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

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.