I was previously under the misconception that satanist were devil worshipers. However I now know that many satanist are atheists. So I was just curious, why would you call your religion satanism if it has nothing to do with Satan and if you dint even believe that Satan exists? I'm sure that satanist are aware that many people would have the same misconceptions I had about their religion because of its name.
Sorry for the confusion but I do mean the la vegan satanist.
Satanists (I assume you mean the LaVey) are against religions, which they see as scams, and as such mock them as much as possible, including adopting the "bad guy" from a major religion as their own symbol.
Short version: it's called satanism to irk Christians :P
Some Satanists worship Satan and believe it is a real entity but others you are right don't. They use the idea of Satan as more of an archetype or symbol of freedom and self determination. The most well known is LaVeyan Satanism. LaVeyan Satanism places high stress on individualism and self-sufficiency and -satisfaction. LaVeyan Satanists recognize no deity beyond themselves, taking an existentialist view of God: As we can not be sure that anything exists besides ourselves, we can't be sure that we are not the closest thing to God that there is. Therefore, LaVeyan Satanists consider themselves gods, and everyone else is also their own god. Therefore, LaVeyan philosophy revolves heavily around respect for oneself and others, as we are all gods, deserving of respect. Contrary to popular belief, LaVeyan Satanism expressly forbids the sacrifice of animals, and the harming of children. The greatest sin a LaVeyan Satanist can commit is blindly following the crowd, and doing something simply because he is told to.
Another form of Atheistic Satanism is Symbolic Satanism. Symbolic Satanism is reverence of Satan not as a deity, but as a representation of human nature, which is held by adherents to to be hedonism. Satan is seen as a symbol of non-conformity, and a positive influence. Many symbolic Satanists are actually anti-theistic, instead of the apathy of atheism, anti-theists are opposed to the notion of a deity, and will argue the point against them.
The people who belong to these would I think refer to themselves as Satanists because they use the symbolism of it as an antithesis to what they don't believe and it has relevance to them.
'Satanism' is a blanket term. While there are theocratic satanists, i.e. those who belief in 'Satan' as their deity, historical speaking most of these cases were false or fabricated. However, those who acutely do adhere to such beliefs are not 'atheists' by definition, since they belief in (and worship) Satan or similar a deity(s).
More recently, a newer form of symbolic satanism has formed. A particular example is "LaVeyan Satanism" which emphasis es that Satan does not acutely 'exist' per SE, but is a symbol of human nature. In this case, one could make the argument that one could be religious and still hold the values of 'symbolic satanism'.
So in short, it's called "satanism" mostly due to ideals and symbolism, not necessarily through direct worship.
HFS,
My religion is called Satanism because my religion is about freedom and revolution.
And from a literary perspective Satan was the first revolutionist. His act of open defiance against God became the first allegory of freedom and revolution usurping even the highest form of authority, God itself. Everything is quite clear on our manifesto feel free to read it.
ISN
666
http://www.sosatan.org
Why is the religion satanism called satanism?
