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The effect of religion on adolescence
Impacts of religion on children
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The devil is a supernatural being thought of by society and Christians as an entity of pure evil. Although there is no hard evidence proving the existence of the devil, there are certainly plenty of testimonials of people who have claimed to see Hell. So let’s hypothetically say that the devil is real. If this were the case, then that would mean that the horrifying testimonials are actually true, which may lead one to wonder why people even call themselves a Satanist to begin with. Contrary to what one might think, Satanists do not believe that the devil is something of pure evil, nor do they view him as an actual person. Satanists view the devil as an actual deity or force that is to be worshipped and given complete allegiance to. Surprisingly, people started claiming to have sold their souls to the devil before the existence of the first satanic church. Anton LaVay first established “The Church of Satan April 30th, 1966”, but this isn’t where the idea of selling ones souls came from (Barton 1). It wasn’t until the Christopher Marlow’s play, The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus was performed that humanity was first introduced to the idea of selling their souls to the devil. Unfortunately, in the day and age we currently live in, many people interpret things in a very literal manner, which in turn can cause some of the horrifying, satanic events that we may hear about through the media. But in an attempt to assuage feelings of neglect, adolescents sometimes rebel and turn to faith as a source of comfort and stability when in essence a corrupt religion can become overpowering and controlling.
Since the Middle Ages, people have always been looking for a way to rebel against what is deemed to be normal. Whether ...
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.Emerson, Shirley, and Yvonne Syron. "Adolescent Satanism: Rebellion Masquerading as Religion." Counseling & Values. , P145. 15p. 39.2 (1995): 145-15. Academic Search Complete. Web.
Lodhia, Pooja. "Teen Claims Clear Lake Murder Suspect Raped Her Last Year." Teen Claims Suspect in Clear Lake Satanic Ritual Murder Raped Her Last Year. KTRK-TV, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Merrill, Mark. "5 Reasons Why Your Teen Is Rebelling." Home. IMOM, 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
Spellman, Dennis. "Satan Worship Confirmed In Clear Lake Murder Of 15 Year-Old." News 92 FM Official Site for Houston News Traffic Weather Breaking News RSS. N.p., 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Swatos, William H. "Adolescent Satanism: A Research Note On Exploratory
Survey Data." Review Of Religious Research 34.2 (1992): 161. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
In a small town in Kansas a family of four were murdered for no apparent reason.
Victor, Jeffrey S. Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend. Chicago: Open Court, 1993.
Michael Kirk and Peter J. Boyer. (2000, January 18). The killer at Thurston High. May 5, 2010, by FrontLine: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/kinkel/etc/script.html
Dubbed the “Baton Rouge Serial Killer” Derrick Todd Lee was only one of two serial killers working the Baton Rouge area during the time between 1992 and 2004. Lee is a black male, who lived with his wife and children St. Francisville, LA. Lee had avoided being caught for many years because an eye witness had told authorities the suspect was a white male (Mustafa, Clayton & Israel, 2006). This information was very believable because most serial killers do not cross racial lines when choosing their victims and all of Lee’s victims were white except one (Mustafa, Clayton & Israel, 2006). Lee was eventually named as the suspect in 2002 when DNA tests revealed the killer was a black male (Stewart, Boyd, M., & Nunnally, D. (2002). He was arrested in 2003 and now lives on death row in Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Futterman, Ellen. (1989, February 5). Hints of Darkness: Satanism Reports Stir Worry. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, pp 1A+.
Beliefs In Adolescence And Young Adulthood: A Panel Study."Review Of Religious Research 31.1 (1989): 68. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. (Periodical)
Lewis's insights on the insidious strategy of Satan -- the archenemy of our souls -- appear to have been right on target in regard to modern occultism. (2)
Spiritual Alchemy & The Bible True Satanism is based upon the ancient religions that predated Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for hundreds to thousands of years. The traditional colors of black and red used in Satanism, date all the way back to Ancient Egypt and are symbolic of spiritual transformation. The ancient religions were based upon completing our Creator Satan's work: that of transforming the human soul into that of a god and achieving god-like power and immortality. Satan's Kingdom was stolen from him. The Judeo/Christian Bible is a corruption of stolen material that has been used to spiritually enslave humanity.
Next, Satanism is misunderstood for many reasons these include: the way in which the media portrays it, false accounts of Satanic Ritual Abuse, and people who claim Satanc status without knowing what exactly Satanism is. There have been numerous accounts where the media exaggerates certain cases. For example in Hammond, Louisiana there was a man named Pastor Louis Lamonica Jr. He was pastor of the local church in town, he also happened to be a psychopath and a rapist. The media claimed the man was a Satanist because he had raped children in a church when in fact he thought that was what God wanted of him. The Pastor was not alone in these horrid crimes his accomplices included, his wife Robin, Austin Trey Bernard, and Austin’s wife Nicole Bernard. The group raped numerous babies and supposedly slaughter animals in the name of Satan however, there is no evidence proving the latter ever occurred. The only reason the case got misinterpreted as a case of Satanic Ritual Abuse was that Lammonica described the youth room where they committed such terrible crimes as black and as everyone knows The Church of Satan runs out of The Black House. This case became so publicized that it even got an episode of HBO’s True Detective made about it. Of course, in the show it was far more gruesome and demonic than the real event which did not involve the devil or Satanism in any form. It was just an average psychotic Pastor who will spend the rest of his years in jail which is far from unseen within the Church of God. Another example of the media over exaggerating Satanism and turning it into a cult is the incident in Johannesburg, South Africa where a girl was murdered. The victim was only seventeen and she was murdered by her fellow classmates. Th...
A Religion where spells are acceptable, the earth is celebrated and nature is a basic mold of the major concepts, paganism. The word "pagan" originates from the Latin term paganus which is defined as country dweller, at one point any person not being an active Christian was considered to be a pagan. Pagan followers have a different view on life, such as they believe in the natural forces of the earth, and consciously try to live with it. Another example illustrating how unique this religion is the fact that pagans are polytheistic, but have the one chief god that rules over the others, it's contradicting that a pagan can also have no belief in any one god. An interesting concept about this religion is that you are not told a certain way, rather you decipher it for yourself and believe what you think to be true. For example most pagans do not believe in a Christian God, but are not against him and do not try to convince others to be against him. Rather the pagan idea on a Christian god is that he is that if that is the God that makes you happy, he is okay for you.
Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. N.Y. 1999
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Typically, when someone thinks of religion, they think about worship of a higher power, compassion for all living things, and a general love of the world. Satanism, while a religion, does not fit these conventions. The faith holds no belief in a higher power, is rather selfish in nature, and paints a bleak picture of the world and its workings. In addition, Satanism has controversy riddled history dating back to the seventeenth century. Due to the religion’s unconventional nature, it is often looked down upon and its principles and values are ridiculed. To better understand a faith like Satanism, it helps to look at it alongside a more familiar and commonly understood religion like Christianity.
Woody, P. (n.d.). Parenting. Teen Rebellion. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting_challenges/teen_rebellion.aspx. New Releases.
It is important to know the changes Satan progressed throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, Satan’s speeches were mostly self glorification. Satan saw himself as the most dangerous position and severely reprimanded by God. Satan saw himself as daring and smart, which was demonstrated in Book three when he fooled Uriel while disguised as a lower ranking angel. His speeches were mostly self glorification, but as the story progressed Satan’s characterization changed. He had all the emotions of a human; he had fear, anger, sadness and resentment. Satan also had the charismatic charm of a politician. For example, in book two Satan emphasized the power all the angels are capable of and how God is the enemy. As he spoke, one can see that Satan was very persuasive and knew how to obta...