Moral Panics Can Be Dangerous for Those Outside the Religious Majority

Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay

If I had to pick one topic related to atheism that most fascinates and terrifies me, it would be that of moral panic. I am intrigued by mass hysteria and how it works. I like to examine the processes by which people do unspeakable things to one another. We humans have so many creative ways of rationalizing our cruelty!

As someone living in the United States, I have observed many moral panics. As an atheist, it is hard not to notice that most involve fundamentalist Christians. They are already too quick to impose their beliefs on others. This tendency gets amplified when they are afraid. I find that a terrifying prospect. Even when atheists aren't the target of a particular panic, we aren't far from it.

Satanism as an Antidote to Beige Atheism

There's nothing wrong with the color beige (or tan, kaki, and whatever other names you prefer). It is about as inoffensive as one could want, and it goes with many other colors. Having a wall in your home painted in beige renders the wall almost as invisible as white, freeing you up to decorate as you want. Although I am not sure I've ever met anyone who claimed that their favorite color was beige, plenty of people seem to like it enough when it comes to their interior paint, car upholstery, and all sorts of other things. Thus, while beige may not inspire much passion, it works well for many. There is nothing wrong with beige, and there is nothing wrong with people who like beige.

Beige Atheism

Atheism, at least if we are talking about the dictionary sort of atheism (i.e., atheism means nothing more than a lack of belief in gods), is rather beige. I suppose we can't call it inoffensive since there are still plenty of religious believers who seem to have real difficulty merely acknowledging the existence of atheists, but I don't want to dwell on them here. But many of them also seem to have real difficulty comprehending the continued existence of monkeys, so I think we can set them aside as they muddle about their "magic" world and get back to the atheists. Beige atheism is great for many atheists. It has everything we want and nothing we don't. Much like the color, it goes with almost anything. There's nothing wrong with beige atheism, and there's nothing wrong with people who like beige atheism.

Satanists Trolling Conservative Christians

For someone who does not identify as a Satanist, I seem to get more than my share of questions and comments about Satanism. I think that is because I have posted about it on occasion and because I am sympathetic to some forms of atheistic Satanism. For example, I like much of what the Satanic Temple does. I agree with their seven tenets, appreciate their defense of church-state separation, and often enjoy the manner in which they troll conservative Christians. Strangely, characterizing some of what they do as "trolling" is one of the things that has prompted some negative reactions, so I'd like to address that here.

Most people who use the Internet these days have at least a passing familiarity with trolls and what it means to troll others. Those of you who write your own atheist blogs or simply visit some regularly are certainly familiar with Christian trolls. We understand that the troll does what he or she does to elicit a certain kind of reaction. Trolling is largely about pushing others' buttons. None of this means that trolling is necessarily bad or that it can't be done with other goals in mind.

Much of what I enjoy about what the Satanic Temple does is that it often seems like they are using Christians' many hang-ups to stimulate thought and demonstrate the absurdity of what many Christians believe. And yes, I'm talking specifically about the Satanic imagery. The Satanic Temple is one example of atheistic Satanism. They do not believe in a literal Satan; however, they use this imagery with great effect. As a fan of horror films and metal music, I suppose I may be predisposed to like this Satanic imagery. Of course, enjoying it doesn't mean I take it seriously (and neither do they).

Religious Atheists

Atheism is not a religion, but that does not mean that some atheists are not religious. In fact, we now have at least one atheistic religion. To understand how this is possible, it is helpful to remember what atheism is and what it is not. Atheism refers to the lack of belief in gods, meaning that atheists are people who do not believe in gods. There is nothing in the definition of atheism that prevents people from believing in souls, unicorns, angels, fairies, demons, aliens, Bigfoot creatures, or all sorts of other entities that most skeptics would reject. Similarly, there is nothing in the definition of atheism that would prevent atheists from being "spiritual" or even believing in some form of life-after-death.

Nontheistic religions are nothing new. Some people will tell you that certain forms of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and various neopagan traditions are nontheistic. And of course, most contemporary forms of Satanism are nontheistic in that their adherents do not believe in any gods and do not worship a literal Satan. There is nothing about atheism, then, that would prevent an atheist from joining a nontheistic religion if he or she was inclined to do so.

What Do You Think About The Satanic Temple?

I would like to see the Hail Satan? documentary. Unfortunately, it is not playing anywhere near me. I don't want to see it quite badly enough to drive over 100 miles in each direction to do so, and that's what I'd have to do to if I wanted to see it in the theater. And really, I'm in no hurry. I'm sure I'll see it eventually, and I don't think this is a case of it being ruined by waiting. If you know anything about it, you know that it involves The Satanic Temple. And since I haven't seen the film, this post is not about the film but about its subject.

You have probably heard that The Satanic Temple was just recognized by the IRS as a religion. This was big news for the group. It means that they now have tax-exempt status just like the Church of Scientology.

It also means that an explicitly atheistic group (i.e., they do not believe in a literal Satan or any other supernatural entities) is now entitled to all the benefits the U.S. government typically reserves for theistic religions. For those interested in learning more about The Satanic Temple, you can find quite a bit of information about what they believe and how they compare with other Satanic groups on their website.

Satanists Suggest Christians Own Child Abuse

Child abuse is directly forbidden in the 11 Satanic Rules of the Earth. Christians however have been abusing children for centuries. They own this. https://t.co/yVHnF2HBdS

— The Church Of Satan (@ChurchofSatan) November 14, 2017

I don't dispute the claim that Christians have been abusing children for centuries. I think that is beyond debate. I also think it is clear that church hierarchy, especially as one finds it within the Catholic Church, has preferred to protect clergy who abuse children over the children they have abused. And finally, I'd add that some of what children are taught by their Christian parents about the special status of clergy probably contributes to an atmosphere where abuse may be more likely to occur and less likely to be dealt with appropriately when it occurs.

Church, State, and Satanism

When a local government disregards what our Constitution says about separation of church and state by permitting Christian displays on public property, a group of Satanists comes along seeking permission to erect their own display alongside the Christian one. The government officials have a choice to make. They can allow the Satanic display to go up or they can do what they probably should have done in the first place and prohibit all religious displays from public property. These are really the only two ways they can abide by the Constitution and not open themselves to successful lawsuits.

Is Satanism Ethically Superior to Christianity?

Toward the end of November, Hemant Mehta (Friendly Atheist) wrote a post with a great title that I meant to address here. It appears that I filled it incorrectly in my poor excuse for an online bookmarking system since I just found it this weekend by accident. The title of the post was The Satanic Temple's Seven Tenets Are Far More Ethical Than the Ten Commandments. It is a great title, but is it accurate? Are the seven fundamental tenets of the Satanic Temple really ethically superior to the Ten Commandments? Could Satanism have an ethical edge over Christianity?

One of the consequences of Christian privilege is that I can rest assured that you are far more likely to be familiar with the Ten Commandments than with the Satanic Temple or their tenets. So let's take a look at the seven tenets and see what we think:

1. One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards 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 your own.
5. Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.
6. People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may 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.

Teenage Satanism

I've mentioned previously that I briefly dabbled in a cartoonish version of Satanism when I was about 17. My friends and I never took it seriously, but we found it both appealing and useful at this time in our lives. How so? It was fun, helped keep certain people at a distance while attracting others, and gave us a much-needed sense of power when we felt powerless most of the time. We didn't worship the devil; I was an atheist by this time. What we did was use Satanic imagery for its shock value and to express disdain for many aspects of the Christian culture in which we lived.

I never identified myself as a Satanist because I did not think of myself as a Satanist. This label was put on me by others. I guess I found it too ridiculous to deny. When word spread at my school that I did not believe in gods, some of my fundamentalist Christian classmates decided that this must mean I was a Satanist. I suppose I decided it was more fun just to let them go on believing this than to argue. I wouldn't have been able to talk them out of it. And besides, being thought of as a Satanist was much cooler than anything I could have come up with on my own.

Satanism: The Next Dangerous Idea

Satan, as drawn by Gustave Doré, in John Milton's Paradise Lost.

Many religious believers have viewed atheism as a dangerous idea for as long as there have been religious believers. While there have certainly been exceptions, many religious individuals have discouraged others from seriously considering atheism. They perceive it as a threat to their worldview, their privileged status in society, and perhaps even to their eternal souls. They would prefer that their children never hear of atheism, as they fear it may have a corrupting influence. Atheists should remain silent, know their place, and keep their doubts to themselves. Religious believers should not be curious about atheism; they should steer clear of it.

To some degree, the perception of atheism as a dangerous idea may be starting to change. We atheists have made it clear that we are not willing to remain silent; we are speaking out. Thanks to a number of books about atheism and the availability of atheist-oriented material on the Internet, it has become much easier for people to encounter atheism. Someone who is curious about atheism can find many great atheist websites, blogs, podcasts, and videos in mere seconds. The genie is out of the bottle. While many religious fundamentalists continue to see themselves as being at war with atheism, secularism, and much of the modern world, some religious moderates have shown signs of growth in their willingness to acknowledge that atheists exist and have the right to express ourselves.

Unfortunately, there is at least one other dangerous idea, one that actually seems capable of uniting many religious believers and many atheists in opposition to it. They do not want to acknowledge it, remain largely ignorant about it, spread misinformation about it, demonize its adherents, and seek to silence them. Much like used to be the case for atheism, this idea should not be explored or discussed. What idea is so dangerous that it could possibly unite many religious believers and many atheists in this way? Satanism.

West Memphis Three and the Satanic Panic

satanic pizza (Photo credit: romana klee)

A couple weeks ago, I caught CNN's 2011 documentary on the West Memphis Three, "Presumed Guilty: Murder in West Memphis". On the off-chance that any of you are unfamiliar with the case, it involves a triple-murder of three 8-year-old boys in 1993 for which three teenagers were convicted in spite of what was questionable evidence. What makes the case relevant here is that it occurred during the "Satanic panic" that swept through the U.S., and it appears that Christian hysteria over Satanic cults was a contributing factor in how the case was investigated and prosecuted. The three would serve 18 years in prison before being released through an Alford plea prompted by new DNA evidence and a ruling from the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Having read a bit about the case several years ago and watched Paradise Lost - The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills again within the last 2-3 years, I was familiar with almost everything in the CNN documentary. Paradise Lost went into far greater detail; however, it was interesting to see the more recent prison interviews with Damien Echols before his release. I don't believe I had previously seen all of the clips they included.

Victims of Satanic Panic Released From Prison After 21 Years

Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus), Andasibe, Madagascar (Photo credit: Frank.Vassen)

I recognize that I have a fairly diverse readership here at Atheist Revolution, made up of people with a range of different life experiences. But I'd guess that it would be fairly safe of me to assume that most of my readers have not spent years of their lives in prison. There may be exceptions, but they are likely few in number. Spending years in prison is probably something most of us would have some trouble imagining. Thus, I suspect you will be able to relate when I say that the idea of spending 21 years of one's life in prison for a crime one never committed absolutely blows my mind.

In early December, The Guardian ran a story by Tom Dart about Dan and Fran Keller, a couple who was sent to prison in Texas back in 1991 for child sexual assault during the height of the "Satanic panic" in the U.S. They were released after serving 21 years of their original 48-year sentence because the district attorney's office finally admitted that the jury at their trial was likely influenced by flawed expert testimony. Imagine spending 21 years in prison for something you didn't do!

How Satanists Can Help Preserve the Separation of Church and State

Domestic Satanism (Photo credit: Thawt Hawthje)

It is almost Christmas, so what better time of year than to address the subject of Satanism. We have a Catholic "demonologist" in the news making absurd pronouncements about how secularism has "left an 'open door' for the devil," efforts by the Satanic Temple to erect a statue next to a Ten Commandments monument in Oklahoma, and a potential legal battle brewing in Florida after the Department of Management Services rejected a holiday display from the Satanic Temple. As you may have guessed, this post isn't really about Satanism as much as it is about the separation of church and state.

I, for one, am thrilled to see Satanists attempting to contribute holiday displays. Why? Because this might finally open the eyes of some Christians to what happens when Christian displays (e.g., nativity scenes) are allowed on government property. This is how separation of church and state works: The state may decide to allow no religious displays whatsoever, or they must allow all of them.

No, Atheists Do Not Sacrifice Goats

Midwinter Sacrifice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Austin Cline (About.com Agnosticism/Atheism) recently responded to a question from a reader about atheists and animal sacrifice. Here was the first part of the question:

I just want to know if atheists practice anything like sacrificing animals or anything sort of devilish? I don't know much about the subject, so sorry to be ignorant to it. But I was told once that they do sacrifice goats.

Austin provided a great answer, and I hope anybody with the same question will read it. My reason for posting this is not to elaborate on his response but to suggest that the question serves as a potent reminder that there are many misconceptions about atheism out there. Anticipating them, correcting them, and informing the public about atheism is one of the things those of us who identify as atheists should be doing. In this post, I'd like to offer two brief pieces of information for those interested in understanding atheism.

Memories of the Moral Panic Over Satanic Ritual Abuse

Sacrifice of a Christian Child (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The flyers were all over the psychology building. Dr. Richard Ofshe, a renowned professor at the University of California at Berkeley who had won a Pulitzer years earlier, was delivering a lecture on the use of recovered memories in psychotherapy. It was the mid-1990s, and I was in graduate school at the time. I knew that Ofshe had become a controversial figure due to his evidence-based criticism of attempts by therapists to recover clients' memories of childhood sexual abuse. I rearranged my schedule so I could attend his lecture. I had no idea how controversial it was going to be.

I assume that my readers are familiar with the term moral panic. Notorious examples of moral panics in the U.S. include the Red Scare, Salem witch trials, and the so-called "Satanic panic" that emerged during the 1980s over fears of Satanic ritual abuse. The idea that there were Satanic cults operating in nearly every town throughout the U.S. caught on in a big way and would not begin to fade away until the late 1990s. It was a fascinating period to have lived through, and I sometimes have a difficult time believing that it happened at all.

What Atheists Could Learn From Satanists

Enough procrastinating! It is time for the third part of my series on atheism and Satanism. In the first part, I tried to clarify some of the more common misconceptions about Satanism, making sure we could start with a common reference point. The second part dealt with the relationship of Satanism to atheism and also to anti-theism. In this part, I'll examine the question of whether Satanism offers any lessons for atheists.

I suppose I already tipped my hand in one of the previous posts in this series by stating that I would "even make the shocking suggestion that we atheists could learn something from the Satanists." While this remains true, I am by no means suggesting that atheists should embrace Satanism.

In a way, it makes sense to think of a (LeVeyan) Satanist as an atheist who is intensely anti-theistic and has embraced the power of confrontational imagery and ritual (Note: Again, I am referring to the Church of Satan variety of Satanism in this series). The Satanist has embraced the power of symbolism, aesthetics, confrontational imagery, and ritual. While many atheists bristle at the very idea of ritual, the Satanist has recognized that many people seek the community and ritualism offered by organized religion. Rather than encouraging people to simply ignore these needs, Satanists provide an alternative. Could there be lessons here for atheists?

Satanism, Atheism, and Anti-Theism

Anti-Christian/Satanic button taken from a pair of pants. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I knew that this series was going to be controversial when I started it. Misconceptions about Satanism abound, even among atheists. And the suggestion that atheists might have something to learn from Satanists has already been criticized even though I have not written anything about it yet.

In the first part of the series, I explained that many Satanists, at least those involved in the Church of Satan, do not worship Satan but are atheists who adopt a strongly anti-theistic position and use Satanic imagery and symbolism to shock. In this post, I'll examine the relationships among this form of Satanism, atheism, and anti-theism. The next post will discuss whether atheists could learn anything from Satanists.

Understanding Satanism

My path from atheism to Christianity and back to atheism was not a straight line. There were a few detours along the way which led me to various dead ends. One of these was Satanism. If there is one stance on religion that is more misunderstood than atheism, it would have to be Satanism. In this series, I will attempt to clear up some of the misconceptions about Satanism, highlight some of the important similarities and differences between Satanism and atheism, and even make the shocking suggestion that we atheists could learn something from the Satanists.

Two Forms of Satanism

I want to distinguish between two forms of Satanism so that the reader will understand what I am talking about here and not get bogged down in Christian hysteria or inaccurate media portrayals. There have been way too much of both.

What most of us think of when we heat the term "Satanism" does not really deserve to be called Satanism at all. Think of this as the catch-all category containing all the various forms of unorganized mysticism involving dark, Satanic themes with which many American teenage metal fans are fascinated. This is the form that Christians tend to become hysterical about, to exaggerate, and which the U.S. news media loved to cover in the 1980s and early 1990s. If you lived in the U.S. during this period of time, you'll know exactly what I mean.

I am not proud of this at all, but this is the primary form of Satanism in which I dabbled as a teenage metal fan. I still love metal, the darker and more "evil" the better, but I've outgrown the desire to emulate these darker themes. But back in the day, I was into this stuff. I never sacrificed anything, robbed graves, or did most of the other things that the hysterical news media wanted you to believe was epidemic in the 80s. I did do (and did believe) some pretty ridiculous things back then though. In my defense, this was little more than short-lived experimentation. It did not take me long to move on.

The second form of Satanism is what I want to focus on: the real Satanism. There are several schools of Satanism with some important differences among them. The particular form you've probably heard the most about is the religious philosophy and ritual established by Anton Szandor LaVey in the form of the Church of Satan and described in The Satanic Bible. This is certainly not the only school of Satanism, and not all real Satanists see eye-to-eye with the Church of Satan.

For the sake of brevity and because it is not my intent to make this an exhaustive exposition on Satanism, I am going to take the liberty of temporarily referring to the Church of Satan and their belief system when I use "Satanism" here. Again, I recognize that there are other forms of Satanism which could be considered "real Satanism" and which depart in some important ways from what I describe here. At some future date, I may come back to them.

If you are not familiar with the form of Satanism involving the Church of Satan, here are some things to keep in mind:

• The Church of Satan came out of San Francisco in the late 1960s, and LaVey's initial following included a magician, a filmmaker, various authors, at least one local politicians, and even foreign royalty.
• These Satanists do not believe in or worship a literal Satan; they use the symbol of Satan to shock, challenge, and unsettle. Satan is merely a powerful image of an adversary.
• These Satanists are atheists and are intensely anti-theistic.
• This form of Satanism explicitly prohibits human and animal sacrifice.
• The Satanic rituals practiced in this particular form are based on psychodrama and are as much if not more about personal transformation than belief in the supernatural.

In the next post in this series, we will examine the relationship between Satanism and atheism, identifying the relevant similarities and differences. Stay tuned.