THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE

a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | RELIGION | SATANISM

First Church of Satan STATUS

To: alt.christnet.satanism,alt.satanism,alt.satannet
From: harwer2@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: First Church of Satan STATUS
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 18:48:56 GMT

In article <77mb0l$9mm$1@winter.news.rcn.net>,
  "the Daemon Egan"  wrote:

> But as far as federal recognition goes, let's take
> them one by one;
>
> 1. The Temple of Set is a tax exempt, non-profit
> smoothly run organization. This means the Council
> of Nine, acting as the current board of directors
> can hire a secretary, vote themselves a small
> salary, organize fundraisers, distribute printed
> material, etc...
> I would say they have alot to offer in lieu of the
> required yearly fee.

I'd agree with that, with the caveat that I really
know very little about the internal mechanisms of
the Temple of Set.  Some people find them silly;
others seem to get a great deal out of the Temple
of Set membership.  YMMV.

> 2. The Church of Satan in California is a profit-
> making business scheme... I wouldn't dignify it by
> calling it a "venture." Your 100 dollar membership
> fee lines their pockets - if you want their publication,
> you must pay extra. Now that Howard is dead, let's
> see how long this lasts...

Actually, I'd compare the Church of Satan to groups like
the Elgar Appreciation Society or the Mahler Society of
New York.  (For the Great Unwashed: Elgar and Mahler are
renowed composers).  We do a number of things which may be
of use to you if you're interested in the philosophy of Anton
LaVey.  We can put you in contact with others who share
your interests; we see that LaVey's writings stay in print;
we apply his philosophies in our day-to-day lives and
offer suggestions as to how others can do the same.  If
this is something which interests you, it may be worth
your while to join the Church of Satan.  If it's not, you
should go do something else.

Many (perhaps most) of the regular posters on alt.magick
and alt.pagan consider Anton LaVey a carny and a conman;
they think his *Satanic Bible* is the lowest form of mass
entertainment, and unworthy to be considered among such
august tomes as Crowley's *Liber AL.*  For them, LaVey is
unimportant... and hence, they avoid this newsgroup and,
for the most part, discussions about LaVey.

Some of the regular posters on here claim that Anton LaVey
was a carny and a conman; they call *The Satanic Bible*
the lowest form of mass entertainment, and unworthy to be
considered among such august tomes as... well, hey, has
Paul Valentine ever actually WRITTEN anything connected to
Satanism? For them, LaVey is "unimportant.  Hence, they
spend inordinate amounts of time trying to prove what a
horrible, bad person LaVey is and how irrelevant his Church
of Satan is (while, of course, trying to palm themselves
off as the "real" Church of Satan...).

What's wrong with this picture?

> 3. The First Church of Satan is an individually-owned
> not-for-profit organization. We don't pay taxes because
> we don't accumulate any revenues. Every penny that comes
> in goes RIGHT BACK into the Church. This pays for the
> web hosting service, upcoming online credit card service,
> advertising and public service announcements (selling
> Satanism as an alternative religion). We thrive on
> volunteerism. I've avoided a "board of directors"
> because we intend to KEEP it this way.

So long as you're just a mailing list and a website, that's
probably all you're going to need.

> At the end of each fiscal year, we will be sending out a
> detailed bank statement to all of our members. Please
> understand, these actions serve one purpose: to put
> Satanism in the public domain where it belongs
> aside every other mainstream religion.

No comment.

Well, one comment: what does all this "official recognition"
shite have to do with anything? All this "we're recognized
as a tax-exempt corporation!" "Oh yeah? Well, we're an
internationally recognized 501(c)(3) corporation!" stuff is,
to me, on a par with arguments about dick size.

Peace
Kevin Filan

-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/       Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own    

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races