Church of Satan Commonly Asked Questions

SOD of the CoE

2005-08-03 09:32:25 UTC

hi Herbert!

it's really too bad that you and your church have prejudices against
me, even when I'm trying to help out the Church of Satan and you by
examining the detail of your Commonly Asked Questions file and have
recently examined the hypocrisies of your Great Leader. perhaps some
day you will see that we are truly allies and make me one of your
cult, but until then, I'll keep after you to fix some of these
errors you present each time you repost your file. :) later you
will thank me that I improved your grammar and propaganda.

here ya go!

Archive-name: religions/satanism/cos
Posting-Frequency: monthly and whenever I see the need
Last-modified: 2004/03/23
Version: 2.3
URL: http://www.churchofsatan.com/
Copyright: (c)2001 Church of Satan, P.O. Box 499, Radio City Station,
New York, NY 10101-0499 USA

more than a year since this came to stability.
thanks for reposting it. much snippage throughout.
"s/b" can be interpreted as "should be" or as a suggestion.
whereas "NOTE" is just some feedback for your reflection.

ToC (Question format/content change suggestion):

# 4.6. To apply the name of Satan to this church implies a connection
# to the Bible. What is the stance of the CoS on these popular
# tales and predictions? Who is Christ to the CoS?

s/b
4.6. 'Satan' as part of the name of this church implies a connection
with Xtian scripture. What is the stance of the CoS on these
popular tales and predictions? Who or what is Christ to the CoS?

Contents:

# 1. Introduction and Terminology
# 1.1. What is the purpose of this document?
# Many misunderstandings, false rumors and plain lies about the
# Church of Satan have been spread online, especially in the
# alt.satanism forum on Usenet and on several web pages, as well as
# on many hours of television shows and in numerous newspaper articles.

s/b Church of Satan have been spread online, especially in usenet's
alt.satanism forum and on several web pages. This was compounded
by numerous slanderous television shows and newspaper articles.

# 1.2. What is a FAQ?

# information, usually put together by voluntary enthusiasts in order

s/b information, often put together by enthusiastic volunteers in order

# home newsgroups and (usually) to news.answers, and archived at
# various places....

s/b home newsgroups, alt.answers, and news.answers, and archived
at faqs.org/religions/satanism/cos and other FAQ reservoirs.

# ...proposals for more idiomatic wordings are always cordially
# welcomed.

NOTE
that's primarily what I'm doing here. I did it once or twice before
with Herbert Paulis COS FAQs/REFs but don't know if they were used
or seen in posting.

# Some Satanists find themselves discussing Christianity frequently.
# In order to cut down on keystrokes many type "Xtian" and "Xtianity"
# rather than the longer versions. A few may intend it partly as a
# slur, but most do it only for convenience. The abbreviation itself
# is far from insulting; it is accepted and used by many Christians
# including (we are told) the Pope, as the first letter of Christ in
# Greek is Chi which looks like the Roman character "X".

NOTE
you might want to mention the use of "Xmas", which I remember
from my childhood. I suspect the story about the RCPope is false.

# 3. Anton Szandor LaVey
# 3.2. LaVey's death

# Although there has been some confusion with his funeral records,
# some listed Halloween as his death date, rumors that his death has
# been caused deliberately by a Xtian nurse are grossly false. He was
# being given a Satanic funeral, attended only by his closest
# relatives and was cremated afterwards, as per his wishes.

s/b some listed Halloween as his death date, rumors that his death was
caused deliberately by a Xtian nurse are completely false. He was
given a Satanic funeral, attended only by his closest relatives,
and was afterwards cremated as per his wishes.

# 3.3. The Church of Satan after LaVey

# Memberships registrations and correspondences sent to other prior
# Church of Satan addresses (san Francisco, San Diego) will be processed
# however there may be a delay.

s/b Memberships, registrations and correspondence sent to other,
prior Church of Satan addresses (e.g. San Francisco and San Diego)
will be processed, with the possibility of a delay.

# 3.4. Myths and truths
# Zeena LaVey, his younger daughter, chose to disown her father in
# 1989 and had no more contact with him nor the Church of Satan since.
# After his death, she has gone on TV shows, claiming that she has proven
# herself to be the more competent Satanic magician as her father died
# due to a curse she placed upon him. Of course, no such curse was
# mentioned prior to his death. She has contacted reporters to claim
# among other things, that her father was a wife-beater (no evidence
# has been provided to back up this assertion); and that he never had
# a relationship with Jayne Mansfield (despite the fact that several photos
# prove the contrary, see _The Secret Life of a Satanist_) or any
# involvement with the film _Rosemary's Baby_ (LaVey was known to have
# helped promote the San Francisco premiere and the publicity concerning
# prove the contrary, see _The Secret Life of a Satanist_) or any
# involvement with the film _Rosemary's Baby_ (LaVey was known to have
# helped promote the San Francisco premiere and the publicity concerning
# the Church of Satan clearly influenced Ira Levin, author of the novel).
# She has cursed herself to a miserable fate.

s/b Zeena LaVey, his younger daughter, chose to disown her father in
1989 and has since had no contact with him or the Church of Satan.
After his death she appeared on TV shows, claiming that she has
proven herself to be a more competent Satanic magician than her
father because he died due to a curse which she placed upon him.
Of course she mentioned no such curse prior to his death. She
contacted reporters and claimed, among other things: that her
father was a wife-beater (no evidence has been provided to back
up this assertion); that he never had a relationship with actress
Jayne Mansfield (despite the fact that several photos demonstrate
to the contrary -- see _The Secret Life of a Satanist_); nor any
involvement with the film _Rosemary's Baby_ (LaVey is known to
have helped promote the San Francisco premiere, and the publicity
concerning the Church of Satan clearly influenced Ira Levin,
author of the novel upon which the film was based). Zeena has
cursed herself to a miserable fate.

# Karla LaVey, his older daughter, chose not to be affiliated with the
# Church of Satan.

suggestion:
Karla LaVey, his older daughter, chose not to be affiliated with the
Church of Satan and instead opened her own "First Satanic Church"
which may be found online at http://www.satanicchurch.com/content/

# People often wondered about the "Doctor" title seen once in awhile
# in connection with LaVey's name. Formally speaking, Anton
# LaVey did not hold a Ph.D. or anything similar. But he never said
# that he did earn such a degree. It was and still is the practice that
# his friends and people who hold him up in great respect called and
# continue to call him "Doc" or "Dr. LaVey" as a kind of honorary title
# (_The Secret Life of a Satanist_, p.223). It is only natural that
# there were and will always be people who run him down because of
# this. So what? If they are not good enough to get an academic
# degree for themselves at some university and not famous enough to
# get an honorary title, chalk it up to envy and jealousy.

s/b People have often wondered about the term "Doctor" sometimes
used to refer to LaVey. Formally speaking, Anton LaVey did not
obtain a Ph.D. or anything similar, and he never claimed to have
earned such a degree. It was, and still is, a common practice of
his friends and those who hold him in high regard to call him
"Doc" or "Dr. LaVey" as a kind of honorary title (see _The Secret
Life of a Satanist_, p.223). It is sadly commonplace that LaVey's
enemies criticize the man because of this practice. The fact that
many of these critics are insufficiently diligent so as to get a
degree themselves and fail to become famous enough to earn an
honorary title from admirers makes their envy all the more obvious.

# 3.5. Isn't Anton LaVey merely ripping off Nietzsche?
# Extremely limited (and limiting) thinking, indeed. When LaVey
# refers to an idea, concept, or quote derived or taken from someone
# else, he often cites the author, either in the paragraph or in the
# indices of his books. If anything LaVey writes seems or is similar
# to past concepts, oftentimes, this material is augmented with modern
# circumstances, his own thoughts, and may be synthesized from past
# thinkers. Seeing that Satanism is a work in progress, a working blend
# of science and philosophy, we are fully justified in choosing the
# valid concepts of old, working with them in our new context and
# taking them into the future. (If we didn't, who else would?) It is
# the same process used by scientists, doctors, psychologists, and many

s/b This is extremely limited (and limiting) thinking. When LaVey
refers to an idea, concept, or quote derived or taken from someone
else, he often cites the author, either in the paragraph or in the
bibliographies of his books. LaVey's expression which seems similar
to earlier writers is usually augmented to fit within a modern
context, synthesized from numerous sources. Since Satanism is a
work in progress blending science and philosophy, we are fully
justified in our use of older, proven concepts, taking them into
the future (if we didn't, who else would?). The same methods
are used by scientists, doctors, psychologists, and many

# 4. Satanism as seen by the Church of Satan

# We take the name Satan in concept only. Any other connection is

s/b We use the name 'Satan' as a concept only. Any other connection is

# paradigm for these qualities, and is thus reviled by Satanists.

s/b exemplar of these qualities, and is thus reviled by Satanists.

# to be installed in humans from early childhood, because if it was

s/b to be instilled in humans from early childhood, because if it was

# We say that Satanists are born, so proselytizing to us, unlike other
# Religions, would have no point. It would waste our time and we'd

s/b We say that Satanists are born. Therefore, unlike other religions,
proselytizing would be pointless. It would waste our time and we'd

# 5. Membership in the Church of Satan

# For a one-time registration fee of one hundred dollars, you will

elsewhere online web-pages indicate that this should be changed to:

For a one-time registration fee of two hundred dollars, you will

# of your maturity; we've received letters from 14-year-olds who had
# a distinct, mature grasp of Satanism. But we must be realistic
# about the world around us. One reason is that we don't want to
# become a haven for the kind of sanctimonious perverts that
# Christian churches and other "Goodguy Badge" forums (such as Big
# Brother/Big Sister, Boy Scouts, etc.) often are. There are a lot of

s/b of your maturity. We've received letters from 14-year-olds who had
a distinct, mature grasp of Satanism, but we must be realistic
about the world around us. We don't want to become a haven for
the kind of sanctimonious perverts that are so often found in
Christian churches and other "Goodguy Badge" forums (like Big
Brother/Big Sister, Boy Scouts, etc.). There are a lot of

# becomes a lot more than a game of shock-the-sheep and the Satanist

s/b becomes a lot more than a game of shock-the-sheep, and the Satanist

# idea of victimization riding shotgun with it, and victim is a label
# no Satanist cares to wear - mainly because it's unproductive as
# well as being antithetical to pure Satanic philosophy.

s/b victimization riding shotgun with it. 'Victim' is a label which
no Satanist cares to wear -- mainly because it's unproductive,
as well as being antithetical to pure Satanic philosophy.

# 6. Satanic Literature

# 6.1. Books by and about Anton Szandor LaVey and the Church of Satan

# THE SATANIC BIBLE and THE SATANIC RITUALS
# -- by Anton Szandor LaVey.
# Published in paperback by AVON BOOKS; available in all major
# bookstores, in the Occult or New Age sections.

suggest that you add:
ISBN: 0380015390 and ISBN: 0380013924 respectively

# THE SATANIC WITCH and THE DEVIL'S NOTEBOOK
# -- by Anton Szandor LaVey.
# Published by Feral House, available in all major bookstores. If
# needed, bookseller can order, or copies are available from the
# publisher:
# FERAL HOUSE, 2554 Lincoln Blvd. #1059, Venice, CA 90291, USA.
# Send SASE for info.

suggest that you add:
ISBN: 0922915008 and ISBN: 0922915113 respectively

# SATAN SPEAKS
# -- by Anton Szandor LaVey
# Dr. LaVey's last (and final) book, released
# 1998 by FERAL HOUSE (address above).

suggest that you add:
ISBN: 0922915660

# THE SECRET LIFE OF A SATANIST
# -- by Blanche Barton.
# The authorized biography of Anton LaVey, published by FERAL HOUSE.
# In the "Biography" section of bookstores (paperback or hardcover),
# or send SASE to FERAL HOUSE (address above) for info.

suggest that you add:
ISBN: 0922915121

# THE CHURCH OF SATAN
# -- by Blanche Barton.
# Detailed history of the Church, with photos, instructions on
# forming Grottos or groups, lists of Satanic films, music, and
# books. Available in stores, or order from:
# HELL'S KITCHEN PRODUCTIONS,
# P. O. Box 499, Radio City Station, New York, NY 10101-0499.
# Send SASE or 2 IRC for information.

suggest that you add:
ISBN: 0962328626

# SATAN WANTS YOU
# -- by Arthur Lyons.
# Published in 1988 by MYSTERIOUS PRESS (paperback and hardcover
# editions). Buy or order in stores.

suggest that you add:
ISBN: 0445408227

# If you have access to the Internet, you could also place an on-line

s/b If you have access to the Internet, you could also place an online

# 7. Satanic Music and Videos
# 7.1. Music by Anton Szandor LaVey
# See the Sources page at www.churchofsatan.com:
# STRANGE MUSIC (10"),

suggest that you add:
Amarillo AM-586 (OP, 1994)

# SATAN TAKES A HOLIDAY (CD), and

suggest that you add:
ASIN: B000172L8G (1995)

# THE SATANIC MASS (CD)--which also includes THE HYMN OF THE SATANIC
# EMPIRE, also known as "Battle Hymn of the Apocalypse", written and
# performed by Anton LaVey).

suggest that you add:
ASIN: B000172L86 (1995)

oh, and please thank your High Priestess, Peggy Nadramia,
for her swift boot from Magister Ventrue's web board with
*no* warning or good explanation, other than that I archive
information about which I received no complaint prior. it
really goes into showing the true colours of the CoS.

ah well. perhaps it will rise into its own some day.

EAT A QUEER FETUS FOR JESUS

blessed beast!

boboroshi at-sign satanservice.org: Satanic Outreach Director
Church of Euthanasia: http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/
TOKUS WEBLINKS: http://dmoz.org/Bookmarks/B/boboroshi/
Ninth Scholar's Library (Satanism Archive): http://www.satanservice.org/

SOD of the CoE

2005-08-03 09:33:11 UTC

Permalink

hi Herbert!

it's really too bad that you have prejudices against me, even when
I'm trying to help out the Church of Satan and you by examining the
detail of your Commonly Asked Questions file. perhaps some day you
will see that we are truly allies, but until then, I'll keep after
you to fix some of these errors each time you repost your file. :)

here ya go!