The Satanic Dichotomy of Indulgence Vs. Mastery

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 4 Comments

A central theme of my personal Satanic practice is the reconciliation of opposites. In the symbol of the Baphomet, we see the marriage of binaries: angelic and demonic, male and female, light and dark, up and down. My practice is an integration of seemingly irreconcilable conflicts. I wrote an article a couple of years ago listing several primary dichotomies of my Satanism, which you can read here.

As I’ve grown in my religious Satanism, another Satanic dichotomy has emerged: indulgence vs. self-mastery.

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Mysticism, Kink, and the Terror of Transcendence

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ Leave a comment

Last week’s article “Mysticism Is Like Sex” argued that self-transcendent experiences are comparable to sex in that they are both hardwired into the human body. They don’t necessarily need to be attached to religious beliefs to be enjoyed and experienced.

As I explored in the article, my fascination with altered states of consciousness started when I was young. I was raised in a Charismatic Christian family that regularly spoke in tongues, and this revealed to me that interesting states of mind were always just around the corner. This provoked a lot of feedback from my audience on my discord server, and a number of people shared their own experiences with speaking in tongues.

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Mysticism Is Like Sex

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 1 Comment

Mysticism is like sex. Let me explain.

I don’t believe in god or gods. I have no belief in an afterlife or supernatural beings. I’m not saying that they don’t exist. I’m open to being wrong. I just have an absence of belief in them. I’m what could be described as a “soft atheist”.

And yet, I also have a lifelong fascination with altered states of consciousness and the experience and practice of mystical self-transcendence. This fascination started when I was a child growing up in a charismatic family.

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I’m Not Anti-Religion, I’m Just Religious

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ Leave a comment

Satanism is frequently called an “anti-religion”. This perception arises from the notion that Satanism is established as Christianity’s opposite. It is the yin to Christianity’s yang, the dark to Christianity’s light. Hence, it is an anti-religion.

This makes no sense to me. I’m sure there are Satanists out there who describe themselves as following an “anti-religion” and set themselves up in direct opposition to Christianity, but I’m not one of them. My Satanism is not an anti-religion. I’m just religious.

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Are the Truth Claims of Christianity Literal?

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 2 Comments

In last week’s article The Motte and Bailey of Christian Belief, I commented on a trend I’ve noticed among Christians to make bold, hard-to-defend claims (the resurrection of Christ) and then retreating to broad, easy-to-defend claims (God is the ultimate mystery or “ground of being”) when pushed to defend the former.

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Sacred Tension: Uncanceling Ourselves | Jonathan Rauch

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 1 Comment

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by gay activist, author, and Brookings Institute scholar Jonathan Rauch to discuss his recent article Uncanceling Ourselves. We discuss how a tiny minority of activists have an outsized chilling effect on necessary discourse, and steps we can take to free ourselves from a fearful mindset.

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The Motte and Bailey of Christian Belief

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 5 Comments

I remain connected to the Christian world, even though I’m not a Christian. This is because I value friendship, and I don’t want to cut ties with people who are very dear to me. While having conversations about faith with Christians, though, I’ve noticed a trend that annoys me.

Christians will often make strong, extraordinary, and hard-to-defend claims about the world. But when pressed on these claims, they often retreat to more philosophical, vague, and easier-to-defend claims. This tactic is called the Motte and Bailey. When the Bailey is under attack, they retreat to the Motte.

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