Editing Satanism (section)

=== Definitions ===
Some definitions of Satanism:
 
* the worship or veneration of the figure from Christian belief known as Satan, the Devil or Lucifer<ref name="Britannica-White"/>
* the "intentional, religiously motivated veneration of Satan"{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|p=5}}{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|p=2}}
*  "a system in which Satan is celebrated in a prominent position"<ref>{{cite book |first=P. |last=Faxneld |title=Satanic Feminism: Lucifer As the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |page=25}}</ref> This definition has the advantage of avoiding "assumptions about the nature of religion".<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.1-Invention/>
*the simultaneous presence of three characteristics:
::1) the worship of the character in the Bible whose name is Satan or Lucifer, 
::2) the organization of these "Satanists" into a group with at least some kind of organization and hierarchy, and ... 
::3) and has some kind of ritual or liturgical practices [...] 
:whether the group with these characteristics perceives Satan as personal or impersonal, real or symbolic, does not matter.{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=3}}

But these definitions of Satanism are limited to 
* figures and groups who ''identify'' as Satanists or at least  admirers of Satan (Romantic Satanists, hellfire clubs and modern Satanists). 
... excluding 
* figures and groups ''accused'' of worshipping Satan and in the process committing horrible crimes (in the middle ages, during the 1980–1994 [[Satanic panic|Satanic ritual abuse moral panic]], etc.) but who either appear to have not been satanists or to not  have actually existed.
According to Laycock, excluding the second group, you leave out most of the history of Satanism.<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.1-Invention>[[#JPLS2023|Laycock, ''Satanism'', 1981]]: section 1. What Is Satanism? Anton LaVey and the Invention of Satanism</ref>

If you ''do'' include both groups, you have two sides with very different views on who or what Satan was/is and represented. The accusers usually follow the Christian idea of Satan as an irredeemably evil fallen angel who seeks the destruction of both God and humanity, but who, along with his followers, is doomed to fail and to suffer eternal punishment.<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.1/> While the self-identified Satanists often do not believe that Satan actually exists as a being (they believe he is a symbol and a "[[Prometheus|Promethean]] figure",<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.5-Amoral-O9A/> "an esoteric symbol of a vital force that permeates the universe"),<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.3-Esotericism>[[#JPLS2023|Laycock, ''Satanism'', 1981]]: section 3 Satanic Sympathizers.  Satan and Esotericism</ref> let alone is trying to destroy humanity.

Definitions that would include the "satanism" of heresy crusades and moral panics is:
*  an invention of Christianity, relying on a character deriving from [[Christian mythology]], i.e.  Satan.{{sfn|van Luijk|2016|p=16}}

In their study of Satanism, the [[religious studies]] scholars Asbjørn Dyrendal, [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]], and Jesper Aa. Petersen stated that the term ''Satanism'' "has a history of being a designation made by people against those whom they dislike; it is a term used for '[[othering]]'".{{sfn|Dyrendal|Lewis|Petersen|2016|p=7}} 
 
Eugene Gallagher noted that Satanism was usually "a [[polemical]], not a descriptive term".{{sfn|Gallagher|2006|p=151}}

Similar to the way certain Christian denominations accuse each other of heresy, different satanic groups—mainly the Church of Satan (CoS), the Temple of Set (ToS), the Order of Nine Angles (ONA), and The Satanic Temple (TST)—often accuse one another of being fraudulent Satanists and/or ignorant of true Satanism.<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.1/>