A mistake to which I think that I am especially prone is that I anthropomorphize the universe, turning its grandeur into something altogether human.

In my last essay, I took a general survey of the history and philosophy of capitalism as formulated by Adam Smith in the aforementioned book, which is usually referred to by the shortened title of The Wealth of Nations. If you haven’t listened to that episode, I highly recommend checking that out before continuing with this one, in which I intend to begin looking at critiques of capitalism.

Transcript, with citations and references, available at https://asatanistreadsthebible.com/

I’m continuing this week with my American Mythology series, which explores the myths present in contemporary American philosophical and political thought. My objective in my explorations of religious texts has been to demonstrate that what is said of the texts and what they actually contain are often two very different things, and my objective in these essays is essentially the same, only addressing political theory instead of sacred texts, but as I’ve described in the previous two essays in this series, political theory and religion are themselves not very distant from each other and often there’s considerable overlap. I’ve looked at the myths surrounding the way in which the Americas were first conquered and colonized and the myths about American freedom as related to the philosophical influence of John Locke on the American political sphere, and now I’m turning to the myths embedded in American capitalism.

Visit https://asatanistreadsthebible.com/american-mythology-capitalism/ for a transcript of this essay, including citations and sources

The New Testament Book of Revelation is one of the most distinct and bizarre books of the entire Bible, and I think that its writer was saying the same things about what was to come that I had learned from both my Christians teachers and from history.

The 17th-century English philosopher John Locke is one of the most important names in modern philosophy. Following Descartes, he is often taken to be the second major philosopher of the modern era. Additionally, his philosophy was of particular influence on early American political thought, and he was even involved in the design of one of the colonial American governments, that of Carolina. Today, I’ll be looking at his philosophy, and to what degree contemporary America is living up to or failing to live up to his ideals, whether that’s even something we should be aiming for in the first place, and why all of this is relevant to us as Satanists and to American Satanists in particular.

Works Cited or Consulted

Armitage, D. (2004). John Locke, Carolina, and the Two Treatises of Government. Political Theory, 32(5), 602–627. https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591704267122

Cahoone, L. (n.d.). The Modern Political Tradition: Hobbes to Habermas. Retrieved March 9, 2020, from https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/the-modern-political-tradition-hobbes-to-habermas

Declaration of Independence: A Transcription. (2015, November 1). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

Diethe, C., & Nietzsche, F. (2006). Friedrich Nietzsche: On the Genealogy of Morality (K. Ansell-Pearson, Ed.; 2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511812026

Guelzo, A., Gallagher, G., & Allitt, P. (n.d.). A History of the United States, 2nd Edition. Retrieved March 24, 2020, from https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/a-history-of-the-united-states-2nd-edition

Laslett, P. (n.d.). Locke and Hobbes. In J. Locke, Two Treatises of Government.

Liberty: Incorporating Four Essays on Liberty (2nd edition). (2002). Oxford University Press.

Lloyd, S. A., & Sreedhar, S. (2019). Hobbes’s Moral and Political Philosophy. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2019). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/hobbes-moral/

Locke, J., & Laslett, P. (1988). Two treatises of government (Student ed). Cambridge University Press.

MacCallum, G. C. (1967). Negative and Positive Freedom. The Philosophical Review, 76(3), 312. https://doi.org/10.2307/2183622

Survey: White Evangelicals See Trump As “Honest” And “Morally Upstanding.” (2020, March 12). NPR.Org. https://www.npr.org/2020/03/12/815097747/survey-most-evangelicals-see-trump-as-honest-and-morally-upstanding

The Problem With Human Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhRBsJYWR8Q

Thorpe, F. N. (Ed.). (1998). The Federal and State constitutions, colonial charters, and other organic laws of the states, territories, and colonies now or heretofore forming the United States of America. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1909. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/nc05.asp

Uzgalis, W. (2020). John Locke. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2020). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/locke/

Zinn, H., & Arnove, A. (2015). A people’s history of the United States (Thirty-fifth anniversary edition). HarperPerennial.

Though the 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche did not call himself a Satanist (and likely wouldn’t have, Satanism being then associated with the Romantic, which he detested), his role as a virulent critic of religion and culture, as well as his intelligence and radical individualism, have made him an icon of Satanic thought. His works appear on the official Church of Satan reading list, and it’s clear that the Church’s founder, Anton Szandor LaVey, was heavily inspired by Nietzsche’s thought. To such a degree as Satanism concerns freedom, Nietzsche’s ideas are highly relevant, as he advocated throughout his works for what he saw as the path towards becoming a truly free spirit.

Over the coming weeks and months, I’m going to be shifting the focus of my work towards more political matters, applying the way I approach problems in general to the historical and contemporary political situations in the United States, and the mythology that surrounds them. In order to ground my work in this area in its historical context, the specific matter I’ll be discussing today will be the conquest and colonization of the Americas by Europeans, which began in the late 15th century.

Works Cited or Referenced

Armstrong, D. (n.d.). The Black Death: The World’s Most Devastating Plague. Retrieved March 24, 2020, from https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/the-black-death-the-worlds-most-devastating-plague

Corcoran, P. (2017). John Locke on the Possession of Land: Native Title vs. The ‘Principle’ of Vacuum domicilium. 21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10848770.2017.1416766

Eusden, J. D. (1960). Natural Law and Covenant Theology in New England, 1620-1670. The American Journal of Jurisprudence, 5(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajj/5.1.1

Guelzo, A., Gallagher, G., & Allitt, P. (n.d.). A History of the United States, 2nd Edition. Retrieved March 24, 2020, from https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/a-history-of-the-united-states-2nd-edition

Hardy, G. (n.d.). Sacred Texts of the World. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/sacred-texts-of-the-world

Hoppe, H.-H. (2004, October 15). The Ethics and Economics of Private Property | Mises Institute. https://mises.org/library/ethics-and-economics-private-property

Huntington, S. P. (2011). The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order (Simon & Schuster hardcover ed). Simon & Schuster.

Judis, J. B. (2018). The nationalist revival: Trade, immigration, and the revolt against globalization. Columbia Global Reports.

List of epidemics. (2020). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_epidemics&oldid=946207636Zinn, H., & Arnove, A. (2015). A people’s history of the United States (Thirty-fifth anniversary edition). HarperPerennial.

The interrelated concepts of faith and sacrifice have remained, throughout my explorations into religion, matters of endless fascination. In the installment, I adapt the story of the Binding of Isaac, as Kierkegaard had done, and take an overview of the history of faith and sacrifice, especially as they occurred in the Hindu religions. Then, I turn to the details of the views of two particular philosophers who wrote extensively on the subject of faith in particular, Søren Kierkegaard and Paul Tillich.

I mention a couple links in the show discussion, which can be found here:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-strategy/index.html

https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-federal-government-override-state-government-rules-social-distancing-promote-economy

This situation has forced me to consider why I’m doing the whole Satanist Reads the Bible project in the first place. I’ve never really had to think about it before because it’s always been fun, interesting, and meaningful work, but very rapidly over the last couple weeks, my sense of meaning and purpose in the world has fallen out from under me, and I’ve had to adjust to that with regards to everything that I do, including this podcast.

Works Cited or Consulted

A World Without Children. (2019, September 5). The Point Magazine. https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/a-world-without-children/

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience (Nachdr.). Harper [and] Row.

Cuarón, A. (2006, September 22). Children of Men [Drama, Thriller]. Universal Pictures,  Strike Entertainment, Hit & Run Productions.

Dixit, A. K., & Nalebuff, B. J. (2010). The art of strategy: A game theorist’s guide to success in business & life. Norton & Company.

Event 201, a pandemic exercise to illustrate preparedness efforts. (n.d.). Even 201. Retrieved March 17, 2020, from http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/event201/

Hegel, G. W. F., Miller, A. V., & Findlay, J. N. (2013). Phenomenology of spirit (Reprint.). Oxford Univ. Press.

Horowitz, A. (2012, October 6). GOP Rep.: Evolution, Big Bang “Lies Straight From The Pit Of Hell.” HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-broun-evolution-big-bang_n_1944808

Huntington, S. P. (2011). The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order (Simon & Schuster hardcover ed). Simon & Schuster.

Kaufmann, W. A., & Nehamas, A. (2013). Nietzsche: Philosopher, psychologist, antichrist (First Princeton classics edition). Princeton University Press.

List of epidemics. (2020). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_epidemics&oldid=946207636

National Security Council. (n.d.). The White House. Retrieved March 17, 2020, from https://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/

Nietzsche, F. W., & Kaufmann, W. A. (1974). The gay science: With a prelude in rhymes and an appendix of songs (1st ed.). Vintage Books.

Spanish flu. (2020). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spanish_flu&oldid=946121163

The End Is Coming. (2020, March 11). The Point Magazine. https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/the-end-is-coming-agnes-callard/

Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised. (2020, March 14). AP NEWS. https://apnews.com/ce014d94b64e98b7203b873e56f80e9a

One of the ways I pay the rent is by working as a composer and musician for theater and dance productions. It’s something I’ve been taking time off from since before I started the whole Satanist Reads the Bible project—I had had a busy year and got burned out on it—but back in December I got an email from one of my music mentors asking if I wanted to join in as a musician on a production of a piece of musical theater called Shockheaded Peter. It’s based on a German children’s book of cautionary tales called Der Struwwelpeter in which various misbehaviors on the part of the children result in disaster and death. I played a drum kit made partially out of garbage along with an upright bassist and an accordionist, and it’s been a highlight of my career and one of the great privileges and joys of my life. I’ve been training as a musician for about 25 years now and have performed hundreds of shows, and this show has both demanded and demonstrated my highest capabilities as a musician, performer, and human being. It’s been difficult work that’s pushed me to my limits but I’ve loved every second of it—it’s one of those experiences that has made the Eternal Return worth it for me—and it’s brought up some questions regarding philosophy and theater, some of which I’ll be exploring here.

Works Referenced or Consulted

Bodman, W. S. (2011). The poetics of Iblis: Narrative theology in the Qur’an. Harvard Theological Studies, Harvard Divinity School : Distributed by Harvard University Press.

Bradford, G. (2013). The Value of Achievements: The Value of Achievements. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 94(2), 204–224. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0114.2012.01452.x

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience (Nachdr.). Harper [and] Row.

Goffman, E. (1990). The presentation of self in everyday life (Nachdr.). Doubleday.

H7451—Ra`—Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (KJV). (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/1/1/s_1001

Hamilton, J. R. (2019). Philosophy of Theater. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2019). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2019/entriesheater/

Nietzsche, F. W., & Kaufmann, W. A. (1974). The gay science: With a prelude in rhymes and an appendix of songs (1st ed.). Vintage Books.

Satan As a Moral Exemplar. (2020, February 29). A Satanist Reads the Bible. https://asatanistreadsthebible.com/satan-as-a-moral-exemplar/

Satan in the Qur’an. (2019, November 16). A Satanist Reads the Bible. https://asatanistreadsthebible.com/satan-in-the-quran/

Taylor, C. (1994). The politics of recognition. In A. Gutmann (Ed.), Multiculturalism: Examining the politics of recognition. Princeton University Press.