I was wondering what the CoS's stance on those with mental illness is. I understand that you wouldn't allow someone to join who was a danger to themselves or others, or severely deluded and out of touch with reality. Rather, I would like to know your position on those who have a mental illness which has an effect on their lives but does not prevent them from functioning as a reasonable, intelligent and rational human being. Would such an individual be welcomed within the Church of Satan, and would they be able to apply for active membership? Thank you for your time, I await your response.

From a response I made to a user some time back who in fact suffered from mental distress:

Those who suffer from ongoing emotional problems should seek treatment or else correct their emotional problems. Strictly speaking, those with emotional disturbances are not welcome, since once they have been corrected to satisfaction, they should no longer be considered emotional problems.

I have seen this question before and worded almost precisely the same way.

My answer here is the same as before in the shape of a quesion:

Why exactly do you ask?

Hi Magister Nemo,

I have indeed asked this question before on another forum and my reason for asking is the same here as it is there, I am considering joining the Church of Satan and would like to know whether the fact I have had mental health issues would be a problem for me joining, so that I don't waste my time or that of the CoS. I do not wish to go into specifics about my illness on a public forum, suffice to say I have sought treatment which has brought most of the symptoms under control, I still have occasional problems with it from time to time but nothing major. As I said I don't wish to discuss it here but if you do need to know more about my condition I will be more than happy to send you a private message with the details. Thanks.

As you seem to have personal issues attached to the specifics, why did you not simply email the COS administration privately in the first place?

I sense a hidden agenda here.

Am I incorrect?

No hidden agenda, I did in fact email the CoS administration with this question two to three months ago and received no response, I simply thought I'd get a quicker response here. On hindsight I realise posting it here may not have been the wisest course of action but this is a question I wanted answering before I consider submitting my application for membership.