I feel the need to state something that used to be called “obvious,” but in the land of moral ambiguity and subjective relativism, those lines are now all blurred, and what once seemed obvious to some of us, is just not so obvious anymore.
So satan is the bad guy in the world, and I don’t mean “bad” in the way bad boys might be attractive to some. He is not a fine-looking rebel without a clue riding a motorcycle and peacocking his bad self all over the place. He is also not a lost little boy, a misunderstood victim, a sad puppy people are always being mean to.
I refer to a couple of really young girls, 11 and 12 years old, who just got popped with a bunch of weapons, knives mostly, and plans to kill people at their school. Allegedly they wanted to eat human flesh and drink blood, and they both stated that they are practicing satanists. I’m quite sure there is much more going on behind the sensationalism and mediated reality then meets the eye, but that is the essence of the story.
In my experience, young people being romanced, seduced into satan worship is surprisingly common. I see dabblers all the time, and some who are quite serious, and while it doesn’t shock me anymore it does make me angry and sad, because we as a culture created this situation. This is simple cause and effect in action. The devil has been so culturally glamorized, romanticized, and given legitimacy, that many people genuinely don’t get the fact that he is flat-out evil.
Heck, most of us don’t even believe in “evil” anymore, nor can we even define it. Many of us are in our happy place, people are just basically good, all bad behavior is just related to mental health issues, and “evil” is pretty much just a subjective matter of opinion anyway.
Not long ago I was talking to some people, struggling to try to come up with an example of some atrocity, some mutually agreed upon Really Bad Thing that would help to draw an analogy for evil and I just wound up on the verge of tears. How do you even explain to people who grew up on horror movies, saw violence portrayed as power, satan as the sexy bad boy, that evil is actually not a good thing at all?
We have been so desensitized to satan that it doesn’t even register anymore. Try explaining “natural affection” to people who really haven’t seen many good examples of it in the world and it’s enough to just make you wail in despair.
Add to the mix the huge cultural support for rebelling, for giving religion the middle finger, for acting like all beliefs are equal and valid, and you’ve got a real recipe for disaster.
To stir the mix some more this is a real post modern, materialistic culture, so the “supernatural “is perceived as not real. It is perceived as not real, even while some invest a great deal of energy into the spiritual, which is a completely irrational contradiction. So contrary to popular belief, there are actual consequences to dabbling in the dark, to focusing on evil, to chasing demons. Spiritual consequences, and often material, physical consequences, too.
Recently I read a little FB meme about earning your place in hell as if the devil is going to reward you for your service and hand you a little kingdom where you and all your friends can rule and hangout. Like, people genuinely don’t seem to realize that the enemy comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. He comes to steal you, to destroy you, to kill you.
He is called the “father of all lies” because he does not keep his bargains. You’d have better luck standing on the promises of an active drug addict desperate for a fix, than you would with satan. He’s not going to reward you with power, he has absolutely no reason to share his power with anybody.
The whole concept of give and take, of reciprocity, of sacrificial love, of shared communion, is actually a Christian one, and those values are the very opposite of what satan offers. He is a taker, an abuser, toxic. He will drain you of all that you have to offer and then spit out your bones and move onto the next one.
Young girls especially, are often drawn to power, to dominance, to strength and confidence, perhaps. Especially true if you did not have a good father to model what that even looks like. That is just basic biology, something else our culture is trying to erase, but female attraction often manifests itself in those two broken stereotypes, the “bad boys” or the “lost puppies,” one is romantic desire and the other maternal desire, and satan tends to conveniently fit the bill for many. What do girls so often tend to do in relationships? Reflect and multiply, attempt to be pleasing, try to earn his attention and favor.
These two kids were trying to earn his favor and the way you do that when you are shadowing evil is by trying to do something shocking, appalling, against natural affection.
Kind of like other domestic abusers, satan will never share power with you, and you will never win his affection or admiration. That is nothing more than a dead-end, a toxic relationship, and if you are chasing satan you are in way over your head, unwitting players in a game you don’t even understand.
Least anybody feel the urge to say “what is the world coming to” or “what is even with kids these days,” they learned it from us as a culture, we are the ones who left the door open.
This time of year especially, I’m often reminded of how much we’ve glamorized satan, tried to make him fun, exciting, sexy, and tried to make evil something lighthearted and culturally acceptable, as if it isn’t real at all, but just the shadows of our imagination. We are all kind of like those unwitting players in a game we don’t even understand.
We really have to shine a whole, whole lot of light into the world, because many today genuinely don’t realize there is actually a vast difference between light and dark, good and evil, life and death. Moral ambiguity is nothing more than a smokescreen, a deception, a lie, and it always has been.
Brandon Adams said:
There’s that television show “Lucifer” that tries to portray him as your typical modern self-doubting antihero who ends up doing good for people. I’m like, Satan is behind every brutal INjustice that came along. This is not helping.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Yep. I haven’t watched much TV for a number of years, but what really began to bother me was all the moral ambiguity and satanic acceptance being presented.
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Brandon Adams said:
Or just lack of urgency against him. There’s a subtle relaxation towards him that occurs.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Absolutely. I once saw this adorable, chubby baby, dressed as satan, a little devil. right? Totally softened my heart, dropped my defenses. It wasn’t until a few hours later that I began to realize that is how Jesus Himself appeared to us, out of love, out of gentleness and compassion, but as a babe in manager so we would relax, not be frightened about turning to Him.
I’m sure those parents were just having some innocent fun, but the deeper implications really began to register with me.
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alphaandomega21 said:
We know Lucifer is cruel from his name. Words betray the character.
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VictorsCorner said:
Thank you for sharing this. The issues you raised are really a matter for serious concern. But how many people would see it that way?
Satan is the guy behind all the evil we see in the world today. There is nothing good about him. As the Bible says, the work of Satan is to steal, kill and destroy. Unfortunately, when people reject God they are helping Satan in his work.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Well said. Conversely, I think it’s also really hard to explain to people why they need the Lord when they don’t realize sin is real, evil is real, and they have an enemy they need protection from, they need salvation, refuge.
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VictorsCorner said:
We pray that the eyes of their understanding be opened to understand that they need God, that without Him they are lost.
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atimetoshare.me said:
Thanks for addressing this issue. Somehow Satan has turned evil into good. The bad guys are more delightful than the good guys. Part of the problem lies in the hands of churches who no longer talk about evil. In search for new members, they preach prosperity and feeling good. Sin isn’t recognized as bad nor are there any consequences for it. Without realizing our sin we believe we don’t need a savior. The devil has limited power and will have none when the end comes. He and his followers and minions will live in everlasting devastation. People don’t like hearing that so they ignore it and live and let live. It’s our job to lead them to the truth.
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sullivanspin said:
America has definitely “glamorized satan” and it is a fatal error to dismiss the existence of evil entities, such as demons and chalk it up solely to mental health. Well said!
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Salvageable said:
Back in the 80s I had a theology professor who was concerned to see the ambiguity in so-called professional wrestling. Unlike the earlier days of wrestling, those 80’s wrestlers were using the same strategies whether they were supposed to be on the good team or on the bad team. Both sides cheated just as much. He wrote a very erudite article which was published in a theological magazine, but only after first exploring his thoughts in the classroom with his students.
When our fiction blurs the line between right and wrong, good and evil, it is inevitable that our reality will follow. They can put Hollywood makeup on the devil, but he’s still the devil. J.
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The Night Wind said:
The extension of this glamorization of Satan is even worse in the long run. St. Thomas Aquinas demonstrated that it was the nature of Evil first to appear harmless and even good; eventually though it takes root in the soul (or the cultural consciousness when widespread). At that point, what we think of as Good begins to appear evil and vice-verse.
When you see a culture that sees nothing wrong with taking small children to ‘Pride Parades’ but demands to take Christian themes out of school Christmas pageants—that’s what St. Thomas was talking about.
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changeofheartjournal said:
Really important post. I like the part where you talk about how people deny satan exists and yet pay homage anyway even if just “culturally”, like a doff of the hat.
I despair at the mental gymnastics that satanists go to when they claim that they don’t worship him because he doesn’t exist and that they are really atheists.
They ought to be sued under the False Trade Description Law!
I just saw an article that read
“Satanists Just Aren’t Scary Anymore… Writer Theresa DeLucci agrees that damnation just doesn’t have the same thrill as it did back in the days of the Satanic Panic. It’s a phenomenon she noticed while watching the haunted spaceship movie Event Horizon. “For the first half-hour it was terrifying,” she says. “And then as soon as they were like, ‘It’s been to hell!’ I was like, ‘Oh. Hell. Meh. OK.’”
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changeofheartjournal said:
It’s just a big joke to the kids..
http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-compelling-reasons-to-consider-switching-to-satan/
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Heather Davis said:
Amen. This reminds me of something I’ve wanted to share (and maybe I will soon). It is not cute or fun or interesting. It’s horrifying and the fact that we’ve come to embrace the watering down of evil just as much as the watering down of truth. Now all we have is some kind of lukewarm porridge which is basically flavorless. Instead of evil, we have entertaining bursts of outrage. Instead of truth, we have… well, entertaining bursts of outrage.
With all this in mind, did you see the disturbing opening ceremony for the Goddard Base tunnel in Switzerland? Not funny at all.
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Wally Fry said:
Your statement about that meme is so sad. It’s like those that say that Satan is going to torment people in Hell forever. Um..no that’s not the plan. Satan, while quite real and quite good at what he does, is also quite defeated. Satan will be tormented himself, and will no longer wield any power whatsoever. It’s so sad how he has been glamorized, much like that old caricature of a pitchfork and tale. He is very real, and certainly not glamorous.
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Julie (aka Cookie) said:
I thought the story a couple of years back of the girls who stabbed repeatedly their “little friend” at a supposed sleepover because some character called The Thin Man told them to do so was horrific enough…but then I heard about these middle school girls with the knives, hiding in the bathroom waiting for younger ones to enter so they could overpower them, kill them in order to drink their blood….left me sickened.
Sick of heart and horrified.
Yet this story is a blip on the news…a few raised eyebrows….but the midterm elections, now those dominate…
Our children are worshiping Satan and wanting to kill and drink blood…and yet we go bonkers over midterm elections….what is freaking wrong with this picture????
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The Night Wind said:
The Pensacola School District just north of where this happened has an After School Satan Club
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_School_Satan
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Julie (aka Cookie) said:
Oh my dear Lord…
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sklyjd said:
“The devil has been so culturally glamorized, romanticized, and given legitimacy, that many people genuinely don’t get the fact that he is flat-out evil.”
The Christian religion gives the devil legitimacy, Satan is ascribed too over 30 times in the New Testament.
“Heck, most of us don’t even believe in “evil” anymore, nor can we even define it. Many of us are in our happy place, people are just basically good, all bad behavior is just related to mental health issues, and “evil” is pretty much just a subjective matter of opinion anyway.”
Yes correct, evil is manifested within our own brains like all other beliefs and sure enough meaningful evil thoughts and associations can lead to mental disorders and criminal activity.
Indoctrination works for satanic belief as it does for all religions. In fact, all religions are responsible in some way for satanic type of entities. It is human nature to believe in the supernatural, it is a way people express themselves and add something to their lives, that may in fact be of assistance or a burden.
“Add to the mix the huge cultural support for rebelling, for giving religion the middle finger, for acting like all beliefs are equal and valid, and you’ve got a real recipe for disaster.”
Well, how do you blame people for that IB? Science has come to the foreground for inquiring minds, it can be rewarding, it is exciting and progressive as it has come a long way in such a short time of 200 years and it has provided many benefits to all bar none in this life on Earth. Not only that, there are so many religions and gods from the past and present to choose from and an eternal life in some perceived supernatural world with one of the supernatural gods along with all the other supernatural claims make it all too clear to many free thinking rational young people that they are all manifestations of mankind.
“contrary to popular belief, there are actual consequences to dabbling in the dark, to focusing on evil, to chasing demons. Spiritual consequences, and often material, physical consequences, too.”
Yes, I agree totally, dabbling in anything related to what is called the supernatural can change your brain so much so that constant evil, immoral and unpleasant thoughts and actions can cause permanent psychological and mental disorders that have the potential to permanently ruin lives.
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ColorStorm said:
Great write up msb.
Can I include the most insidious (if I can shamefully borrow) of all evils itself, atheism, which takes all good things and rapes the minds of the young, and lives lives devoid of thanks.
Thanks requires reciprocity.
Too strong? Ha! Not strong enough. Hate that stuff, and don’t get tired of saying so.
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insanitybytes22 said:
I hear you, Colorstorm. One thing that makes me angry about atheism is that when you take away hope, gratitude, grace, they give little thought to what horrrors are now going to come rushing in to fill the void. Everybody has a God sized longing written into us and when people get the message that it’s bad, they tend to go looking for Him in all the wrong places.
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ColorStorm said:
Good point about the void. And truly that is Satan’s specialty, filling the void.
Clever bastard (in the pure language of English) that offers another sonship.
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sklyjd said:
By the way if you read Wikipedia properly you will read:
“After School Satan Clubs do not teach children to believe in supernatural beings named Satan or perform Satanic rituals.”
They are basically to counteract religious after school clubs.
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insanitybytes22 said:
“They are basically to counteract religious after school clubs.”
Right, because your cure for the horror of following Jesus and loving your neighbor,is to encourage children to worship evil and fantasize about murder and drinking blood.
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The Night Wind said:
Sure, they just name themselves after Satan and are funded by the Satanic Temple, but they don’t REALLY believe in the supernatural or try to indoctrinate children into cults.
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Stephan Caraway said:
Oh yeah! Someone else figured this out. I thought I was alone. 🤯 Great post!
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whisperingleavesblog said:
Well said.
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D. Parker said:
Come Join My Blog Party – The More The Scarier!
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changeofheartjournal said:
“After School Satan Clubs do not teach children to believe in supernatural beings named Satan or perform Satanic rituals.”
We are really expecting satanists to tell the truth here?? Seeing as their namesake is the father of all lies.
They are taught to invert everything. Truth becomes lies. There is absolutely no point in believing anything they say because lying is part of their faith!
Saying they just want separation of state from religion = LIE
They are just atheists = LIE
They don’t worship satan = LIE
Why would anyone expect satanists to play by Christian rules??
Most people feel ashamed of lying whereas they revel in it. They are all about breaking all moral codes, rules, taboos.
They literally break all the commandments. Everyone should know this, it is satanist 101.
Atheists would not want to use the moniker of satan when the word atheist would do but satanists know that atheism is the soft sell for satanism anyway.
Worshipping science is pretty much the same thing and it breaks the first commandment.
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ColorStorm said:
Some good insight there. Key word; lies.
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The Night Wind said:
I wonder what the reaction would be if the Muslim Brotherhood started funding After School Al-Qaeda Clubs? No, really: they’re just about promoting a greater understanding of Islam without any reference to Jihadist philosophy; and they exist to counteract Christian after-school clubs.
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Tricia said:
Really good and important post IB. Explains so much as to what’s wrong with our culture.
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Matthew Winters (Honest Thoughts from a Pastor) said:
This will preach! I’ve been catching up on some of your posts, and you are hitting the nail on the head over and over.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Thank you, Matthew. Much appreciated.
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