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Satansplain #119 – Reverend Jared Mammon interview commentary

Recently, Reverend Jared Mammon of the Church of Satan was interviewed on a podcast whose host tried to sneak in some post-production rebuttals. Satansplain invites Jared to share a listen and his responses.

01:00:00 – Intro
01:02:08 – “Once again, that isn’t Satanism” (Facebook)
01:03:40 – Interviewer’s intro
01:05:04 – Interview start
01:07:50 – Connecting to Satanism
01:11:15 – Satanic Bible “Interpretations”?
01:13:01 – Hunting for contradictions / “can pseudos infiltrate the COS?”
01:17:58 – Seeing oneself in TSB
01:19:36 – More on “interpretations” / percentage arguments
[23:49 – PHG
01:23:58 – Oh no, not the “pLAgiARiZed rEDbEArd” argument again
01:35:57 – “Can we quote every single thing you say as being official?” and other lame “Gotcha!” games
01:38:35 – Oh no, not the “dogma” argument again
01:56:03 – Next false dichotomy: “can Satanism evolve (in which case, I’m free to be a pseudo) or is it unchangeable (in which case, you’re a conformist and I win again)”.
01:00:50 – “Can I take everything from the COS website as canonical?”
01:06:00 – Oh no, not the “community” argument again.
01:22:35 – No, Satanic ritual is not “anything goes”.
01:36:00 – Oh no, not the “gatekeeping!” complaint again.
01:40:33 – Oh no, not the “Aren’t you giving your opinion without being asked” argument again.
01:49:19 – “Denominations”? Ugh, here we go.
01:56:45 – Being new to Satanism
01:58:18 – Awesomeism, Schrodinger’s Moron
02:08:53 – Echo chambers / could’ve been worse
02:15:05 – Closing
02:23:43 – Final thoughts

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Satansplain #107 – Greater Magic, Satanic Sin #9, Mixed Marriages, and the Myth of Satanic Denominations

Satansplain answers questions about greater magic, Satanic Sin #9, relationships with non-Satanists, and the myth of Satanic “denominations”.

00:00 – Intro
02:42 – Satanecdote: Getting a synthesizer
08:24 – We don’t spell “magic” with a “k”
12:55 – Lack of Aesthetics for a blind man
24:32 – Christian fiancé?
33:04 – The myth of Satanic “denominations”, redux
38:06 – Does Cevin Soling’s group even HAVE a religion?
42:53 – “But why do YOU get to define it?”
46:14 – We don’t need Satanism denominations

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Satansplain #072 – Myth of Satanic Denominations (“No, it’s not like Catholics vs. Protestants”, part 2)

Continuing from the previous episode, a look at whether various “Satanic” groups can really be called different denominations of Satanism, with a particular look at groups formed after 1966, especially in the age of the Internet. No, it’s still not analogous to Catholics arguing with Protestants.

00:00:00 – Intro
00:02:15 – Review of episode 71, and why the Catholics vs. Protestants is still a bad analogy
00:07:25 – Why I don’t say “LaVeyan”
00:09:15 – Summary of episode 72, and “de facto Satanists”
00:14:26 – Dictionary argument and “Satanism is just any religion about Satan, right?”
00:18:54 – Summary of After 1966 – Theistic LHP Religions
00:23:04 – The Deism-to-Atheism Conspiracy Theory
00:31:15 – Non-theistic Satanic groups and Cevin Soling’s tax shelter (a.k.a. The Satanic Temple)
00:37:49 – Even more pseudo-Satanic groups I’ve seen
00:41:11 – No, these groups haven’t “evolved” anything
00:45:33 – Eco Satanism example, and collective action
00:48:43 – Rising up / Ecumenicalism
00:51:23 – Other lame reasons, e.g. wanting to do crime
00:55:06 – Other excuses: missing the boat on parts of Satanism, conspiracy theories of “Theistic LaVeyans”
00:57:27 – The Internet and the ease of declaring your own denomination/org
01:00:30 – Closing Remarks

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Satansplain #071 – No, Dummy, It’s Not Like Catholics vs. Protestants (part 1)

Exploring the allegation of Satanism having different “denominations”, why this view is inaccurate, and what’s really going on with these so-called “types of Satanism”. Also, why “gatekeeping Satanism” is a wise and necessary thing.

00:00 – Intro
02:16 – The problem of misinformation
06:32 – Reminder: Non-theistic religions exist, and Satanism is a religion
08:10 – The arguments I hear (re: this episode’s title)
11:26 – The TL;DL Summary (No, these aren’t “denominations of Satanism”)
16:16 – Who is (or gets called) a “Satanist”?
23:12 – What makes a religious denomination? Example: Catholics vs. Protestants
26:31 – Why “It’s like Catholics vs. Protestants!” is a bad analogy
30:31 – The Duck Test (and why it doesn’t work here)
33:15 – Before 1966, continued
36:42 – 1966: The Church of Satan and taking up a pejorative with pride