Pervasive Pantywaistism

Mollycoddles abound. Wimps are on the rise. Sissies hold sway. Our society is pervaded by a patronizing protectivity, shielding the timorous from ideas that might be inimical to egos fragile as sodden tissue paper. What ever happened to cultivation of strength and self-assurance, once the hallmark of American culture? The minions of “political correctness” and a new generation of whiner-spawn have attained the legislative power to enforce their pusillanimous intolerance for any difference in opinion. Behold the vile cowardice that reigns in just about every public forum. Witness censorship, based on the principle that individuals must be protected from any negativity or they will suffer irreparable trauma and thus deserve reparations from the state to satisfy their shattered self-image. Here is the new standard for behavior, ranging from universities to work places, from the printed word to cyber-space, and it is enshrined by the various media who have united to crush those who refuse to abandon their critical faculties.

Witness censorship, based on the principle that individuals must be protected from any negativity or they will suffer irreparable trauma and thus deserve reparations from the state to satisfy their shattered self-image.”

People are deathly afraid of words; they can’t bear anything being said against them. To be “dissed” is the equivalent of being destroyed. The contemptible contemporary credo is to seek the approval of all and sundry, while eliminating any critical commentary. It has become a thought-crime to voice the opinion that you don’t embrace everyone in one sloppy hug of “brotherhood.” Satanists deplore such weakness. It was once expected that one instinctively evaluated the gainsayer (as well as the flatterer), automatically reacting with either pleasure, disappointment or even indifference based on the relative merits of this individual. Now, all are required to tout everyone else without discrimination—a word that now has an “evil” connotation and previously meant the exercise of one’s selectivity based on educated appraisal. Satanists have not lost this instinct; we welcome the conflict of ideas, and are excited by differences. It is by actions that we judge. Words are mere window-dressing.

We must cultivate a neo-Darwinian arena wherein opinions may clash in the bright glare of mid-day, light glinting off saber-sharp tongues that slam against the armor of cultivated wit and erudition in a true conflict of rip-roaring repartee. We expect to see the sands stained crimson and will be ready to wield our discrimination boldly, without stinting, to either raise a thumb in approval or give the sign of rejection. We will celebrate the victorious while the vanquished are carted off as refuse. This is the climate that will foster the re-emergence of intellectual rigor, and will present competing concepts for all to see and judge accordingly. It is time to end this childish insulation from the real world and go out to experience the invigoration to be had from a world of variety. If you come across that with which you don’t agree, you’ll be able to identify those who hold such values and deal with them as you will. Control of speech is not control of thought. The current climate has caused many to hold secret their true feelings, which often grow to strange shapes in their restraint, bursting forth in extremity that is shocking to the naive, but expected by the aware.

[Satanists] welcome the conflict of ideas, and are excited by differences. It is by actions that we judge.”

Let the triumphant strains of “My Way” sound the call to those who refuse to disguise their true thoughts beneath a grimace of false politeness. Enter into the fray with claws extended, flying your true color—winning friends and foes, or walk away and find another exchange more to your liking. You can soar, or crash and burn, but do so on your own. Don’t go crying to some societal authority to wipe the snot off your nose and kick the ass of your betters. Perhaps you want to remain in diapers all of your life, but don’t expect Satanists to stick around and smell the load. Manure is best when buried as fertilizer.

Originally published in The Black Flame, Volume 6, numbers 1 & 2, 1997 Copyright © 1997 and 2007 as published in The Satanic Scriptures.