As with most articles about Satanism wherein Satanists have their say, Callum Davies’ “INTERVIEW: Peter H. Gilmore – High Priest of the Church of Satan” (Cultured Vultures, April 14, 2016) is not a researched article but merely a PR platform for Satanists to claim that which they will, do so unchallenged and includes no such thing as: the Satanist claimed X but the actual fact is Y.
Thus, for example, he begins with a very, very typical Satanism talking point, “‘Satanism’. It’s a term which is often misinterpreted, for obvious reasons, as being related to worship of the devil. Anyone who actually takes the time to look deeper into it will find that this is about as far from the truth as it’s possible to get.” But is that the case? Well, keep in mind that we are not dealing with any and all Satanic cults but specifically with Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan which, we are told, “do not believe any devil, or deity of any kind, their beliefs are purely atheistic.”
Firstly, you would have to take the word of a LaVeyan Satanist in order to believe this and you could only really do so if they have some sort of condemnation of lying, etc. Peter H. Gilmore notes, “Our organization takes advantage of advancing communications technology, since our purpose is the accurate dissemination of our philosophy…we are pragmatic in our approach to reaching personal goals.” So, you take the “dissemination of our philosophy” pepper it with being “pragmatic” and you get deception at will.
Secondly, the fact is that, for example, when Anton LaVey’s girlfriend, Jane Mansfield’s son was mauled by a lion, LaVey gathered his adherents and petitioned “our Brother Satan” for healing: this means that they approached Satan as a personal being, a real being, an existing being. Other LaVeyan Satanists may disagree but this is a fact, see see here.
Davies asked Gilmore, “Do you often (or ever) come into contact with the other kind of satanist? Ie the ones who legitimately believe in the devil?” to which Gilmore replied, “We do not consider devil worshippers to be Satanists, as such demonolators are already clearly defined by other terminology” of course, he did invent and apply his own terminology to them namely, “demonolators.”
Callum Davies also asserts, “Over the years, the attitude towards the Church has morphed repeatedly, with one of the lowest points being the ‘Satanic Panic’ which took place across the States in the 1980s, a widespread onset of paranoia, propagated by the media, suggesting that these people were doing all kinds of unsightly, gruesome rituals behind closed doors (spoiler alert: they weren’t, anywhere, at all).” Well, Davies claims to know for a fact, as he positively asserted as much, that “they weren’t, anywhere, at all.” Besides the fact that he could not possibly know that, the fact is that Anton LaVey’s Satanic Bible contains a chapter devoted to allowing the Satanist to commit murder in the name of Satan, see “On the Choice of a Human Sacrifice” – Anton LaVey’s Satanic Bible. Also, why should we even imagine that Satanists are the only people on Earth who do not act in accordance to their beliefs? Davies notes that “their belief system” is “something which you have to read The Satanic Bible to fully grasp” yet, it appears that he has not done so himself.
And with that bit of utterly fallacious propaganda out of the way, Davies begins the interview.
It is certainly easy to see how and why various Satanic cults are viewed as-okay in today’s culture and pop-occulture as they basically say “Do what thou wilt and oh, by the way, besmirch Christianity and its traditional family values while you are at it.”
Peter H. Gilmore refers to “the human animal” notes that “We have our own lusty lives to live” and references “our carnal religion!” What more do you need?
You may discern something in the background of this image that shows the real appeal of Satanism
He also imagines a “current backlash by the Abrahamic religions…backlash of Christian hatred for diversity” but then admits his own agreement with lack of diversity, “The Church of Satan is not ecumenical in any way.” It is also interesting that he condemns “Satanic panic” but he, himself, promulgates, Christianic panic.
An interesting point is that Gilmore references, “the surge of virulent, rabid theism leading to an ever-mounting roster of terrorist atrocities in recent years” and yet, as he claims to be an Atheist then it is his camp which mass murdered circa 200 MILLION people during a few decades within the 20th century AD.