Church of Satan

The Church of Satan (CoS) is a religious organization dedicated to the religion of Satanism as defined by Anton Szandor LaVey. Founded in San Francisco in 1966, by LaVey, it is considered the "oldest satanic religion in continual existence", and more importantly the most influential, inspiring "numerous imitator and breakaway groups". According to the Church, Satanism has been "codified" as "a religion and philosophy" by LaVey and his church. Founded in an era when there was much public interest in the occult, witchcraft and Satanism, the church enjoyed a heyday for several years after its founding. Celebrities attended LaVey's satanic parties and he was invited on talk shows. His Satanic Bible sold nearly a million copies.

LaVey was the church's High Priest until his death in 1997. In 2001, Peter H. Gilmore was appointed to the position of high priest, and the church's headquarters were moved to Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. Members do not believe that Satan literally exists and do not worship him. Instead, Satan is viewed as a positive archetype embracing the Hebrew root of the word "Satan" as "adversary", who represents pride, carnality, and enlightenment, humanity's natural instincts which Abrahamic faiths have wrongly suppressed. According to High Priest Peter H. Gilmore, Satan is "a name for the reservoir of power inside each human to be tapped at will". In LaVey's book, The Satanic Bible, the Satanist's concept of a God is described as the Satanist's true "self"— a projection of their own personality, not an external deity. Satan is used as a representation of personal liberty and individualism.

The Church dismisses the idea of a "Satanic Community" and does not share membership lists with its members, arguing members are "radical individualists" who "may share very little in common beyond" being Satanists. The Church rejects the legitimacy of any other organizations who claim to be Satanists. Scholars agree that there is no reliably documented case of Satanic continuity prior to the founding of the Church of Satan. It was the first organized church in modern times to be devoted to the figure of Satan, and according to Faxneld and Petersen, the Church represented "the first public, highly visible, and long-lasting organization which propounded a coherent satanic discourse".

LaVey described his religion as "just Ayn Rand's philosophy with ceremony and ritual added"; similarly, sociologist of religion James R. Lewis described it as "a blend of Epicureanism and Ayn Rand's philosophy, flavored with a pinch of ritual magic." There is no belief in nor worship of the Devil or a Christian notion of Satan. High priest Peter Gilmore describes its members as "skeptical atheists", indicating the Hebrew root of the word "Satan" as "adversary" or "opposer." According to LaVey, it is not enough for satanists to merely be atheistic. Gilmore rejects the legitimacy of theistic Satanists, who believe Satan to be a supernatural being or force that may be contacted or supplicated to, dubbing them "devil worshipers". In an interview with David Shankbone, Gilmore stated "My real feeling is that anybody who believes in supernatural entities on some level is insane. Whether they believe in the Devil or God, they are abdicating reason." He added, "Satanism begins with atheism. We begin with the universe and say, 'It's indifferent. There's no God, there's no Devil. No one cares!'" According to Gilmore,

We do not believe in the supernatural. To the Satanist, he is his own God. Satan is a symbol of Man living as his prideful, carnal nature dictates. Some Satanists extend this symbol to encompass the evolutionary "force" of entropy that permeates all of nature and provides the drive for survival and propagation inherent in all living things. To the Satanist, Satan is not a conscious entity to be worshiped, rather it is a name for the reservoir of power inside each human to be tapped at will.

The church has stated its contention that they are the first formally organized religion to adopt the term "Satanism" and describes the term "Theistic Satanism" as "oxymoronic".

LaVey's views on magic were ambiguous. He insisted Satanism was a "materialist philosophy" but also often talked of magic. He included this rule in his "Rules of the Earth":

Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained."