Since this forum does not and will not allow religious discussions per TOS, I fail to see where this back and forth on satanism can go. Her father and mother have both stated to MSM that they believe she was involved in a satanic cult. She says she was involved. The assumption that this is simply more "McMartin hysteria" is interesting IMO. What exactly would prove something like this to a population of people who are - pardon the pun - hell bent on believing it doesn't happen?
There are varying degrees of faith and devotion to any "religion". Not everyone has to belong to the CoS to follow that path. The whole basis of it is the belief that you are your own supreme being and your will is the only will you should bow to. I believe that "satan" is simply a placeholder for the evil that exists in the human heart. Evil is expressed when a human chooses to do something selfish rather than selfless. When their wishes and desires cause others harm.
"Do what thou wilt is the whole of the law" is demonstrated in many different ways, not necessarily people capering about in robes, chanting in the dark performing human sacrifice.
offering definitions of a particular religion as it pertains to a case where said religion is being used as a motivation for the crime isn't really the same thing as "discussing religion", imo. otherwise, I'm not really sure what your point is, except that you made a statement and then proceeded to do exactly what you were protesting...so I guess I'm confused. I apologize for obviously misunderstanding your point.
an architectural building used for worship services...not anything to do with christian at all. interestingly and oddly, the CoS do not worship Satan or any deity. (in fact, in my reading, I have found they find people who worship any god or deity to be insane, so there is a joke for you!) they view the self as "god". from wikipedia: "Its core beliefs and philosophies are based on individualism, secular humanism, religious skepticism, freethought, epicureanism and "eye for an eye" morality". oh, and magic. but no actual satan. so the 'Church of Satan' seems an even odder label.
Yes, there are "satanic" atheists.
LaVeyan Satanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That said, I think people are just reading way too much into Steely Dan's joke.
“When I became involved in Satanism, I knew I had something bad inside me, and I embraced it,” Miranda explained.
The larger point is whether anyone really believes that a) she killed all the people she claimed, and b) whether there's really a Hollywood-style "satanic" cult blithely snatching children. I don't believe either, although I can certainly believe that there are lowlife criminals who will tag themselves with whatever label seems, as tlcya says, scary and evil.
Above BBM:
Not to belabor the point, but several online dictionaries did have a definition which included the wording Christian, ie from Dictionary.com:
church [church]
noun
1.
a building for public Christian worship.
2.
public worship of God or a religious service in such a building: to attend church regularly.
3.
( sometimes initial capital letter ) the whole body of Christian believers; Christendom.
4.
( sometimes initial capital letter ) any division of this body professing the same creed and acknowledging the same ecclesiastical authority; a Christian denomination: the Methodist Church.
5.
that part of the whole Christian body, or of a particular denomination, belonging to the same city, country, nation, etc.
Now, regarding CoS regarding people who worship any god as insane, I'm okay with that. :floorlaugh: Point taken.
I was looking at one of the last articles linked, and noticed her with what looked like the groom at "a relatives wedding".
He is a pretty tall heavyset guy.
Do you think that the hatred of obesity stems from the fact that the family member who molested her was actually obese?
Just Musing...
And MailOnline has discovered the perpetrator was a former member of the US Army called Richard Fernandez.
The sex offender - now 43 - was married to Barbours aunt Mxxxxxx at the time of the offense, which took place in the familys home town of North Pole, Alaska.
Speaking about the crime Elizabeth said: 'It was bad. I never let (her) stay anywhere except for my sisters house, and I was devastated when I found out.'
The assault was so severe Fernandez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for first-degree sexual assault of a minor.
He was released about six years after his 1998 incarceration, but was arrested again in 2011 for distributing sickening child *advertiser censored*.
Fernandez is currently behind bars in Wildwood Correctional Center in Kenai Alaska.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-teenage-girl-killer-claimed-murdered-22.html
Sex abuse and Satanism with a man called 'Forrest' twice her age: How depravity, drugs and divorce warped the fragile mind of teen girl 'Dexter' killer who claims to have murdered 22
By Will Payne In Anchorage, Alaska
PUBLISHED: 18:10 GMT, 21 February 2014 | UPDATED: 18:12 GMT, 21 February 2014
@dailymail - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-teenage-girl-killer-claimed-murdered-22.html
Why do they let child molesters out of jail?
I am getting the feeling the cops aren't exactly enthusiastic about pursuing leads:
"MailOnline previously revealed Barbour has started providing authorities with specific locations for her kills. FBI teams are on standby in case any of them match up to current unsolved murders."
["Well, we found a body where she said it would be, but it's not on our current list of unsolved murders, so it must not be relevant."]
http://www.newsminer.com/news/local...cle_e269f742-984c-11e3-96c7-0017a43b2370.html
As of Monday(two days after the story broke), Fairbanks Police had not received requests from any other agencies for information, Welborn said.
http://www.carynews.com/2014/02/18/3632917/police-skeptical-of-womans-claim.html#
Cary(NC) police spokesman Capt. Don Hamilton, Knightdale(NC) police spokesman Brian Bowman and Dunn(NC) Police Chief Jimmy Pope all said their agencies had not been contacted by FBI or other law enforcement authorities who may be investigating Barbour’s claims of being a serial murderer. (three days after the story broke)
http://www.adn.com/2014/02/17/3331732/former-alaska-teens-claim-to-be.html
So far, the Alaska State Troopers will say only that troopers "received the information and will work with other authorities as appropriate and follow up any leads that may present themselves"
[In other words, if a lead drops into their lap, they might investigate, but don't expect them to go around digging up any leads either.]