HOW MANY SATANISTS IN THE WORLD TODAY?

Depends on your definition.

Gothic Satanism is an imaginary evil religion that was invented during the late Middle Ages by the Christian church.

Gothic Satanism was said to ritualistically kill children, sell their souls to the devil and conduct black masses among other things.

To date, Gothic Satanism has never existed as an organization and only exists today in the mind´s eye of the public and in horror films.

True Satanism is not Christian or Anti-Christian.

Anton LaVey founded the more modern Satanism in 1966 as a religious alternative to the hypocrisy he saw within the Christian churches of the time.  

Conservative Christians tend to believe there are only two powers within their world, God and Satan.  A few religions believe that one who does not uphold the Christian views and beliefs must be worshiping Satan and living in a life of sin.  Some religious organizations take this belief a step further and believe that any religion different from their own is Satanism.  If this information were true, then Satanists would make up approximately 95% or more of the world´s population.  Using this description to define Satanism eventually makes it meaningless.  There are ultimately four essentially unrelated beliefs and activities that recognize Satan within their faith: the Religious Satanism, Gothic Satanism, Satanic dabblers, and other types of Satanism.

Religious Satanism recognizes Satan as a deity or a life principle.  Followers of this form of Satanism are usually serious adults, although a few are mature teenagers.  Three main traditions of this form exist today: the Church of Satan, the Temple of Set, and the Church of Satanic Liberation.  According to Statistic Canada, the 1991 census found only 335 Canadians who identified themselves as Satanists.  The U.S. Department Of the Army pamphlet #165-13 estimates there were as many as 20,000 members of the Church of Satan in the United States in the 1970s.  Since the Church of Satan does not publicize its membership totals, it is virtually impossible to provide an accurate accounting today.

Satanic dabblers is a fusion religion blending essentials from Religious Satanism, Gothic Satanism and ceremonial magic as well as any other source of ritual that followers can find.  This form is typically practiced by unruly teenagers or young adults and appears to burn itself out in a short period of time.  The practitioners of Satanic dabbling reach as high as hundreds of thousands at any one given time in North America.  It is virtually impossible to obtain specific information on these dabblers, as there is no centralized organization.  They do often commit minor criminal acts such as vandalizing cemeteries and graffiti and in rare instances, a few have sacrificed small animals.

The other types of Satanism are the self-professed criminals, usually serial killers, who proclaim their criminal acts were because “the devil made me do it.”  A thorough investigation of the crime and the criminal usually reveals they know little or nothing about the religion and in fact are not true Satanists. There have also been instances in which child molesters have abused children in a satanic setting pretending to use the front of Satanism to further their criminal acts.

As often as criminals use the plea of Satan worshiping as justification for their behavior and crime, law enforcement officers often find themselves on the defending side of allegations of satanic behavior.

There is no dispute that children are often abused, but the accusation of cult-like, satanic abuse leaves room for doubt.  In the United States a national study identified and reviewed more than 12,000 allegations of satanic abuse.  None of the allegations were substantiated, and neither the Federal Bureau of Investigation nor the local police departments uncovered any evidence linking the allegations to satanic religions.