Analysis Of The Church Of Satan: The Emperor's New Religion (2002)

📝 Description

The Church of Satan has caused outrage and exten-<br />sive media attention since its inception as the boldest<br />champion of Satan in the “occult explosion” peaking<br />in the 1960es, and for better or for worse has become<br />synonymous with modern Satanism. It asserts that<br />Satanism is a unique philosophy distinctly tailored<br />to man’s life on Earth which, if followed, has the po-<br />tential to increase the follower’s earthly success.<br />This paper investigates the Church of Satan, its<br />ideology, and its practices, and observes that the<br />Church of Satan includes the same dynamics as can<br />be observed in many other religions. In addition, the<br />Church of Satan appears to deliberately mislead its<br />members via conflicting policy statements and com-<br />munication.<br />The paper concludes that the Church of Satan is a<br />personality cult that seems to have less interest in<br />maintaining an ideology than in gaining members,<br />and that the Church of Satan may be no more than<br />the invention of a skilled con artist who saw an un-<br />used opportunity.