Why does anyone ask for anything? To get what they want. The difference between Christians and Satanists is the latter must take by force what they desire because Satan will never give them what is good or beneficial. To begin, get frustrated with God because he doesn’t function like a slot machine (put in a prayer, receive your desire). Next, move on to act out a dark reflection of the kind of prayer that once was offered to God (or some “benign deity” of one’s choosing, something most precious, like fidelity in service or love).
Satanic prayer demands, of course, sacrifice. Demons want blood, preferably human. Because one becomes what he/she desires, this involves a debasement of self—not humorous self-deprecation, which is more like humility, queen of the virtues. Satanists feel (rightly) that their boss wants them to cause pain, grief and suffering for obstacles that stand in their way (unlike Christians, who accept inevitable suffering willingly for the sake of purifying their desires and growing in virtues).
Prayer and sacrifice to Satan develop into a lust for evil itself: “if I can have what I want (money, sex, power, fame—fill in the blank) for the taking, then I will invite others of like mind to join me.” Satanists by nature reach out to proselytize, just as Christians do when they want to share their delight in God’s love with others (contrary, sadly, to Pope Francis’ opinion. Refer to this news clip: Pope Says 'Real Disciples Never Share Faith' or 'Try to Convert People').
What’s next? Evil grows. It intimidates, threatens, cajoles, pretends to be something it isn’t. Why? Who would pursue, in their right mind, a belief that is from the get-go doomed to fail? When evil is sufficiently camouflaged, Satan can be openly praised; his disciples will work to effect social and legal change. (Change is good, right?) They invite others to embrace their values; if that doesn’t work, they try to force change. Their desires take on new proportions of evil: abortion (killing innocent life), and then abortion for its own sake (the more the better); pedophilia (most important to Satan is the destruction of innocence and purity, ideally found in children), pornography (mock acting out the intimate love a married couple share) and divorce (anything to break up the family unit, because God himself is a family of three persons in one being); ultimately chaos (promoting or causing social unrest, war, famine as quests for unlimited power) and any sort of harm that can be done, at this point, to almost anyone, becomes the goal. The energy or pleasure perversely provided by sin becomes an end in itself, evil for evil’s sake. "If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Mt. 6:23)
Caveat emptor: buyer beware. Small sins lead to more serious ones; serious sins, unrepentant, lead to hell--Satan’s realm. It is beyond foolish to think one can stand before the throne of God on judgment day and say, “but God, you don’t understand!” What Satanists surrender in order to fulfill their desires are: grace, mercy and love of God and their fellow men and women which lead to God’s heavenly realm. Ultimately, in order for Satan to give you something you must offer him something, quid pro quo - he’ll settle for nothing less than your eternal soul.
“See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction” (Deuteronomy 30:15). Choose life, that you may live!
-- Fr. Jonathan Atchley
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