Church of Satan • SATANIC CULT KILLER?

Some basic points for the curious: The Church of Satan is not a cult. We are an above-ground, legally incorporated religious organization and we only allow membership to those who are legal adults. We are atheists, not devil worshippers. We do not support the practice of human or animal sacrifice. We have no record of any contact whatsoever with this couple. Our philosophy embraces a social contract wherein law and order are both upheld. We hold that the punishment should fit in kind and degree the crime. We do not condone murder, nor do the actions of this couple in any way reflect the philosophy of adherents of the Church of Satan. Since our founding in 1966 we have served as consultants for law enforcement and we do not hesitate to notify them of situations that come to our attention indicating potential dangerous activity.

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Having been a representative of the Church of Satan through “The Satanic Panic” of the mid 80s-90s, I am well aware of the popular myth of the existence of “satanic cults” who ritually abuse people via acts of torture and murder. While leading journalists back then promoted this hysteria, when rigorous analysis—particularly by agents of law enforcement—was brought to bear, these claims proved untrue. Today, law enforcement is much more organized, particularly post 9/11, and I find it difficult to believe that a “killer cult” of any sort could be in operation before being noticed and their murderous members captured and prosecuted.

There have been isolated instances of small groups of people dabbling in devil worship who have committed murder. These cases often involved the use of illegal drugs as well as cobbled-together religious ideas that come primarily from horror films, video games or the literature produced by evangelical Christians. Their belief in Satan is a Christian one, seeing him as a real being demanding chaos, sacrifice and murder as forms of worship. The Church of Satan has never held that view as we consider both God and Satan to be fictional. Satan serves us as a symbol of pride, liberty and individualism, much as he has for creative individuals such as Milton, Byron and Carducci. Mark Twain, a sharp observer of the human animal, also used Satan in this manner in his more controversial works.

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It should come as no surprise that Satan has once again been chosen as a scapegoat, since criminals often seek to blame others for their actions and The Devil has historically been named as inspiring many acts deemed to be evil. However, we think it is crucial to understand that the philosophy of Satanism as codified by Anton LaVey is one that condemns murder and advocates that the perpetrators should be punished to the full extent of the law.

Church of Satan • SATANIC CULT KILLER?

See also: 
An excellent report/interview (link supplied by the CoS): Brent Bambury of the CBC spoke with both Magus Gilmore and author Debbie Nathan about the similarities of Miranda Barbour’s claims to the debunked “satanic cult” hysteria of the mid 1980s-90s.