I'm afraid I drop in much too late for the show, so I'll just stick to saying a few words about attempting to deconvert Christians at this point. One of the keys to doubt is questions. Questions, questions, questions. However, to be able to make these meanful you have to get the people you talk to trust you. Otherwise they'll just shut down to you and never really consider what you ask/tell them. In my experience however it's never going to work if you're angry about their beliefs, hate them or harbor any negative feelings towards their faith. It will almost certainly show, and you'll just end up in an argument with them.
Read some books on the subject, like Karen Armstrong's A History of God. When you know the history of their faith better than they do, you can apply that knowledge to point out things they'd never have thought about on themselves. Most likely they won't have answers to your questions, and that could make them doubt. It's worked for me very well, although I haven't come across any fundamentalists for some time now. I don't see any point in wasting my time on them.
On the subject overall. I think your biggest strenght is to remain calm. It takes a really long time to get to that point, I know that myself, but when you get there, you can do whatever you want and remain untouched by anything that tries to cross you. The Darkness is with you and lets you control whatever touches you, but it can just as well break loose inside you and hurt you, if you aren't able to be at ease with your life.
Well so far so good on calm at the one Baptist Church I will now be attending regularly.
Sorry I missed all the fun, but I'm going to chime in here. First off you obviously find LaVeyan philosophy to your liking. "When in another man's lair, show respect or do not go there." Good rule to live by. If you are in church and people start something, do what you want. However, to go there with intent of causing a stir is highly disrespectful. The LHP is not about disrespect. Rejection, adversarial though, evolution... Yes. But not disrespect.
As for not telling everyone you're a satanist: I agree. It is your business, not theirs. If you just throw such information out there, where is the power to it? Occult means hidden, amd Satanism is an occult path. You say you're theistic but come off highly LaVeyan... Young LaVeyan. Make your bond with Satan, honor him, be empowered by him. But your path, Will, and Self are nobody's business unless they ask.
HAHAHA! I actually am somewhat LaVeyan, I take a lot from his
Satanic Bible. I agree with him on many points as far as lifestyle, but not with the Church's (or at least Gilmore's) stances on economic, political, and social policy.
Though LaVeyan lifestyle (indulgence not abstinence) is not the end for me, but the means to the end. The best way to put it is this excpert from my personal grimoire (specifically one of the chapters of "Unholy Psalms"):
"The Christians invented a lie,
but from it Satanists made a battle cry.
I did more then build upon LaVey's carnality,
I created balanced spiritualities."
keep in mind I retain all rights to those four lines, so if you steal them [as in take credit for it] I will not hesitate to sue you.
Also, as far as inflitration, that is already underway at a Church not too far from my house. However that is not my only or sole reason for going there. A couple of old friends from my fundy days (plus the tiime around 16 when I tried to get back with god) go there now, and have been for a year. I also I want to meet some people just for the social aspect. I only plan to, when the time is right, strike at a few people here and there. Most notably I know the weakness of the youth pastor now from last Sunday night. He said something like "I don't know how it works I just know god did it" when I was showing one of my old friends a picture of the size of the earth compared to a solar flare coming off the sun.
Also, so far I have not been disrespectful in that Church in anyway. The Methodist Church... that may of been different, but I'm not going there ever again anyway.
I think more about his methods and motives then what bhe wants that seem to be a key issue.
That was mostly what I thought too.
@ everyone saying occult = hidden
I hate this idea that an 'occult path' must be hidden. Why hide truth and empowerment? Would it not benefit all of mankind if more and more people followed their own nature in controlled and healthy ways then it would to be limited by the Right Hand Path? I am not an "occultist", I am a adherent to a school of thought. The problem with occult = hidden is exactly why we face the problems of persecution that we do today. It is why people think we are killers, sacrifice animals, ect. I admit after I have thought over it is not a smart idea to keep quite about my beliefs, but only because it is in my best interests.
To put it simply, I am only going to keep my mouth shut about being a Satanist for the same reason a gay man keeps his mouth shut about being gay: persecution and getting through life easier.
A number of "occultists" do not like to be called part of the "occult" because it indicates some secrecy on their part. I am one of those people. The reason I do not think we should be secret is thus:
The ancient pagan religions were "occult" by today's standards, yet they were not secret in the least. They were wide spread, everyone knew of them. These "occult" type of beliefs are the more natural beliefs of man. They existed before Christianity.
The only reason our "occult" beliefs became 'hidden/secret' was for our own survival. In other words, the only reason that we became, or should remain 'secret' is to avoid the persecution of the monotheistic Right Hand Path religions.
Or I guess the best way to put it is a closeted gay analogy. Should gay culture remain secret? Rationally, not really. They only were "underground" just as we are "underground" today due to discrimination. Let's not get prideful on being all so secret and all. It makes no sense. That is an easy way to lose, destroy, and severely alter our teachings without protecting the original beliefs. It paves a way for it to easily be re-written by those wanting to profit off of us. I think that we should work towards a social-political goal of breaking down barriers so that our children and children's children of the left hand path do not have to carry this 'secret' with them.
Satanists are born, not made. Just like a homosexual. And like a homosexual, it's hard for me to hide what I am. And like a homosexual, I must remian closeted to avoid discrimination. But just because it is that way today, does not mean it has to be that way tomorrow. Does anyone get what I am saying?
Also... I'm not gay lol.
