Nemesis77 - my individuality comments were not towards you personally, nothing i said is towards anyone! Just general comments.
But to make myself crystal clear. Individuality is NOT what you practice or believe. IT has nothing to do with satanism or anything like that. Individuality is just being yourself and not doing things for any reason other than self happiness. Just being YOU. It has nothing to do with ay belief system. You cannot say your an individualist just cause you dont belive in heaven/hell, or that you believe in some form of Satanism.
<Church of Satan might be a cult, but that does NOT mean that satanism is a cult! Since Church of Satan seems to have very little to do with "real" satanism. Satanist are individualistics, and while they might prefer the company of people who think like they do, I find it difficult to beleive that they would choose to follow someone. That goes against their outlook in life.>
As i said "Satanism" isn't a cult, per say, but it has elements of it. He wrote this stuff! You guys are getting concepts from one guys mind, one guys writtings. You also have to realize you cannot decipher between Church of Satan and Satanism! LeVey created both, they are both one in the same! I know LeVey didn't necessarily create *all* the ideals of Satanism, but people who follow his writings and his theories are Satanist, which yes are just mindless sheep

j/k, to an extent.
Maybe sheep isnt a good term, but people who preach Satanism and how great LeVey and his ideas are seem to have a one track closed mind. They don't realize the serious flaws in his writings and the fact that one guy cannot come up with some great religion.
In truth, you are right, people don't become Satanist because they want to be come popular. They general becoming Satanist because they aren't popular and are seeking some kind of answer to everything terrible in their lives. This of course isn't true about everyone, but most the people i have ever encountered that are "Satanist" (not worshipers, thers a difference) are not all there and seem to be making up for something. When you try and place yourself as a "God" and answer to no one makes you feel a hell of alot better than following other people. This is all just my theory, but everything i've seen, makes it seem fact.
"But I don't think LeVay is about satanism" I really don't understand this. He is the one that created "satanism". Maybe you mean he's not really an athiest? He followed his own beliefs, which he even wrote. He coined the term satanism. So how he can't be about satanism is beyond me. I think the problem enlies that you guys call yourself satanist, but you aren't satanist? You (i mean you personally) sound like you dont agree with all his theories, but there isn't another name for what you are? So when you call yourself a "satanist" (not you, people in general) you are giving yourself a bad name. Don't call yourself something you aren't.
"There are no "satanist-leaders". The whole philosophy is composed of free-thinking individuals. Just because some books are written about it and some people might have become satanists because of those books, it does NOT make them sheeps!"
There are no "leaders", thats true, cause it's not a highly followed and preached belief. The "leader" died in 1997 from a heart attack. The church still goes on, but because of public outrage they do not promote it, it is all underground. Before 1966, how many people really had this belief system? I think he brought it to the front and thats why people started getting into it. It was the late 60's, early 70's and the start of the whole drug/sex revolution. I think people were looking for an outlet that would allow them to practice something strange/different?
Plus, isn't this post on Satanism? If you arent a Satanist, then you don't apply? I assumed we are talking about Satanism exclusively. It as a whole has serious flaws and preaches harm to others for personal enjoyment or retailation for many reasons. That in itself seems wrong.