The Church of Satan wants you to stop calling these ‘devil worshiping’ alleged murderers Satanists

[cbayer]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2014/11/07/the-church-of-satan-wants-you-to-stop-calling-these-devil-worshipping-alleged-murderers-satanists/

By Abby Ohlheiser November 7 at 1:35 PM


Pazuzu Algarad is a suspect in the death of two men in North Carolina. (Courtesy of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office)

The North Carolina couple accused of killing two men and burying them in the back yard regularly performed “satanic rituals” in their home, according to court documents.

The couple’s house had Satanic sayings all over the walls, a friend told the Winston-Salem Journal.

One of the suspects, Pazuzu Algarad, even changed his name from John Lawson over a decade ago to incorporate the name of a demon from the novel and film “The Exorcist.”

The headline-grabbing allegations against Algarad and Amber Burch have prompted the Church of Satan to comment on the case. In short, the Satanist organization says that its members, unlike Algarad, do not worship the devil.

more at link

[niyad]

1. would any of those people actually recognize a "satanic ritual"? I keep thinking of the

satanic fear hysteria of the 80's and 90's, wherein one of the "books" on how to recognize satan worshipers (and this was a handbook for law enforcement) said that satanists could be recognized by things in their houses--like mortars and pestles (williams-sonoma, anyone??), candles, incense, figures of unicorns. . .

I LOVED this line from the linked article:

In Detroit, there’s also the Temples of Satan run by Rev. Tom Erik Raspotnik, who refers to himself as a “tea party Satanist.” He thinks the Church of Satan, the Satanic Temple and other local “Satanist” groups are too progressive and atheistic.

[cbayer]

2. I think it is also interesting that this group has developed a rather

positive relationship with law enforcement.

As the article points out, they should be distinguished from the Satanic Temple, which is more of a political group that uses what might be considered stunts to make good points about church/state separation issues.

Overall, this is a good and comprehensive article on the whole subject.

[niyad]

3. agreed.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. A 'No True Satanist' argument, then?

While I quite like what I've heard about the Satanic Temple people (eg that statue they want to put up because the 10 Commandments were allowed to stay on state property somewhere), I think they have to take the rough with the smooth. Use a 'shocking' name like Satan, and you're going to have to share it with people who actually do believe it's a real entity that they worship.

[cbayer]

5. This is about another group, the Church of Satan.

The Satanic Temple people appear to be primarily political, imo, and they don't seem disturbed by this.

OTOH, the Church of Satan people are apparently very serious, and most likely libertarians to boot. They want to be taken seriously.

But I like the "no true satanist" take, lol.