Judeo-Christian Perspective of Satanism

The traditional Judeo-Christian perspective sees Satan as a personification of evil as it exists in the world. In this regard, it is interesting to note that the character of Satan has not always been associated with attributes such as God and evil. Prior to the rise of the Christian Church, the figure of Satan could be found in a variety of myths in which he was "also associated with some positive concepts" (Sharma "Satan" 84). When Christianity displaced the ancient pagan religions, the idea of Satan was created as a personification of evil. This was done in order to give

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that satanism itself causes crime, despite the fact that crimes often occur with "satanic overtones" (Gates, et al. 29). It is not generally believed that Satan causes such crimes to occur, but rather that they are committed by people driven by forces which cause them to turn to both crime and satanism as outlets for their rage. For example, in a case at Matamoros, Mexico, drugs, ritual torture, and murder were linked to a satanic cult. Although it was evident that the criminals in this case were practicing satanism, at the same time, the cult members were described as exhibiting signs of "religious craziness" (Woodbury 30). Thus, the legal experts investigating this crime reached the conclusion that the-evil deeds did not necessarily result from the practice of satanism, but rather from the fact that the cult members in this case had adopted an insane interpretation of satanic rituals. A person who is insane is incapable of expressing free will by making accurate choices regarding good and evil. An insane person cannot be said to be exhibiting free will in practicing satanism or committing crimes. Therefore, the legal perspective correlates with the psychiatric perspective in its claim that people who are evil or commit cr
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Approximate Word count = 1645
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)