re: Does Satanism exist without Christianity?

I've studied both the Protestant and Catholic Church, including the Protestant Reformation. I researched the Crusades, and read the glaring mistakes made during that period (there was wave after wave of crusaders). Mistakes made during the Crusades still haunt us today. IMO the effect of those mistakes is a contributing factor in the violent clash going on in Gaza today. I read Martin Luther. I researched his life, in particular his early family life, focusing on his broken relationship with his father. In that search, I understood, and was reminded of, the critical role a father plays in the life and formation of a young man. We can see in Luther's hatred for the Pope, his hatred and rebellion against his father (unfortunately his mother didn't help him deal with the hatred either). We can see across centuries satan's relentless assault on the institution of the Father and traditional family.

I'm not a sociologist or psychologist but I have witnessed my faith from the sugar cane fields of South Louisiana, to the Ghetto of the inner city, to the Catholic Immigrants dealing with the decaying effect of unbridled materialism and I will say again - unless this country finds the resolve to resurrect authentic Christianity (rooted in the Cross) and the traditional family the country will collapse. IMO the collapse has already begun actually.

The Church is good at building magnificent edifices with beautiful ornate stained glass windows, and schools, but it does a lousy job at evangelization. I call this tendency towards building structure, at the expense of witness, the 'immigrant Church mentality'. She is always building structures to meet the needs of a new wave of immigrants - a huge economic burden on the Laity. The Church is not just a fortress to escape the modern world, rather she is where Jesus resides, urging us to "go forth and spread the Good News (Gospel) So expect to be vilified, hated, and even crucified since we are now living in a post-Christian era inceasingly hostile to Christians.

Let me say, no form of religion that has at its root hatred for anyone should be considered authentic. Authentic Christianity always proclaims a simple message - Hate the sin, but love the sinner and "Be Not afraid". Always our model must be Jesus Christ Crucified and his exhortation to "take up YOUR Cross, and follow me" - Matthew 16:24-26. Unfortunately, in a material world obsessed with the pursuit of pleasure in all forms, many see the embrace of Christianity as an impossibility.

God laid out a clear path to salvation. Gradually over millennia Yahweh revealed His plan, beginning with Moses and the Hebrews wandering through the desert (you should read Exodus) for forty years, continuing with the Incarnation (The Word made Flesh), and ending with the establishment of His church the night before He died on the Cross. I'll say it again - there is NO salvation without the Cross.

I love my Catholic Church. She is wounded, scarred, and bent over from constant assault (internally and externally) by the evil one - but She has had roughly 2000 years to weed out heresy and schism. My Holy Catholic Church today presents to us a Church purged by trial and suffering. Her truth ransomed first by the blood of Jesus Christ then the blood of thousands (literally) of martyrs spanning millennia.

Just like my freedom here in America was purchased by the blood of Patriots. Among those Patriots, the blood of those brave young men who jumped off those Higgins Boats at Normandy. They gave up their tomorrows so that I could reflect on their sacrifice today.

A word of caution here. The latest trick by satan, and his legions, to weaken and destroy Christianity - this D.E.I. (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). Translation: You will embrace the LGBT Agenda in your Churches and like it.

Freedom isn't free.