Quote from: ktttn on May 30, 2013, 06:41:10 PM

Quote from: crumbcake on May 30, 2013, 06:29:22 PM

Quote from: ktttn on May 30, 2013, 06:11:27 PM

Quote from: crumbcake on May 30, 2013, 03:12:02 PM

Quote from: ktttn on May 29, 2013, 11:13:07 PM

... My argument is against an externalized god. Satanism is a better argument against theism than atheism is...

Just a tiny technical detail: Satanism is not an argument against theism, it *is* theism. What's cuter still is the common variants are little more than Christian striation cults. From simplistic inversions of Christian teachings and symbols (Good->Evil, Cross->Upside-down Cross) to sublime interpretations of Sufis*, who worship Satan as the greatest lover of God -- like Christ, receiving the ultimate punishment for embodying the ultimate truth**.

*Islam, at least for the nonbelievers: Judaism +1 prophet = Christianity, +another prophet = Islam.

**The punishment, of course, is not defeat, but being cast away from the one he adored (God). As he fell to the depths of hell, a feather parted from his wing. As it fell to earth, it became Satan's first gift to man: Freedom.

Satanism, as with any number of ideologies, is a tangled wreck of intersecting themes, ideas, practices and interpretations.
My satanism redefines deity into something so radically mundane as to render sacredness itself common. Of course, I maintain that this redefinition is needed for any valid discussion of god to be more than a creepy, overmedicated set of empty quotes and salesmanship of snipehunting gear.

In other words, when you say "satanism" you mean something entirely different than what you expect others mean by the same word Huh

Sounds like a great way to start silly debates

I expect all sorts of things from all sorts of people. Never has this debate been not silly.
I would like to hope that if Im talking to someone, and I say namaste, they will not burn a cross on my ~~lawn~~ garden.

If you're in US, unless you're in some hippy 'hood, it's probably smarter to say 'hi.' It always seems more polite to use terminology your listeners are more likely to understand. Not sure about the cross burning. Might prevent that too, but no guarantees. Results may vary according to state.