Satanisms Tempting Yet Fatal Flaws

The decade of the 1960s saw a real up-tick in the pursuit of "all-things-spiritual". It mattered not if it was through meditation, open drug use, or through music and "free-love," it was a time of spiritual exploration....umm...somewhat.


Not only the music industry, but even Hollywood took note, and spiritually themed films followed, including dark ones like the famous "Rosemary's Baby." Occult studies skyrocketed.


Riding on this surge of new interest (and according to his own daughter's account-- a desire to make a lot of money) Anton LaVey wrote and published his:

The Satanic Bible

LaVey promoted a type of secular Satanism, almost an atheistic-Satanism, if you will. You have to separate it from any older concept of "Devil worship" with goats-blood-spattered pentagrams and the like.

Though there are remnants of the former inculcated into his NEW Satanism, it is more about the worship of the SELF. You are your own god, therefore, do whatever you want, whenever you want, and place yourself first whenever and wherever possible.

Wouldn't that be a great world (read: sarcasm)...wait a minute, if you look at the news, maybe we are already there.

But, I digress.



A Battle of the Wills

As you read and study about LaVey's version of modern Satanism (which even denies the concept of real, personal "devil" anyway) you will see that it has one golden rule:

"My will, not Thy will...be done!" It appears that LaVey understood that it is a battle of the wills.

In other words, the highest achievement in life, is to do YOUR WILL, whatever makes YOU the happiest, whatever is BEST for YOU. Sin is anything that prevents you from doing what satisfies you the most. Self-deification, self-worship, that is the key.

In this blog article, I would like to cover two different fallacies of this "NEW" Satanism. First--the concept of "MY will, not THY will be done" is logically flawed, and secondly, that "NEW" Satanism is not new at all, rather it is a re-packaging, a modern recycling of the original false religion at the outset of human history.


Will the Real Will Stand Up?


Though the "new" Satanists will not readily admit the idea of a Creator (some will), yet their central mantra of "MY will, not THY will be done" is targeted at rejecting the concept of man's highest purpose being following the will of our Creator (God). It is so easy to demonstrate why this is illogical, it amazes me that few ever bring it up in discussions about this topic.

Recently I had a discussion with someone who was dabbling with this "new" Satanism. They very proudly declared to me that the best thing about this "new" Satanism was that it was all about "MY WILL" be done...throwing off the "chains" of any "obedience" to God or the like. Really? Interesting.

Getting the Lead Out

One simple analogy will demolish the entire basis or foundation of this type of ill-founded reasoning. My daughter, who is now a thriving teen, was not doing so well as a toddler years ago. After blood work and medical evaluations, the cause was found to be LEAD POISONING.

She had, unfortunately, taken a real liking to the bits of lead-laden paint chips found throughout our (then) older home. Flaking window sills and thick carpet provided sumptuous daily fares of this dangerous delight.


We had to break her of this habit, and she did not like it one bit. She enjoyed her brain-damaging tidbits, and we had to really watch her and "modify" her eating trends. It was a real battle of wills.

She WANTED those paint chips so bad, but, as her parents, knowing that they would harm her, we did not allow her to eat them.

Her will was dangerous...demonstrably so.

Now, think about it logically---what is the difference in the level of understanding of a toddler and a mature adult? It is nearly an infinite gap--larger than the Lilliputians ever dreamed. As adults we know that the things that attract and "make kids happy" are often dangerous, destructive, and can harm them, not just in the short term, but in the long term as well. THEIR WILL (to engage in those destructive behaviors) and OUR WILL are in opposition. Which WILL is better for them ultimately? Answer: (hands down) OUR WILL.


So, it is relatively easy to point out that one's own will can actually be completely wrong, uninformed, destructive, and immature. One doesn't need a road sign to point out something that obvious. Now, think about the difference between GOD'S understanding of us and life, and our OWN understanding of ourselves and life.

Which is a greater level of understanding? Obviously: God's. He alone knows the future, our present, our past, and about everything that is involved in our needs and wants.

Who Loves Ya, Baby?

Next, a surprising question: Who loves YOU more----you or God? Seriously. I'm asking. According the God Himself, He loves you even more than you love yourself. He even proved it completely by becoming a man (Jesus Christ) and giving His life for you on a cruel Roman cross so that you could be forgiven of your sins.

 If someone would suffer and die for you, they probably care about you a great deal.

Now, let's logically combine the last two observations:
(1) God knows and understands us better than we do ourselves
(2) God loves us more than we even love ourselves.

Now, whose WILL would be it better for us to follow--our own limited, flawed, often uninformed, short-sighted, will, or God's will (perfect, informed, loving)? It is NO-CONTEST. Since God created me, knows me perfectly, loves me, and only seeks the best for me, why wouldn't I want to follow that WILL, rather than my own extremely limited and often-misguided will?

Image is Everything!

I think the underlying problem with most people is in their concept of God's character. Now, if I perceive (or imagine) God to be a vindictive, selfish, demanding task master, then perhaps my own will seems a bit more attractive. But, if we would stop our own projected image of God, and let Him speak for Himself, we will gather a much different picture. As we think, just about the cross alone, and what love and humility and forgiveness was displayed there---all those hard thoughts of God would vanish into the thin air where they belong.

The Bible says that "God is love." Jesus says that He is "meek and lowly in heart." Imagine that--the Creator of the Universe expressing His compassion and humility. We are so used to tyrants who grab power at every opportunity, that we SUPPOSE that God must somehow be just like that.

We project our own greediness, our own selfishness, onto God--instead of letting Him be who He really is. We really get a glimpse of our loving Creator--it is much easier to say "NOT my will, but THY will be done!" (because it will be in our own best interest!)

What's Old is New Again!


My second area of contention with the "new" Satanism, is just that...it claims to be "NEW". I was watching in horror recently during a cable news show. The national program contained an interview with a high school student who represented the "new" Satanism. He was arrogant and over-confident, and he taunted the host saying that "it is isn't about old devil worship--it is about the new religion of serving MYSELF, of worshiping Me!"

I just shook my head for the poor sap---he thought he was espousing and promoting some cool, new thing---not realizing that he almost took the words right out of Satan's mouth several thousand years ago.

This deceived young man would have been mortified to learn that he was almost quoting the Bible (gasp!)

This "new" Satanism is nothing of the sort...it is a resurgence of the oldest lie ever told, recorded in one of the oldest books ever written.


At the dawn of human history, there was another battle of wills. The Creator had created mankind with a free will and given them only one prohibition, only one rule. The scriptures indicate that they were given another appeal, from Satan himself. Basically, he told our first parents that the key to happiness, that the secret to a fulfilled life is to NOT DO GOD's WILL, but rather to do YOUR OWN will. In fact, he said, if you do that, you will become your own "god." He said that disobeying God was the true path to enlightenment.

History is the Proof

Well, most of us know the rest of the story. They did distrust the Creator, they fell for the lie of Satan, and worshiped themselves and their own understanding. They disobeyed their loving Creator, and look at the millennia of sin, greed, sorrow, selfishness, and evil that has cascaded down through history.

Instead of a perfect world, we daily deal with hatred, mistrust, self-centeredness, and an appalling evil that manifests itself out of the fallen human heart.

History proves that the formula "MY will be done" is a personal and societal NIGHTMARE.


Anton LaVey and those who have chosen the path of destructive personal "enlightenment" (which deifies our own desires and minimizes the benevolence of our Creator) have willingly subjected themselves to a worldview that is not only logically flawed--- it has the entire weight of history stacked against it.