Glen Benton
Satanism
Benton is known for his Satanic and anti-Christian beliefs and views of "today's corrupt religious systems". He is renowned for an inverted cross he has repeatedly branded into his forehead over the years. According to [{Steve Asheim]], this act was likely in response to previous press attention the band received when Brian Hoffman burned an inverted cross into his arm with a cigarette.
Despite having claimed in an interview that he shares a "spiritual link" with Lucifer, who tells him "what to say and what to write about". In early years, Benton was ostensibly a theistic satanist; he implied he had held the belief of the Christian God but worshiped Satan instead. Thus, his beliefs have been put to question by followers of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan, which Benton has blasted on the grounds that it is an organized religion, promoting what he perceives to be "Hollywood Satanism".
Most have since defined Benton's 'Satanism' as vehement anti-Christian atheism complemented with theatrics suitable for the band. In the July 2008 issue of Revolver Magazine, Benton stated that there was no ideological agenda in Deicide and that the music was first and foremost, in response to a question by an observer.
Sacrificial Suicide controversy
The self-titled 1990 debut album of his group Deicide featured a song entitled "Sacrificial Suicide", in which Benton was alleged to have claimed that in order to achieve a life opposite that of Jesus he planned to commit suicide at age 33. This claim that he would commit suicide at the age of 33 continued throughout the 1990s. However, he passed that age in 2000 and did not commit suicide. In 2006, he stated that these statements had been "asinine remarks" and that "only cowards and losers" choose to kill themselves.
Religious controversy
In the early-to-mid-1990s Benton was a frequent opponent guest to Christian radio shows, such as Bob Larson's "Talk Back" show. Though a serious discussion rarely took place on the program, the exchanges between the two mainly consisted of taunts from Benton and tongue-in-cheek teasing. Larson continually invited Benton to his talk show but Benton often declined.