There is a photograph of Sammy Davis, JR. wearing a baphomet and apparently joined to the Church of Satan which was founded by Anton LaVey. WHY would Sammy Davis, Jr. join such a group, especially since he was supposed to be practicing Judaism. Wouldn’t Satanism be considered blasphemy in the Jewish faith?
Or did he just do it for the sex and drugs? I’ll ask the same thing about Keenan Wynn; does anybody know?
It was the 60s, man! Or maybe the 70s, the 60s didn’t end until the 70s.
I heard he did it to get laid. Probably the same for Wynn (if he was involved with satanism). There were a lot of Hollywood celebrities hanging around with a lot of wierd people. A lot of them still do, like Tom Cruise.
I remember “Poor Devil” from years ago. However, Sammy Davis Jr. APPEARED to be taking his “research” into LaVey’s Satanic Church just a little too seriously, especially for a man who was supposedly practicing Judaism. As i understand it, a Jewish man who practiced Satanism would be violating the First of God’s commandments and thus be committing blasphemy, so again I have no clue as to why Mr. Davis would have done such a thing.
Oh, they’re Satanists, all right, but “Satan” is really just the pet name they give their own egos. Their ruling principle is not so much pleasure as pride.
And just because others have committed blasphemy and other sins before this certainly WOULD NOT EXCUSE Sammy Davis, Jr. or anyone else from committing blasphemy, especially for someone who converted to Judaism.:rolleyes:
You’ve given what is probably the most likely explanation. However, call me naive but I would assume that a big star like Sammy Davis, Jr. would have absolutely NO PROBLEM getting laid ANYWHERE, especially in Hollywood or in Las Vegas.
By getting laid I mean some freaky stuff he might not be getting from the usual crowd. There were probably a lot of drugs involved also. As I said, a lot of celebrities were doing weird stuff back then, this was obviously more than simply getting laid, it was an indulgence in something not readily available for an aging entertainer who was losing relevance.
Sammy’s lawyer could argue that, while hanging out with LaVey, he was not really worshiping any deity, and was therefore not violating the First Commandment.
Has anybody actually cared about blasphemy since the dark ages? Do you have any cites that any 20th century Jews ever made an issue about blasphemy? Would any sane human being pass up a chance to wallow in orgies because it might be blasphemy in the eyes of Hottius Maximus?
Let me address this in reverse order. You are assuming that I was “thinking badly of him” when that was not the case. I am curious about people when they behave inconsistently. Judaism and Satanism are not compatible with each other. That being said, I will now address your question of blasphemy. Has anybody actually cared about blasphemy since the dark ages? I’m sure God still cares about it, so whether or not I as Hottius Maximus approve is neither here nor there when it comes to what God thinks of it (and yes I do believe in God). You may not believe in God, but Judaism teaches that there IS a God and His first commandment expressly forbids blasphemy, so joining a satanic church even if it’s only because you want to participate in orgies and do drugs still violates the blasphemy prohibition. I find it difficult to believe that during the 1960s that ANY Hollywood or Las Vegas celebrities wouldn’t be able to find drug dens and sex orgies if they wanted to WITHOUT joining a satanic church. (I’ll ignore the notion about whether or not participating in sex orgies and mind-altering drugs is a sin; anyone who is interested in that is welcome to start a new thread in the Great Debates column). You ask if Jews in the 20th century have ever made an issue about blasphemy. Maybe not publicly but that doesn’t mean that they approve of it. As you yourself pointed out, since the passing of the dark ages, most Christian denominations don’t make a public issue about blasphemy either, but that doesn’t mean that they look the other way or give tacit approval to it. Blasphemy is blasphemy regardless of whether or not a particular religious organization “makes an issue of it.” Do you honestly think that Rabbi Klepperman would get up in front of his people at the synagogue and say “Oy vey, you know those crazy Hollywood celebrities! They’re always up to something. Yeah I know YHWH forbids putting other gods before Him, but hey, if it gets them crazy orgiastic sex, what does YHWH care? Live and let live!”
All that being said, I do appreciate the information from you that sheds more light on the connection between Davis and LaVey. On an unrelated note, would you happen to have any information on Sammy Davis Jr. and Larry Hagman? A book about “I Dream Of Jeannie” tells of an incident where Davis was appearing as a guest star on the show. When the author of the book returned to the set after a brief absence, he says there was obvious tension on the set. Apparently Hagman said something to Davis that made Davis so angry that he was ready to walk off the set. Barbara Eden;) had to speak with Davis privately to get him to reconsider, and while she was successful at it, Davis expressly stated that he wanted NOTHING more to do with Hagman for the rest of the shoot. I don’t know who was more at fault. Hagman had a bit of a reputation of being a wise guy and difficult to work with, but I could just as easily see a big star like Sammy Davis, Jr. being something of a prima dona on the set of a 'lowly television series."
Any thoughts?
Yeah, that was an overly broad comment. I would say blasphemy isn’t given much attention in the modern-day West, perhaps dating back to the Enlightenment. In other places people certainly care about it.
The First Commandment forbids worshipping gods other than Yahweh, so no, I am not sure that would be blasphemous. On the other hand Satanism is extremely unreverential toward deities. That sounds more like blasphemy to me. But this sounds like it’d probably be a non-issue with regard to Davis, especially if he was just posing with LeVay for a publicity photo or watching a rite performed by other people.
