107 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
107 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
This file is an exerpt from The Book of Darkness, an official work
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of the Ordo Templi Satanis, P.O. Box 1093, Atwater, CA 95301. It is
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copyright 1991. All persons are hereby given permission to make
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copies and/or distribute this exerpt, so long as in so doing the
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contents of this work is not altered in any way, including this
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paragraph.
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Dealing with Christians
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(From the Book of the World)
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Despite our most fervent wishes, there exists a group of
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people who are totally dedicated to ridding us of our beliefs.
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They are, for the most part, entirely sincere in their conviction
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that Satanists are knowingly traveling a road of destruction, and
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will do anything in their power to save us from ourselves. This
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group is, of course, the Christians.
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It must be said, in all fairness, that there are many Chris-
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tian groups who will not attempt to convert a Satanist, or anyone
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else for that matter. Those groups recognize Satanism as a legit-
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imate religion in its own right, and respect our decision to
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follow it. It is not those Christians that we must respond to.
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Rather, it is those Christian groups who feel they have an abso-
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lute lock on the truth, and anyone who disagrees with them must
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be in complete opposition to them and their God.
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In their fervor to "save" people from Satan, these Christian
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fundamentalists travel the nation, seeking to expose Satanic
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criminal cult, parade "Satanic Ritual Abuse Survivors" on talk
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shows, and pack auditoriums with the gullible Masses, feeding
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them the most ridiculous lies about our religion, which are,
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naturally, accepted as gospel by the audience.
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These are the Christians you see in subway stations and
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street corners, passing out Bible tracts and those ridiculous
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little comic booklets. They are the people who go door to door
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trying to convert people to their particular brand of religion,
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regardless of whether or not the person wishes to be converted!
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They are the most heinous of individuals, who feel they have an
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absolute lock on the truth, and feel it is their mission to
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spread that truth.
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How then, as Satanists and as adults capable of making
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informed decisions about our own lives, should we deal with these
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pests? There are a number of approaches that may be taken.
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The most direct (and preferable) approach is to politely say
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you are not interested and send the fellow along his way clutch-
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ing his comic tracts in hand. Unfortunately, this does not always
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work, and the person will try to entice you into a conversation
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on an intellectual level. But when it comes down to it, the whole
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Christian argument comes down to the statement that by not fol-
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lowing their faith, you are going against the will of God, as
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expressed in their Bible.
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The obvious counter to that is that you don't believe in
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their Bible any more than you believe in the Ghita, or the Koran,
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or any other religious "divinely inspired" book. All such works,
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you should explain, are merely the works of men which are pre-
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sented as divinely inspired, to gain legitimacy. They are lies
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cleverly couched in truth, and as such are nothing to base a life
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on.
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At this point, expect a gasp of astonishment, a little
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flustering, and then prepare to be bombarded by quotes from the
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Bible, supposedly supporting its legitimacy. Of course, if the
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Bible itself is suspect, how can it be used to vouch for itself?
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That is circular logic at its extreme. They will claim that the
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Bible documents events which have been historically confirmed by
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archeology. This may very well be true, but it is also irrele-
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vant. Just because some of what the Bible claims is true and
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supportable does not make all of it true.
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At some point you will likely be called upon to defend your
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own beliefs. This is an inevitable consequence of belonging to a
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minority religion, especially when there are would-be mission-
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aries around. If this does happen, you can try to politely ex-
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plain that Satanism is the choice you have made for your reli-
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gion, based on an informed and conscious decision. Remember that
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the First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees you the
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freedom to make that choice; no one has the right to condemn you,
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pressure you, or discriminate against you for making that deci-
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sion, regardless of whether or not they agree with it.
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It is also possible that you will be approached with "evi-
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dence" that Satanism leads to suicide, deals in human or animal
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sacrifices, engages in the regular sexual abuse of children, and
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other hogwash. These urban legends have unfortunately become
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entrenched in the collective memory of the Masses, and only
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rarely will you be able to effectively deal with them on an
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intellectual level. Despite the complete lack of proof of these
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claims, and the fact that most so-called survivors are either
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psychiatrically impaired, attention-seekers, or both, such sto-
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ries persist. The easiest way to deal with them is to simply
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expose them for the lies they are, ask to see the proof, and show
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the person making the accusations the relevant passages of the
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Satanic Bible, Book of Darkness, and other documents which spe-
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cifically prohibit such activities. Explain that these documents
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define what Satanists are, and provides the guidelines for what
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they do. Anyone who violates those rules is not a Satanist, no
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matter what they may call themselves. No more so than a person
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who violates the Ten Commandments is a Christian, regardless of
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how he may present himself to the public.
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