The Christian Sentinel
February 1999 issue
GIVING THE DEVIL MORE THAN HIS DUE
SUPERNATURAL SENSATIONALISM AND THE NEED FOR DISCERNMENT
ã 1999 Christian Sentinel
By John W. Morehead
Is a northern California church harboring the daughter of Anton LaVey, the late founder of the Church of Satan? Or, has the church been hoodwinked? Cult Watcher John Morehead brings us the story and a call for discernment in this special report...
"There are two ways to be fooled: One is to believe what isn’t so; the other is to refuse to believe what is so."—Soren Kierkegaard
As I watched the evening news with my wife last year shortly before Thanksgiving, a story from northern California caught my attention. It involved a developing controversy between the evangelical Church of Glad Tidings, and Ancient Ways, a store in a Yuba City mall which sells religious artifacts and novelties from a variety of religious traditions, notably from ancient pagan religions. As the controversy developed, a group of people associated with the church organized a boycott of the entire mall where Ancient Ways was located, and submitted a petition to mall businesses to inform them of the reasons for the boycott.
1 Lou Binninger, community liaison for Glad Tidings, alleged that not only was Ancient Ways selling "starter kits to get into the occult," but also that the store’s material on Wicca was "a form of Satanism."2 Binninger further stated, "We have particular trouble with Satanism [because] people die in the deal. We have people in the church. ... one whose life was nearly taken in a Satanist plot."3 Glad Tidings eventually paid for a full page ad in the local newspaper discussing witchcraft and Satanism, and ended the boycott after a few weeks claiming the effort served its purpose. However, mall management stated that the boycott had very little negative impact, and may have actually boosted interest in the store and increased mall traffic.4Inaccurate Definitions
As I researched the story, the Church of Glad Tidings’ inaccurate equation of witchcraft with Satanism raised some initial concerns. Unfortunately, Christians frequently misunderstand the realm of the occult as well as the extent of its influence, often leaning more towards sensationalism rather than sober and biblical analysis. Craig Hawkins, one of the best evangelical writers on witchcraft and the occult, defines witchcraft as "a religiomagical belief system" incorporating an emphasis upon experience over creeds or doctrine, extreme tolerance and relativism in religion and morality, animism (a "Life Force" immanent within all creation), pantheism (the universe, world and humanity are divine), and polytheism (belief in a pantheon of gods and goddesses as well as the belief in multiple levels of reality), and the working of ritual magic, or divination and other occultic practices.
5 By contrast, Satanism can be defined as "the cognizant belief in and deliberate invocation and worship of Satan as a supernatural personal being, or an impersonal force or energy, or a religious symbol representing the material world and carnal nature of mankind."6 While witchcraft and Satanism undoubtedly exist and deserves the concern of the Christian church, nevertheless Christians have the responsibility of accurately understanding and critiquing these views. As Hawkins notes, Christian misrepresentation of occultic views and practices "only fuels their frustration and sense of being misunderstood and misrepresented, as well as their stereotypical image of Christians as uninformed and ignorant people."7Claims of Satanist Conspiracy
But it was Glad Tidings’ allegations of a Satanist plot that most concerned me. The church seemed to be connecting Ancient Ways activities as a prelude and link to Satanic ritual abuse, the view "that a group of individuals, assumed to be in association with a widespread conspiracy, practice physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse on unwilling victims in a ritualistic manner, especially in connection with a commitment to Satanism."
8 Despite numerous claims in national media, and in evangelical circles, regarding Satanic ritual abuse, there has never been any substantial evidence supporting the allegations. What would cause the church to make these sinister conspiratorial claims?Whose Daughter?
The answer was provided by a friend of mine who attends Glad Tidings. He informed me that a woman came forward at a Benny Hinn crusade who claimed to be the daughter of Anton LaVey, the noted late founder of the Church of Satan and author of The Satanic Bible. A member of the church was at the crusade and eventually the woman was taken into the care of not only the church, but also in the home of the pastor as well. She claimed that she had left Satanism and the church founded by her father, and now that she was a Christian, she was in fear for her life because Satanists were tracking her every move in the hopes of kidnapping her for Satanic sacrifice.
If true, this would be quite a story. Imagine the daughter of Anton LaVey coming to personal faith in Jesus Christ. Now she lived in fear for her life due to diabolical forces. Quite a testimony: if true. Other individuals have claimed to be ex-Satanists and relayed Satanic testimonies to Christian churches before, only to be proven fraudulent. Others have claimed to be LaVey’s child as well, again without factual support.
9 Would this case prove different? Initially skeptical, I felt this story was worth investigating further. In the interests of objectivity, fairness and balance, I consulted a number of sources, including those friendly and hostile to LaVey and Satanism. I spoke with representatives of LaVey’s Church of Satan, including Blanche Barton, LaVey’s widow and author of The Secret Life of a Satanist, the authorized biography of LaVey, representatives of rival Satanist groups such as the Temple of Set, as well as Christian researchers, including Edward Plowman, religion correspondent for World magazine, Bob Passantino of Answers in Action,* and Dr. John Cooper, author of The Black Mask: Satanism in America Today. Despite the differences in philosophy and perspective, all sources were agreed: Anton LaVey only had three children, daughters Karla and Zeena, and a young son named Xerxes, and to everyone’s knowledge, neither Karla nor Zeena had left Satanism in favor Christianity in Yuba City.To further check on this unlikely possibility, I gave a copy of a photograph of LaVey with his daughters to my friend who had provided me with the background of this story in order to identify the woman in question. With the photograph in hand he checked, and when we spoke a few days later he confirmed that this woman was neither Karla nor Zeena, and added "no one said it was a legitimate daughter." In response to attempts at verifying the woman’s identity, the claim had shifted. Could she perhaps be an illegitimate daughter of LaVey?
As my research continued and then concluded, I discovered no evidence that LaVey ever fathered any children other than Karla, Zeena and Xerxes. Not that there weren’t individuals who had the motive and opportunity to dispute the issue. Religious Satanism is splintered and characterized by rival Satanist personalities and groups. Zeena LaVey disavowed her father in 1991 to affiliate with a rival Satanist group. Anton LaVey was involved in a bitter palimony dispute with Diane Hegarty, his companion of 22 years and mother of Zeena.
10 Yet despite these and other "hostile" sources, no representative from such camps ever claimed the existence of an illegitimate LaVey child. It seemed that the evidence did not support the Yuba City woman’s claim to be either a legitimate or illegitimate daughter of LaVey. As LaVey’s widow, Blanch Barton stated:"I would seriously doubt any claims of this woman being his illegitimate daughter. That’s easy to say after someone’s passed away and can no longer deny it himself...I can only say caveat emptor, let the buyer beware."
11Despite attempts at being thorough, when presented with the results of the investigation, the pastor of Glad Tidings claimed the results were "inconclusive," and announced his plans to conduct his own investigation, promising to share his findings with TruthQuest. To date we have not heard from the church. To the best of our knowledge, the woman making what is at best an unsubstantiated, and at worst fraudulent claim, continues to receive the support of Glad Tidings.
Practicing Responsible Discernment
Tragically, contemporary evangelicalism has a record of undiscerningly accepting rumors, hoaxes and frauds as the genuine article. From Paul Crouch reporting that drilling in Siberia produced a hole reaching into hell,
12 the undying myth that atheist Madelyn Murray O’Hair petitioned the FCC to ban all religious programming,13 Christians look foolish when they accept stories uncritically. This is especially true with those coming forward claiming to be former occultists. As Hawkins states, "the claim of being an ex-wtich and now Christian offers a deceitful status that I’m afraid is often prematurely promoted within the church. We put them up on a pedestal and it can be incredibly destructive. It also encourages people to make up copycat stories in order to become a celebrity, and instantaneously at that." He continues, "I know why the problem comes about. It happens in large part because few Christians understand the basics about witchcraft and Satanism. We must also stop being so naive as to believe wild stories checking them out thoroughly."14In the realm of witchcraft, Satanism and the occult, so often characterized by sensationalism and hysteria, Christians have an opportunity, and the responsibility, of providing a sound analysis of the beliefs, practices and influence of neopaganism in American culture. In the interests of reason, truth and fidelity to biblical teaching, several cultwatchers remind us:
"The Bible tells us we serve the God of truth (Isaiah 65:16). Paul tells us to test everything, clinging only to what is good (2 Thessalonians 5:21-22). He commends the Bereans for testing what he taught by God’s Word, what was known to be true (Acts 17:11). Peter warns us by example not to be seduced by cunningly devised myths (2 Peter 1:16)...Should our judgment be based on fallacies, non-evidence, subjectivism, and worldly wisdom. Let us be committed to compassion for victims and biblical judgment for victimizers, but let us not become victimizers by faulty judgment and false accusations. With sound wisdom and biblically based discernment, we need have no fear of a monolithic satanic conspiracy."
15Recommended Reading:
The Black Mask: Satanism in America Today, by John C. Cooper (Fleming H. Revell, 1990)
Witchcraft: Exploring the World of Wicca, by Craig Hawkins (Baker Books, 1996)
John Morehead is co-founder and executive vice-president of TruthQuest Institute, a trans-denominational, evangelical Christian organization helping churches and individuals meet the challenge of sharing the Christian faith with religious people and skeptics. In 1999 TruthQuest merged with Watchman Fellowship. A former member of the Reorganized LDS, he has been actively researching and teaching on the cults since 1983 and has provided expert commentary for such publications as Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report. In addition to his numerous speaking engagements before both religious and secular audiences, Morehead also serves as an adjunct instructor at Capital Bible College in Sacramento, California. TruthQuest Institute’s address: P.O. Box 227, Loomis, CA 95650-0227
End Notes
1
Appeal-Democrat, November 12, 1997, C1.2
Ibid.3
Ibid.4
Appeal-Democrat, December 5, 1997, A1.5
Craig S. Hawkins, "The Modern World of Witchcraft," Christian Research Journal, Winter/Spring 1990, 10, 12-14.6
Craig S. Hawkins, "The Many Faces of Satanism," Forward, Fall 1986, 17.7
Craig S. Hawkins, "Witnessing to Witches," Christian Research Journal, Summer 1990, 7.8
Bob and Gretchen Passantino, "The Hard Facts About Satanic Ritual Abuse," Christian Research Journal, Winter 1992, 22. [Christian Sentinel Editor’s note: please use extreme caution when referring to the work of these researchers, due to multiple concerns over their credentials, research accuracy and ethics.]9 For example, see the claims of Joey "Littlewolf" LaVey, an allegedly illegitimate son of Anton LaVey who also happens to be a woman, at <http://www.fringeware.com/~hambone/mail/lavey.html>.
10
The Sacramento Bee, September 2, 1988, n.p.11
Blanche Barton in a personal conversation with the author.12
Christian Research Newsletter, Volume 2, Issue 4, Aug./Sep. 1990, 4.13
Los Angeles Times, April 14, 1990, S10. (Thanks to Rich Poll of Apologia for the sources cited in endnotes 12 and 13 via the archives for Apologia Report.)14
Interview between Craig Hawkins and Apologia Report at <http://www.apologia.org>.15
Christian Research Journal, Winter 1992, 34.
