Good and Evil; Our Views.

Good and evil

We don’t believe good and evil are forces in themselves; we believe they are just adjectives, descriptors which for the most part are completely subjective. However we are open to the possibility that there are some things which are not relative and for which we think there needs to be another word. We will return to that at the end.

We thought that some people might be curious about what things we as Satanists think (in a descriptive sense) are evil or good. That is to say, Cassie and I who happen to be Satanists, not All Satanists. We came up with a short list of things which we agree are evil or good.

The Evil List
Rape or sexual molestation of children.
Rape or sexual abuse of any un-consenting person.
Cruelty to and/or abuse of children or animals.
The murder of any innocent or undeserving person.
Undeserved malicious cruelty to anybody.
The ill treatment of anybody based on ignorant prejudice, racism, sexism, sexual or gender preferences or orientation.
Unnecessary restriction of individual rights in the form of governmental/religious/institutional oppression.
Reckless abuse of the environment.
Restricting access to education and means of self improvement.
There were other things we could have added; for example we wanted to mention something about poverty and injustice, but we think all those other things would be covered by these nine statements.

Actually it was more difficult to came up with a list of things which are always good, but we do have a shortlist…

Living life as fully and productively as your circumstances allow.
Self improvement and personal development and enabling the development of others.
Being kind and helpful where and when you can to those who deserve it.
Showing respect to those who deserve it.
Protecting the innocent always and protecting the vulnerable when necessary and possible.
Responsible care for the environment and the planet we live on.

Again that list could be added to or sub-divided, but we think those six things sum everything else up.

Clearly we do not think it is evil to be Satanists. We don’t think it is evil to worship/respect/connect with Satan because we do not believe there is anything evil about Satan. We don’t believe it is evil to question any form of authority including religious authorities. We don’t think it is evil to blaspheme against any entity especially where we don’t believe that entity actually exists and/or where that entity symbolises values and power structures we disapprove of. We don’t think it is ALWAYS evil to kill. We don’t believe it is ALWAYS evil to inflict pain or suffering of some kind. We don’t believe that any form of truly consensual sexual activity between adults can be evil. We don’t think it is evil to use witchcraft or any other form of knowledge or wisdom.

We don’t believe it is always good to forgive. We don’t think that kindness and generosity are always good or appropriate. Moreover we agree that sometimes you do have to be cruel to be kind. We don’t think that blind or unquestioning faith is ever good. In fact we think there are very few things which are always good in any circumstance or situation.

So these are the things we might apply the adjectives good or evil to and we accept that they are subjective and we don’t expect all people to agree with us.

However, we are undecided as to whether there are any things which are absolute; which are good or evil irrespective of personal opinions. Let’s imagine a rather nasty parallel society where most people found it perfectly acceptable to have sex with children. Cassie and I would certainly rebel against that norm. We would still say that such activity was evil and would fight against it. Would that make us good in some absolute way or evil and perverse in the eyes of that society? Are there some things which are absolutely good or evil irrespective of any personal or community opinions? If so, what are such absolutes based on?

We admit; we don’t know the answer to that.

 

 

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