Evil Religions

Does anyone know of any truly evil religions, past or present? I mean a religion where the god/gods are evil, and feared by their adherents. (Please no cliqued mentions of Christianity because the old testament God killed people with Floods and whatnot).

I'm not sure there is such a thing-evil is a perception and I can't imagine anyone looking at their religion, thinking "this is evil" and being okay with it.

Sorry to not truly answer your question, but I dont believe evil exists.

Well, I've heard of it on a small scale, like these so-called "casual cultists" who revere all things evil. But usually these consist of 3 or 4 deranged kids. There was also people who practiced demon worship in Europe, but how wide-spread that was is up for debate. (Probably no more than a handful of people). But I wonder if there was ever some sort of evil religion in maybe Africa, or the near east. (Ever read Camus's "The Renegade"? I'm thinking of something like that)

Adherents to animistic religions typically live a life of fear. This fear comes from both fear of ancestral spirits and gods that get mad easily. The gods and spirits aren't so much "evil" but they want to be appeased and if they don't get what they want, they can make your life pretty bad.

the cthulhu cult has an evil god. Cthulhu, upon his return, shall stalk the earth eating all those who worship him before everyone else. his mere presence shatters any semblance of sanity leaving the nonbelievers to suffer in a nightmarish realm for longer.

unfortunately, Cthulhu is a character from fictional stories by H.P. Lovecraft.

i think all gods are presented with some sort of redeeming quality. otherwise, why worship and love them?

I'm pretty much an animist and I don't live in fear.
I just get mad at my son for trying to kill my furniture.
I got scared the other night of a spook in the kitchen, turned out it was a mouse.
I killed it.
I don't understand why we can't mention a god that kills entire villages and tells us to fear him.
But whatever.

I think you are putting far too much of your view of things into this.

Animism is nothing more than the belief that all things have a soul. There is nothing about fear to it. To say otherwise is downright false, and, again, is putting your own personal beliefs in there.

Yes, that's what I'm wondering about. Is there a real life equivalent to the cthulu cult? Demon worshippers seem to be the closest thing, although I doubt many of them really exist.

The Aztec religion was pretty scary, considering how many people were sacrificed. Other than that, another example might be worshippers of Set, after Set was "demonized". They fled to the desert and continued to worship him. But I think those worshippers probably still considered him to be "good".

But again, the problem is defining evil. To define it is to put personal belief into it. What Christians think is evil, Muslims don't. If someone worships demons, whats to say they do not think it is the "RIGHT" thing. The "GOOD" thing.

There is no such thing as the "Aztec Religion", although I get your point, you still absolutely cannot call it evil. They did what they believed correct for their survival.

Set was demonized by other religions. So, again, they defined it as evil, not those that worsipped Set. Once again, personal belief.

No individual has the right to define what is good and evil for someone else.

Yes, I understand your point, but I am more or less wondering if there was a religion where the actual adherents thought they were worshiping a completely evil entity/entities. Sure, we can debate till we're blue in the face whether demons are evil, but what's important is, do the worshippers themselves think they are evil? I'm sure some demon worshipers know demons are evil, and want to worship them anyways.

I guess that's my point though-I dont think you will get anyone to admit that they worship evil. I could be wrong, but I believe that for someone to truly prescribe to a religious doctrine, they have to see some benefit in it.

Well, a possible benefit would be that you can gain "power" in the material world. So say someone worships an evil entity. They do it because they feel they will gain power and benefits in this world, and they don't believe in an afterlife, so there's no eternal damnation. Now this is just one thought for a motive. Though I agree with you. This is very unlikely, and that's why I wonder if there are any historical examples. Demon worshipers seem one possibility, though they are few, and mostly probably don't even believe in the existence of said demons. I wonder if there were any African tribes who had such a belief, or evil cults of maybe the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Summerians...etc.

I think such a belief system would bring trouble to the believers, hence why they might be kept secret if they do exist.

So, if this person believes that power is beneficial, and believes there are no repercussions for their actions, you can hardly say they are worshiping evil.

Again, you are putting your idea of evil ahead of everyone else's.

Religion is an abstract concept and cannot, in and of itself, cause harm to any one or any thing. Like guns and frying pans, for a religion to do harm, there must be a human applying... or rather, misapplying it.

Of course, we are so often a very simplistic species and tend to strike out at and blame the immaterial and intangible for our woes.

Someday, we may even find it a crime to carry a concealed religion...

Let's say I believe in an idea of good. For the sake of argument, say my idea of good is more or less the same as that of the rest of West Judeo-Christian society. (i.e. murder, stealing, etc. are bad). Let's say I also happen to worship some demon, and that my belief system dictates that I must torture and sacrifice children to this demon and he will get me ahead in the material world. This is an example of someone gaining personal benefits from an "evil religion". Also, it would be necessary for this religion to remain hidden (for quite obvious reasons).

Now the worshiper knows society believes the tenets of his religion are evil, and even he believes it. But he doesn't care as it gets him ahead in life. (or so he believes anyway).

Throughout history this has been a rather rare occurrence and one can see why.

I would have to say Santeria.The people that practice it claim they can either use it for good or evil. My Girlfriends family is heavy into it. They use it for good.