When I heard that the Royal Navy had approved a naval technician’s request to conduct Satanic rituals on board one of its ships (HMS Cumberland), I could not believe it. Yet, not only is it true, it is not even a recent event, having happened back in 2004. The reason I know that it is true is because it was reported by the following mainstream UK press outlets: BBC, Telegraph, Guardian and Metro. However, I have no recollection that this was ever reported by radio or television news, which is how most people learn about current affairs. Somehow, a subject that should have been headline news across the country was given minimal coverage, even though it is a very serious public interest matter.
The argument put forward by non-commissioned officer and confirmed Satanist, Chris Cranmer, was that he was exercising his right to practice the ‘religion’ of his choice. At the time that this happened (2004), the Equality Act 2010 had obviously not yet been passed, which meant that ‘religion’ was not one of the nine protected characteristics that exist today. However, the EU’s Equality Framework Directive 2000 was in force and this obliged member states to “combat discrimination on grounds of disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief and age in the workplace”. Once enacted, this Directive had to be transposed into law by the countries of the EU and this is how the Equality Act 2006 came into being, as a precursor to the Equality Act 2010. We do not know how the Royal Navy came to its decision to approve the practice of Satanism aboard one of its ships. However, it could be argued that EU Directive 2000 imposed a duty on member governments to enact laws that would guarantee religious freedom in their countries and that this was sufficient justification. The Royal Navy was just recognising in advance, a requirement that it knew it would have to accept in due course. Such an argument is completely false because a person cannot claim to belong to a religion, if it is not recognised by the government to be a ‘legitimate’ faith. To some people, that may seem to be unfair, in that the state should not involve itself in such matters but for now let’s just assume that the government does have a right to make such judgements. In recent years, the government has found it necessary to draw a distinction between religions that are deemed to be ‘genuine’ and those that are frivolous or non-genuine. This seems to have come about because of a campaign to describe one’s religion as ‘Jedi’, when completing a census questionnaire. It appears that there was a belief that if enough people did it, then the government would have to accept the Star Wars inspired ‘Jedi’ philosophy, as an official religion. In December 2016, the UK Charity Commission rejected an application by The Temple of the Jedi Order for registration as a charity. The reason for the rejection was because the Charity Commission was not satisfied that ‘Jediism’ is a legitimate religion, according to the definition in charity law. In its assessment the Charity Commission identified failings due to a lack of spirituality, no requirement for moral improvement and no positive or beneficial impact upon society. The below video summarises the key details of the verdict. What this shows is that the Royal Navy did have a choice. It could have denied the request to allow Satanism within Britain’s armed forces, particularly since the ideas of Satanism conflict with the Royal Navy’s six Core Values and Standards, which are Commitment, Courage, Discipline, Respect for Others, Integrity and Loyalty. The Royal Navy could have applied the same criteria used by the Charity Commission and rejected Satanism on the basis that it is non-spiritual, does not require moral improvement and cannot claim to have a positive impact upon society. According to Wikipedia, “Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on Satan”. It also says that contemporary religious practice of Satanism is linked to the establishment of the Church of Satan in 1966, which is the church that Chris Cranmer joined. Wikipedia also says that “Satan, also known as the Devil, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin” and that “sin can .. be viewed as .. any diversion from the perceived ideal order of human living”. If you are not religious and do not believe in God, then you cannot believe in the Devil either and consequently, may not view this as a problem. However, being an atheist or agnostic, does not make you immune from harmful actions that could be directed at you or your community because of a belief system that you do not subscribe to. Whether you believe in Satan or Satanism is not really the issue. The point is that the people who do believe in Satanism are a potential danger to everybody else. If you visit the website for the Church of Satan, it describes itself as “the first above-ground organization in history openly dedicated to the acceptance of Man’s true nature — that of a carnal beast, living in a cosmos that is indifferent to our existence”. Straight away, that makes you wonder how many below ground versions of Satanism are in existence and therefore, how widespread this belief system really is. The Church of Satan claims not to worship the devil. Instead, it says that Satan is a merely a symbol of their rejection of religious dogma. The problem with this argument is that the Church of Satan is using religion to reject religion. It mocks religious belief and the idea of God and the Devil, whilst simultaneously perpetuating religious belief by choosing to identify with Satan. Surely, if the Church of Satan does not believe in God or the Devil, it would not call itself a church, which is the house of God and it would not identify with God’s adversary. This is an important point because Chris Cranmer claimed that he was exercising his right to "freedom of religion". That clearly cannot be true because Satanism rejects all religions and therefore, by definition, cannot be a religion itself. The Royal Navy was either deceived by Chris Cranmer’s argument or, more worryingly, fully understood the contradiction and used it as a catalyst to undermine the moral framework of the armed services. The reason I say this is because the Church of Satan advises its members who are part of the military not to disclose their beliefs but just to describe themselves as atheists. Clearly, there is a career risk to declaring yourself a Satanist and you have to wonder if Chris Cranmer was given tacit approval, in advance of making his formal request, whereby senior officers assured him of their support, due to their unspoken allegiance to his cause. This would explain why Chris Cranmer took such an unnecessary risk and why he went against the advice of his ‘church’ not to declare his beliefs. The comments that Chris Cranmer made about the Royal Navy’s decision to allow Satanism, demonstrate, in my opinion, that he is not a person of good character and that his views are not in accordance with the Royal Navy’s values. He said that “from a military perspective, I believe in vengeance”. You therefore have to question whether he could be trusted to respect the Geneva Convention, in terms of the treatment of prisoners of war. Also, he said that “I didn’t want to feel that I could not get out my Satanic Bible and relax in bed. I didn’t want to bite my tongue any more when dealing with idiots”. Referring to your work colleagues as ‘idiots’ because they question your belief in Satanism, is not exactly a respectful attitude. Surprisingly, the Church of Satan website presents its ideas in quite a positive way. At first sight, once you get past all of the symbolism and weird pictures, it does not appear to be as extreme as you might have expected. It espouses atheism, rational thought and individualism, which is appealing to people who do not subscribe to religious doctrine, who believe in scientific progress and who see themselves as unique, as opposed to following the crowd mentality. However, for me, this is just clever PR. The initial ideas that the Church of Satan presents are not outwardly radical but I believe that they are designed to draw people into a much darker philosophy. Maybe, we should ask whether Chris Cranmer was the victim of a cult and whether his senior colleagues even considered this as a possibility. Surely, the Royal Navy had a duty to establish whether Chris Cranmer was targeted and brainwashed in some way and whether he was a security risk. Ultimately, the Church of Satan has no compassion for others and is not altruistic. Satanism should have no part in the military, where concern for the welfare of your comrades is a key part of the concept of teamwork that is essential for success in such a role. The unsuitability of Satanism is demonstrated by the quotes below, which are taken from the Church of Satan website.
What is odd about the Church of Satan is that it advocates individuality, whilst also requiring that its members strictly adhere to the teachings of its founder, Anton Szandor LaVey (1930—1997). It claims to be anti-religious, whilst describing itself as a religion. It also rejects the idea that there is anything beyond our physical existence, whilst believing in the power of black magic and curses. The Church of Satan is so full of contradictions that it should not be taken seriously, except for the fact that it is a dangerous philosophy that threatens normal societal values. Its founder is just an ordinary person with ideas for how best to live your life but his philosophy is merely a selective conglomeration of earlier ideas. The Church of Satan offers nothing new in terms of understanding the meaning of life. It just arrives at nihilistic conclusions that seek to diminish humanity by revering and promoting the law of the jungle. In the video below, Christopher Lee talks about the very real dangers of Satanism and makes reference to Anton Szandor LaVey. He also mentions Sammy Davis Jr., without seeming to realise that he was a member of the Church of Satan. In the next video, so called High Priest (Black Pope), Peter H. Gilmore, confirms that Sammy Davis Jr. was a member of the Church of Satan, along with Jane Mansfield. However, he also explains that there are members in every walk of life, including the military. Jane Mansfield’s early death in a car accident has been linked to her association with Anton Szandor LaVey and the Church of Satan, as explained by LaVey’s daughter (Karla) in the below interview with Joan Rivers. Given the above details, you have to wonder how it is that the Royal Navy recognised Satanism as a legitimate religion, thereby allowing Satanistic rituals to be performed on one of its ships. Something is very wrong here and yet no one seems to want to talk about it. This is further demonstrated by the earlier mentioned mainstream articles, where none of them questioned what was being reported. Instead, they seemed to endorse what had happened, by conveying the information to the public as if it was just an everyday news story. By not asking questions, you could argue that the mainstream media is being quietly complicit and thereby promoting Satanism, through their failure to challenge it. That is not to say that members of the public have not challenged the decision. Unfortunately, the response provided by the MOD to a Freedom of Information request, was deliberately evasive and just said that it was about respecting religious beliefs. Chris Cranmer has gone from being recognised as a Satanist by the Royal Navy, to then lobbying the MOD to accept Satanism as an official religion. After that, he was promoted to Chief Petty Officer and subsequently transferred to a position within the MOD in London. And, believe it or not, Chris Cranmer's mother claims that he was head-hunted to take up his MOD role in Whitehall. For someone with very odd beliefs, he is doing very well for himself. Maybe he has friends in high places?
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