‘ALL WALKS OF LIFE’
Ritchie says Satanists use imagery to ‘‘wind up the Christian community’’.
‘‘While they don’t bother me, I’m not interested in giving an endorsement for a group that I view as trolling another community.’’
Other Christian organisations including the Salvation Army were apprehensive to make any comment.
Campbell, who does not want to give his surname, says he stumbled across Satanist philosophy about 10 years ago, but his interest deepened later.
‘‘Some of us consider what we do a philosophical pursuit, and some of us consider it a religious pursuit – it’s different for different people.’’
There are the seven fundamental tenets, but Campbell says how they work out for each Satanist is individual.
He reckons Satanist philosophy is ‘‘rational, sensible, [and] dare I say, common sense’’.
‘‘There’s a saying, you don’t convert to Satanism, Satanists are born . . . I feel like it’s wrong to say, ‘Thou shalt not do this’, ‘thou shalt not do that’ .
‘‘Actually, I have to do what I have to do in order to be the best person that I can be.’’
Satanists value strength, success and – ‘‘to a certain extent’’ – power, he says.
Many Satanists also use the idea of Satan to talk about a particular attitude to the world, and break away from herd mentality.
While few Satanists embrace the stereotype, there’s some value in embodying some of the ideas, as they’re symbols, which can reflect power, Campbell says.
‘‘Those in the Catholic Church dress up in their robes and everything, and that gives you a certain feeling of religiosity and ritual and there’s a certain comfort for people who find those things appealing. We have a similar thing, it just looks a little different.’’
But people would find it ‘‘pretty hard’’ to keep up a Satanist lifestyle if they’re just in it for the looks.
‘‘The people who are really firm in their belief are from all walks of life. It’s not just your weird gothic kids. There’ll be politicians, teachers, respected people in your community who don’t look at all like your stereotype. Successful people, powerful people. You’d be very surprised.’’
Religious brainwashing is everywhere in our culture, even down to our laws based on Christian philosophies, Campbell says.
In the US, the current presidential administration was ‘‘throwing science out the window’’ by denying climate change in the name of creationism.
‘‘This is the 21st century. There are people out there who are perfectly happy to destroy our world and everything in it because of some weird philosophy.
‘‘It’s utterly destructive, and that needs to be critiqued and held to account for what it’s doing.’’
Neither Campbell nor Vegas’ children are Satanists, and both say their children have little interest in following in their footsteps.
They also say they wouldn’t put pressure on their kids to go down any particular religious path.
Despite that, Vegas says one night when she was playing video games with her sons, her eldest said, ‘‘I bet we’re the only Satanists that play Pokemon GO’’.
‘‘I said, ‘For a start honey, you’re wrong, lots of Satanists play Pokemon GO. Secondly, you’re not a Satanist, you can decide that when you’re older’.’’
She ensures her kids get to celebrate traditional Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter so they don’t feel left out when they return to school and realise they’re the only ones who didn’t get presents or Easter eggs.
The only difference? Their Christmas tree is black, and decorated with bats and skeletons.