Confronting the Great Satan

A Response to the 9-11 Attack by Rev. John D. Allee, High Priest FCoS

On September 11, in the Year One, commercial airliners were hijacked by a group of Islamic fundamentalists who perceived the United States as "the Great Satan." The terrorists were supplied with instructions on how to hijack a plane, along with prayers they were to deliver to Allah as they completed each step. With fanatic devotion, they successfully commandeered the planes to crash into strategic locations, killing themselves and everyone aboard, along with thousands of innocent people. The hijackers were desensitized; they were not killing men, woman and children , just eradicating evil.

On behalf of the First Church of Satan, I wish to express our profound sorrow and grief for the tragic loss of life and suffering caused by these terrorist attacks. We feel nothing but compassion for the victims and their grieving families and friends. To honor the memory of the fallen and the heroes who died trying to save them, we must analyze the dynamics of what takes place when these things happen so we may prevent future occurrences.

Cynical people dismiss war and mass murder as unavoidable, part of our savage animal nature. I would like to point out that animals at their very worst do not behave this way. Slaughter on this grand a scale is psychological and it stems from an idea that has been with us more than 2,000 years; a polarized, specious view of good and evil, hereafter referred to as "the blame game."

During the Christian Crusades and the Inquisition, millions of our ancestors were tortured and burned - accused of being in league with the devil. Here in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 1693 Witch Hysteria, innocent men and women were pronounced guilty and hanged by religious puritans. The blame game has been played down through history and its rules are quite simple; you must believe that good and evil is immutable and mandated by God and that YOUR values are aligned on the side of good (of course!) Trouble is, one is hard pressed finding two people who exactly agree on what constitutes "good" and what constitutes "evil" and therein lies the incongruity, the reason for such murderous hostilities.

Rather than shun evil, we should strive to understand it, for without darkness there can be no light. We must strive to close the gap which separates God from Satan because, if we don't, millions more will die. The split mind theology is part of our national heritage and international psychosis. Good and evil cannot be divided as quintessential absolutes, for certainly there are strengths and weaknesses in everyone. Furthermore, spiritual salvation does not require blind obedience to the will of a messiah. Satanists speak of a process whereby we continue to challenge ourselves and strip away the layers of blindness which separate us from our own humanity.

Islamic fundamentalists and Christians define themselves as monotheists, but practice dualism; they imagine a devil opposed to the creator, but creation cannot be divided against itself. If the devil physically exists, then God exists. If God created Satan, then God is Satan. You cannot create something unless it is a manifestation of your own will. How can you make a computer if you don't know how? You would have to base it on knowledge of that computer, or in this case, God's knowledge of "evil." So, God is evil. If God created hell, he'd have to know about eternal torment, meaning God is tormented. If God created humans, and humans are imperfect, God is imperfect. If I claim I am a perfect computer programmer, and I make a program that doesn't work right, I am not a perfect computer programmer. Christians blind to reason should refer to Isaiah 45:7, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

I am understandably opposed to rhetoric used by leaders who refer to these terrorists as "evil." We must cease the blame game and strive to end it altogether. However, I am not opposed to the use of force against those who initiate force, therefore we support U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and others who have called for military action. I encourage them to be sure that any response is appropriate and measured. Action should not be taken that will cause innocent people in other countries to be killed. Such a response would only continue the cycle of violence and revenge.

The First Church of Satan calls on all Americans to act with tolerance and kindness in the days that follow. A natural reaction to such a tragedy is to find a scapegoat -- to blame Arab-Americans, or individuals who practice the Islamic faith, or people who are in some way different. We must rise above that impulse. If Americans turn down a path of hatred and intolerance, then the terrorists will have won. ¶