Obviously there is a legitimate reason why I ask this, and it has relevance to some of what I have read lately. I will ask my question at the end of this background explanation.

I have seen, in the past few years, people posting on here that they are proudly sending in their membership papers...people that I personally sense don't have a strong brain cell in their heads. Although I believe in the fact that Satanists are truly the highest level of eclectic and diversly educated people on the planet, this has nothing to do with that. Maybe I am being too harsh, but if some of these "future CoS members" were a light source, they wouldn't even be a kid's night light.

My question is this: How many potential CoS members (percentage-wise, of course) actually get turned down? I want to know that my membership in the CoS is really worth it...that it still is very selective about who becomes a member...and cards are not being passed out like candy at Halloween.

Yes, I have read the CoS website on this subject. I just feel that I need some updated clarification on this issue. Hell, maybe my question comes from the fact that I'm getting older...and I feel that the newer generations are getting both smarter AND dumber at the same time.

Don't misunderstand me: I would be extrordinarily PROUD to call myself a CoS Member. I feel like I could bring some wonderful skills and insight to the table. But if "Membership REALLY has its privileges", like has been said in the past, then I want to make sure that is the case. I don't need a card to tell me I am a Satanist. And I don't need to send money to belong to an organization that lets "satanists" in. AS a true Satanist, I am careful with my money...and I am not an idiot. Otherwise, I'd rather spent the fee money for my kids, send it to my father, or to get another firearm.

So there you have it...an honest question from a productive Satanist who want to know if membership in the Alien Elite is STILL that way today.

Thank you for your time. I humbly await my answer.

"How many potential CoS members (percentage-wise, of course) actually get turned down? "

Administrative issues are not discussed in public.

Membership is still what it was, and will be.

Thank you.

In addition to Magister Phineas' remarks I might add that your question is hardly "a different angle"

People frequently turn up asking the very same thing.

It isn't a question, actually, of how many membership applications get rejected.
The question is, how many people successfully stratify themselves once they become members?

The CoS operates as a meritocracy. As one would expect.
So perhaps a more important question you should chew on for a while is...

can you cut the mustard?

Yes, there are wankers in the CoS.

Don't be one of them.

I found that it is.

But I couldn't determine that until after I joined.

And it wouldn't matter who else did or didn't join if it were not really worth it to me.

Of course you could always choose to never join to find out, and be like Groucho Marx who explained he would never join a club that would accept him as a member!

I love that comment. Nemo!

I guess the bare bones thought here is this: There are "wankers" everywhere...but since I personally know that I WILL bring brightness to the table other than a 40-watt, I really don't need to worry about them. I will always connect to those who are of my like mind and talent, and all will be well.

Thank you to all who have replied.

I often wonder how people would feel if they were on the other side of these questions. Would you, regardless of public anonymity want your application discussed? Would you feel good about sending in an application and then having the clergy here on this forum casually say "Well, 65% don't make it, " or "Wow---we take virtually all registrations but 10% are booted once they file an active, and another 2 or 3 hundred a year aren't worth considering for advancement?"

Perhaps you'd let it slip you were applying.
Perhaps you knew someone who didn't make the grade and no longer enjoyed coming to the forum being aware that they'd been mentioned, if not by name, by circumstance.

The point is the confidentiality of the membership process benefits everyone. In a world where everyone is always convinced that no one could possibly be talking about them, it makes sense for us to talk about no one.



What you need to do is this:

Look at our clergy.
Look at who is representing Satanism/The Church of Satan to the media.
Look at who has a title and is achieving the success they intend.

The hierarchy is made up of people who paid and got their card. Then they filled out an Active Application. Then, due to some personal achievement they were recognized and promoted. Then they continued to succeed in their chosen field or they succeeded at representing Satanism in a satisfactory manner.

So, seeing as it demonstrates nothing more than who sent money, what is to you how many got in or didn't? Isn't the real question whether you can look at the choices of who has been promoted and chosen to represent the organization and determine whether they are satisfactory? And then, of course, whether you can measure of to their standards or not?

Not being snotty mind you, just wondering why so many look at this membership thing backwards.


Y~

That statement, plus several others with it, was very well put, Magistra Ygraine. Not snotty at all!

In light of that comment, I will say that it is my typical nature...a skeptic...to question everything. And question it again. And do it again, until the damned thing hurts to look at. Even to question something as apparently wonderful as my possible membership in the CoS is not unusual for me. It is what I had to do.

However, I need not question it any longer.

I am excited.

Thank you all again.