A Progressive Christian Response to Contemporary Satanism

 

A lot of conservative fundamentalists have been responding quite negatively to Lil Nas X's "Montero" music video. Others have responded by commenting on how it is in response to the oppression of Christianity (or at least conservative fundamentalist Christianity). They've forbidden LGBTQIAP+ people from being themselves, they've silenced women, they've forbidden secular music, and they've scared children through threats of hellfire.

This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened, nor will it be the last. However, there's something that I find deeply saddening about all of this. When looking at Jesus in the gospels, he's someone who hangs out with the social outcasts and rejected. The people he frequently calls out are the pharisees. They're the ones who perpetuate oppression, according to the gospels, using their religious scriptures to justify it.

One example of the anti-Christian sentiment that I frequently think about is from the band, Bad Religion. Their emblem is a cross covered by a prohibition symbol. Their song, "Sorrow," includes these words:

When all soldiers lay their weapons down

Or when all kings and all queens relinquish their crowns

Or when the only true messiah rescues us from ourselves

It's easy to imagine

There will be sorrow

Yeah, there will be sorrow

And there will be sorrow no more 

I can't think of words closer to Jesus' message than that, but when that is seen as an anti-Christian sentiment, it shows just how much conservative fundamentalists and many others who identify as Christian have corrupted the message.

All of this is deeply saddening.

When Jesus talks about Satan, there are also a few verses from the gospels that come to my mind on all of this. The first is Matthew 24:5, "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." Another one is Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Jesus addresses the wolf in sheep's clothing. It's unfortunate that he says nothing about the wounded sheep in wolves clothing. The last verse I'll bring up is from the Gospel of John. In the tenth verse of the tenth chapter, he says "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

When looking at Lil Nas X's video, it's clear that he's the one giving those rejected by society a place of comfort, while conservative fundamentalist leaders, like the pharisees, use their scripture to oppress and hurt. When I look at his video, I see it as an example of beating swords into plowshares. Although there are Christians, such as Nadia Bolz-Weber, who are doing similar things, the most recognized faces of Christianity are the ones behaving like the pharisees. The false prophets. The wolves in sheep's clothing. The ones coming to kill and destroy, rather than for people to have life.

Shalom!

Tarot From a Christian: Crowley's Thoth Deck

Overall, I feel that nearly everything there is to say about how Christianity and Tarot are compatible with each other has been said. However, there is one thing that I haven't seen discussed too heavily from a Christian standpoint. It's Aleister Crowley's Thoth Deck.

Because of things about Crowley, non-Christians also take issue with his Thoth deck, and there have been several discussions on the art vs. the artist question.

I go to a Lutheran church where we celebrate the day he nailed his 95 theses to a wall, sing a few hymns that he wrote, and we sometimes look at and discuss some of his theological writings. Although Luther wasn't much more anti-semitic than many others at the time, his final book was anti-semitism to the most extreme. He also advocated for pretty harsh forms of law and order when people started destroying Catholic churches. My pastor has also sometimes referenced Aquinas and Calvin, but he's also pointed out many problems with them, especially Calvin. I also am quite fond of Gregorian chant, attributed to Pope Gregory I, who had many problematic qualities to him, 

On the question of something "satanic," here's what I have to say. Myself and other Christians acknowledge that most of the outright satanism today is more in response to conservative fundamentalism, rather than anything from Jesus himself or who we believe God to be. In the Gospels, Jesus talks about the devil, one of the big things he mentions is people who will come and commit atrocities in his name. He doesn't mention people who are outright satanic.

I read something from a Christian Tarot reader mentioning their discomfort with the Lust card in that deck. This person's discomfort was that it depicted something that Christians see as evil in a positive light. It depicted the woman on the seven-headed beast from the Book of Revelation. This was in a comment thread, and someone responded with their opinion of it, using an analogy from Spiderman. When he gets his powers, he first signs up for a wrestling match with prize money for the winner. He's only using his powers for himself. However, after a while, he learns that there are better ways for him to use his abilities. "With great power comes great responsibility." That was the interpretation this other person responded to with that card.

All cards are open to interpretation. That's also not the only discomfort that people may have. Arthur Edward-Waite was a Christian Mystic, and Pamela Coleman-Smith converted to Catholicism. However, the Devil card has many discomforting qualities for many of us. Something that I have frequently seen pointed out from authors on Tarot is that none of the cards are good or bad. It's how we approach them.

On the question of whether or not it's okay for Christians to use Aleister Crowley's Thoth deck, I would say it is up to you to decide. For me, I see that question as similar to asking whether or not it is okay to look at the theology of John Calvin or Martin Luther, despite their problems. A theological belief that I hold dear is that all of us are sinners in some way or another, but God works through us using the bad in us as well as the good, and that includes Aleister Crowley.

Shalom!