UPDATED::The Church of Satan wants you to stop calling these ‘devil worshiping’ alleged murderers Satanists - The Washington Post

UPDATE: Satanist Awaiting Murder Trial Found Dead in Apparent Suicide

A self-described Satanist facing murder charges was found dead in his North Carolina prison cell in an apparent suicide, authorities said.

Pazuzu Algarad, 36, was found unresponsive about 3 a.m. Wednesday by correctional officers in Central Prison in Raleigh with a wound to one of his arms, according to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.

Doctors and medical staff tried to revive him for more than an hour, but he was pronounced dead at 4:20 a.m., officials said.

Algarad was transferred to the facility in May at the joint safekeeping request of his attorney and the District Attorney’s office for reasons that have been sealed from public view, District Attorney Jim O’Neill said at a press conference.

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As many of you may have noticed I have an interest (some say unhealthy interest) in the more obscure religious systems of the world. Because of my personal experience with the Satanic Panic of the 80s-early 90s many of the stories I follow have a tendency to fall under the guise of "all things demonic." More important, who may be pushing said agenda and for what personal gain (a la Bob Larson and the Catholic Church).

One of the issues I have come across is the "labeling" of crimes as satanic or "demonic" in nature; worse, the use of religious belief in the demonic (possession and/or exorcism) as the justification for a crime. It is no surprise that Magus Peter Gilmore of the Church of Satan had to release a statement in regards to the recent Algarad-Burch killings.

The headline-grabbing allegations against Algarad and Amber Burch have prompted the Church of Satan to comment on the case. In short, the Satanist organization says that its members, unlike Algarad, do not worship the devil.

In a statement, the organization’s leader, Magus Peter Gilmore, said the Church of Satan “stands firm in opposition to criminal acts, whether or not they are perpetrated in the name of any deity.” People like Algarad, Gilmore said, are really “devil worshipers.” Calling them otherwise gives Satanists a bad name.

Gilmore also said that the Church of Satan’s “hate mail remains steady,” whether cases like Algarad’s are in the news or not. But the group doesn’t limit distancing statements like these to instances of criminal activity. There are several different groups out there using the term “Satanist” to refer to their beliefs, and they’re often at odds with each other. This has been going on for awhile.

There are people whom Gilmore would call “devil worshipers,” for whom a belief in the existence of actual demons and worship of Satan is a part of their practice. A tiny subset of that group include people like Algarad, alleged or convicted criminals who act in the name of a stated belief in Satan or demon worship.

The Church of Satan, Gilmore said, is a “rational, atheist philosophy” based on Anton LaVey’s “Satanic Bible” from 1969. The Church of Satan is generally quite protective of that claimed lineage and has a specific, somewhat rigorous membership application process. The group believes that it is the only “authentic” Satanist group in existence.

The organization’s leadership, according to Gilmore, believes that “the purpose of the Church of Satan is solely to communicate its philosophy to a worldwide audience with utmost clarity and precision.” Gilmore regularly uses the Church of Satan Web site to comment at length on instances of devil worship in the news, other “Satanist” groups and the qualities that the Church of Satan believes make a good Satanist — namely “pride, liberty and individualism.” Satanism, as defined by the Church of Satan, believes in Satan only as a symbolic, rather than as a supernatural, representation of these values.

“Satanism is an atheist philosophy which does not condone sacrifices nor does it support murder,” the statement said. Referring to a photograph of Alagrad, Gilmore called the murder suspect a “theist,” and not a “Satanist.”

“Regardless of what fictional entity is being worshiped, many now grasp that extremist theism worldwide promotes acts of savage injustice,” he said.

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Corrective statements like these are routine for the Church of Satan, which has an improving relationship with law enforcement. “I have been a consultant for law enforcement on local, state and federal levels for years,” Gilmore wrote in an e-mail to The Washington Post. However, he added, “many police departments have not trained their officers to evaluate such instances, and unless they contact experts, they could misinterpret the data.”

Ohlheiser also touches on some of the differences between CoS and The Satanic Temple led by Lucien Greaves. Mentioning as well as Dakhma of Angra Mainyu and the Temples of Satan run by Rev. Tom Erik Raspotnik.

The Church of Satan wants you to stop calling these ‘devil worshiping’ alleged murderers Satanists - The Washington Post

Mirror, Mirror | churchofsatan.com

I have been pondering exactly how I wanted to present/introduce this posting. I've decided to let the words speak for themselves. I believe those of you who follow my rantings will understand the importance and why I feel this is meaningful,

I do feel y'all should read the entire posting, it is not long but Gilmore does clarify (at least for me) the CoS stance on recent issues.
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LaVey also embraced the secularism of America as an essential component of his philosophy, thus he supported the practice of separation of church and state which has played an important role in this nation. So, when certain religions attempt to impinge on public spaces with symbols of their faiths, Satanists find that abhorrent, not a call to jump into a kiddy pool filled with the muddy water of conflicting beliefs, splashing about in the same childishly desperate bid for attention. We prefer to be the adults who look on, wondering what sort of parents left these brats to their squabbles.

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Since we Satanists want to separate ourselves from the numerous negative aspects of the cavalcade of human religions, we do not model our behaviors after them. We don’t have bingo games and bake sales. We don’t build cathedrals or strip mall chapels,,,But rather than engaging ourselves in traditional means for commemorating our beliefs, the “monuments” to Satanism are instead the vital lives of individual Satanists themselves, as is proper for a perspective that places each Satanist at the center of his own subjective universe. Satanism is a tool for enriching that life, but it is the life itself that is the hallmark of Satanism’s value.

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Bringing us round again to that issue of public monuments. Being part of a cacophony of special interest groups clamoring for the limited attention spans of a non-specified audience is something we would consider to be a fruitless effort. Instead, in publicly funded forums we support secular mementoes of the legacy of those who struggled to build this nation, not a plethora of conflicting belief systems. Individual Satanists also support the worthy efforts of groups such as the ACLU to combat religious encroachment on public grounds. I suspect other secularists are doing the same.

Mirror, Mirror | churchofsatan.com

Unified Thought: “Not The Devil Worshipers You Were Looking For”, Interview with Church of Satan | OldPiano.Org

When we think about it – I mean, really think about it – there are many cultural prohibitions that are upheld today without sound logic as to why. We declare “It’s just wrong” foreclosing on reason sans rationale. Were one to openly admit that they were, for example, polygamous, a courtesan, or even polyamorous, it would more often than not cause awkwardness and a nebulous but overwhelming feeling that such a thing is “iniquitous”.

And so it is with the very symbolism of “Satan”, a name synonymous with all things anathema, its malevolent archetype told, resold, recycled and conjured again and again via the ancient credulity of sundry folklore,,,

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With there being so much misinformation out there concerning this organization, both my contrarian and inquisitive nature was piqued at the very thought of speaking to an individual within its ranks. This led to Magnus Peter Gilmore, High Priest of the Church of Satan, assigning Darren Deicide (CoS Warlock) to address my queries. So, I think a good place to start would be with a three-fold question: Why was your association named Church of Satan, who started this movement, and why?

Unified Thought: “Not The Devil Worshipers You Were Looking For”, Interview with Church of Satan | OldPiano.Org

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.

Accused Craigslist killer says she’s murdered more than 20 people since she joined satanic cult six years ago | National Post

Someone obviously has no clue what Satanism is or what they actually believe.  A bunch of dabblers, IMHO, trying to be cool as the taking of life violates a general principle of the Satanic system of belief.  Blood drawn from a victim is useless, victims are killed symbolically, not actually.

And sorry to say "the Satan" of Satanism has no similarity with the Christian concept of Satan. The Satanists' concept is pre-Christian, and derived from the Pagan image of power, virility, sexuality and sensuality. To almost all religious Satanists, Satan is a force of nature, not a living quasi-deity.   There is no Hell, demons, pitchforks, sadistic torture, buying people's souls, demonic possession, yada yada.

Now that is my basic understanding of Satanism, overly simplified.  What most people do not understand, just as there are different groups within Christianity, there are also different groups within Satanism (theistic as well as atheistic); as well as "sub-groups". [Two, that most will be familiar with, are the Satanic Temple - in the news lately for attempting to place a statue of Baphamet in OK near a Ten Commandments monument - and the Church of Satan (CoS).] To clarify my understanding, I contacted author and Reverend of the CoS,  Corvis Nocturnum who explained, "that we [CoS] see the Devil solely as an archetype, a symbol and not a force (outside of the inner Nietzsche type of Will to Power). 

So for this jackwad to say, "as part of her involvement in a satanic cult,' she has no clue as to what she is talking about.  Exactly which group is she affiliated with?  None that I know of would condone such actions.  Just two sickos that need to be removed from the human population.
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A Pennsylvania woman charged along with her newlywed husband in the murder of a man they met through Craigslist admitted to the slaying in a jailhouse interview with a newspaper and said she has killed more than 20 others across the country, claims police said they are investigating.

In an interview with The Daily Item in Sunbury, 19-year-old Miranda Barbour said she wants to plead guilty to killing Troy LaFerrara in November. She also said in the interview that she has killed at least 22 other people from Alaska to North Carolina in the last six years as part of her involvement in a satanic cult.

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Police allege in court papers that Elytte Barbour told investigators they committed the crime because they wanted to kill someone together. The couple, who were married in North Carolina and moved to Pennsylvania about three weeks before the crime, told police Miranda Barbour stabbed LaFerrara in the front seat of her car while her husband held a cord around his neck.

Miranda Barbour said in the interview that she doesn’t want to get out of jail and that she would kill again if she were released. She said she had no remorse and only killed “bad people.”

VIDEO: California Evangelical Christian group claims Beyoncé and Jay-Z are secret Satanists | DeadState

I have to agree with the following comment, "JayZ and Beyonce’s greatest talent is MARKETING! They have turned themselves into brands through very good and very clever marketing." Both are aware that they are playing into one of the biggest fears within mainstream Christendom, and that "fear" sells,,,

A peculiar video has been making the rounds on the internet, especially in Evangelical Christian circles, which purports to expose the hidden Satanic symbolism in R&B star Beyoncé’s performances.

The video, produced by a Simi Valley California church called Good Fight Ministries, is entitled “Beyonce, The Superbowl, Sasha and Satan” and claims that Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z are disseminating Satanic and occult propaganda using hidden imagery in their performances and advertising.

The video uses a string of loose comparisons to connect the hip-hop couple to Alistair Crowley, Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan — simply because Jay-Z once gave an interview where he was wearing a shirt with the phrase “Do What Thou Wilt” emblazoned across it, which was a saying popularized by Crowley.

VIDEO: California Evangelical Christian group claims Beyoncé and Jay-Z are secret Satanists | DeadState