The Church of Satan is a religious organization dedicated to Satanism as codified in The Satanic Bible. The Church of Satan was established at the Black House in San Francisco, California, on Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966, by Anton Szandor LaVey, who was the Church's High Priest until his death in 1997. In 2001, Peter H. Gilmore was appointed the position of High Priest, and the church's headquarters were moved to Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. The church’s headquarters is now located in Poughkeepsie, New York.
The Church does not believe in the Devil, neither a Christian nor Islamic notion of Satan. Peter H. Gilmore describes its members as "skeptical atheists", embracing the Hebrew root of the word "Satan" as "adversary". The Church views Satan as a positive archetype who represents pride, individualism, and enlightenment, and as a symbol of defiance against the Abrahamic faiths which LaVey criticized for what he saw as the suppression of humanity's natural instincts.
The Church of Satan describes its structural basis as a cabal that is "an underground cell-system of individuals who share the basis of [our] philosophy." Membership in the Church of Satan is available on two levels: registered membership and active membership. Registered members are those who choose to affiliate on a formal level by filling out the required information and sending a one-time registration fee. Active membership is available for those who wish to take a more active role in the organization and is subject to the completion of a more comprehensive application. The organization does not disclose official membership numbers. The Church provides wedding, funeral, and baptismal services to members. Such ceremonies are performed by a member of the Church's priesthood.
The Church maintains a purist approach to Satanism as expounded by LaVey, rejecting 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."
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