Satansplain

We're living in some crazy times. What is a Satanist to make of it? A look back at Anton LaVey's 1992 essay, "A Medicine for Melancholy", and some surprising insight it offers for today.

Gabriella Swerling of the Telegraph contacts the Church of Satan for an article on the "rise of Satanism", only to completely ignore what we said and print bullshit instead. A look at Satanism vs. the world of incompetent clickbait journalists (including Vice, of course). Also, The Satanic Temple rightfully and expectedly loses another frivolous lawsuit against its ex-members.

Hear why Satanism shouldn't be included in "inclusivity" efforts. Also the basics of the Satanic calendar system, and the folly of trying to exclude certain parts of Satanism from the rest.

Part 2 of a 2-part special on the topic of logic and fallacies, covering further examples of logical fallacies, where they show up in common arguments made against Satanism, and why such arguments fail. Suggested sites: https://infidels.org/library/modern/constructing-a-logical-argument/ https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com Content: 00:00 - Intro / recap 02:48 - No True Scotsman 04:13 - No, that's not the No True Scotsman fallacy 08:24 - Equivocation 11:56 - Moving the Goal Posts / Gish Gallop 15:06 - Bill's LHA Anecdote / Dunning-Kruger Effect 18:13 - Non Sequiturs / Affirmation of the Consequent 20:51 - Red Herring / Whataboutism 23:24 - Slippery Slope fallacy (and what it isn't) 32:58 - Probability fallacies: Intro 34:24 - Appeal to Popularity / Bandwagon 36:24 - Texas Sharp-Shooter / Correlation vs. Causation 38:35 - Anecdotal 39:58 - The stupidity of "deathbed recant" stories 43:51 - More Appeal fallacies: Appeal to Antiquity / Newness 46:09 - Appeal to Emotion 48:07 - Appeal to Authority 50:14 - Ad Hominem 52:06 - Reducto ad Hiterlium / Godwin's Law 53:22 - "No, that's not ad hominem" 54:38 - Tu Quoque 57:02 - Circular Logic / Begging the Question / Special Pleading 01:00:36 - Fallacies of Division & Composition 01:04:24 - Closing Thoughts  

Presenting a 2-part special on the topic of logic and fallacies. Here in part 1, we'll be going over what logic is and isn't, why Satanists should care about this topic, and finally an introduction to logical fallacies. Suggested sites: https://infidels.org/library/modern/constructing-a-logical-argument  https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com 00:00 - Intro / Why cover this? 06:05 - Why Logic? 08:51 - Logic intro, what logic isn't, relevance to Satanists 15:40 - What logic is 16:58 - Inductive Reasoning 18:32 - No, it's not faith 21:38 - Inductive Reasoning, continued 26:31 - Deductive reasoning: propositions & premises 32:27 - Deductive reasoning: Inference & conclusion 32:46 - Deductive reasoning: summary / example / set theory & circles 40:55 - Deductive reasoning: result types 44:03 - Fallacies: Intro 50:33 - Fallacies: Straw Man 52:58 - Fallacies: Personal Incredulity 53:38 - Fallacies: Black & White / Hoyle's / Argument from Ignorance 59:06 - Fallacies: Shifting the Burden of Proof

Can Satanists celebrate Christmas? The short answer is yes, of course. The longer answer however may reveal some things worth Satansplaining. Bill also responds to listener mail about Satanic book recommendations, Mormons, and Sikhs. 

Bill reads some listener mail, covering topics such as Satanists joining non-Satanic organizations, the Church of Satan's policy regarding illegal activity, and oh yeah, why The Satanic Temple sucks.

With Christmas approaching, Bill reflects back on the 2015 Starbucks "red cup" controversy, which may offer a Satanic lesson on the zeitgeist, including the recent media hoopla on "Ye" Kanye West.

Freemasons, Illuminati, and Satanism, oh my! Why do so many idiots continue to conflate these three things? Bill digs deeper into the origins of these mix-ups in this follow-up episode to Satansplain #025. 00:00 - Intro 02:30 - Recap of Nigeria (episode #025) and continuation of "part 2" 04:01 - The "TL;DL" Summary 06:10 - The "Eyes Wide Shut" ceremony... 08:31 - ...was not "a Satanic ritual" 10:20 - A closer look at "Eyes Wide Shut" 12:06 - The problem with the "Duck" test 13:54 - The Hurricane Katrina "Satanic Symbol" conspiracy theory 14:32 - Robes, robes, robes; theatrics, theatrics, theatrics 17:35 - To the holy rollers who are incapable of having an objective conversation on this topic 18:39 - Fraternal orders 20:56 - ...which are not religions 27:13 - Origins of fraternal orders 31:19 - College fraternity experience and why jesus freaks hate fraternal organizations 35:05 - The element of secrecy 42:27 - Skull & Bones vs. (social) fraternities 45:05 - Conspiracy vs. conspiracy theory. Clique vs. secret "Satanic" cabal. 48:10 - The Illuminati 49:58 - "Da Joooos!" 55:19 - Leo Taxil and the origins of Satanic accusations against Freemasons 57:30 - Why the (superficial) similarity in symbols?

Why do so many people from Africa, especially Nigeria, mistakenly believe Satanists are the Illuminati? And that we're hiring? Satansplain investigates. Selected sources: - Nigerian church scams: https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2017/06/14/time-tax-nigerias-churches/ - The 419 Scam: https://www.newsweek.com/origins-nigerias-notorious-419-scams-456701 - USCIRF 2020 annual report: https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/USCIRF%202020%20Annual%20Report_42720_new_0.pdf 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - A special message to residents of Africa (especially Nigeria) 03:04 - Joining a Satanic organization will not guarantee you wealth 05:10 - We don't want you if you don't already understand Satanism 05:32 - We do not tolerate scams (and neither should you) 06:36 - We don't have branches/chapters and don't need them 08:23 - Summary 11:59 - Dealing with messages from Nigeria 15:51 - It happens offline too  17:11 - ...and is older than the Internet 18:07 - People conflating Freemasonry / Illuminati / Satanism / wealth 19:53 - Satanism and Freemasonry (and propaganda) 20:16 - Freemasons, the mythical Illuminati, and the defunct Illuminati 23:31 - The ironically Satanic take 24:52 - Why Nigeria? Some not-so-great explanations. 27:00 - "Mud huts" don't have the Internet, dummy 29:30 - The 419 Scam 37:54 - Nigerian "church" scams 42:33 - Why Nigeria? Some statistics 45:00 - Freedom of religion vs. state religion 46:00 - Religiosity in Nigeria 47:05 - Nigeria and language 47:55 - Nigeria GDP vs. Human Development Index 49:02 - Summary