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Modern Satanism Anatomy of a Radical Subculture
Chris Mathews
ISBN: 0-313-36639-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-36639-0
246 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 2/17/2009
List Price: $49.95 (UK Sterling Price: £34.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • ". . . this volume will interest general readers and students of American religion at all levels. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers."
    —CHOICE     August 2009
Description: In 1966, Anton LaVey introduced to the world the Church of Satan, an atheistic religion devoted to the philosophy of individualism and pitilessness often associated with Satan. Modern Satanism offers a comprehensive survey and analysis of the church that LaVey built. Satanism has been an open religion for forty years now and operates successfully in its self-created countercultural niche. Given the provocative nature of its name, contemporary Satanism is only superficially understood as an alternative religion/ideology, and all-too-frequently seen as a medieval superstition and associated with rumors of obscure rituals, perverse hedonism, cult-like behavior, and tales of ritual abuse and murder. These may be misconceptions, but the truth behind the unenviable reputation is no less dramatic. Satanism generally eschews supernatural beliefs and embodies a staunchly individualistic, pitiless, anti-egalitarian creed. If there is anything fundamentally diabolical about modern Satanism, it stems more from the echoes of Nazism in its theories than from its horror-comic trappings.

Modern Satanism covers the history, ideology, personalities, and practices of the decentralized international movement that contemporary Satanism has become. The work addresses the various beliefs and practices espoused by those who follow it: the ideal of Satan as a rebellious emblem; Satanism's occult, literary, and philosophical influences; the history of the Church of Satan and other Satanic organizations; the ideology of Satanism; Satanism's frequent flirtations and strong parallels with neo-Nazism and other forms of extremism; Satanism in the media and popular culture; and the reasons for Satanism's continuing attractiveness to new converts. Though the tone of the work attempts to remain neutral when discussing historical matters, it is by necessity critical of the subculture's extremist rhetoric and recurring associations with the far right and racialist extremism.
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction: Counter the Counterculture
    1. The Morning Star
    2. Baleful Eyes
    3. The Black Pope
    4. Man, the Animal
    5. Satanic Legions
    6. The Left Hand Path
    7. In The Company of Killers
    8. The Plague of Nazism
    9. Natural Born Satanists
    10. Apocalypse Cheerleaders
    Conclusion: Worst Case Scenario
    Notes
    Bibliography
About the Author: Chris Mathews is a writer and university instructor living in Japan. He holds a masters degree in philosophy from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and has published in magazines and newspapers in New Zealand, Australia, England, and Japan. He currently publishes regularly in a number of English-language magazines in Japan and internationally, writing on philosophy, politics, religion, and culture. He teaches critical thinking and writing composition courses at Meiji Gakuin and Hosei universities in Tokyo.
LCC Class: 299-dc22
PDF Catalogs:
Academic Library Spring 2009.pdf
Praeger Public Library Spring 2009.pdf
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