Christianity QA

Question:

decided to enlighten us with the following words of wisdom form the Sacred Book of Paul Bunyon: {you}I have noticed some confusion on this resulting in a lot of posts, so {you}I thought I would clear things up {you} {you}Satan is an old term (Greek I believe, not sure) meaning self, No, it is HEBREW from the adjective ‘ha-satan’ the ADVERSARY it is still used in this context in Arabic. (remember when Iran called the US "the Great SATAN"? {you}Satanism is a religion (or philosophy) that reveres a concept known as {you}Satan (some groups see this as an actual deity, most, including First {you}Church of Satan, see it as a concept), as the origins of the term {you}would imply it is a self-centered religion (meaning that the values {you}and morals are based on the self (eg "do unto others as they do unto {you}you" etc), not meant as a criticism, you can decide for yourself if {you}this is a good or bad thing). Nice load of blather, but what you mean is that Satanism is a religion devoted more towards self-gratification and a self-reliance. There are variant forms of Satanism, Aquino’s Temple of Set being one such. {you} {you}Satanism is also often used to refer to those who deify or worship {you}Satan as taught in the Christian sense, this is more appropriately {you}called Devil Worship to avoid confusing it with Satanism (see above). {you}This also applies to religions which are mainly based on mocking or {you}desecrating what Christians consider holy. Wow!  You just insulted EVERY major religion in the World with that statement.  It was precisely this belief that led tot he Inquisition and the expulsion of the Moslem and Jews from Spain. It was this thinking that destroyed the religions and cultures of meso-America. this thinking caused the Bombay Massacre – in which the ’superiority of the Church as a represented by the Anglican rulers of India to insult the Hindi and Moslem soldiers by the use of pork fat  (to grease the gun barrel) and leather that encased the powder. This is the statement that biblically justified slavery. . . please be a little less sweeping in your statements -fuzzy thinking not allowed. {you} {you}Paganism refers to a group of religions with a few points in common {you}(generally rooted in pre-Christian pagan faiths, are nature based, are {you}pantheistic or polytheistic, have some sense of karma, are not heavily {you}organized, see no one religion as right for all people, have {you}reincarnation in some sense). This includes Wicca, Shamanism and many {you}other religions. As a shaman, I can assure you and everyone else, IT IS NOT A RELIGON!!!!!  It is a Path of Knowledge. You must be confusing Shamanism with the $300 "Become a Shaman" workshops offered byt he Learning Annex or some Faux Native. . . only in the newsgroup heirarchy is it a "religion". Pagan religions (including Wicca) do not have any {you}concept of a devil or Satan or hell… while some Pagan religions have {you}formed relatively recently (others trace back but it is difficult to {you}pinpoint a date of formation) the beliefs are as ancient as mankind {you}and generally come from pre-Christian Pagan faiths, including the {you}earliest religious expressions of mankind in the Paleolithic era.. {you}Satan is generally seen as a creation of the Juedo-Christian tradition {you}and is seen as a tool of fear used to gain followers and supporters No, "Satan" is seen as a personal tiral by fire.  In Hebrew Lore, including Job, Satan is a SERVANT of God, who only works by permission – to test a Man/Woman’s faith. Nothing more nothing less. The Satan of the Hebrews DOES not bargain for a soul. This latter is STRICTLY a Chrisitian accretion. Please leave the Hebrews OUT of Christian accretions.  Judaism does not use fear to gain power or converts. When was the last time YOU were handed a EA saves tract by a Chaisdic Jew? Most likely, if you live in a large city, you may have been asked: Are you a Jew? if you answered ‘No’, they left  you alone. {you}and they are more than welcome to keep him.. Pagans including Wiccans {you}do not believe in Satan, and do not find such a dualistic {you}black-and-white sense of divinity and morality to be logical or {you}healthy (and therefore are not worshipping Satan as we do not believe {you}in him) however feel that if such concepts meet others’ spiritual {you}needs they are more than welcome to them. this last run on sentence of your makes no sense. Are you not a Satan Worshipper? Your parenthetical statement indicates that you don n ot belive in Satan.. . {you} {you}Some Christians also use the term Satanist or Devil Worshipper to {you}refer to any non-Christian or any religion that rejects certain {you}Christian values, this is based on the dualistic idea that if it is {you}not from their God of the Bible it is therefore from Satan and those {you}following such beliefs are worshipping Satanic ideas.. This also comes {you}from the fact that the early Christian church used drawings of pagan {you}gods (particularly the horned hunter god) as images of Satan to gain {you}followers from fear and prevent Christians from turning to Pagan {you}religions or being influenced by them. {you} {you}In Summary, Satanism refers to: {you}A) An actual religion that is self-based and does not believe in Satan {you}in the Christian sense. {you}B) Incorrectly refers to Devil Worshippers who worship Satan as seen {you}in the Christian sense. {you}C) Incorrectly refers to non-Christian belief systems by those who’s {you}dualistic Christian philosophy has gone so far as to cause them to see {you}anything non-Christian as Satanic. this last was all you needed to get the point across. Kelly www.members.tripod.com/shocktroupe WaryorSMgr on AIM Actor/Warrior Stage manager/Fool and Literrally Patronised by ueuecoytl. . . "She’s Corkscrewed and Serpentined out of her Senses Once again."

Response:

I have noticed some confusion on this resulting in a lot of posts, so I thought I would clear things up Satan is an old term (Greek I believe, not sure) meaning self, Satanism is a religion (or philosophy) that reveres a concept known as Satan (some groups see this as an actual deity, most, including First Church of Satan, see it as a concept), as the origins of the term would imply it is a self-centered religion (meaning that the values and morals are based on the self (eg "do unto others as they do unto you" etc), not meant as a criticism, you can decide for yourself if this is a good or bad thing). Satanism is also often used to refer to those who deify or worship Satan as taught in the Christian sense, this is more appropriately called Devil Worship to avoid confusing it with Satanism (see above). This also applies to religions which are mainly based on mocking or desecrating what Christians consider holy. Paganism refers to a group of religions with a few points in common (generally rooted in pre-Christian pagan faiths, are nature based, are pantheistic or polytheistic, have some sense of karma, are not heavily organized, see no one religion as right for all people, have reincarnation in some sense). This includes Wicca, Shamanism and many other religions. Pagan religions (including Wicca) do not have any concept of a devil or Satan or hell… while some Pagan religions have formed relatively recently (others trace back but it is difficult to pinpoint a date of formation) the beliefs are as ancient as mankind and generally come from pre-Christian Pagan faiths, including the earliest religious expressions of mankind in the Paleolithic era.. Satan is generally seen as a creation of the Juedo-Christian tradition and is seen as a tool of fear used to gain followers and supporters and they are more than welcome to keep him.. Pagans including Wiccans do not believe in Satan, and do not find such a dualistic black-and-white sense of divinity and morality to be logical or healthy (and therefore are not worshipping Satan as we do not believe in him) however feel that if such concepts meet others’ spiritual needs they are more than welcome to them. Some Christians also use the term Satanist or Devil Worshipper to refer to any non-Christian or any religion that rejects certain Christian values, this is based on the dualistic idea that if it is not from their God of the Bible it is therefore from Satan and those following such beliefs are worshipping Satanic ideas.. This also comes from the fact that the early Christian church used drawings of pagan gods (particularly the horned hunter god) as images of Satan to gain followers from fear and prevent Christians from turning to Pagan religions or being influenced by them. In Summary, Satanism refers to: A) An actual religion that is self-based and does not believe in Satan in the Christian sense. B) Incorrectly refers to Devil Worshippers who worship Satan as seen in the Christian sense. C) Incorrectly refers to non-Christian belief systems by those who’s dualistic Christian philosophy has gone so far as to cause them to see anything non-Christian as Satanic.

Response:

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