10. The Satanic Bible approves of murder… in self-defense
Perhaps the most alarming tenet of the Church of Satan concerns murder. Not ritual murder, of course, but the more practical form of self-defense. ‘If a man smite you on one cheek, SMASH him on the other!; smite him hip and thigh, for self-preservation is the highest law!… eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, aye four-fold, a hundred-fold!’, bellows The Satanic Bible. Despite the schlocky, pseudo-clerical language, this particular tenet is actually in complete harmony with US law, which enshrines the individual’s right to use deadly force in self-defense against the threat of bodily harm or death.
