One of the early founders of Satanism in this century was an Englishman named Aleister Crowley. In 1905, in Los Angeles, California, Crowley organized a Satanism group named “Ordo Templi Orientis.” Soon he became the accepted leader of a growing cult. In his Book of Law, Crowley advocated a new formula of religious belief: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole law.” It was from this philosophy that Crowley advocated the violation of every moral code and Bible principle known to man. Murder, violence, rape, and human sacrifice thus became a part of religious ritual.

On human sacrifice, Crowley wrote: “For nearly all purposes human sacrifice is the best, and a male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the most satisfactory and suitable victim.” Crowley once referred to himself as the “wickedest man in the world.” After spending time in an insane asylum, he reportedly died a heroin addict in a cheap rooming house in England.

Unfortunately, however, Crowley’s philosophy of freedom “to do what one pleases” in the name of religion did not die with him. Notice this observation by one writer: “The shade of Aleister Crowley looms large in the [Los Angeles area], but his excesses pale into insignificance compared to today’s devil worshippers.”

It was Aleister Crowley who said that he wanted, as part of the cult’s religious doctrine and practices, “blasphemy, murder, rape, revolution, anything bad.”