Atlas Shrugged and the Satanic Bible
I've seen Atlas Shrugged recommended as an example of "powerful works of Satanic literature" on the Church of Satan's reading list. Can anyone explain why that is? I've heard there is some connection between The Satanic Bible and Atlas Shrugged. I know LaVeyan Satanism is humanistic but what is the similarity between the two and how is AS Satanic in that sense?
Comments
I thought the whole thing with Atlas Shrugged was supposed to be about all of the "exceptional individuals" leaving "collectivist society" to crumble, or some such.
Since, I gather, the entire underpinning of "Satanism" is about the individual, then that is the most likely relationship I can think of.
(I also wouldn't be surprised if it is in part to needle right wing evangelicals that don't understand the tragic irony of evangelicals embracing anything written by Ayn Rand in the first place)
I do find it strange for someone to make a bible that's set on a religion or ideology off of a... modern day novel? Plagiarizing or not, I'm not saying you can't get specific beliefs from a book, but at face value it sounds a bit silly to me.
I'll see y'all in the church of who ever wrote the T.V. guide.
Hmm... this a whole new world to me. haha
I do find it strange for someone to make a bible that's set on a religion or ideology off of a... modern day novel? Plagiarizing or not, I'm not saying you can't get specific beliefs from a book, but at face value it sounds a bit silly to me.
I'll see y'all in the church of who ever wrote the T.V. guide.
Isn't that the case with Scientology and Hubbard's "Battlefield Earth"?
Hmm... this a whole new world to me. haha
I do find it strange for someone to make a bible that's set on a religion or ideology off of a... modern day novel? Plagiarizing or not, I'm not saying you can't get specific beliefs from a book, but at face value it sounds a bit silly to me.
I'll see y'all in the church of who ever wrote the T.V. guide.
Isn't that the case with Scientology and Hubbard's "Battlefield Earth"?
Not sure since I don't follow Scientology, but if it is.... lol!!
Only a Satanist would believe in such nonsense.
Theres probably a reference to that crazy idea that the Earth is round.
Only a Satanist would believe in such nonsense.
^ lol!
I don't know why, but when I read that I want to follow it up with "filthy casuals" or "damn dirty apes".
Theres probably a reference to that crazy idea that the Earth is round.
Only a Satanist would believe in such nonsense.
The CoS consider themselves atheistic and embrace both social darwinism and the materialist view. They do claim to accept most secular scientific views, except with an emphasis on left-hand morality. LaVeyan Satanism doesn't really see Satan as literal but as a rejection of conservative morality, including not just Judeo-Christian beliefs but also pagan religions like Wicca. They've had some very polarizing things to say about Wiccans as well as Buddhists. I read one article by a woman who was raised a Tatar but became Satanist. She mentioned how she met the Dalai Lama and his men and was unimpressed. She said that the Dalai Lama represents slavery because they always downplay how the society in Tibet was a serf system where they justified people's position through karma while the Lamas got the luxuries. That, and saying they never talk about what karma could say about his debts when he got kicked out of such a high position in his country. She then went on to say that the Tibetan Buddhists got what they deserved from communist Mao.
I think their idea is that a lot of manifestations of behavior that seems vulgar and irrational can also be just another part of a functional aspect of creation the way black widows or mantises kill their mates, or how some animals will eat their babies if they sense they have another's scent on them. This is probably why they recommend Lovecraft's writings on their reading list, not because they take him literally in all accounts, but because of his view he held that influenced his storytelling and themes. Of course, Lovecraft was dead long before the church was founded and I doubt he would have wholly sympathized with their views. He had some more conservative tendencies. He believed that there are forces existing apart from humanity that could threaten it with indifference, but that didn't mean he held to that attitude as being practical in human ethics.
Thing is, I also knew one girl who got into LaVeyan Satanism because of her interest in Marilyn Manson, but left because she found it hypocritical to call itself a religion and then criticise followers of religion who accept dogmas blindly. In reality, the church of Satan has never produced any formidable apologists except secular folks who sympathized with some of its philosophy but didn't see any justification to accept their creeds as they were. It's mostly been a religion--obviously sardonic--for the kind of people who like theatrics and shock value, as with Manson and King Diamond. From what I remember, LaVey originally worked in the circus before he started the church and wrote the Satanic Bible. So the freakshow stereotype is not entirely without basis.
I read one third of Atlas Shrugged before I gave up. Not because Ayn Rand's ideas were so "horrible" or anything like that, but because the book was boring! Maybe I'll try part two at some point -if I recall the book is broken up into three sections. The premise is that greatness should not be hindered by the masses. Well, that may sound all good, but what happens when so-called greatness becomes greed and at what expense? That of course was the premise behind Bioshock which obviously rejected Rand's ideology.
I might have read it. Is that the one that ends with a single word written on a piece of paper?
perhaps try it on audiobook if you have trouble finishing it. I'm sure you can find the audiobook on YouTube.
I read one third of Atlas Shrugged before I gave up. Not because Ayn Rand's ideas were so "horrible" or anything like that, but because the book was boring! Maybe I'll try part two at some point -if I recall the book is broken up into three sections. The premise is that greatness should not be hindered by the masses. Well, that may sound all good, but what happens when so-called greatness becomes greed and at what expense? That of course was the premise behind Bioshock which obviously rejected Rand's ideology.
I might have read it. It was this or another one of her books.whatever book it was I do agree that her books are heavy on ideas and hard to digest at times.
Is Atlus Shrugged the book that ends with a single small word written on a piece of paper? I won't say it for those planning to read it.
perhaps try it on audiobook if you have trouble finishing it. I'm sure you can find the audiobook on YouTube.
Other than the humanism aspect, I suspect the bigger tie-in is about extreme individualism.
I thought the whole thing with Atlas Shrugged was supposed to be about all of the "exceptional individuals" leaving "collectivist society" to crumble, or some such.
Since, I gather, the entire underpinning of "Satanism" is about the individual, then that is the most likely relationship I can think of.
(I also wouldn't be surprised if it is in part to needle right wing evangelicals that don't understand the tragic irony of evangelicals embracing anything written by Ayn Rand in the first place)
Strange, since Christianity seems to have a strong focus on individualism. Charity and trying to convert people to save their souls is one thing, but it stresses personal accountability, little reliance on others, and a strong work ethic in day to day life.
(I also wouldn't be surprised if it is in part to needle right wing evangelicals that don't understand the tragic irony of evangelicals embracing anything written by Ayn Rand in the first place)
Strange, since Christianity seems to have a strong focus on individualism. Charity and trying to convert people to save their souls is one thing, but it stresses personal accountability, little reliance on others, and a strong work ethic in day to day life.
Except that Ayn Rand and her writing (as well as Satanism) is talking about a brand of individualism where you intend to be "fully" self reliant (i.e. you don't rely on God, or even believe in God for that matter).
That is pretty clearly at odds with anything Christianity has to say on the subject. (i.e. at least in a spiritual sense, you give your burdens to God to carry)
(also, I seem to recall Ayn Rand pushing the notion that charity is inherently evil, or something to that effect)
(I also wouldn't be surprised if it is in part to needle right wing evangelicals that don't understand the tragic irony of evangelicals embracing anything written by Ayn Rand in the first place)
Strange, since Christianity seems to have a strong focus on individualism. Charity and trying to convert people to save their souls is one thing, but it stresses personal accountability, little reliance on others, and a strong work ethic in day to day life.
Except that Ayn Rand and her writing (as well as Satanism) is talking about a brand of individualism where you intend to be "fully" self reliant (i.e. you don't rely on God, or even believe in God for that matter).
That is pretty clearly at odds with anything Christianity has to say on the subject. (i.e. at least in a spiritual sense, you give your burdens to God to carry)
(also, I seem to recall Ayn Rand pushing the notion that charity is inherently evil, or something to that effect)
I've read a little bit of the book, and from what I can tell, there's a few instances where a character says he doesn't mind giving money to a bum as long as he felt like doing so, and because the bum didn't show any signs of having depended on whether or not he was going to get it, since otherwise he'd basically be a weak leech of society.
Do you guys even libertarian?
I read one third of Atlas Shrugged before I gave up. Not because Ayn Rand's ideas were so "horrible" or anything like that, but because the book was boring! Maybe I'll try part two at some point -if I recall the book is broken up into three sections. The premise is that greatness should not be hindered by the masses. Well, that may sound all good, but what happens when so-called greatness becomes greed and at what expense? That of course was the premise behind Bioshock which obviously rejected Rand's ideology.
I might have read it. Is that the one that ends with a single word written on a piece of paper?
perhaps try it on audiobook if you have trouble finishing it. I'm sure you can find the audiobook on YouTube.
I'm not into audiobooks. I prefer to just read. I may go for part two at some point. As I said, it is rather boring. It's like a long-winded soap opera and no one is particularly likeable...
Getting through Atlas Shrugged was one of my biggest personal achievements. Not sure how much I got out of it, but I finished that damn thing!
The hardest part for me was getting through Galt's long winded speech at the end. I understand why the author put it in there, but it certainly brought the story (which carried us through the last 90% of the book) to a screeching halt.
Holy shit at the interpretations going on in this thread.
Do you guys even libertarian?
Depends on if there is one agreed upon definition of "libertarian".
https://i2.wp.com/www.commonsenseevaluation.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SpiritCooking-with-Marina-Abramovic-and-Lady-Gaga.jpg
OP, you would need to get their definition of satanism bc as far as I could tell there is no connext between Atlas and worshiping a dark Lord. Zero connections. Atlas is usually considered to be more conservative of a book due to its sort of anti handout anti welfare tones and today we see satanism more accepted by liberals than conservatives just in general (hollywood comes to mind ) link below to a pic of accepted "satanism" in hollywood today by self identifying ljberals. link potentially NSFW NSFL
https://i2.wp.com/www.commonsense...
He is referring to "Satanism" (a belief system predicated on individualism presumably as inspired by Satan choosing individualism over obedience to God) not "Satanic Worship" (i.e. literally worshipping Satan as its own deity).
OP, you would need to get their definition of satanism bc as far as I could tell there is no connext between Atlas and worshiping a dark Lord. Zero connections. Atlas is usually considered to be more conservative of a book due to its sort of anti handout anti welfare tones and today we see satanism more accepted by liberals than conservatives just in general (hollywood comes to mind ) link below to a pic of accepted "satanism" in hollywood today by self identifying ljberals. link potentially NSFW NSFL
https://i2.wp.com/www.commonsenseevaluation.com/wp-content/u...
He is referring to "Satanism" (a belief system predicated on individualism presumably as inspired by Satan choosing individualism over obedience to God) not "Satanic Worship" (i.e. literally worshipping Satan as its own deity).
More specifically, LeVeyan Satanism... not to be confused with the Satanic Temple, which is more of a politcal activist group which fights for seperation of church and state.
Joining the CoS would mean betraying some of the Ten Commandments, worshipping essentially yourself, mocking other religions, perversion of religious symbolism, the pursuit of hedonism, and the belief of "As above, so below". That is, that Earth is a reflection of the Heavens, and when Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, she was indeed exactly like God. <-This belief is shared by many occult groups. For those not familiar with "left hand morality", as Jeckidy stated, you should look it up. And then start to realize the symbolism for left hand morality is often used in the music and movie industry.
Anyway, they don't believe in Satan as an actual being (in fact, I can't think of a group that does other than Christianity), but they do have Baphomet's seal as their symbol, and I believe it says 'Leviathan' around the points of the inverse pentagram. This could just be to be 'ironic', or whatever. But to say they don't worship themselves, perform rituals, and revel in the defeat of other religions would be an understatement.
They don't claim to directly do stuff like cannibalism and blood sacrifices to Lucifer, but getting into that stuff isn't too far a leap. One could consider LaVey Satanism as a gateway drug into deeper, darker things, such as the Temple of Set.
I've never read Atlus Shrugged, but in the highest level of groups like this the endgame is usually to make sure the average citizen is complacent and docile so the "elite" can do as they wish.