What about the idea of redemptive love?
If by this you mean forgiveness to those who have wronged you in the past, that would be up to the individual. Satanism is merely a guideline with a lot of gray area. You're either a Satanist or you're not. I had been living by way of this philosophy long before discovering LaVey's work(s). As for me & I can only speak for me, it all depends on the severity of what the individual did unto me, whether or not I'd forgive them for crossing me. It has been said though:
A leopard can't change its spots.
That, too, but I was keying more on your philosophy of giving love only to those who deserve it and not wasting it on ingrates. A sullen, wayward teen for example might be ungrateful, but I still have to care for him if he's mine, apart from whether he may have victimized me in any way.
Then of course, there is the Christian ideal of redemptive love, or unconditional love, and even though I'm not sure I'm capable of it, I'm glad there are those out there who seem to be.
Thanks for your replies.
I believe in treating people with respect & how I'd like to be treated upon meeting them. If they prove to be ungrateful, rude & harmful to me, or my loved ones I will then have no problem reciprocating their behavior, depending on the nature of it mind you. I believe in treating others the way in which they treat you. There are occasions where you're able to walk away, wash your hands with that person & be done with them fully. In other cases, it's not so easy. I blame a lot of the way teens are today due to the way in which their parents behave. I was raised in a very conservative household. I was raised Lutheran & my folks have been together since ninth grade & still to this very day are my best friends, even though we tend to disagree on a few topics here & there. Either way, I was taught respect at an early age, but also was told if I was attacked or hit, to defend myself & to hit back...harder! The strong shall inherit the earth & the weak shall inherit the yoke!
This however is a bit of a scapegoat too & in Satanism one of the main philosophies is:
Responsibility to the responsible. These teens who partake in drug abuse & self indulgent acts that cause self-destruction, I find deplorable. The highest law in Satanism is:
Self Preservation. So when people hear indulgence, but hear the CoS is also very anti-drug, they automatically say that we're contradicting ourselves. However, there's a lot of gray area & most people have difficulty getting past the aesthetics to begin with & have an opinion prior to even knowing anything about the religion. Either way, back to what you were originally saying/asking...
I don't have any children, though I'm a pretty big part in my girlfriend's kids lives & I set a lot of boundaries. I teach them respect, loyalty, honesty & how a man's word should be his bond. Also, I teach them to make sure they put themselves first & never let anyone sway their convictions/opinions on things & they are the center of their universe. Now mind you, they're three & six, so I have to simplify this a little more, but you get the point. Children who are not taught respect from the time they're infants will be difficult teens later on in life. So, I feel it would be my duty as a parent to show them the love & respect needed at an early age, but also to teach them individualism, egoism (
to a degree) & to give themselves fully to those who deserve their love & to wash their hands with those who wrong/harm them. As for the misguided teens on the street harming innocent civilians. I feel the punishment should fit the crime & they should be handled as an adult would be. There comes a time when the party needs to take responsibility for their actions & if the parents aren't going to do it, allow the gov't/law enforcement to step in & do what should have been done prior to their committing the crime.
