About the Church of Satan

In a recent post, I reported on rumors that Alice Cooper, a rock musician who has been promoted as a "born-again Christian," has now publicly declared himself as a member of the Church of Satan.  This may all be some sort of publicity seeking April Fools prank.

Some information on the Church of Satan: first and foremost, this is not the baby-killing devil worshippers of the public imagination as depicted in such films as Rosemary's Baby, Race With the Devil, The Devil's Rain, or Michel Soavi's The Church. Members of the Church of Satan are emphatic that they do not worship or even believe in the Christian Devil.  Peter Gilmore, the current High Priest of the Church of Satan, has said, "My real feeling is that anybody who believes in supernatural entities on some level is insane. ... Satanism begins with atheism."

The Church of Satan was founded in the late 1960's by Anton Szandor LaVey (d. 1997) who wrote The Satanic Bible in 1969.

Satan is seen as the ultimate representation of the individual self.  This is not benign "rational self interest."  This is placing one's carnal self and will above everything else.  One's self is the only god that exists.

http://www.google.com/search?q=anton+szandor+lavey&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=3gduUdv7A5TU9AT8ioGgAw&sqi=2&ved=0CIsBEIke&biw=1202&bih=812

Alice Cooper Has Become a Member of the Church of Satan?

Rock musician Alice Cooper has become a member of the Church of Satan?????  For years, he has claimed to be a “born-again Christian.”  Cooper’s actual religious heritage is Bickertonite.  The Bickertonites are a small Trinitarian Mormon sect named for Wlliam Bickerton, but actually formed by the fascinating Sidney Rigdon. (Rigdon was a ubiquitous American religious figure from the nineteenth century who was quite fractious, becoming involved in one religious argument after another and moving rapidly among religious denominations and then quickly becoming a prominent leader in each of them.  Rigdon was in rapid succession, a leader among the Baptists, the Campbellites (Disciples of Christ), the main Joseph Smith Mormon group, and several Mormon schismatic sects.  Rigdon usually ended up disassociated or excommunicated by his former affiliative groups.)

Bickertonites  http://www.thechurchofjesuschrist.org/index.cfm

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=113546

http://www.mormonwiki.com/Bickertonites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_(Bickertonite)

http://graceforgrace.com/2008/02/18/lds-church-vs-church-of-jesus-christ-bickertonites-vs-rlds-community-of-christ/

For the record, many people believe that this is an elaborate April Fools Joke being perpetrated by Alice Cooper for the publicity it will engender.