Satan thinks martyrs accomplish nothing

To those who were always atheists and were raised in one of the few mostly atheist countries, compliance with externally-defined expectations is familiar to the extent that everyone is subjected to cultural norms and ethics, and few people are conscious of them. But there are also norms that apply almost exclusively to highly Christian subcultures.

Christians by and large teach you that not only must you accept that life on Earth should involve suffering until the happy day when you perish, but also that you should celebrate your suffering, displaying it as a form of accomplishment in itself. The more you suffer the better, because it somehow makes your life after death, including any redemption, correspondingly more awesome. It proves that you manage to stay spiritually strong, by some strange definition of strength. Suffering, present or past, is a decoration that you wear proudly and prominently, because the sheer fact that you are still around displays the power of your faith: God tests you but you persevere. Well, aren’t you something.

Satan did not check but thinks He would not be surprised if this mindset stems from the Calvary myth that depicts in bloody detail how Jesus suffered torture, humiliation, and finally death, in order to shortly thereafter return as the god that some believe he was. Or, recalling His days as an enforcer employed by God, maybe it is a present-day ideal derived from the book of Job in which Job was exposed to one trial after another to prove his faith. Like most consultants, Satan did not complete the task to anyone’s satisfaction, but He was paid well regardless.

Any form of suffering—although physical suffering works best since anyone can relate to a stubbed toe—can be used as proof that your faith will either save you or has already saved you, as your spiritual fortitude prevails over your corruptible body. For example, if such a believer has undergone surgery, the believer will conclude that his prolonged recovery was eased by his persistent faith or, alternatively, that his speedy recovery was made possible by his faith. (The latter is less impressive, though, unless recovery appears to be miraculously fast. That was a free tip.) The more you suffered, and the more you still endure, the stronger your faith appears. Such a person will gladly tell you of his hardships so he can brag about how he braved the odds by virtue of his piousness. Satan thinks that Anton LaVey made the right observation when he wrote in The Satanic Bible that invalids make good psychic vampires, because their (genuine) calamities provide them with an excuse to receive unearned benefits beyond the reasonable help that egalitarianism mandates. In the cult of masochism, disability and weakness are strength.

From the Devil’s perspective, however, it is downright pathetic. Everyone experiences adversity and sustains an injury from time to time (and when you go to Hell, rest assured it will be all the time), but moving on does not require any amount of faith. All it takes is basic self-interest and sometimes mere patience. It practically requires only that you do not derive your worth from victimhood, preferring to stay the sufferer to leech pity and attention from others, or even admiration from people with a similar mindset. If your highest sense of accomplishment is that you are not dead yet, Satan considers you a cosmic disappointment. Even losers can be said to have enriched someone else, but you might as well never have existed.

The form varies, but just like Christians rely on their Christian faith, it is a common occurrence in the Satanic arena that people tell how Satanism helped them get through hardship or even “saved” them. Their focus on being Satanists ostensibly gave them the sense of perspective they needed, the feeling that it rested upon them to better themselves, or how the explanations usually go. Keeping with Christian tradition, the greater the martyr, the greater the miracle of their newly-found faith. However, the Devil does not accept the blood of martyrs as valid currency and is offended by such sacrifice. Satan demands accomplishments, not failures or excuses.

It does not mean that Satan lacks empathy towards those who suffer from the trauma of religious upbringing, or in fact any trauma. Such genuine victims should seek professional therapy if possible, and may also find help in support groups provided they are well-guided to avoid reinforcing the trauma through full-length group cry sessions. Unloading on everyone else in one’s Satanic community is not a display of Satanism, however. Your Satanic identity is neither provided by your past or present suffering nor by your complaints, regardless of how honest and valid they otherwise be.

Satan is sorry to inform them that the einherjar did not go to Valhalla to brag about their survival. Such an “accomplishment” would be their ticket to rot in the festering halls of Helheim. Everyone perseveres, unless they are so broken that their only choice is to throw in the towel and accept whichever defeat, failure, and embarrassment awaits. It is true for Satanists and Christians alike that if your major accomplishment is, both figuratively and literally speaking, to not lay down and die then it is no accomplishment at all. They yearn for Heaven, and the Prince of Darkness thinks they should admit it instead of wasting His time. There is no such thing as a Satanic martyr.