There may come a time, for whatever reason, that you will wish to join a group or organization. They may ask you to conform to their definitions and standards. It will be fortunate if you do not have to consider compromising your individual path for their sake. However, you may feel or be compelled or required to adopt traits of the group with which you don't entirely agree or which were not your idea. Some groups expect that you publicly support and defend them. Others would have you divide yourself from certain people and decide your associations, even publicly denounce them. This is when problems arise and your Satanism begins to take on a group-think aspect.
You must weigh the value of whatever benefits you feel you may receive from a group or organization against how you will allow it to manage you and your Satanism. You may just want to be associated with a group or org for social reasons and this is a way to acquire friends and have a sense of belonging. The group or org may be well known and dropping their name and that you are a member, may mean something to others with whom you want to make friends or be associated, thus a step in the social or political ladder you want to climb. They may offer titles that you find attractive, such as priest, initiate, etc. and that this will impress others and give you identity or increased esteem. You may feel it gives you some form of protection and security being associated with a group or org that has some power. If you wish to promote yourself, you may more easily do so by associating yourself with other well-known people or organization.Satanism is not always easy or comfortable, mainly because it asks so much of the individual. Hyatt in Pacts With The Devil writes that one must become their own priest, judge and psychiatrist. Such is a never-ending process and it may be tempting for some to adopt a group or org's preestablished codes and beliefs, rather than to create, evolve and maintain your own. This is quite natural for people to do this because of their tendency to find comfort in the herd. Christianity is very popular for this reason. They have a manual to which they refer for every aspect of their lives and in addition, churches and pastors that interpret and add to this, creating even more rules and dogma. Most people feel aimless and uncertain when they don't have a clear-cut idea of what to do. Some may desire a high priest or other guru they feel they can trust and look up to for guidance and information. Satanism is not a path of such second-hand religion and hive-mindedness. You need not fit yourself into someone else's requirements, but instead, create your own code and receive your own personal gnosis.
Independent Satanism realizes that there are groups and orgs that one might join toward a common cause and interest. The group, Independent Satanism is such a group. It is an association of independent Satanists whose purpose is to maintain their independent beliefs and remain free of the organizational requirements and dogma of other religious or non-religious Satanist groups and offer a forum for interacting with other independent Satanists.