My previous entry mentioning “humanism” got me thinking about pushback I’ve occasionally seen against humanism among Satanists. The current post offers an exploration of where this phenomena comes from, and why I think it’s misguided.

Introduction

What is humanism?

“Humanism” can admittedly mean a number of things, but my understanding is as follows:

Humanism centers around the idea that our ethics, politics, aesthetics, etc. should derive from our understanding of human nature. This contrasts to deriving said concepts from external metaphysical abstractions, such as cosmic order, God’s will, and so on.

We figure out what human nature is via a balanced consideration of scientific insight, consultation of past cultures, and self-reflection. Neither the evolution-denier, the utopian idealist, nor the coward in denial of their own flaws, will be competent at this.

Tenebrous Satanism derives its virtues from this kind of balanced consideration. It concludes that i) humans are desirous creatures who seek the good for themselves; ii) they possess reason (however subject to flaws) to help them accomplish this; iii) they are social animals who tend to live better lives through some degree of cooperation than in the absence of any; iv) they are subject to vulnerabilities from which they suffer; v) by conscious assertion of will, they can defy or revise their “natural” behavior to an extent. Hence: zeal, wisdom, honor, empathy, perseverance.

I’m not saying that being a humanist requires agreement with these particular virtues. I see “humanism” more as the position that studying things like anthropology, sociology and psychology, in combination with self-reflection, is the best approach to deriving the values we should live. This contrasts with deriving such values from theological or ideological considerations.

Why are there some Satanists who dislike humanism?

I personally see no conflict between any of the above and Satanism. To the contrary, I think humanism is Satanic in the sense that it says “consider yourself instead of considering God”.

I therefore was surprised to find some Satanists I encountered seeming pretty disdainful whenever the word “humanism” came up. Upon thinking about it, though, I can see four potential origins for this, depending on the Satanist:

1. Misconstruing humanism as inherently Christian
2. Misconstruing humanism as inherently atheistic
3. Antipathy toward universalism
4. Misanthropy

I’ll proceed to unpack each of these re: what it entails. I’ll follow this with an explanation of why, on behalf of Tenebrous Satanism, I persist in supporting “Satanic humanism” nonetheless.

Satanists who dislike humanism because of Christianity

Many Satanists’ self-understanding proceeds from their rejection of Christianity. And among Christianity’s doctrines is the idea that human beings are a special creation, made in God’s image. Thus, when they hear “humanism”, they think a “humanist” is someone who believes in this kind of human-special-ism. Such an idea runs contrary to LaVey’s characterization of the human as just another animal (Statement 7). It also clashes with The Satanic Temple’s call for beliefs to be in accord with science (Tenet V).

This kind of issue strikes me as a fairly shallow misunderstanding. Humanism nowadays is almost always preceded by the adjective “secular” – i.e., the humanist probably doesn’t think humans are special in the way Christianity imagined. Rather, it’s a matter of, “whatever species you are, your ethics/culture/aesthetics/etc. should flow from the needs of that species rather than being in opposition to its needs”. Were we to be visited by aliens, they might well have their equivalent “alienism” that amounted to the same principle.

There’s thus nothing inherent to humanism implying that humans are more special than the rest of existence. To the contrary, it’s in agreement with mainline Satanism wanting humans to live in accord with human nature.

Satanists who dislike humanism because of atheism

The phenomenon I’ll now describe I’ve seen arising from esoteric Satanists hating on LaVeyan and TST types. “How stupid to insist ‘real’ Satanists must not actually believe in Satan!” they complain. To them, it’s essential for a ‘true’ Satanist to have actual relationships with dark acausal forces. Vs. non-theistic Satanists, they sneer, are “just humanists”!

The issue here is that although yes, humanism is often prefixed “secular” nowadays, it’s not in fact inherently so. The original Renaissance humanists were Christian, and their humanism put forth an improved take on Christianity: instead of moping about how “man is but a worm,” they sought to use esoteric knowledge to recover the godlike abilities humans supposedly possessed before the Fall – i.e., yes, the Christian idea of humans as a special creation is present in that case, but note at the same time how said humanism authorizes a sort of striving that sounds rather Luciferian.

My point is that a Satanist too can be a humanist without being just a humanist. I myself am an example. Yes, I believe Darkness is the underlying reality of existence. But I also believe that human values should be derived from human needs, not from the Abyss.

Naturally, this puts me in conflict with theistic Satanists who think we should derive our values from Satan/the Dark Gods/etc. I’d argue, though, that what I am doing is ultimately more true to the left-hand path: I reflect and I decide what I value. Vs. as soon as you are not just in alliance with, but deferring to entities outside yourself for your values, you appear to be on the right-hand path alongside the Christians. And I really don’t think that’s where a Satanist should be.

Satanists who dislike humanism because of universalism

Among claims typically attributed to humanism is the existence of universal human rights. When secular nations proclaim people have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, they implicitly invoke humanism.

Now, I think most normal humans would agree that universal human rights are a good thing. But there seem to be two noteworthy exceptions. One comes from the far-right. There, one encounters folks who seem to think that only “our own kind” has rights, vs. other human groups are not really human. The other comes from the far-left. Here, we find the “humanism is just a bullshit mask for the West trying to impose its supposedly-superior culture on everybody else” -types. Both such views are theoretically possible to find in Satanists: the former among the O9A Nazi set, the latter among certain TST members.

The far-right position might make sense if one could establish that each race is a separate species with distinct needs. As a mixed-race person myself though, “good luck with that, assholes”. 😆 The far-left position, meanwhile, strikes me as “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” – i.e., it’s foolhardy for activists eager to fight injustice to thus discard a meaningful standard for criticizing injustice. Neither of these paths seem appropriate for a religion that emphasizes both living in reality and fighting arbitrary oppression.

Ultimately though, one could also argue that “humanism = human rights” is a distraction. Vs. I’m here focusing on the “I derive ethical/political/aesthetic values from my understanding of my species” aspect of humanism. I suspect the far-right Satanists are humanists in that sense, aside from having a perversely narrow definition of who’s “human”. The far-left Satanists, similarly, are this kind of humanist, nevermind skepticism about the extent to which the West has lived up to its human rights talk.

Satanists who dislike humanism because of misanthropy

Some likely expected the header “universalism” to cover “Satanists dislike humanism because it’s egalitarian and anti-elitist”. Indeed, I reckon that’s the topmost Satanist complaint against “humanism”. It seems to me, though, that “misanthropy” is a better word to capture said facet. The typical rant isn’t “humans are mediocre, I want to be better,” but “humans suck, I am better”.

Unpopular Othaos opinion: I get it when rebellious young people talk this way, but at some point you need to grow up. I am, in this respect, against self-flattering fantasy talk such as “I’m of the alien elite”, “I’m a predatory vampire,” “I have the Black Flame, unlike all those NPCs,” etc. The hard truth is that you just as human as the people you are hating on. Other people disappointing you is not an excuse for spending your life lying to yourself about this.

Another unpopular Othaos opinion: you should want your species to succeed (whatever that looks like in your part of the political spectrum). Vs. if you go around saying things like “I hate humans, animals are easier to love, we’re killing the planet,” etc. as if that makes you cool, I strongly suspect you have an arrogance-resentment-deceit complex. The fact is, you are human, yet insofar as you haven’t killed yourself, you haven’t given up your own existence as actually worthless.

This isn’t to say that I don’t occasionally find other humans frustrating to deal with. I think pretty much everyone does. I don’t think it helps anything, though, to alienate yourself from the rest of a species that you are of. There’s no requirement here to say that “all humans are equal” in ability/insight/etc. It’s just an admission that all humans are human – also known as living in reality!

Concluding thoughts

It seems to me that a certain amount of pushback from other Satanists re: “Othaos is a staunch humanist” should go away upon understanding what humanism is and isn’t:

1. No, it isn’t reliant on Christian ideas of humans being special. It’s actually the opposite: humans are just another animal species and it is “correct” for every species to look out for itself in its own way.
2. No, it isn’t married to atheistic hubris that denies all things spiritual. Some contemporary humanists are like that, but historically it’s not the norm. Moreover, the humanist who decides their own values through reasoned reflection is being their own god as per the left-hand path – more so, I’d argue, than the theistic Satanist concerned with “Satan’s will” or the like.
3. I understand why far-right and far-left alike may dislike humanism as a “brand”. But I’m not bringing it up to insist on that associated set of values; I’m bringing it up to promote a particular method of arriving at values. And once you understand that method – look at human realities, not otherworldly abstractions – I think many Satanists would agree that’s the Satanic way of doing things already anyway!
4. If your primary reason for disliking humanism is disliking humans, I’d argue that you’ve embraced a toxic worldview. I don’t think that’s good either for you or for other people around you. Perhaps you should reflect more deeply on why you feel this way and try to resolve your hatred of your own existence in a healthier fashion. I thus see this as a “you” problem with no real relevance to the validity of humanism as such.

Thoughts? Let me know in the comments.