Satanism is NOT a form of Christianity.

Over the weekend, some idiotic neo-pagan I was at an in-person event with made the claim that Satanism is a form of Christianity.

LET US EXPLORE ALL THE WAYS THIS IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG.

Claim: "Because Satan is a Christian figure, Satanism is a form of Christianity."

Truth: By this logic, Jews and Muslims and possibly Bahai are also Christians. So, NO. NO with a capital "LOL OMG FUCK NO." Just because two religions share the same figure does not make them the same religion.

The thought behind the claim: "Because Satan is a Christian figure, and Christianity is an Abrahamic faith, Satanism is also an Abrahamic figure."

Truth: What defines an Abrahamic faith? Well, what do all the accepted Abrahamic faiths have in common? They all believe, at the very least, in the Old Testament of the Bible, with their own additions. They all have in common Satan, God, the angels, the garden of Eden, the Fall of Man, and a whole slew of other stuff, including many philosophical similarities. Also, they all count it as important that they, in some manner or other, trace back their lineage to the ancient Hebrew tribes, specifically to the tribe Abraham was a patriarch of. Hence the term "Abrahamic."

So by that measure, to be an Abrahamic faith, two religions must have at least that much in common. Let's examine what Satanism and Abrahamic faiths have in common. Well, they both have Satan. In most Abrahamic faiths, Satan is an evil, fallen angel. (Yezidi and certain kinds of gnostic Christian faiths being an exception.) But most Satanists either believe Satan is just a symbol of vital existence on Earth, without Him really existing; even the theistic Satanists have that basic premise of Satan: that He represents vital existence on Earth, and/or is on mankind's side. In Abrahamic faiths, Satan is always - at the very least - an opponent of mankind. So... the name Satan, that's something they have in common. Not the "essence," just the name.

Any other similarities? Well... no. Most Satanism sects don't even have God or Jesus in them, and reject both the Bible and the "Christ" title for Jesus. And without the Bible in common, then there's really nothing else Satanism has in common with the Abrahamic faiths.

Granted, my own Setian Luciferianism does have Yahweh and Yeshuah ben Yosef (the real, historical figure that the mythical "Jesus Christ" was loosely based on), but I still reject the Bible in large part, though I like Yeshuah's teachings. In Setian Luciferianism, Yeshuah is just a man; I reject his supposed divinity. He's also a Luciferian high priest. And Yahweh is just a tiny little fire demon who has woven a web of deceit around the world. But also bear in mind, I'm a Discordian, and so while it's fun to play pretend with these ideas, I don't actually believe any of it. It's just another model to play around with, for me.

So ultimately, what does Satanism in general have in common with Abrahamic faiths? Um... the name "Satan." And "Lucifer." And that's basically it. Abrahamic faiths are concerned with obeying an insane, genocidal God they have the audacity to call "loving," and being a slave to the authorities who claim to speak for God; whereas Satanism is all about telling the authorities to piss off, and working towards becoming a free human being. Abrahamic faiths encourage stupidity and a slave mentality, whereas Satanism abhors stupidity, encourages free thought and pursuit of the intellect, and works to free humanity from the slavery it's been put under.

If we're going to claim that having one figure in common, with the same name but completely different meaning, makes Satanism an Abrahamic faith, then we might as well go a step further and claim all Abrahamic faiths are actually Zoroastrianism in disguise. When you get right down to it, Abrahamic faiths have a lot in common with Zoroastrianism: both have a god of good and a god of evil, and while Abrahamic faiths won't admit Satan is a god of evil, for all intents and purposes, He is; either Satan, in Abrahamic faiths, is a god of evil, or Yahweh/Jesus/Jehovah/Allah - the so-called loving God - lets the evil Satan get away with everything, in which case God is just as bad as Satan.

Anyway, other similarities Abrahamic faiths have with Zoroastrianism: the story of the savior riding on a donkey, for one. There are more, but it's been ages since I've read about Zoroastrianism, so I won't go any further on that. But I will add this: modern Zoroastrians have gone with the Abrahamic BS that Ahriman (the god of evil) is - like Satan - not a god. Which, as I've said, it rubbish.

Aside from some differences of symbology, Ahura-Mazda is basically the same figure as God/Yahweh, and Ahriman is basically the same as the Abrahamic Satan. So by the logic of that idiot neo-pagan, Abrahamic faiths are just Zoroastrianism in disguise.

Besides which, both Lucifer and Satan pre-date Christianity. They even predate Judaism, and possibly pre-date Zoroastrianism. They are, like many other things, stolen from one religion and used by another in modified form. Oh, and Zoroastrianism took the Hindu gods and goddesses, called devas, and used the term "deva" to mean an evil spirit, hence the modern term "devil." So does that make Zoroastrianism a form of Hinduism? Of course not.

In conclusion, anyone who thinks Satanism is a Christian faith, or an Abrahamic faith, is a fucking ignorant asshole without an ounce of logic.