Well if this isn’t inflammatory then I’ll buy you a diet coke. If you have read my last blog, then you may be a bit confused by this title. Don’t worry, I’m not near as dumb as I look.
Let’s get started. The topic of Satanism, in and of itself, would be enough to really grab people’s attention, but when we add to that the Twilight Series, a whole new group if readers tune in. The first thing we must do is establish what type of Satanism is being discussed and examined here. We could divide it into two categories.
First is religious Satanism. With this, we are actually speaking specifically about the church of Satan that was founded in the mid 60’s by a man named Howard Stanton Levey. This man later changed his name to Anton Szandor LaVey. I’m not going to give his life story here but I do want to shed a little light on a few of their doctrines. From all that I have read about LaVey, he was actually and atheist and on several accounts actually claimed that he didn’t even believe in an actual Satan. This may come as a surprise to some people, but it’s not unusual. Even though he had no belief in anything outside of this life, his writings from The Satanic Bible show a seriously thought out system of belief. To put it in a nutshell, his version of Satanism taught a form of hedonism coupled with a chilling endorsement of revenge if wronged. He did teach to do no wrong to another person unless they wronged you first, but whether or not another person has wronged you can be quite a subjective concept.
The second division I would refer to as cultic Satanism. We have all heard the term “Satanic Cult” and that is exactly what I am talking about. I am not trying to gloss over or sugar coat LaVey’s religious enterprise, but compared to the satanic cults, he was playing with kid gloves. These are the hard core folks. These are the groups of people who not just believe in Satan, Lucifer, the Devil or whatever name you want to give him, but they actively worship him and seek to influence the world around them. They are the antithesis of Christian missionaries. They believe and practice violence, “black magic”, and in extreme cases, even animal and human sacrifice.
My father is retired from the Highway Patrol in the state that I live in. I remember one time when I was around 13 or 14, he came home from work very late. I stayed up and talked with him about what he had been doing that evening. Apparently, a man came to the local sheriff’s department, terrified, begging for protection. He told them that he had belonged to a local satanic cult and that he had done something that angered the leader. He also said that they were trying to kill him out of vengeance. I have no idea what happened to this man. It was many years ago, but don’t fool yourself, this kind of thing is real.
Now, does this have anything to do with the Twilight Series? That is a tough question to answer. First I would like to say that everything I have read about the author would lead me to think that she had no intention of creating a connection between her stories and anything satanic. Does that mean that those people out there who are caught up in the worship of Satan and his demons care? No, of course not. Honestly, I am guessing that most of them would view her writing as too tame and, thus, uninteresting.
I do think that there is a good chance that somewhere on this planet that we live on, there is a person or people that have taken her stories of supernatural creatures and killing, and have used it as an excuse to further their spiritual pursuits down a dark path. It is a path, in my opinion, that will ultimately lead to their own destruction.
I do not think that Stephanie Meyer’s books are inspired by any kind of motive that stems from secret satanic associations, but let us be careful. I enjoy a good scary book or movie just as much as the next person, but there are others out there who enjoy them in a far more dark and sinister way.
Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.
The Hairy Piper
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