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Logan Willett
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
9/27/15
The Misconceptions of Modern Day Satanism
Introduction/Overview
My topic is Satanism. Ever since Anton Lavey started the Church of Satan, the
organization has been under constant fire. Most people think that Satanists are devil
worshipers, but thats not true. In reality Satanism is a non-Abrahamic religion. This means that
they do not believe in any gods or deities that exist in the bible. Satanism is instead a religion
based mainly finding yourself and living by a different ethical or moral code than society. So
from here we must ask; why do people convert to Satanism? What effect does Satanism have on
society? Do they really do anything evil, or preform rituals? These questions must be
investigated in order to decide if Satanism is as bad as its reputation.

Initial Inquiry Question(s)

Is Satanism and its followers as evil as people think?

My Interest in this Topic

When I was young I had aunts and uncles who were very religious. And when god is
talked about the devil will come up. Satanists were grouped in with the literary figure Lucifer.
So growing up I always thought that they actually worshiped Satan. Eventually I got interested in

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religion, so I read the holy books of different religions. I read the Torah, the New Testament, the
Quran, and the Satanic Bible. I am not a Satanist, but the Satanic Bible was not at all like I
thought. From there I ended up meeting several Satanists who were just normal people, not the
black cape-wearing vampire as I envisioned. Ever since then it has just fascinated me that a
group of people are looked on so badly for something they arent.

Next Steps
I will keep researching this topic by online research, use the library, and any database
that the school provides access for. I will contact the Church of Satan directly through email, and
see if I could interview a card-carrying member. And to establish a clear view of what people
think about Satanism, I will create a survey to poll UNCC students.

Dear Logan,
I think that you definitely have a good start with your proposal and a very interesting
topic. There is always a stigma surrounding religions that are not as widely known, and that can
definitely be seen with Satanism. I think that you should try to do some more preliminary
research to determine if this particular topic is being addressed in articles and journals. Your next
steps section touches on this, but you just need to make sure that there is enough talk of this
subject circulating around for you to research it for the semester. I think that is a very good idea
to try and directly communicate with the Church and its members as a way to get facts from the
source. Have you considered doing a documentary for your project? It is a large task to take on
because you have to write a script and edit the footage, but I think it could be really cool if you

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included a video interview with a church member or a service (if they have services like other
religions do this is why we need your project!). Good luck with your research, and I cant wait
to learn more about Satanism!
~Devin Sweeney