BOCHUM, Germany (Reuters) - A bizarre murder by two Devil worshippers has highlighted a rise in Satanism in Germany, where one expert estimates there are up to 7,000 followers, many of them also adhering to Nazi ideology.

 

Daniel and Manuela Ruda, a married couple who were being sentenced on Thursday, confessed to killing a friend with a hammer and 66 knife stabs last July, saying the Devil had ordered them to kill.

 

Both have severe psychological disorders, psychiatrists told the court in the western town of Bochum.

 

Accounts of Manuela's bloodsucking habit and the ritual in which she and her husband killed their victim -- carving a pentagram, the sign of the devil, into his chest and leaving a scalpel protruding from his stomach -- have fascinated Germany and focused attention on Satanism.

 

"If you study Internet chat pages you can see that the Rudas enjoy cult status with kids," said Ingolf Christiansen, author of a book on Satanism and commissioner for ideological issues at the Lutheran Protestant Church in Hanover.

 

Christiansen said Satanism was more widespread in Britain and the United States than in Germany, where he estimates there are between 3,000 and 7,000 followers.

 

"That's a conservative estimate. I see a rising tendency. The Internet is helping to spread it. It is driven by increasing brutalization in all areas and a corresponding loss of values."

 

Satanism -- which has no official structure and means different things to different people -- typically involves worshipping Satan, the Devil, and a travesty of Christian practices and symbols.

 

Many adherents see it as a form of social Darwinism rejecting religious norms and promoting the right of the strong to dominate the weak.

 

Its practice often involves ceremonies with sex and sacrifice to tap dark primal forces. Most Satanists reject moral codes, saying an individual must determine what is good or bad.

 

Modern forms of Satanism draw on a host of traditions, from ancient Egyptian mythology to Celtic cults and Haitian Voodoo.

 

 

Comment
From: "Dianna Allen"
meMidEvil@msn.com
10-26-2

This article is terrible and is all wrong. It demonstrates religious discrimination with false information as a way of getting readers attention. Obviously, absolutely no research was done prior to the writing of this article. First off, Satanists don't worship Satan or worship any deity. That would be called devil worshipping; big difference. They aren't evil or harm anything for pleasure. Human/animal sacrifices are never performed. With an exception to those fake criminals who call themselves Satanists. No wonder why so many people think Satanists are evil; the information about Satanism is gathered from articles that only listen to criminals. Satanists are very close to nature and don't see themselves higher than other species of animals. Some practice witchcraft, the harm in that? Nothing compared to the harm they will receive from foolish people who don't even know what witchcraft really is. Why didn't you know all of this true information? Because if any real Satanist were to be open about their beliefs than the hatred thrown to them by God-fearing Christians would destroy them. Who's to blame? The media's false image of evil and the attention they receive while portraying it in their articles. Over 75% of prisoners are Christian but nobody seems to notice them. Constantly reading similar articles to this one saddens me. Its so unfair.  Hopefully next time the writers will fully do their homework and provide its readers with accurate facts instead of interesting, fake articles.