13. APPENDIX A: SATAN

A typical hc/punk response to Christianity is to embrace the imagery of Satanism -the number 666, the inverted pentagram, the inverted cross, etc. In this appendix I’d like to briefly explain why this is not such a good idea.

First of all, the tired old Satanism of heavy metal and hc/punk is merely inverted Christianity. Using Satanic imagery to criticize Christianity is like using Darth Vader to criticize Star Wars. Satanism is part of Christianity, not the absence of it. To use the inverted cross is to indirectly acknowledge the upright cross. The only difference between Satanism and Christianity is the part about who wins in the end. Other than that, both belief systems are drenched with blood and cruelty and insanity.

The Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey in the 1960s, has nothing to do with Christianity or a literal Satan. It’s sort of an atheist religion complete with rituals and symbols, if that makes any sense. This type of Satanism is free from the preoccupation with Christianity that plagues most teenage Satanic rebels, but it is also cruelly Darwinist and rather Republican.

In short, if you want to rebel against Christianity, avoid Satanism and Satanic imagery. Sure, it offends fundamentalist Christians and other idiots, but most Christians just shrug and feel sorry for you. A better tactic would be to strike at the tenets and images of Christianity directly without resorting to the half-baked shadow of Satanism.