Bloody hell this took a fair bit out of me; I thought I appreciated before how difficult it is to put your thoughts into comprehensible language - now, I appreciate it even more. I very much expect that the majority of people reading this post will not comprehend the way I understand things, but that is fine - make of this what you will, and I hope that this young apostate has managed to grant the OP some sense of understanding. :thud:
The way I see it is that if we all agree that the majority of LHP practitioners advocate indulgence leading to enhancement rather than meaningless abstinence, and that human nature is something to be nurtured and perfected (rather than deconstructed and recreated as something completely different), then we agree that as 'evil' is a part of being human, then it should be nurtured and perfected like the other aspects of a LHP practitioner's Being.
But then, in saying that, we need to define what 'perfection' (in the sense of developing and controlling human traits/elements such as emotion and perception) actually is. Firstly, though, we must define 'evil':
Most commonly, evil is described as an action, thought, or something akin to these which contains a deliberate intention of malice. Traditionally, an 'evil' action (and probably the most obvious) would be murder; the action of deliberately and unjustifiably robbing another human being of their life (different to manslaughter, the action of robbing another human being of their life in regards to which there exist no variables of morality or other kind of justification). Now, while I personally believe that 'murder' is wrong, let's face it - not everyone on Earth thinks that way (most do, but some, frankly, do not). It is these individuals that one would describe as inherently 'evil'. For example, the recent massacre in Connecticut - a man senselessly and unjustifiably murders twenty-eight people, the majority of which are ignorant (in the literal sense), innocent children. This was murder, and one would certainly not hesitate to describe the killer as 'evil'. While all of us here (I hope) consider this an act exemplary of an evil individual, it is a simple matter of perception for some others - there are people whom do not believe that murder is an act of evil because they do not share the same sense of perception as others around them (I again reiterate that I am not one of these individuals). While this is an extreme example, it does well enough to confirm that the way people perceive 'evil' is different from each other. Let's reasonably agree, then, that 'evil' is a definition that does not suit the same scenario or action in the eyes of each individual.
So, how are these perceptions founded? It is obvious that opposition to murder is inherently acquired from the human soul; it has a definite source, which is your drive as a human to care about those around you, whom help you in one way or another (whether this 'drive' is biological or divine in nature is for another thread). In the same way, religion, a huge part of human life, has a gigantic impact on peoples' perception. Let's take Catholicism - the belief in the Divine Holy Trinity. This particular religion defines 'evil' as what we have already established (an action or thought of deliberate and malicious intention). At the same time, however, it does not give an individual the chance to apply this description to whatever they think it applies to, but instead tells and predetermines what is worthy of the description. The most notable here being the act of 'heresy'.
So, with individual perception tainted by religious perception, a Catholic would view heresy (the denouncement of the power, legitimacy or existence of God or Christ) as an act of evil. Why? Because they were told to. So, we can now reasonably agree that in the case of many religions (this also goes for Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and all the others) the way their practitioners perceive the concept of evil is predetermined by the doctrine of their faith's governing body.
With that being agreed upon, we then ask the question, 'How does this relate to LHP practitioners being evil-doers? Wait - did I just say that?' Yes, you did - because it is ingrained in your sense of perception. Sensationalist media, entertainment and organised religion have taught you that the act of heresy is evil thanks to organised RHP religions being such a widely-spread element of day-to-day human life. Thus, you naturally reel back from it, as you would with the idea of any other 'evil' action taking place.
To me, the Left Hand Path (whichever variant you choose to practice, whether it be Setianism, Satanism, Luciferianism, Demonolatry, Dark Paganism, or any of the others) is an invitation to free your sense of perception - your Self - from the constraints of other men's ideas, so that, come the time when you have mastered the Inner World, you may have come to think for yourself, and to form your own perceptions and ideas of what is right and wrong (beyond basic human nature; murder is definitely out of bounds for most legitimate LHP practitioners - even when it's only them doing the thinking). So, even if it is heresy in the eyes of many RHP practitioners, is it really evil? Of course not. You're just conditioned to think so.
So, let's go back to the first point - the perfection of human elements. I'll keep this part short: Basically, the way I understand it is that as evil practices (per the definition of governing bodies of the RHP) are a part of the Self, LHP practitioners strive to control and understand the concept of evil and use it to fuel the way they practice the rest of their faith. This is perfection; the taming, understanding and controlling of an emotion or element of human existence. How this pertains more specifically to LHP practitioners is elaborated upon below...
'Why all the evil -'
'You said it again.'
'Sorry. Why all the oppositionist views and deliberate provocations towards organised religion? Why do they have to exist as a part of your faith?'
Because most of us are born and raised in the arms of a faith we later do not recognise as our own, and try as hard as we may, it is impossible for these concepts of oppositionism to be removed from our minds. So, we use them - twist them and turn them, transform them into something new - catalysts and physical representations of what we believe goes on inside our minds. The inverted Crucifix on fire - for any Catholic apostate LHP practitioner, this evokes massive amounts of achievement; it is a physical representation of the destruction of previous bonds inside your mind which you wish to remove/destroy. Why? Because they hold back your ability to perceive the world around you the way you want to.
In this sense, the perception of organised RHP religious bodies still impact upon the nature of even the most advanced LHP practitioner. Brian Warner once said that it was his fundamentalist Christian childhood that forged him into the man he is today, and this is something that applies to almost all LHP practitioners. If it were not for the RHP, there would be no need for the oppositionism of the LHP to exist at all.
Edit:
So... In regards to your question:
Whether or not you are evil as a LHP practitioner should not be your concern; if you understand what I've said here, then good and evil should be matters concerning other people and their black-and-white, tunnel-vision-esque sense of perception, and should not concern you. All that should concern you is that what you do makes you happy, without hindering the happiness of those whom do not attempt to hinder yours. If they don't like what you do as a part of your religion then, frankly, **** them - that is their problem, not yours.
Why would it be mine?
