Satanism : Satanists fight off critics as registration is mused over

The Black Venus Order, an Estonian Satanist congregation, could be officially registered in Estonia if the Interior Ministry does not find its principal tome, the "Satanic Bible,"offensive. If the ministry goes ahead, which one senior official has said is possible, it would set a unique precedent for the Baltic states and most of Scandinavia.

The "Satanic Bible,"written in 1969 by Anton Szandor LaVey, the godfather of the worldwide Church of Satan, has already been translated into Estonian by the leader of the Black Venus Order, who calls himself Jason.

"At the moment we have 15 members, who founded the congregation on April 30 this year, and 10 more will join in the near future,"Jason, a 25-year-old computer graphics specialist who lives in Tallinn, told The Baltic Times in an e-mail interview.

According to Jason, the congregation cannot be called a church in Estonia, because the law states that only a Christian institution can be a church. However, in the U.S.A. the Church of Satan is officially registered.
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No Satanists have criminal records in Estonia. Occasional cases of desecrating graves have nothing to do with satanic rituals, police maintain. Satanist sects are officially registered in Denmark and France. The Church of Satan is open with its beliefs and has so far not been associated with organized criminal activity.

However, LaVey's "nine satanic principles"state that "Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek,"and "Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification.î

"I don't know exactly how many Satanists are in Estonia, but over 500 people have written e-mails to me. About 20 or 30 percent of those have asked about becoming a member of the order,"said Jason.

The absolute number of Satanists (active or passive) in Estonia reaches 1,000 people, according to Jason. "But most of them just choose never to join us,"he said.

The Black Venus Order does not have official contact with similar congregations abroad, but one of its members is also a member of the Church of Satan. "In the future we will contact our soulmates in other countries,"promised Jason.
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