Satanic Rituals, Black Metal, and The Black Pope

In World Religions class this week, we were given the assignment to research a religion that we have not discussed in detail this semester. I have chosen to find out about Satanism. According to the Encyclopedia, Satanism can be defined as the worship of Satan, or the devil. Satanists can embody absolute evil, the opposite belief in the Judeo-Christian Faith and are complete antithesis to God. Cults associated with satanism can be traced back to the 17th century. Satanist central feature is the black mass, typically used as lore and said to be used by "witches" in mid evil times. Black Mass was a corrupted and inverted rendition of the Christian Eucharist. The black mass is said to include rituals such as animal sacrifice, inverting the cross, spitting and stepping on the cross, and sprinkling of the congregation with urine instead of holy water, with the alter being replaced with the butt of a naked woman, preferably a virgin.
Satanists, or Lucifarians in modern times believe that Satan is the power behind the process of nature, what is natural is acceptable. God is believed to be stern and moralistic, repressive and chastising. Satan is the leader of the liberal people who are free and encouraged to indulge in the good things in life, including uninhibited sexual activity.

Modern Satanists are said to read from the Satanic Bible, created by Anton Lavey, the founder of the Church of Satan in 1966 and modern satanism. Lavey believed Satanism is legitimate because it is based on the idea of humans natural instincts, it is based on the here and now, it is rational (based on human science) vs. Christianity which is irrational (unscientific) which makes it illegitimate. Lavey, or "The Black Pope" wrote out the Nine Satanic sins which are Stupidity, pretentiousness, solipsism, self deceit, herd conformity, lack of perspective, forgetfulness of past orthodoxies, counterproductive pride, and lack of aesthetics. Descriptions for each can be found here as well as the nine satanic statements which introduce the Satanic Bible.

The music of Satanism can be best expressed through Norwegian Black Metal. In the early 1990's there was a string of arson started by black metal fans and band members that focused on Christian Churches throughout Europe. One of the bands that had members involved who were eventually convicted of starting the fires was Meyhem, who also depicted their lead singers suicide on an album cover. This genre of music promotes violence, rape, necrophilia, and as Ghaal from the band Gorgoth puts it in his interview, Satan. Gaahl is interviewed for around a minute and gives short answers to questions posed to him. It's interesting to see his mannerisms as his passion for destruction and death is very true and heartfelt unlike most metal bands out there today who sing about death and destruction in a fictional way (Slayer, a speed metal band being one who states this in an interview in "Metal, a Headbangers Journey").

The information I found all started with EBSCO Religion and Philosophy database. After getting a broad idea of what Satanism was, I then entered Satanism into ebrary, and found a great book titled "The Lure of the Darkside: Satan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture. From here they briefly mentioned Anton Lavey, which I then googled and found his site. The book also mentioned alot about demonology and the Black Mass which I then Googled and found a great site called Occultopedia which gave some information on the lore aspect of the religion. I've always found black metal to be interesting, or most underground music for that matter (death metal, speed metal, hardcore punk scene) and remember watching a documentary about the history of metal and that's where information about Meyhem and Gorgoth came in.
I found one of Aton Lavey's quotes to be creative "Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!" In some respect, this quote makes alot of sense when talking about Christianity, It was important for me to find out that Satanism was not all about the dark Black Mass way of worship but there is some substance to it.

Christianity v. Islam

I find that the greatest similarity between Islam and Christianity is the fact that both religions recognize and praise a God, and more importantly, the same God. "La illa ha illa Allah [there is none worthy of worship but God]" and "Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me". The views that each religion hold say God is good, and there is only one God. Islam also goes as far as recognizing Jesus in the Qur'an but Islam only sees Jesus as an apostle of God and not his son, where Christians view Jesus as their Lord and Savior as well as God's son. I find it important and intriguing that both religions WORSHIP GOD, Muhammad was responsible for the written word, Jesus was responsible for spreading Gods word and love. "Qur'an 17:23 Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour." "Exodus 20:12 Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gave you." "Qur'an 17:33 Nor take life which Allah has made sacred . . ." "Exodus 20:12 Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gave you." "Qur'an 17:32 Nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils)." "Exodus 20:14 You shall not commit Adultery." Look at these three examples from the Qur'an and the Holy Bible and then read the following statement from God in the Qur'an."If you are in doubt of what We have revealed to Our Servant, produce one chapter comparable to it. If they say "He (Muhammad) invented it himself," say: "Bring me one chapter like it. Call on whom you may besides Allah to help you, if what you say is true!" Who's to say that Muhammad didn't look at the bible, dislike the idea that Jesus was getting credit for something he believed God and God alone should have? Why, if this overall higher being, this God, is so universally excepted through the three major religions of the world (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) is there so much hatred and violence behind it? One of the major differences between Islam and Christianity is the use of images to depict the religion. In Christianity, the use of images is everywhere throughout the church and the community, from bumper stickers of fish, to Jesus on the cross, Jesus on t-shirts, hats, portraits, pictures, virtually anything that is media related can have it's hand in the portrayal of Jesus or God or Christianity. Islam though, mostly Sunni's are against idolatry because they believe that will take away from the written word of God. In Islam people celebrate the written word of the Quar'an through detailed scriptures written in beautiful colors many different ways. One of the best examples of the detail used would be on the Kaaba, the cube shaped figure in Mecca which is the most sacred site in Islam. The exterior is surrounded by a black curtain with gold stitching on it that is some sort of sacred prayer or word from the Quar'an. It seems as if Islam looks at Christianity and their way of idolatry as a way that strays from the path.
I would like to quote a movie, called Spinal Tap when relating the view on Christianity and the view on Islam. "As long as there is sex and drugs, I could pretty much do without the Rock and Roll". Has Christianity forgotten about it's roots or the "rock and roll" with all the media, and advertising that goes along with it? Is Islam the new band on the scene that focuses on the music and not the glamor? Or is there a way to combine the two and move forward to be successful? I believe there is a way to do the latter, a way to stray from all the arguing and anger and killing and find a middle ground where the agreement is what the people of these two religions value, and that is the belief in God.

Wrath Turned Love

Jonathan Edwards, "In the Hands of an Angry God" is a sermon that illuminates the sheer power of God and how we as "natural men are held in the hand of God over the pit of hell". Billy Graham's version of this sermon is still chilling in the sense that the words are meant to put the fear of God into a person to scare them straight; but Graham portrays God as merciful right from the begginning, and Edwards makes the audience feel as if it is their privledge to be in the midst of God. "By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure", is how Edwards begins his sermon explaining the verse, "there foot shall slide in due time. Deut 32:35" Graham begins his sermon explaining the same verse using the word mercy instead of pleasure. I believe that since this sermon was so powerful, and the way Graham screams the words to his audience, he wanted to make sure that the mercy of God was underlined so when he spoke about "Unconverted Men walk over the Pit of Hell on a rotten Covering, and there are innumerable Places in this Covering so weak that they won't bear their Weight, and these Places are not seen...and the only thing that keeps them from falling into hell right now is the thin thread of God Almighty’s mercy", people still felt safe because God's Mercy had already been underlined. Making sure the audience knew God was a merciful one made people know that no matter how harsh or blunt the words that came out of Grahams mouth were, God would always be there to forgive the sinners and take them as his own.
Jesus Christ is not a focus in Edwards sermon, however, the way to be saved and avoid the "Firey pits of hell" in Grahams sermon is to "let Jesus in, right now where you sit. [So] You can make certain that you are ready to meet the Lord God". In Grahams closing he says that although we are all held over the pits of hell we can all be saved because "God loves you with an everlasting love". Edwards explains too that one can be saved by Christ but he says it in such a way that is filled with fear, "now awake and fly from the wrath to come". This basically says God is still and always will be angry, so become awake and escape the wrath.
A sermon like this could be used today for audiences who take God and the Devil seriously, who believe that God's mercy will save them from the depths of hell, and those who believe that gods dangling of the mortal over the fiery pits are a metaphor for every day temptations, sins and struggles. Harry S. Stout argued that the instilling the fear of God in today's times could be taken as a form of entertainment like the movie The Exorcist. I believe people who value the power of God and the Devil could absolutely find The Exorcist based on fact more than fiction, it all depends on who is listening and interpreting the story.
The early 18th century is absolutely related to Edwards sermon because of the serious harshness portrayed. In the 18th century Christianity was a more brutal religion in the sense that people who sinned could actually be put to death, the Salem Witch Trials are a good example of this. Later on in the 20th Century, God and Christianity were and still are a notable figure and religion in everday life but the literal punishment for sins are stripped away and God's message is turned toward love rather than wrath.