Hegedűs 4
The Church of Satan
Contrary to what the paradoxical denomination “Church of Satan” suggests, the
organization is considered to be a religious one. Since its establishment at the Black House
(Figure 1.) in San Francisco, California, on April 30, 1966, the Church of Satan remains to be
one of the most controversially received cult that originated in the United States. Because the
Church promotes the individualist idea that each person is his or her own God, the philosophy
of Satanism is of primary importance; the relevance of background information is only
secondary. Accordingly, the initial section of this article focuses on the beliefs Satanists
adhere to. Then, following a brief timeline of the church's history and structure, Anton
Szandor LaVey, the major figure of the organization is introduced.
Beliefs
Named after the founder of the Church of Satan, the LaVeyan Satanism is a modern
philosophical interpretation of Satanist traditions. The organization does not record official
membership
rates,
reckoning
these
numbers
as
irrelevant. According to the church, regardless of being
members or not, there are a considerable number of
Satanists
around
the
world.
However,
LaVeyan
Satanism refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of any
other organization taking pride in being Satanists,
deeming them reverse-Christians, pseudo-Satanists, or
Figure 1. The Black House--home of LaVey
and Church of Satan headquarters 1966 - 1997
Devil worshippers instead. Therefore, in this article, LaVeyan Satanism is referred to as
Satanism, which generalized designation is used by the followers of the church as well.