oyahuascaThu, Feb 18, 2010 I've also read the book about 7 years ago and although I might not agree with some of LaVey's reasoning, I do agree selectively with the commandments. For example, his warning of energy vampires (I don't remember if that is the exact name) if taken literally can make a person really paranoid and suspicious to psychiatrists :); but if processed thoroughly it is actually a remix of a proverb, "You are who you hang with", where a person can become depressed and unmotivated because of similar qualities in acquaintances around him or her. Not because an energy vampire is around! lol
Usually people want credit for anything that they create, so I'm not surprised that it is considered LaVey's church. But as in all religions, some ideas are plausible and reasonable; some are downright ridiculous; it is our choice of values that allows us to filter them. So whatever radical or useful information that I got from this book, I also sifted through my personal filter.
And I do agree on the paradox of the title and the actual content. Definitely worth a skim :)
I've also read the book about 7 years ago and although I might not agree with some of LaVey's reasoning, I do agree selectively with the commandments. For example, his warning of energy vampires (I don't remember if that is the exact name) if taken literally can make a person really paranoid and suspicious to psychiatrists :); but if processed thoroughly it is actually a remix of a proverb, "You are who you hang with", where a person can become depressed and unmotivated because of similar qualities in acquaintances around him or her. Not because an energy vampire is around! lol
Usually people want credit for anything that they create, so I'm not surprised that it is considered LaVey's church. But as in all religions, some ideas are plausible and reasonable; some are downright ridiculous; it is our choice of values that allows us to filter them. So whatever radical or useful information that I got from this book, I also sifted through my personal filter.
And I do agree on the paradox of the title and the actual content. Definitely worth a skim :)