Satan and his various manifestations have been worshiped and revered for thousan ds of years.

However, many people are confused over what makes one a Satanist. S ome people think that anyone who believes in any religion other than their own i s worshipping Satan, while others believe that any religion other than Christian ity, Judaism, or Islam is Satanism. Still others believe that such religions as Santeria, Wicca, New Age, Druidism, and other neopagan religions are Satanism. H owever, true Satanists are none of the above. Contemporary Satanism began April 30, 1966 when Anton Szandor LaVey, a former ca rnival barker, founded the Church of Satan in San Francisco. LaVey wrote books t itled The Satanic Bible, The Compleat Witch (later revised as The Satanic Witch) , and The Satanic Rituals to explain his view of Satanism. According to LaVey, S atanists have an entirely different vision of Satan than Christians do: Satan do es not live in or rule Hell; he does not have horns, cloven hooves, a tail, and a pitchfork; and he is not evil. Nor do Satanists worship him as a living deity; the Church of Satan explains that Satan is used as a purely symbolic figure. . . . Satanists do not even believe in the existence of any Gods or Devils. Instead, the church maintains that Satan is a force of energy, power, and sexuality, and a symbol of vitality, pleasure, and hedonism. Satanism is essentially a religion of the self; it holds that the individual and his personal needs comes first, La Vey asserts. In fact, the holiest day for a Satanist is his or her own birthday. The core beliefs of Satanism are found in the Nine Satanic Statements, written b y LaVey in The Satanic Bible. They are: 1. Satan represents indulgence instead o f abstinence! 2. Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe drea ms! 3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit! 4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ing rates! 5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek! 6. Sata n represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic va mpires! 7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more o ften worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his divine spiritua l and intellectual development, has become the most vicious animal of all! 8. Sat an represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, o r emotional gratification! 9. Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years! However, not all Satanists necessarily believe or follow all of these statements ; since Satanism worships the self, it is a highly individualistic religion and the beliefs may vary widely from one Satanist to the next. Satanism is recognized as a religion in the United States; the U.S. Army, for ex ample, includes Satanism in its pamphlet, Religious Requirements and Practices o f Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains. Although it is difficult to determine how many people are Satanists (the Church of Satan does not release m embership information), the Army handbook estimated that there were between 10,0 00 and 20,000 Satanists in the United States when it was published in 1978. Most Satanists are adults who are serious about their beliefs. But Satanism also attracts teenagers, who are frequently dabblers that is, as an act of rebellion aga inst their parents or society, they practice Satanism, usually for a short perio d of time. These teen Satanists numbers are almost impossible to count as they do not belong to any organized satanic church (most organized satanic churches such as the Church of Satan require that members be eighteen years old to join). These dabblers sometimes engage in criminal activity such as vandalism and grave dese cration, trespassing, and consumption of alcohol and illegal drugs. Researchers who study teen Satanists contend that the thrill of law-breaking makes Satanism even more exciting to them. Many people, especially conservative Christians, view Satanism and Satanists as far more threatening, however. Their concerns are based on Gothic Satanism, whic

h first appeared during the Middle Ages. According to Church leaders of the time , Satanists were evil incarnate: They sold their souls to the devil, killed chil dren in ritual ceremonies, changed shapes between animals and humans, flew on br oomsticks, conducted Black Masses, and performed black magic to harm others. Som e people believe that Satanists continue to practice many of these evil deeds, e specially human sacrifice and ritual abuse. The first modern accounts of satanic ritual abuse and satanic human sacrifice ap peared during the late 1970s and continued into the early 1990s. Since then, the reports have tapered off. The first cases consisted of several women who came f orward independently and reported that they had recovered long-repressed memorie s of their sexual abuse and torture as children by satanic groups, some of which included members of their families. These women were from different parts of th e country, yet their stories of sexual abuse, ritual murder of babies, cannibali sm, and blood drinking were very similar. Then children in day care centers acro ss the country began telling comparable stories of how they were sexually abused , were witnesses to murders in hidden rooms, and were forced to eat feces and th e flesh of victims. In response to these claims, some therapists, law enforcement, and judicial offi cials theorized that an extremely organized secret network of Satanists was resp onsible for the violence. They estimated that Satanists were performing and gettin g away with as many as 50,000 ritual murders every year. Furthermore, they claimed , leaders of the conspiracy were noted members of the community government and law enforcement officials, teachers, lawyers, and doctors. Because of their importa nce in the community, these leaders were able to keep their satanic activities s ecret. Occasionally, child molesters, serial killers, and other criminals claim to be S atanists, asserting that the Devil made me do it or that they killed for the glory of Satan. Some infamous killers who claim to be Sa- tanists include Charles Man son, Son of Sam serial killer David Berkowitz, and Night Stalker Richard Ramirez. Ra mirez carved a pentagram a star with five points that is a symbol of Satanism into his left hand and left court one day shouting Hail Satan! Satanists claim, however, that Gothic Satanism is a myth that was spread by chur ch officials in the Middle Ages to frighten and persecute personal enemies and a nyone who was different. Modern Satanists assert, in fact, that their religion e xpressly forbids human or animal sacrifice. According to LaVey, Satanism respects and exalts life. Children and animals are the purest expressions of that life f orce, and as such are held sacred and precious. Therefore, he adds, it would be v ery unsatanic to sacrifice or abuse either children or animals. Many law enforcement officials have carefully investigated claims of satanic abu se and ritual murder and have not found any evidence that these crimes as describe d by the survivors have been committed. Kenneth V. Lanning, a supervisory special agent with the FBI s Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia, studied report s of satanic ritual abuse and ritual murder and concluded in a 1992 report that it is extremely unlikely that the claims of ritual abuse and murder are true: If and when members of a destructive cult commit murders, they are bound to make mi stakes, leave evidence, and eventually make admissions in order to brag about th eir crimes or reduce their legal liability. He adds that law enforcement official s searched for evidence for eight years and found little or no evidence to support claims of satanic ritual abuse and ritual murder. He adds: Until hard evidence is obtained and corroborated, the public should not be frigh tened into believing that babies are being bred and eaten, that 50,000 missing c hildren are being murdered in human sacrifices, or that satanists are taking ove r America s day care centers or institutions.

Satanism is a frightening religion to many people, and sometimes out of their fe ar come bizarre claims and allegations. At Issue: Satanism examines some of thes e claims and provides a broad perspective of what Satanism is and the controvers ies surrounding its beliefs and practices.