Nazi hunter puts pressure on Estonia

The Black Venus Order, an Estonian Satanist congregation, could be officially registered in Estonia if the Interior Ministry does not find its principal tome, the "Satanic Bible,"offensive. If the ministry goes ahead, which one senior official has said is possible, it would set a unique precedent for the Baltic states and most of Scandinavia. The "Satanic Bible,"written in 1969 by Anton Szandor LaVey, the godfather of the worldwide Church of Satan, has already been translated into Estonian by the leader of the Black Venus Order, who calls himself Jason. According to Jason, 25-year-old computer graphics specialist who lives in Tallinn, the congregation cannot be called a church in Estonia, because the law states that only a Christian institution can be a church. However, in the U.S.A. the Church of Satan is officially registered. To register a religious congregation, notarized articles of association, notarized minutes of the founding meeting and an application must be submitted to the Interior Ministry's religious affairs department. Gustav Piir, a provost of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tallinn, told the Postimees daily it was a pity that the law has no provisions to refuse registration of the satanic sect.