As the title says, an introduction is in order.  I am a Satanist, but I also consider myself an atheist.  I created this for the purpose of blogging whatever comes to mind.

I grew up in a Pentecostal church and later a Seventh-Day Adventist church.  My family had a Christian satellite TV service and one of the shows was about Anton LaVey and the Church Of Satan.  Of course they passed off bullshit as Gospel.  They portrayed Satanists as people who believe in a literal Satan and do his will.  Satanists were nothing more than child abusers and murderers, the vilest of the vile!  They also portrayed the Satanic Panic as something that legitimately happened.  Since I was never to taught or allowed to question anything and do the research myself, I held onto these misconceptions for years to come.

Around 2009 or 2010 a friend of mine noted to another friend of ours that I was in line with Satanism since I do what I want.  Now, that’s not what I understand Satanism to be now, but his remark got me interested.  I went to the nearest Barnes and Noble and picked up a copy of the Satanic Bible and Satanic Rituals.  It didn’t take me long to realize that I identified strongly with many of the things that Anton LaVey wrote.  I never really was interested in the rituals, mostly because I was never a fan of rituals when I was a Christian.  However, I do see that they have a purpose for releasing whatever they’re holding in.  The Satanic Bible smashed all my previous misconceptions and made me start questioning religion.

Shortly after I started looking up YouTube videos of Satanism and eventually stumbled upon atheist channels like the Atheist Experience, the Amazing Atheist, ZOMGitscriss, and a few others.  I learned a rational foundation for my philosophy. This past spring I joined a Meetup group of atheists in my area.  I’ve been meeting up and talking with them since.

I still battle with herd mentality.  Everyday for the last few years I have to reteach  myself that I am not a sheep and I can’t just blindly follow the dictates of the authority figures without question or criticism.  There are plenty of things that I’m still ignorant about, but no one has ever said that the path from religion to rationality was a short and easy path.

Now the purpose of this blog will be chaotic.  I’ll write or post a few pics about whatever philosophical or social musing that goes on in my mind.  I’ll warn you—I’m no Shakespeare.  My writing does suck, but with practice I’m hoping that it’ll get better.  This blog may not have a consistent update schedule.  However, the internet is a tool and I will use that tool to my advantage.