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To: zazas-l@hollyfeld.org (ZAZAS-L Satanist Elist)
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nocTifer)
Subject: (Z) Second Generation Martyrs
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 15:50:41 -0800 (PST)

49971224 aa2 Hail Satan!

tommy_4@hotmail.com (Tommy) writes in alt.satanism:
>...the word "satanism" is just too negative. 

for who?  apparently it is too negative for you.  fine, don't use it.


>I have read LaVeys books 

hardly the best authority on Satanism.


>...he was right about many things 

the notion that there is a 'right' where Satanism is concerned
which transcends the individual discernment is ludicrous.  you
appear to have a penchant for generalizing on your own preference.


>...a earlier (non-satanist) book by the title "Might is Right" 

this proceeds from the notion that 'Satanism' is only overt,
or that writings cannot be 'Satanist' unless they conform to
a particular mold.  how can we say that 'Might is Right' is
a "non-Satanist book"?   ridiculous.  such black-and-white
standards are what destroy the best of individualist ideals.


> ...it is with Satanism like with some far-right groups...
>there is a small decent percent folks who understands what it
>is really about, but the majority of the membership are people 
>who are just angry rebels.  

you are here talking about _The Satanic Bible_ (facetiously
so called).  why don't you explain to us "what it is really
about"?
 

>Not even the best marketing campaign would be able to change 
>peoples mind when it comes too "Satanism"...they connect it
>with only the worst things.

this is something I would call 'Second Generation Martyrdom'.
the first wave sets out the battle-lines, co-opting language
and attempting to turn cultural mores toward more liberal
and liberating directions, sometimes just striking out
against puritanism, full-force.

the second wave forgets its heritage or is completely
disconnected from the first, having consumed its rhetoric
completely and now acts as a wounded victim, trying to
'get the oppressors to understand how misunderstood we are'.

some of the second generation may understand the bait-and-
switch tactics being used, capitalizing on the Satanic
(deceptive) modes of communication standardized by previous
generations.  most do not, and, like the Neopagan 'Witches'
and so many historical 'Christians', instead they play the
'martyr card', whining and complaining at the unfairness of 
it all and how put upon is their (usually) 'alloted role'.

so soon the second generation forgets the experience of 
the first, generating a third who begets the sins of the
fathers upon the fourth and fifth generations (thus
becoming the orthodoxy, consolidating rigid rules that
conform to their own, increasingly conservative standards).

this process is slow in normal human societies but greatly
accelerated in cyberspace, where turnover is rapid and
memory is comparably hazy or totally obliterated.  it may
be seen in IRC channels, Usenet newsgroups and in any human
organization with which one becomes affiliated and has
interaction for any length of time.  the process is
slowed by those with memory and strength to resist the
herd-deteriorization.  

typically the virtues of the first generation are completely
misunderstood or forgotten, the change of language or the
differentiation of membership obscuring these and their
value.  it is one of the real (and sad) consequences of
having little or no scientific or historical element of
religious establishment (these typically being sacrificed
in order to serve the conflicting ideals of the group or
misunderstood as competition and defused by their 
supporters who further fragment the community).
 
 
>I am not a member of the Temple of Set, but I think they are more
>correct in chosing another vocabulary (that was not taken from the
>Jewish Bible) 

while Set wasn't taken from the Torah, neither was 'satan',
which originated outside these writings.  neither was 'Satan'
clearly described by the Jewish Bible, as the meager scraps
which may be found that relate to a pronoun appear to be
attached to a godly or angelic being of some immense power
and authority (e.g. Job).

you are talking about the popular Christian and New Testament
versions of 'Satan'.  there are many alternatives, some older
and some newer than these condemning and critically-biased
accounts (supported by folk and classical literature such as 
tales of Old Scratch writings of Dante and Milton).


>and that they will most likely attract more intelligent
>people to their ranks, 

usage of a less controversial label may well attract the
intellectuals who cannot stomach the antagonism toward a
religious culture that appears to have serious flaws.
yet is this a valuable goal?  I think there is good
reason to question it.  the type of theology into
Setian philosophy purported by many ToS members strikes
me as much more dangerous than a selection of some
controversial verbage.


>while other groups will have to dealt with freaks over 
>and over again who commit various crimes in their name
>(not at least in the USA).

again, your focus on escaping the 'Bad Guy Badge' (a la
LaVey) identifies you as one of the second generation.
when conventional religious become aware of sociopaths
performing violence in the name of their faith do they
change their own language to evade persecution, running
away like weaklings?  is the objective in identifying
as a 'Satanist' to be seen clearly, or is such 'sight'
really a co-option of power by virtue of definition?

'freaks' are just geniuses by another name.  agreed
that it may be valuable to protect society from the
real sociopaths (who are wielding available power in
ways that do not respect privacy and individual
sovereignty), but too many times the significance of
'freak' and 'crime' are shifted in conservative
directions for the purposes of puritanical states 
driven by such anti-Satanic principles that a change 
in one's name to suit this is just more capitulation 
to those creating the problems.

instead I suggest choosing the MOST HEINOUS NAMES
IMAGINABLE, eventually breaking the false association
between name and virtue.  things done 'in the name of'
something else are no more or less valuable to me or
my kin (and it is they who concern me most). taking 
the emphasis off what a person or group is called is
a valuable enterprise, perhaps inspiring observation
of what the individual or group is ACTUALLY DOING
that the names obscure.

blessed beast!
________________________________________________________________________
nocTifer: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com  ---  http://www.abyss.com/tokus
TOKUS-COE Office: 408/2-666-SLUG --- Mother Church (CoE) coe@netcom.com
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