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devil worship. Jt is these few who
usually receive sensationaJ coverage
in the mass media when their acts of
horror are finally uncovered. But
the majority of Satanists appear as
normal people who want nothing to
do with these few psychotic murder–
ers.
But agaio we ask, why does such
a bizarre phenomenon as devil wor–
ship cootinue to thrive
in
our 20th
century world?
"The Oevil's Appeal"
ActuaJiy, devil worship exists
today because of its appeal to a cer–
tain fringe segment of the popu–
lation. It satisfies two basic desires
for this minority.
The ñrst is
the opportunity for
thrills and excitement.
The permis–
siveness of devil worship offers its
members the chance to have a good
time. For sorne, the Jure is sex. For
others, it is drugs. Then there are
those who are just looking for the
chance to indulge in something
unique and bizarre.
The opportunity to poke fun at
established religion has a special ap–
peal also. Many have grown up in
the churches of organized Christian–
ity and are personally acquainted
with how disillusioning and unre–
lated traditional religion has be–
come. Many take great pJeasure,
therefore, in ridiculing the hypocrisy
and stitfness of conventional theol–
ogy.
The second desire is
the need for
some form of religion.
Man's need
for religion is as basic to his nature
as his desire for food and water.
People need
to
believe
in
something
- and to join with others who
believe in esseotially the same
thing.
Satanism offers its members the
opportunity to " do their own thing"
under the guise of religion. "Devil
worship is a religion," contends An–
ton La Vey. "lt's just that our name
is unconvent ionaJ." Of course, since
most devil worshippers don't believe
in an afterlife, they generalJy don't
take their cult's confused "theolog–
ical" concepts too seriously.
PLAIN TRUTH March 1974
1/lustretions by AlBín Moreeu
The Way Most Christians
View
lt
Most church people shudder at
the thought of a group of people
voluntarily serving the devil - that
is, the devil they picture in their
minds. In the minds of most reli–
giously oriented people, the devil is
symbolic of all that is evil.
This devil is a sort of haJf-human,
half-animal creature with horns,
tail, and cloven hoof. Armed with
his trusty pitchfork and command–
ing countless legions of subservient
evil spirits, this devil is supposedly
busy at work persuading millions of
hapless humans to sell their souls to
him. Among his other alJeged duties
is " lord of the underworld" - care–
taker of the souls of the wicked dead
- custodian of the nether reaches of
heU.
Satanism is the chief tool of this
devil, according to many in the reli–
gious establishment. And every time
reports of growing devil worship
crop up, the concept of
this
devil is
reinforced in their minds - a con–
cept which somehow they have as–
sociated wi th the book they claim to
be the source of their beliefs - the
Holy Bible.
Now consider the concept of the
devi l as viewed by many in the
more secular stratum ofsociety, par–
ticularly educators, scientists, and
philosophers. Satanism, as well as
traditional dogma, is viewed as a
modem-day exercise in medieval
futility. The idea of a supematural
God or devil is, to them, a story–
bookish coocept direct from the
pages of science fiction. So each
time reports of devil worship come
to the surface, the "devil is a myth"
concept becomes ever more deeply
etched in their minds.
A Clever Smokescreen
This brings us to the crux of the
whole matter. The importance of
Satanism lies not in its impact on
the relatively few involved
in
devil
worship, but on the majority in the
mainstream of society itself. That is,
Satanism directly reinforces a num-
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