Satanic Brotherhood?
Having published a Satanic magazine I have received a lot of letters over the years from others professing to be Satanists. In reading these letters I have noticed something which seems to crop up far too many times, something which should not crop up at all. This thing of which I speak is a sense that Satanists should display an all-consuming friendliness and brotherhood towards one another.
Many of those who have written to me have addressed me as “Brother Rose.” If you are not one of the children of my parents then don’t call me your brother. Let’s leave such nonsensical notions of “brotherhood” to the Christians. They have no place in Satanism.
Associated with this is the recurring idea that we Satanists should all be one big happy family, that we should all be friends with one another. Well, I’ve got some news for you. I don’t like all the people who call themselves Satanists. In fact, I positively detest some of them.
There is no rule that says that we all should like each other. That is the kind of stupid idea one would expect a Christian to espouse. This certainly doesn’t mean that we must be at one another’s throats. It just means that I don’t necessarily want to be your friend and it might be best for all concerned to just “live and let live.”
A third point that makes its appearance from time to time is the belief that a Satanist should not mock, ridicule or otherwise laugh at another “Satanist.” Unfortunately, the definition of Satanist used by such people is so damned broad that just about anybody can be considered a Satanist. This charge of mocking and ridiculing my “brethren” has been leveled at me more than once. The fact of the matter is that a great many so-called “Satanists” spout off so many patently idiotic ideas that it is well-nigh impossible not to laugh at them. I am not about to deny myself the pleasure of laughing at some dimwit merely because he claims to be a Satanist (and some say I’m grim and humorless). Just because you claim to be, or for that matter even if you really are, a Satanist, that doesn’t mean that you rate some kind of special consideration from me. I will like whom I wish and laugh at whoever I wish. Aside from a few common ideas, and sometimes these are very few indeed, I do not feel some special bond with all other Satanists.
To try to introduce this kind of thinking into Satanism is to fail to grasp one of the key concepts underlying Satanism. Christianity considers the individual as but one part of the collective human whole, part of a single big family. Furthermore, they believe that there is a mystic spiritual bond connecting all Christians and making of them a part of the “Body of Christ.” There is no regard for the value of individuality in Christianity. In contrast to such notions, the individual is the foundation of Satanism. We should always regard one another first and foremost as individuals, not as parts of some collective whole.
Whether that collective is race, religion or nationality is beside the point. There is no spiritual bond between Satanists. We are not mere components of some mystical “Body of Satan.” We should leave such idiotic notions to lesser creatures. If you subscribe to such ideas perhaps you had better think about whether you too are to be numbered amongst such lesser creatures.
This essay is copyrighted © by Michael Rose, 2000 c.e. and may not be reproduced without permission.
Michael Rose
Magister in the Church of Satan
