Satanism

All occult traditions and occult crimes tend to be labeled “Satanic”.  Satanism is just one of many occult or pagan traditions.  The actual number of active Satanists is difficult to determine due to the fact that the tradition has no ruling body.  Those who claim to be “Satanists” are generally loosely organized groups of individuals that lack and real dedication to or understanding of religious Satanism.  When individuals claim that they have committed crime in the name of Satan, or under the guise of satanic tradition, these people are using the cloak of Satanism to justify their criminal actions and should not be mistaken as a true believer of the faith.

Unlike other religions, Satanism is difficult to study and explain because of the lack of central dogma or theology.  However, there are some common ideologies used by Satanists:

·         Satan as a symbol the deity of Satan is viewed as a symbol of the ego and indulgence.  This belief is popular with many of the church of Satan groups

·         Satan as a sibling Satan and Jesus Christ of the Judeo-Christian faith are viewed as brothers

·         Lucifer Satan is followed in his beginning phase of evolution.  He was viewed as an enlightened angel.  Followers are seen as moving forward toward being spiritually enlightened and become gods themselves

·         Many Satan’s some groups use a pantheon of deities that show satanic characteristics usually this is a god that is considered evil or the rebel of a religion

·         God of this world many follow the belief that while a benevolent God may rule over the heavens.  Satan rules over this physical world.  The path to riches is obtained by serving the god of this world

·         Satan as a literal evil being some followers of this concept believe that Satan is evil incarnate and can grant power to those that choose to turn their backs on Judeo-Christianity

·         Satanic Neo-Paganism this category of believers takes the basic tenants of Goddess oriented religions and gives them dark aspects.  May be called satanic witchery.

·         Public Satanists followers of this category are very public about their belief in the dark side(Kail (2003) p 72)

Satanism is generally broken down into four subgroups.  Each group has distinct characteristics.  Most youths and young adults will be found within the Self-styled or youth subculture groups.  These groups lack any real understanding of religious Satanism, any rituals that the groups will be taking part in will be self-created, if someone that affiliated with one of the subgroups of Satanism committed crime, affiliation to a “Satanic” group or religious belief will be used as a justification for criminal action.

Religious Satanists:

·         True believers

·         Variety of organized groups and churches

·         Sacred texts specific beliefs ideologies holy rituals and doctrines

·         Recognized as religions by the US government

·         Highly visible websites, chat rooms

·         Claim to be nonviolent however allegations from victims that some of the churches are not what they appear to be (Perlmutter (2004) p. 113)

Religious Satanists are followers of a satanic religion, they won’t be engaging in criminal activity.  All rituals that this group of followers will be involved in will have some sort of religious overtones.  Religious Satanists will be members of the Church of Satan or other organized satanic religious group.  Juveniles acting out, criminals or those questioning traditional beliefs will not be a part of this group.  There is no evidence to indicate that religious Satanists engage in any sort of criminal activity.

Traditional Satanists:

·         True believers called intergenerational because they are born into the religion

·         Thought to be  highly organized international secret network, some smaller groups operate

·         Exceptionally devoted to their beliefs equivalent to the extremists version of other religions

·         Crimes include arson, ritual abuse, sexual abuse, kidnapping, child pornography, ritual murder involving mutilation and cannibalism

·         Underground organizations will not be found on the internet (Perlmutter (2004) p. 115)

Traditional Satanist are believe to be involved in what has been called “Satanic Crime” such as murdering unspecting victims in “Satanic” rituals, kidnapping children again to be used in bizarre rituals.  There is no evidence that traditional Satanists or intergenerational Satanists exist.  If there are traditional Satanists, they are a small well protected secret.  Law Enforcement, as well as social science professionals have found no evidence to indicate that traditional satanic groups exist or if they do exist commits crime at levels higher than anyone else.

During the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s traditional Satanists were thought to be involved in a wide variety of crime.  If these crimes were actually occurring it would be the largest criminal conspiracy in history.  It is extremely unlikely that such groups exist.

Self-Styled Satanists

·         Dabblers or true criminals

·         Individuals or members of small loosely organized groups

·         Belief systems are either self-invented or a mixture of traditions and media depictions

·         Criminal activities include child molestation, animal mutilation, homicide, and other crimes conform to their invented beliefs from serial murder or sexual sadism (Perlmutter (2004) p. 116)

A self-styled Satanist is an individual that creates his or her own form of Satanism through knowledge gained from books, the internet, movies, music etc.  While some self-styled Satanists may be part of an organization, this organization will be small and loosely organized.  More often than not, if this type of Satanist commits crime, it is because the follower is using a belief in Satanism as a justification for criminal action.  Not the other way around.  A criminal seeks out a justification for his or her action, Satanism doesn’t make the criminal.

Youth Subculture Satanists:

·         True dabblers, juveniles and young adults

·         Interest in Satanism is transitory and may not evolve into criminal activity

·         Interest in Satanism is influenced by music, film, internet and other media

·         Often have a deep sense of alienation from mainstream culture and spiritual traditions

·         Crimes include vandalism arson, grave desecration, animal mutilations, school violence and sometimes murder

·         Ritual crimes escalate the longer they are involved (Perlmutter (2004) p. 117)

This type of Satanist is very similar to the self-styled Satanist.  The one major difference between them is age.  A youth subculture Satanist will be a younger person.  Everything that has been said about the Self-styled Satanist can also be said for the Youth Subculture Satanists.  Again, this type of Satanists may become involved in criminal activity but that activity is being perpetrated by small lone groups or individuals and does not indicate a larger criminal conspiracy.

Conclusion:

Satanism is almost always blamed for occult type crimes.  Every crime that seems to have any sort of ritual elements ends up being called Satanism weather it is actually related to the occult or not.  Satanism much like other occult religions.  It isn’t any more dangerous or “evil” than other types of religions.  Making statements about the nature of the religion is extremely difficult because there isn’t any ruling body.  Most individuals that consider themselves Satanists have created their belief system and based it around what they have learn from movies, books or the internet.   

References:

Perlmutter, D.  (2004). Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crimes.  Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press LLC.

Kail, T. M.  (2003).  A Cop’s Guide to Occult Investigations: Understanding Satanism, Santeria, Wicca and Other Alternative Religions.  Boulder, CO: Paladin Press