a lot of the religions are just a quieting, mellowing, peaceful time and so for them to pray to see god answer something is just very, very special, so it s empowering. then we met an inmate named travis wolfkill. in the name of satan the ruler of the earth, the king of the world, i command the forces of darkness to bestow the eternal power upon me. i m in a satanic group here. only about four of us here. it s real small community. the church of satan is about enjoying life. it s about doing what you want to do. we believe in indulgence rather than abstinence. we believe in doing what makes us happy, and what improves the quality of our life. such an attitude may have been what led wolfkill to a life sentence without the possibility of parole for murdering his grandmother over a $300 tax refund check. but he told us he has found a salvation of sorts in his religion.
this has what s called the 11 satanic rules of the earth. and if you look at number nine, it says do not harm little children. number ten says do not kill nonhuman animals unless you are attacked or for your food. so that right there itself just destroys all the bad stereotypes that you have about this religion. there s no human sacrifice. later in our meeting, we asked wolfkill to clarify a few points about his church s doctrine. you had pointed out number nine. yeah. tell me what that is again. it says, do not harm little children. and tell me the next one. it was do not kill animals unless you re hunting. unless you need them for food. actually. you said do not kill non-human animals. no. is that what it said? non-human animals? okay. do not kill it begs a question. non-human animals, yes. that sounds about right.
from oklahoma to witness the unveiling. i can t imagine it s the easiest thing to be a satanist in oklahoma. how were you guys raised? my parents are both missionaries. as you can imagine there s a lot of bible study and going to church on sundays, but as i got older it was sort of something didn t really comply with who i was as a person. and was there something in your life that kind of propelled you to turn your back on the church? i came out, and i was basically shunned after everybody in my church found out. do you feel like you were really hurt by the church? i wouldn t say that i was hurt by the church. i would just say that it s very difficult to want to be a part of something that is so against what you believe in. you both grew up in the church. do you believe that there s a god? no. we let religion warp our minds into believing that there could be a god or a devil. i don t discount the
in sunday school. michael was raised lutheran but struggled to see the bible as more than just a story. by the time he became a teenager, he was ready to walk away. i was definitely looking into the other side of life i wasn t exposed to. i went to my parents and said that i just don t believe any of this and i would really appreciate it if i didn t have to go here on sundays. and they were furious. it s one thing to walk away from the church, and it s another to say that you are a satanist. it s a very big leap. three years ago michael started exploring a form of satanism first popularized in the 1960s. hail satan. the church of satan is an exclusive group of atheists known for their hedonistic and self-centered beliefs. attitudes and practices that michael ultimately couldn t get behind, so he continued his
consider my path very similar to that. it s a path michael first started exploring as a young boy in sunday school. michael was raised lutheran but struggled to see the bible as more than just a story. by the time he became a teenager, he was ready to walk away. i was definitely looking into the other side of life i wasn t exposed to. i went to my parents and said that i just don t believe any of this and i would really appreciate it if i didn t have to go here on sundays. and they were furious. it s one thing to walk away from the church, and it s another to say that you are a satanist. it s a very big leap. three years ago michael started exploring a form of satanism first popularized in the 1960s. hail satan. the church of satan is an exclusive group of atheists known for their hedonistic and self-centered beliefs.