ve been listening to history told from different sides illustrating some of the dark parts that have been left out of scholarly textbooks and watching content creators target modern day villains, explaining their treachery and proclaiming calls to action.

Did you know that Puerto Rican women were essentially the test subjects for U.S. scientists’ research on birth control and were essentially promised free healthcare in exchange for consuming absurd amounts of hormones rendering them ill, infertile, or in some cases, dead? Or how the DuPont company has been changing its name every couple of years to avoid legal and financial reverberations after intentionally polluting natural water sources with poisonous waste resulting in nearly every single living human on the planet having said poison in their bloodstream? Crazy stuff, right!?

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I recently watched a video where the host interviewed Satanists. Before I even clicked on the video I was intrigued because it’s a topic I haven’t really looked into. My initial thoughts on Satanists were that they are or believe in an anti-Christ and that they worship/serve the Devil in some form. Boy was I wrong.

My personal journey with religion is a tumultuous one to say the least, but the summarized version is that I was raised Christian. I lived next door to the church I attended, I went to a Christian daycare, was involved in a youth group, and dated the son of two pastors throughout my young adult life. The last time I shared my beliefs I signed off stating that I considered myself Agnostic: a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; essentially a non-religious person “of the mind to spread kindness”.

And then I watched the interview with antithetic Satanists (different from theistic Satanists who revere Satan as an occult deity) and it left me wondering: Am I a Satanist?

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One of the first things that was debunked in the video was that The Satanic Temple Satanists do not worship the Devil and in fact do not believe in mystical entities–good or bad. Instead they view themselves as a God-like being devoted to living everyday to serve themselves and their needs; “It encourages people to seek their own truths, indulge in desires without fear of societal taboos, and perfect the self.*” And I just don’t see anything wrong with that.

Then they began referring to the 7 Satanic Tenets and a quick search yielded this:

1. One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.
2. The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
3. One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
4. The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one’s own.
5. Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs.
6. People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one’s best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.
7. Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.

Those are some pretty agreeable tenets if you ask me.

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Something that has never sat right with me here in the good ‘ol U.S. of A is how skewed the constitutional freedom of religion is especially as it pertains to Christianity. I don’t think I have to outright list the double standards of Christianity compared to other religions practiced in the U.S. since it’s pretty obvious, but here are two examples of blatant indoctrination:

• the adoption and perpetuation of the national motto, “In God We Trust”
• the verbiage used in the Pledge of Allegiance that is taught to children at a very early age and recited daily in public schools which includes the verse:

“One nation under God
Indivisible
With liberty and justice for all”

Even when I was a practicing Christian I had these concerns. The United States is often referred to as the ‘melting pot’, which is one of its greatest attributes in my opinion, but along with the multiculturalism brings a multitude of religiosities as well, all of which are just as permissible to practice. The standardization of Christianity has been around for centuries and is a leading cause of the colonialization of the U.S. (another dastardly endeavor brought to you in the name of Jesus Christ…), but the majority of colonials fled to the New Land due to religious persecution and enacted laws to prevent history from repeating itself.

I don’t know where you, dear reader, reside in the world as there are visitors from all over who view my blog, but I live in part of the U.S. known as the ‘Bible Belt’ and if someone tells you “Merry Christmas” and your response is “Happy Holidays,” you are instantly lectured about how Jesus is the only reason for the season and if Merry Christmas is too hard for your to recite, then you don’t belong. Ask me if I’m lying–I dare you.

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To bring things full circle and wrap up this borderline bitch post… It’s not that I’ve been struggling to find my place in the world or that I’m seeking something to fulfill me spiritually. It has been more so one of those endeavors where I find myself wanting to know more; I’m intrigued. There is potentially a group of people who share the same beliefs I have and that’s exciting. I was once a practicing Christian and I’m grateful for my experience with the church as it laid a great foundation of what religion is and taught me how to be a decent human being–two very important life lessons. But as I grow and evolve into the person I want to be, I’m realizing knowledge is not only power, it’s fuel to a fire within.

Am I a Satanist? Maybe. I still have some researching to do, but I’d say I lean more Satanist than Christian these days. If that offends you, good. Be offended. Do some soul searching to figure out why your offended. Do some research (avoid social media as a source). Come to your own conclusions and grow as an individual. I promise, there is no harm in personal growth.

So from this inquisitive blogger to you, dear reader: Happy Holidays! May you never find the gift of knowledge dull.