I've come across the Church of Satan in the past and found it a very interesting contradiction to Christianity. It's commendable that he was able to be completely himself and create a community of likeminded people that was not centered around a hypocritical religion. Anton as a person had some questionable quirks but seemed to be a showman before anything else. I found it funny that he really leaned into the stereotypes that people were casting on him and poking fun at people that were so upset about his choice of using satan as a mascot of sorts.
Anton LaVey really hyped himself up! He claimed to have done it all: work with big cats at a circus, work as a musician for the circus and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, have an affair with Marilyn Monroe, cause a Mexico City earthquake in 1985, study criminology at San Francisco City College, work as a photographer and psychic investigator for the San Francisco Police Department, own big exotic cats as pets, found a religion, lead a church, author some books, teach some classes, and more. Many of these claims are not backed up by proof and are actually refuted by others. This makes me wonder if he was delusional, a pathological liar, or if he actually did everything he claimed to do? The comparison between LaVey and Joe Exotic is something I had not noticed until watching this podcast, but now I cannot unsee the striking similarities! As for the Church of Satan itself, I had some prior knowledge on the topic and knew about the misperceptions concerning the religion.
I've come across the Church of Satan in the past and found it a very interesting contradiction to Christianity. It's commendable that he was able to be completely himself and create a community of likeminded people that was not centered around a hypocritical religion. Anton as a person had some questionable quirks but seemed to be a showman before anything else. I found it funny that he really leaned into the stereotypes that people were casting on him and poking fun at people that were so upset about his choice of using satan as a mascot of sorts.
ReplyDeleteAnton LaVey really hyped himself up! He claimed to have done it all: work with big cats at a circus, work as a musician for the circus and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, have an affair with Marilyn Monroe, cause a Mexico City earthquake in 1985, study criminology at San Francisco City College, work as a photographer and psychic investigator for the San Francisco Police Department, own big exotic cats as pets, found a religion, lead a church, author some books, teach some classes, and more. Many of these claims are not backed up by proof and are actually refuted by others. This makes me wonder if he was delusional, a pathological liar, or if he actually did everything he claimed to do? The comparison between LaVey and Joe Exotic is something I had not noticed until watching this podcast, but now I cannot unsee the striking similarities! As for the Church of Satan itself, I had some prior knowledge on the topic and knew about the misperceptions concerning the religion.
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