Then once I turned 18 I started seriously questioning things and to rebel. By that time I was a eucharistic minister, but was (foolishly) turning to Satanism.
lol Wow. You know, there are actually *very* few actual "Satanists" out there, as in theistic Satanism - people who worship Big Gay Satan. So few in fact, I can't even find numbers for them.
The Christians of course would have you believe that there are MILLIONS of 'em. Roving packs of devil-worshippers tearing an unholy path across the country kidnapping babies and doing weird blood rituals in secret places and infiltrating governments... They seriously think devil-worshippers are EVERYWHERE. Infiltrating their own churches, hiding behind their refridgerators. It. Is. Fucking. HILLARIOUS to hear them talk about it.
They're basically like the Christian's Illuminati and boogiemen rolled into one lol. And they're the go-to guys for scapegoating. Every mysterious happening or unexplained misfortune, that's who you can blame.
"Oh my gawd! Did you hear there was a brush fire near the church!?"
"<GASP> Oh NO! I bet it was those devil-worshippers!"
"Oh my gawd! Did you hear that the Robinson's cat has gone missing?"
"<GASP> Oh NO! I bet devil-worshippers stole it and cut off it's arms and legs and drank the blood out of the holes! (HOLY SHIT YOU CHRISTIANS HAVE SICK IMAGINATIONS)"
"OH MY GAWD! DID YOU HEAR THAT MISS BROWN GOT KNEE CANCER!?"
"<GASP> OOOOHHH NOOO! DEVIL WORSHIPPERS PUT A CURSE ON HER WITH BLACK MAGIC!!!!"
"Oh my gawd! Did you hear" <SHOOTS SELF IN THE FACE>
There's at least a few tens of thousand of LaVey Satanists out there (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaVeyan_Satanism ) who are registered members of that church, but LaVey Satanism doesn't actually have anything to do with a devil... The only thing you're supposed to worship is yourself. It just uses Satan as a symbol of freedom and self-indulgence and, in my opinion, to be inflammatory and "piss off the squares" (which I think is a mistake - it could have been a much bigger thing if it didn't stigmatize itself by using the main villian from a completely unrelated religion as part of it's name).
It's more of a philosophy than anything else, albeit a selfish and kinda goofy one with a lot of silly terminology.
Like 90% of the time, when someone says they're a Satanist, they're referring to ol' Anton and his silliness.
But a real honest to goodness "Devil Worshiper" huh? hahaha... Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the devil character as depicted in fiction, especially in stuff like the Devil's Advocate or Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series... But if I actually believed the hooey in the bible, I have to think it would seem like a lost cause trying to slap-box a hydrogen bomb.
Then again, if I believed the hooey in the bible, I'd still think the Yahweh character was a genocidal, petty, childish, murderous, slavery-endorsing, mysognisitic, homo-hating, super-rapey monster of a deity... Just like I do as an atheist... But I'd BELIEVE IT WAS *REAL* so I guess maybe I'd try to side with Satan, too... I mean, we have something in common - we both think god is a screw up and unworthy of worship. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that? And if I believed the hooey in the bible, I'd of course know that YAHWEH knew that I thought he was a freaking monster, so I'd already be doomed to hell as it is; I guess I'd kind of be forced into devil-worship since I'd be doomed to go hang with Big Gay Satan anyway. Might as well, right?