What can I say? I'm impressed. The little tale I told was meant to test the waters, so to speak. I had no idea that so many here were so sensitive.

My little turnabout was in no way a reflection of my views of Satanism; it was merely the antithesis of the tale by nicesatan777. I created a true villain, and labeled him a Satanist. I had him act in an evil manner, yes. But in his eyes it was truly a matter of life or death. He was merely being pragmatic by eating the ant, because how could he hope to survive the winter on an ant's ration?

It was not my intent to offend, merely to turn the mirror in the other direction. As Satanists, we all can understand that we are the center of our own little universes, and I am no exception. As a Satanist I do not like being criticized or ridiculed. I may be a little sensitive too.

But I had to laugh when I read some of the replies dripping with indignation concerning a small tale of survival of the fittest; the strong taking from the weak. Just as the original fable in this thread was a little "over the top", so was my tale. I simply turned the tables and viola! I had villified the entire organization, and chanced bringing Dr. LaVey's creation crashing down. Or so one would think.

The villain in this tale is the same as in the first tale, just clothed differently. I understand that murder and theft are wrong, but does that stop humans from committing these acts? No. I understand that "affected victimization" is wrong, but does that stop humans from committing that act? Definitely not! I fully understand that the Church of Satan does not condone criminal activity, but each of us, if faced with the decision of taking a life to survive, would behave in a manner befitting our own moral code.

For those who judged what kind of person I am from that tale, I thumb my nose at you. I am a kind and compassionate person, but I am also evil and self serving. I save lives at work at least a few times per year, but I would not hesitate to take the life of a person trying to hurt one of my Rottweilers. I have vast amounts of love in my heart, so it is naturally balanced by evil. I would give my life to save my wife, but I would torture and maim, for days on end, anyone that hurt her.

I do not need the approval of anyone other than those I love. I came here to entertain myself and gauge the general mood of the "internet Satanists". Perhaps I don't belong here. I find that I don't fit in well in most places. Not because I am a reprehensible person, but because I find that the more I get to know people, the less I like them. My wife tells me that I am the only person she knows who can make friends at a funeral. But people cannot be trusted entirely, can they? Do you stay friends with those you cannot trust?

So for all of you who think I gave the Church of Satan a black eye with the little tale of the grasshopper who places his own life above that of the ant dumb enough to be coaxed into death in the name of fun, I ask you to read pages 16 and 17 in The Devil's Notebook. While it is true that the grasshopper is not liable to spark a wildfire reaction, someone will get to wear a goodguy badge if they bring him to justice.

Actually, even though the grasshopper is a freeloading parasite, the ant is a foolish mark. The point is, your reactions speak of your feelings towards good and evil, right and wrong. If I were to read that story, I don't think I would judge the writer, except for it's lack of color, background and character development. It was written in under one minute at about four in the morning, and it's only purpose was to hold up a mirror. At least a few people did not like what they saw. Anton would probably laugh at you; I know I am.

When I have time, I may write you another tale. One that does not cause you to judge me by what you feel Satanism is, but one that truly reflects how I feel about Satanism. I know that a couple of you, at least, have labelled me and filed me neatly away in a drawer, but who cares? I am sure that my views of Satanism will differ from the views of others, but didn't Anton say that was OK? I found that the only change in me brought about by discovering Satanism is that fact that I am no longer ashamed of the animalistic, hateful, greedy, lustful, self-centered side of me. It balances the rest, and I am much happier now.

One thing I am sure of, if the ant were like JayLucif, the grasshopper would never stand a chance at getting past the front door. Bravo!

And FYI, I do not plan on shooting myself in the foot just because you did not like the fact that I labeled the grasshopper a Satanist.

What a nice filibuster but it's not working for you.

That is one thing I learned while reading previous posts in this forum.
Some people here are just waiting for an unknowing victom to bash at.
If someone says something that is a little against the ideas of CoS, then ten people jump at him or her in order to fulfill the desire to shock a sheep.

However, your post did seem a bit too offending to these people and me. I think if you just clarified what you ment about survival a little earlier, you wouldn't have receive such hostility.
We would probably have understood.

One thing I learned from my experiences in life:
ALWAYS watch what you say! People WILL try to use it against you.(trust me, this is from experience i have gained from my past foolishness)
Follow your BRAIN not your HEART!

Why?

Your previous advice made sense, but this last piece doesn't.

Why give charity to other countries, when we can invest that money in ours? If I would want to give children a chance I would start with mine or my friend's, not complete strangers that can even some day grow to be our enemies.

Experience has shown the countries we help are some times the one who hate us more in the long run.

I concur with Mr. Pig. We should help those who are need here in our home countries rather than others. It would benefit you more and you can sate your altruistic urges.

You are absolutely right; I should be more considerate about what I post. I am fairly new to posting to internet forums. I really did not give much thought about how it would read to someone who does not share my particular brand of "humor" or "satire".

During the frustrating periods of being unable to log in, I had a chance to shut my trap and read some of the older posts. I really never gave much thought to how ambiguous statements can sound if you do not know the person, and their style of inflection and tone. The internet is more than a masquerade ball, it is almost without flavor, in a manner of speaking. Not only do you not see the true identity of the person, but you only get to see what they thrust forth from the dark.

While I did learn from my little faux pas, I sincerely hope that I did not shoot myself in the foot. This group, from what I have seen so far, has at least a few individual that I can learn from. I would hate to think that I have thrown that away in my haste to gauge "newbie hostility". Terrible habit I'm afraid. I tend to put a bad foot forward to find the mouse traps in social situations.

I also tend to be a bit verbose, as you might have guessed already.

I came to this forum, not to instruct in the ways of Satanism, but to learn. But I am always willing to give advice on the subjects I do know about. I try not to "talk out of my butt", but I do love to discuss controversial ideas, and in the real world I love a good debate on most any subject.

Now, with that said, I hope that all those I have offended can look past my first indescretion and value my posts on their individual merits. I look forward to getting to know those of you here who are worth knowing.

Hail Satan!
Long live his advocates!

Well you get tax deductions!
Sometimes you even get more money back!

But what does it mean to be 'fit' in the genuine 'Darwinian' sense of the term? To be successful in outcompeting others in the production of offspring. 'Social' Darwinism doesn't alter the fundamental biological dynamics at work, it merely extends them into the social plane of human existence.

I agree that Darwinism is no less at work in human social dynamics than in the rest of organic nature, but 'survival of the fittest' doesn't simplistically imply human longevity and the accumulation of wealth and privilege. There must be tangible evolutionary effects of such success.

YOU PEOPLE ARE THE REASON I HOLD MY HEAD UP HIGH WHEN I TELL THOSE WHO ASK. WHY YES I AM A SATANIST!!

WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING!?

sorry im not used to being in the company of so many intelegent people in one arena.

It's okay. Let's just keep the volume down a bit.

Same with me man!

That is just the downside of Satanism, we are surrounded by sheep!
I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!

At least you can take advantage of others!

We have much in common.

There's more of you people out there than you can imagine.