White Light Religions

http://www.dpjs.co.uk/white.html

By Vexen Crabtree 2002

#comparative_satanism #religion #satanism


1. White Light Religions and the Right Hand Path

#christianity #islam #new_age #paganism #wicca

White-light religions glorify symbols of light and goodness and teach that there is a universal, divine goodness, versus a universal evil. They accept only the good side of reality. They include religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and many other religions such as the ancient Zoroastrianism. White light idealism teaches that good and evil are definable or objective: That you can attempt to perform 'good' for its own sake without selfishness.

Right-hand-path religions are those, in typical occult terminology, where the individual is subservient to the greater good; where worship and exaltation of an external being is more important than life itself. In their quest to get to heaven and their fear of hell, their views on life are completely skewed. These include world-rejecting religions, fundamentalism that does not permit freethought, legalistic religion that attempts to codify what everyone should believe no matter what the evidence, and religions where the community comes before the individual.

If these belief systems include belief in magic the practitioners are referred to as "White magicians" or "White witches" by Satanists. Of the Wiccans, many embrace a combination of good and evil and (rightly) do not differentiate between the two theologically - they are simply Human creations. But many "new" Wiccans and New Agers in general, who are finding themselves with increased social exposure, are again going for that Good Guy Badge and separating good and evil. These are called, by the more mature and reasonable Pagans, "fluffs" or "wikkins".

2. Imbalance

#buddhism #christianity #islam

There is disagreement between Satanism and white light religions on the basic nature of mankind. Anton LaVey wrote critically about the white magicians and white witches who claim to use their powers "only for good", or to keep only "good" motivations. They may not be conscious liars, but, they severely misunderstand their own nature, and the nature of all other social animals. Any religion where the basic concept is that "we represent the force of good" is inherently imbalanced, and dishonest. Accepting that all altruism is long-term selfishness and that any good motive is based on carnal animal instinct is an essential part of our emotional honesty. Without this we are not in touch with ourselves and we become less understanding of our own motivations and desires. Without self understanding there is less control, therefore, worse behaviour is obtained alongside an increase in naive stupidity and foolishness.

Although many religions attempt to explain evil and suffering, and justify it, and even accept it as part of the make-up of human nature, they are imbalancing in their subsequence conclusions. "Evil is a disease; and worry over disease is itself an additional form of disease, which only adds to the original complaint. Even repentance and remorse, affections which come in the character of ministers of good, may be but sickly"1. By separating good and evil, and adding to it with guilt (for sin) and self-denial (for desire) in addition to the suffering that is felt in the first place, white light religion is a dangerous trap.

It is healthier that we look at good and evil not as separate things, and we look upon ourselves as complex social animals whose wants and wishes need to be balanced by intelligence, integrity and self-control. We should not add disease upon dis-ease by attributing ourselves with supernatural levels of badness! Christian's idea of constant sin, Islam's idea that we have to submit to God in order to be good at all, and Buddhism's idea of desires being a trap are all serious imbalances..

"The Satanic Mind is Balanced: 2.3. White Light Religions" by Vexen Crabtree (2002)

3. Time to Move On

I have written extensively on the shortcomings of monotheistic religion on my Bane of Monotheism website. Those who shout loudest about "good" and "love" seem to be those least capable of either, and most likely to contribute to the evil and hate that permeates much of the religious history of the world. The more they try to divide themselves into the "good" half of dualistic existence, the worse it gets, because their understanding of human nature suffers. That is why there is such sexual immorality amongst the clergy of religions that have strict dogma about human sexuality. The more stubborn and willful they are about representing true good, the worse and worse their actions become! Many of the horrors of traditional religion are discussed on "Time to Move On: Religion Has Cost Too Much" by Vexen Crabtree (2010):