You may call yourself whatever you please. I will not say or try to say you are more or less of a Satanist or a spiritualist. I'm not attacking you in the slightest, so I'd greatly appreciate it if you would stop throwing out these ludicrous statements with no proof. As I have said I don't care that you disagree, but please be rational and above all respectful. If you took offense to anything I have said it was not intended. I'm not here to sugar coat things and beat around the bush. I will be very direct, blunt, and to the point. Facts should not offend you.
I can point you in the direction of Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sumerian culture, Greek and Roman mythology, Joy of Satan itself, and many other scriptures and topics you can go and study. I said in the original post that the name Spiritual Satanism is relatively new. The title of Pagan is largely tainted, so Satan has dictated that we call ourselves Spiritual Satanists. "Satanism is not a 'Christian invention.' Satanism predates Christianity and all other religions." - Joy of Satan Ministries.
"Spiritual Satanists acknowledge science and believe everything of the occult/supernatural to have a rational scientific explanation." - Joy of Satan Ministries. So before you claim another religion is unscientific not only do your research, but please provide a rational debate. Before you dare to say that JoS Ministries is in any way falsifying this information please note that they have done their research. Go look. It's everywhere on the Internet. There are too many sources to even try to give you here.
If you'd like more proof then just go Google the human soul explained by science. Science recognizes the human soul. The human soul is the spiritual aspect of Spiritual Satanism. There are many things about spirituality that science has not yet explained. I will fully admit that, but you can no longer deny that there is no such thing as a human soul. This is proof that spirituality is not a delusion as LaVey claimed. This also supports that Spiritual Satanists know that there is a scientific explanation to back us up. I am no expert on LaVeyan Satanism. I never have nor will I ever claim to be. So I will ask what science proves LaVeyan Satanism? This is your chance to give me a logical and rational answer.
I am not taking offence to any of your statements, and as said in my first comment I am criticising the beliefs - not the person.
Satanism is indeed not a christian invention, that is obvious - Satanism was in fact invented by Anton LaVey - I see no evidence of any earlier religion going by the name "Satanism". There are of course many older religions going by all sorts of different titles which have doctrines in common with many current religions, including Satanism - but there is no evidence of an older organised religion by that title before LaVey's work.
It would be completely nonsensical to claim that Satanism predates all other religions because the name itself is a derivative of the word "Satan" - itself a reference to a major figure in the christian religion and referring to "the accuser". You might be correct in saying that a SIMILAR set of beliefs to your own has existed for millenia, but it did not have the same name.
I state that your beliefs are unscientific because quite frankly they are. Stating "Science recognizes the human soul" is downright silly. Science deals with empirical reality, the concept of a soul as something distinct from the physical brain is completely unscientific.
If we define the soul as just "that which makes you you" then what we're really talking about is in fact the brain.
You ask what science proves Satanism as defined by LaVey? I will point you in the direction of all of modern psychology - time and time again, what LaVey stated in his work has been backed by psychological studies and there are way too many examples to list.
At the very core of Satanism is one simple doctrine: question everything.
"Undefiled wisdom" is only attainable by using the scientific method after all.
What you gain from spiritual practices and claim to be knowledge I can easily explain via neuroscience and psychology. If you give me physical access to you then I can induce a "spiritual" experience via the use of drugs and direct brain stimulation, and it will be identical to the experiences you produce naturally. There is nothing happening here outside of altered neurological states.
The difference between us is that if I induce an altered state in myself for some purpose (as I do every time I perform a ritual), I am aware that it is an illusion and I can even point out which brain regions are involved if you want.
LaVey referred to a concept known as the "intellectual decompression chamber" - put simply, while inside the ritual chamber it can be useful to temporarily "believe" in all sorts of things in order to program the subconcious, but outside the ritual chamber such delusions are just that - delusions, and they are harmful.
There may not have been any previous religions of Satanism by name, but do you realize that all of those "Pagan" religions share the exact same Gods and Goddesses? They share the exact same spiritual goals and the same methods of achieving those goals as well. The main differences are things like language and location in the world. Like I have said the information is there. I've done my research and so has the Ministries. The only thing that has changed is the scenario over countless years. From Sumerian beliefs to Spiritual Satanic beliefs. It's all the exact same belief system. LaVey only coined the name "Satanism" in modern texts. That is it.
The name "Satan" in Hebrew and only Hebrew means "adversary" or as you say "the accuser." Satan truly derives from the Sanskrit word meaning "truth." Sanskrit is one of the world's oldest languages. There have been cities that have had names derived from this Sanskrit word. The name "Satan" has actually been around since about the beginning of modern humanity. This is yet another proof that Spiritual Satanism predates Christianity.
Christianity is a reaction to Spiritual Satanism. Look at what The Bible is comprised of. Hundreds of stories of our Gods and Goddesses that have been unjustly twisted and corrupted. Spiritual allegories are everywhere in it as well. Once you learn about spirituality these things become clear.
You and I are talking about two totally different concepts of the soul and spirituality. The soul is not defined as "what makes you you." I never once said that either, nor have I hinted to that outrageous definition. The soul is comprised of numerous parts. The most commonly talked about is the aura. Which is the "outer coating" of the soul in a sense. The aura is comprised of electricity. Electricity which can and has been detected by science for years. What I mean by this is science learned that humans give off electricity. They were not measuring brain activity. They were measuring the human body as a whole. These electrical phenomenons were stronger than electrical brain signals. I remember seeing information about this since I was a little kid. Since the brain communicates through electrical impulses it is quite easy for the brain to influence and control the electricity of the aura. This is what I have meant by science recognizes the human soul. It absolutely does. Spirituality and science compliment one another.
Psychology also proves Spiritual Satanism. I won't deny that LaVey has made a few good points, but as a whole LaVey's findings were flawed. As I've said Spiritual Satanists are strong believers in science, so why wouldn't we use the scientific method to approach certain questions? In fact that questioning is what lead us to discover that neurology, astronomy, and physics have proven time and time again that human spirituality and as a result the human soul exists.
Our High Priestess Maxine has talked about drugs and meditation on countless occasions. Every time she has never denied that the brain can be induced into false spiritual experiences. The key there is false. If you can achieve a similar state without the use of drugs you are experiencing human spirituality. Without the use of drugs it is a controlled experience and with consistency these experiences grow stronger. This is the basics of power meditation. Meditation has been proven to induce different brain waves than an awake person and as a result a different neurological state. This is not the same thing as a delusion. The delusion here is drug use.
You have just proven with the last two paragraphs what I mean by LaVey's findings were flawed. He proved that drug induced "spirituality" is a delusion. Not all spirituality. He's absolutely correct that these delusions are harmful. They are harmful substances on your physical body for starters. Not to mention they can permanently alter your brain for the worse. There's absolutely no denying these facts.
You have yet to prove human spirituality is false. You haven't proved anything against Spiritual Satanism. You're using flawed logic to disprove science. What you have proved is you have not read up on Spiritual Satanism. The site has been there for you to look through. When you argue over a person's beliefs at least have a basic understanding of the topics you're trying to disprove. This is by far not the last article I will write on Spiritual Satanism. My next one will be the origins of Spiritual Satanism. I plan on tackling meditation as well. In that article I will go more in detail about the human soul and its parts.
I think you're both whacked, but hay, who am I to judge. For all I know you may be right. I just wonder where the notion of satan came from if not the bible. I'm not familiar with a pagan or Egyptian satan that predates christianity. Most of the stuff I read about satan/satanism is fairly modern.
Interesting discussion guys
Good article