Over the past few years, Anton LaVey and his book The Satanic Bible has grown increasingly popular, selling thousands of new copies. His impact has been especially pronounced in our nation’s capital. One U.S. senator has publicly confessed to being a fan of the The Satanic Bible while another calls it his “foundation book.” On the other side of Congress, a representative speaks highly of LaVey and recommends that his staffers read the book.
A leading radio host called LaVey “brilliant” and quotations from the The Satanic Bible can be glimpsed on placards at political rallies. More recently, a respected theologian dared to criticize the founder of the Church of Satan in the pages of a religious and cultural journal and was roundly criticized by dozens of fellow Christians.
Surprisingly little concern, much less outrage, has erupted over this phenomenon. Shouldn’t we be appalled by the ascendancy of this evangelist of anti-Christian philosophy? Shouldn’t we all—especially we Christians—be mobilizing to counter the malevolent force of this man on our culture and politics?
As you’ve probably guessed by this point, I’m not really talking about LaVey but about his mentor, Ayn Rand. The ascendency of LaVey and his embrace by “conservative” leaders would indeed cause paroxysms of indignation. Yet, while the two figures’ philosophies are nearly identical, Rand appears to have received a pass. Why is that?
Perhaps most are unaware of the connection, though LaVey wasn’t shy about admitting his debt to his inspiration. “I give people Ayn Rand with trappings,” he once told the Washington Post. On another occasion he acknowledged that his brand of Satanism was “just Ayn Rand’s philosophy with ceremony and ritual added.” Indeed, the influence is so apparent that LaVey has been accused of plagiarizing part of his “Nine Satanic Statements” from the John Galt speech in Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.
Devotees of Rand may object to my outlining the association between the two. They will say I am proposing “guilt by association,” a form of the ad hominem fallacy. But I am not attacking Rand for the overlap of her views with LaVey’s; I am saying that, at their core, they are the same philosophy. LeVey was able to recognize what many conservatives fail to see: Rand’s doctrines are satanic.
Having flicked through some of Any Rand's books (my other half used to like reading them), I'm not surprised that more and more people are connecting her philosophy to Satanism. I can feel the cold seeping out of her books as I've read excerpts. They are designed to freeze the heart and focus the person only on themselves and what they can get.
Read more: The Fountainhead of Satanism
I used to have a friend who was the most self obsessed person of ever met. It made her miserable, she couldn't keep a job, a relationship, or even ultimately friendships, going because it was like being friends with a blackhole and nobody puts up with that for too long. Her every decision was driven by short term selfishness and therefore was usually the wrong one.
ReplyDeleteRandian thinking leads to selfish depression as far as I can see, as well as rampant Atheism.
*I'd ever met
ReplyDeleteHi Pinko!
ReplyDeleteFortunately my husband didn't take on board the message of Rand in the way that your friend did.
She wasn't a Libertarian, just a miserable person. Who practiced the principle message of Rand's to the enth degree, namely that selfishness is good.
ReplyDelete