The Satanic Stereotype

Media is frustrating, especially when it spreads misinformation that is too convenient to keep in its uncorrected state. In particular, it's difficult for me to enjoy anything under the horror genre/umbrella these days because of the pernicious stereotype surrounding people of my religion. I'm sure many have seen it plenty of times: satanic cults who perform blood rites/human sacrifice/ritual murder. This stereotype is everywhere and it shows a glaring double standard that lurks in the public consciousness. In brief, this negative stereotype surrounding satanism is problematic, bigoted, religist, and fascist. I will explain why.

Origin

The myth of Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) and other variations on the theme of sacrificial murder stems from the work of a quack psychologist, Lawrence Pazder. He wrote a book with a patient (whom he later married) detailing "lost memories" that he had "recovered" for her which detailed abuse by a satanic cult. Recovered-memory therapy is not a valid practice in therapy and has no scientific standing. The publication of this book kickstarted what we call the "Satanic Panic" in the US and Canada, where Christians began to clutch their pearls and call nearly everything outside of their comfort zone "satanic." It's easy to find pamphlets and police videos detailing signs to look out for regarding "satanic cult activity" and while we can laugh at them today for their foolishness, it was very much an integral piece of a modern witch hunt. Ever since the idea spread, every other horror film, story, and game involves a satanic cult of some kind, attempting to pull at the underlying Judeo-Christian fears of the average Westerner.

Bigotry

The stereotype of murderous satanists is particularly bigoted because of how easy it is to disprove. It takes substantial ignorance or a general aversion to basic research to keep the stereotype valid in one's head. Let's look at a couple of different Satanic groups.

The Church of Satan does not practice ritual murder. Read The Satanic Bible or the Satanic Rituals if needed, they are readily available for free on LibraryGenesis. The only sacrifice that really occurs is symbolic and is directed, at most, towards objects. Neither animals nor humans (another animal) are slaughtered. Hell, LaVey even calls the murder of "innocent living creature[s] at the high-point of a ritual" asinine and claims (consensual) sexual orgasms (le petite mort) and anger summon the same energy more easily in a ritual. He also writes that "[m]an, the animal, is the godhead to the Satanist," providing another reason against human sacrifice. No rituals performed by the Church of Satan require murder. They also do not believe in a real Satan, the organization is atheistic.

The Temple of Satan does not practice ritual murder. None of its tenets extol murder or the slaughter of animals/people (in fact, one of them states to "strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason"). The only case one could make for TST condoning ritual murder is if one is "pro-life," as the TST circumvents religiously-motivated anti-abortion laws by saying the act of abortion is a ritual, thus allowing patients to exploit religious freedom laws and uphold bodily autonomy. They also do not believe in a real Satan, the organization is atheistic.

The Temple of Set, despite being a group in the theistic satanism camp (meaning they believe in a real Satan), does not practice ritual murder. The Temple of Set is a splinter of the Church of Satan, having broken off because Aquino believed the CoS was practicing simony and was nothing more than a group you could flash a zany card for. Temple of Set focuses more on ceremonial magic and none of their rituals contain ritual slaughter of animals or people.

More educated readers may be asking, what about the Order of Nine Angles? They explicitly support ritual murder. Good question. They are self-described Satanists, but I do not believe that they truly are. At its core, the Order of Nine Angles is a neo-nazi organization and is aligned with accelerationist philosophy. What does this mean? The OoNA believes in ritual murder against those who are considered to be of poor character, basically giving a religiously-dressed excuse to carry out and justify racist, anti-semitic, or otherwise nazi/white supremacist activities. Additionally, the fact it is accelerationist should give some clues as to why it would try to identify as Satanist: it is trying to be the exact opposite of the societal majority in order to directly rattle the foundation, speed up its collapse, and allow them to fill in the power vacuum with an authoritarian, Aryan empire. This is not real satanism, just a terrorist group trying to pull attention. Peter Gilmore has an article in The Satanic Scriptures on why Satanists likely wouldn't want to rule the world.

Finally, what of those convicted murderers that call themselves satanists? I do not think they necessarily count, since they are misguided on (or even ignorant of) its principles. By principles, I mean that it is readily agreed between all splinters/camps that the goal is self-deification and self-improvement (very Left Hand path stuff, referencing the god from within rather than from without). Besides, why should a handful of disconnected individuals become proof for a sweeping stereotype against an entire group? Should we base our opinions regarding Muslims on the actions of just bin Laden? Certainly not. Should we base our opinions regarding Jewish people because on what Netanyahu is doing to Palestinians? Not at all. I don't see anyone forming opinions about all Christians because of the actions of a few small cults, either.

As we can see, there is a fairly strong precedent for no prominent satanic groups performing ritual murder. Thus, to keep this stereotype alive is bigoted.

Fascism

I want to make a case for the negative stereotype against satanism being fascist, primarily because the way that stereotype has been used. During the Satanic Panic, many parents feared for the soul of their child and started severely limiting what they could and could not do. Older folks are likely full of stories about how they were unable to listen to rock music or play Dungeons & Dragons; maybe younger folks could speak of how they were unable to enjoy Pokemon or Harry Potter. Whatever the case may be, the myth of SRA and "satanic cults" in general has been used to surpress others, especially during the Satanic Panic's height where it was used as an instrument to prevent changes/challenges to the conservative status quo. Anything liberal or challenging was the doings of "those evil devil worshippers." Religion has constantly been a source of control, and the fear of satanic murder only made it more intense (especially in the American "bible belt" where the ripples are still felt today). Let us not forget how SRA was used to take attention away from sexual abuse scandals popping up in churches across the nation.

So intense was the "us vs. them" feeling engendered by the myth of SRA, that it led to a teenage boy being put on death row for a murder he did not commit. Why was he put on death row and his friends arrested? They looked and acted different. They challenged the status quo, they were outsiders in their home town, and they were struck down for it. Thankfully, the teen got taken off of death row, but this should have never been allowed to happen. Take a wild guess who was responsible for the murder of a young girl. The preacher. See, how the fearmongering around satanists, real or fake, is used to keep the establishment safe and sound, unchallenged.

My Experience

Skeptical readers may be thinking this information is all well and good, but it's 2024. Didn't the Satanic Panic end a few decaes ago?. Sure, the Satanic Panic did end, I guess, but its effects are still readily felt and its fingers are deep in popular culture. When I made the decision in 2019 to consider myself a satanist, I made a lot of good changes in my life. In particular, I reconnected with some old friends I broke off with at the end of high school (it was due to an argument and some long term stuff, won't get into that here). I still remember it clearly, we had reconnected over text and, with Christmas break coming up, we arranged to eat a restaurant and catch up. The day came and we were seated at the restaurant, my two friends looked at me questioningly. They asked about the Satanic Temple shirt I was wearing, and the sulfur cross necklace. When I told them I converted to Satanism, they were scared. Close friends I had known for 5 or 6 years at that point became scared.

Why were they scared? The media paints us as murderers, boogeymen, monsters. Popular horror movies depict us chaining virgins to stone slabs with a flame-bladed knife raised above her heart. Video games depict us summoning monsters to kill the protagonist and please the dark lord. Books depict us concocting vile plans to wipe out all good in the world. Naturally, that was their only experience with satanism, so they immediately thought that that was what I had become. Fuck off. I'm tired of being made into monster because of who I am. Satanists have done nothing wrong and yet we are still demonized by the layman. Despite all of the progress put towards understanding the creeds and religions of others, everyone neglects Satanism. Constantly, we are put into a little box labelling us as evil and it's a fucking uphill battle to get out of it. Every stranger, acquaintance, and friend requires a tiring amount of discussion and debating, just to justify our existence and clear our name. Even if I was able to explain to my friends what Satanism really is, even if they don't see me as that monster anymore, and even if my fiance (one of those two friends) ended up converting to satanism himself, I still hate that the burden of explanation rests on me. I have to do research for others and explain it for them, I have to chew their food for them. It becomes a chore having to explain myself to the ignorant over and over again. I am willing to bet money that I am not the only person who has this issue, thanks to the public opinion formed from lies and minsinformation.

It fucking sucks to feel alienated all the time. Even with the understanding that Satanism is a religion about yourself and not others, it just gets so tiring. I mean, psychologists agree that there is a social need for belonging that is hardwired in the human brain. Never before have we had so much access to information, and yet nobody uses it. Fools will come in, screaming about satanists in freemasonry, in Judaism, in Catholicism, in the government, etc. None of it is true, and it's so easy to prove that. And it certainly doesn't help when the full force of the media is perpetuating this fucking stereotype. Imagine the outrage if I made a movie that involved a Jewish character with a freakishly large nose and an obsession with currency. I would be skinned alive and end up having to pay a large sum to the ADL. Imagine if I made a horror game that appropriated the Voodoo religion. I wouldn't hear the end of it from its believers and allies. Or what about if I had bomb-chucking Muslims with goat wives in a book I wrote? I would be rightfully called out as a disgusting bigot. So then, why does no one care about satanism and its unfair depiction/treatment? It's a bullshit double standard that people are more than happy to perpetuate. All of these horror game devs and movie producers are the same. If you need an evil cult for your story, then don't use a real religion or a stereotype of one (especially a minority/fringe religion). Make one up like Lovecraft did. It's as easy as that.

Then Why Satan?

A point I often hear is then why use satanic imagery or call yourself a satanist if there is this stigma around it? Oh, how I hate this question. It is short-sighted. There are a few reasons for the imagery and name.

First, as per the CoS, Satan represents the opposite of Christianity. It is indulging (in an Epicurean manner, not Hedonistically) rather than abstaining, it is living in the moment rather than fearing death, it is worshipping the human nature rather than the cold, clinical divine.

Second, as per TST, Satan/Lucifer (specifically John Milton's) represents the first rebel against tyranny, the first person to stand up to divine oppression, and probably the most human-acting angel in the choir.

Third, the imagery is certainly a lot more interesting and lively than atheistic. I want to tell people what I am, rather than what I am not. Atheism has no common imagery other than r/atheism posts and maybe a capital A entwined with a Bohr model atom. It's so boring! Satanism provides a framework of images and ideas for atheists to attach to and be taken seriously; think about how often religious folks will dismiss atheists because it is explicitly defined as a lack of belief. The banner of satanism puts us on a level playing field and, as demonstrated by The Satanic Temple, allows atheists equal treatment in the face of religious protection laws. The negative stereotype actively hurts this cause.

Fourth, why should someone have to cower and cover up their true nature just because society does not except it? If that true nature is not hurting any individual, it shouldn't be suppressed. A Buddhist shouldn't be afraid to be themselves, a Hindu shouldn't be afraid, a Muslim shouldn't be afraid (see: post 9/11 Islamophobia), and neither should a Satanist. The stigma shouldn't be there and you can't simply blame the target. What kind of logic is that, anyway: you should have known what you were getting into, you should be expecting the push back. Fuck off, I shouldn't have to consider shit like that when I'm exploring who I am and reaching a point where I'm content with that image/persona. It's not the fault of the victims for being that way, but rather the fault of those who knowingly and unknowingly perpetuate the stereotype of murderous devil worshippers.