Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Misinformation Never Stops

A response to this claptrap:



http://www.newswithviews.com/Betty/Freauf130.htm



To:
Betty Freauf and NewsWithViews.com

November 4, 2008

Dear Mrs. Freauf,

I am a member of the Priesthood and an official spokesperson for The Church of Satan (www.churchofsatan.com) which you mention in today's article Two Steps Forward, One Step Back.

Our Church is mentioned here:


The unconstitutional 16th Amendment which was not ratified sufficiently by the states created the present-day income tax structure opening the way for Uncle Sam to pilfer in still greater amounts. It was a busy year indeed for malevolent conspirators who hoped to eventually rule the world. One of the first things the IRS did was offer the 501c3 tax exemption to foundations and to churches of all stripes from the Biblically based to the Church of Satan. Of course, they weren’t worried about the Church of Satan because the IRS was an agent of the devil to destroy every Christian and to muzzle pastors making them into milquetoast. Early pastors never relied on the collection plate for a living. They preached the word of God on Sundays and worked another job during the week. The tax-exempt status made preaching into a career.


***************************************************************


As you choose to use us as an example, and evidently did little research before doing so, we felt you might want to know a few salient facts that were neglected in your article.


Although we are legally able to seek and utilize tax exempt status as a fully incorporated religious institution, The Church of Satan pays it's taxes. We believe all churches should be taxed and as a result we lead by example, and pay ours. This fact is part of our Five Point Pentagonal Revisionism plan, easily found on our website, in our literature, in The Encyclopedia of American Religion, and in Blanche Barton's authoritative book The Church of Satan.


It is amusing, and somewhat sad, that you use us as an example and evidently felt no inclination to do even the most cursory research, thus calling into question the rest of the article's validity. One must wonder if The Church of Satan alone is worthy of your disrespect, or whether everything you write is equally lacking in honest reporting?


Stranger still is the assumption that The Church of Satan is somehow in disagreement with the the conservative values you espouse. While the Church of Satan has a strict policy of not having an official political stance, the vast majority of our members are quite conservative by any accepted standard. We are pro-law and order, pro personal responsibility, and as religion that hails the individual, Communism is anathema to us.


Therefore you can see why it would be so frustrating for our members to see an article like yours that paints us in a political/bureacratic libureaucraticuld not be farther from reality.


Finally, simply for the benefit of education, you should know that the Church of Satan does not worship the devil, or any other sort of supernatural/divine/external entity. Much like Catholics use wine and wafers to symbolize the blood and body of Christ, Satanists use Satan as a metaphor for the self---he who will not kneel before any God. To say we worship the devil is akin to saying Catholics are cannibals.


Satanists are atheists who have accepted the human need for religion in the form of fellowship, ritual and dogma, while rejecting the need for God as being irresponsible and weak. Devil worship is a form of Christianity---a Christian heresy where the Christian essentially believes the Bible and its mythos, but is angry and opts to support the bad guy. Theistic devil worshippers are the result of Christian churches glamorizing and lying about true Satanism, and refusing to actually read and learn about our religion. If they did they'd find a religion that certainly is not for everybody (we do not proselytize nor attempt to convert) but one that refuses to break the laws of man, opposes all forms of child and animal abuse, and demands that each Satanist is completely responsible for his/her actions: No devil to blame, no God to thank.


It would be a pleasant surprise if you would correct your article by making it clear that unlike virtually every other church in America, The Church of Satan proudly pays it's taxes.


Thank you,


Ygraine


Magistra Ygraine Gidney-Mitchell (http://magistrayrainetwo.blogspot.com/


Church of Satan http://www.churchofsatan.com

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Nicely written! I hope your letter (or at least a retraction) gets printed. :)

I wonder why a person complaining about churches not paying taxes would focus on the Church of Satan? That is just strange--the most obvious would be the Catholic Church, or any other number of denominations who do not pay taxes.

Itzcoliuhqui said...

I bet she didn't expect to be picked up on that!

How convenient that she left that important part out.
It would be nice to see it fixed but somehow I don't think she'll make the effort to :P

Makes me wonder how many other churches have been inspired by the Church of Satan's refusal of the tax exempt status and have dropped/refused it also.

JP said...

Wow.
EXCELLENT RESPONSE!!!

I somehow doubt that she expected a reply, much less an eloquent intellectual bombardment!

Magistra_Y said...

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Like all those who write, I find it gratifying that others feel my work echoes their sentiments.

Be well,
Ygraine

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