}PPANASONI} THE THREAT OF SATANISM About five years ago, when the movie 'War Games'came ou

}PPANASONI}                       ** THE THREAT OF SATANISM **

About  five years ago, when the movie 'War Games'came out,  there 
was a commotion in the popular press about 'computer hackers' who 
break  into top secret military computers with their  modems.  It 
made little difference to the press that they had misused the old 
computer  term,  hacker  (which really refers  to  any  dedicated 
computer  enthusiest  who spends a great deal of  time  with  his 
hobby,  especially if he is writing programs or working with  his 
hardware).  Of course, generalizing like that made all  computer-
ists  look like criminals, which is a fallacy. Now it seems  that 
the  same  sort of deffective logic may be occuring again,  in  a 
different field. The generalization we are seeing is the bunching
together  of all occultism, New age, and non_Christian  religions 
as 'Satanic'. This is especially being done by 'Christian  Funda-
mentalist', and 'Born Again Christian'media, but the publicity is 
ricocheting  into the more general press as well. As in the  case 
of the War Games hysteria five years ago, this faulty  journalism 
may be causing more harm than good. It is time to investigate
the  claims and the motives of the people behind it. WHERE  THERE 
IS  SMOKE  THERE IS FIRE Evil is appealing and  entertaining.  It 
sells things. Is it any wonder then, that the press and Fundamen-
talist  Christian  groups glorify evil?  What  they  are  talking 
about  is  Satanism,  the worship of the Devil.  But  we've  gone 
through that before. It was about 400 years ago and it was called 
the  Inquisition. Thousands of innocent people were tortured  and 
lost  their lives because of this same sort of deffective  logic. 
In more recent times, Hitler slaughtered millions of Jews,  gays, 
and other minorities for the same or similar 'reasons'.
In fact, Satanism was probably practiced during the middle  ages, 
and it is probably practiced today. But before you go jumping  on 
the  next  bandwagon, let me point out a few of  the  things  the 
Fundamentalists aren't telling us. Occult means hidden or  secret 
knowledge.  It  generally refers to a wide  area  of  philosophy, 
metaphysics, and alternative religions. Based upon that  deffini-
tion we can say that Satanism is a *type* of occultism.
We certainly cannot say that all occultism is Satanism. In  fact, 
Satanism  is  only a very small part of the occult.  Further,  it 
would  be inane to call the numerous non-Christian  religions  in 
the  world 'Satanic'. Satanism, and the glorification of evil  is 
being promoted by the very Fundamentalist groups out to stop  it. 
It is also being promoted by certain movies, books, and musical
groups.  There is a romatic attractiveness to Satanism  which  is 
appealing to *dabblers*. And the more publicity there is  against 
Satanisms,  the more dabblers there will be who  become  involved 
with it. It may even be that a few of those dabblers are perform-
ing those reprehensible acts so wildely publicised (desicrating
churches  and  cemitaries, ritual murder,  etc.).  Another  thing 
about  Satanism is that it is a form of  rebellion.  Classically, 
Satanism  is  a  Christian heresey. In other  words  it  operates 
within a Christian worldview. (Anyone not disposed to the  Chris-
tian  worldview cannot be a Satanist, by deffinition.) It  always 
was,  and  still is,  a form of rebellion against  the  Christian 
church, and the 'establishment'. That is why many 'outbreaks'  of 
Satanism occur in small towns in conservative, 'Christian'  parts  o73 
of the country. For some teenagers, Satanism may be a symbol for
feelings  of rebellion against authority. Some of the 'new  wave' 
and  'heavy metal' rock music groups capitalize on this  fact  in 
their music. 
TYPES OF SATANISM
Certainly  there is a great difference in the beliefs  and  prac-
tices  of  those  individuals we would call (or  who  would  call 
themselves)  Satanic.  We  need to define some  terms  for  three 
distinct types of Satanism. CLASSIC SATANISM, or 'true' Satanism, 
is  a  'religion' in which Satan, as the embodiment of  evil,  is 
worshipped  in deffiance of God and Christianity. Such  Satanists 
believe  that  God has betrayed the human race. The  practice  of 
classic  Satanism implies an upside-down reversal of  traditional 
values  and standards, and a perverse pleasure in practices  such 
as self-indulgence, cruelty, violence, and depression.  Certainly 
this  is the 'hard core' of Satanism. HEDONISTIC SATANISM,  is  a 
watered-down  version of the above. The tendency here is  to  be-
lieve  that Satan is misrepresented, and is not actually evil  at 
all.  Such groups cannot be considered inherently evil. They  are 
made up of mild-mannered accountants whose greatest  'perversion' 
is to follow the 'Playboy philosophy' of sensuous pleasure,  that 
is,  'it  is  alright to do it if it  doesn't  hurt  anyone.'MOCK 
SATANISM,  is Satanism for a 'kick'. Put here the  dabblers,  the 
misinformed, and certain rebellious teenagers, reacting to  their 
music and movies. They see Satanism as a romantic notion. This is 
not serious Satanism at all. Rather it is a 'fad' and media hype.
YOU CANNOT OUTLAW SATANISM
If  it  is nothing else, Satanism is a religion or  a  system  of 
belief.  It is protected under the constitution, so long  as  the 
practice  doesn't break any laws or hurt anyone.  Most  Satanists 
are off in their own world, doing their own things, and should be 
left  alone.  The very few *criminal types* who  break  laws  and 
cause  mischive,  are *individuals* who should be  prosecuted  as 
individuals,  not  as a movement. Even in the  occult  community, 
Satanism  tends to be regarded in a negative way. Mostly,  it  is 
simply  ignored.  Real  believers in Satanism are  a  very  small 
minority.
COMMON FALLACIES ABOUT SATANISM
While  it is true that some Satanists may participate in  magical 
and  occult  practices, such practices does not  imply  that  all 
occultism  is Satanic. Just because I like Italian food,  doesn't 
mean  I  am Italian. The presence of occult books,  even  of  the 
infamous  (and  best selling) 'Satanic Bible' is not  proof  that 
someone is a Satanist, any more than the presence of the Bible is 
proof he is a Christian. Similarly, the presence of an altar,  of 
candles,  or of magical implements is not specificly Satanic.  It 
may indicate an interest in the occult, but even that is a gener-
alization.  Some mainstream religions, such as Buddhism, may  use 
these things. A pentacle (ie, a five-pointed star) is not specif-
ically  a Satanic symbol. It is a legitimate symbol in  occultism 
for protection against evil. And it is a symbol in Judaism (along 
with  a six-pointed star). The pentacle  has, unfortunately  been 
maligned  by occult subject movies. When they do  their  homework 
they  *invert*  the pentacle for Satanic (or  evil)  purposes.  A 
pentacle  with the point up is a good pentacle. A  pentacle  with  o73 
the point down is considered evil. An analogy might be made  with 
the  Christian cross. Displaying the cross in normal  fashion  is 
considered good. However, an inverted cross is a Satanic  symbol. 
Of course that doesn't mean the cross itself is a Satanic symbol; 
it is Satanic only when it is inverted. 
WHITE HATS AND BLACK HATS
The  world is not a western. You can't always tell the good  guys 
from the bad by the color of the hat that they wear. And it is an 
oversimplification  to  blame the problems in the  world  upon  a 
Satanic conspiracy. There is no conspiracy. Name calling, and the
alarmist tactics being used by certain Fundamentalist groups will 
not benefit anyone. Evil is not more powerful than good. The best 
protection against evil is to be a good person. 

Phil Hansford
Mysteria
818-353-8891 (modem)
April 6, 1988. (revised)