re: Couple exonerated in 25 year old "Satanic Panic" conviction

Yes, that's it! Mazes and Monsters. My buddies and I were so excited to watch the movie after seeing the ads for it. It was actually a decent movie, as made-for-tv-movies went, but it definitely gave D&D an undeserved bad reputation. I had to do a lot of explaining to my mom after that movie!

I just watched The Crucible the other day for the first time since I was a kid. Crazy how things can go haywire without proper due process.

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There was a heightened interest in Satanism at the time among teenagers which was sensationalized in media accounts (often blatantly false), but few people took that seriously, or believed that Satanism was widespread.

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This is how I remember it, too. Nevertheless, I don't doubt that it played a part in some errant prosecutions.

I think the false/repressed memory issue, along with the desire to protect our children whom we have placed (with some guilt) in the care of others, led to the presenting problem you're addressing.

i think cable TV had a lot to do with proliferating the meme. outlets like TBN went "all in" on this stuff

then with VHS and the explosion of media, things like the following were created/widely released

The Rise of Satanism (1989)

Satanic Ritual Abuse and Secret Societies (1995)

Exposing the Satanic Web (1990)

Law Enforcement Guide to Satanic Cults (1994)

the last video has the most epic mullet in human history, fwiw

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like we said earlier, the meme of Satanism was so pervasive that almost everyone has that local story/area where the Satanists met

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Because, as I stated, there was a heightened (and generally feigned) interest in the occult among teenagers. It was typically attention seeking behavior, but few, if any of them, actually knew anything about Satanism.

They did, sometimes, congregate together. And some of them might have killed the odd cat every now and then (I knew several, but none that ever copped to killing pets.)

Media is the reason you have the perception that you do. There were always a couple of religious nuts in every congregation who believed the media, as you do, and were very vocal about it. But the vast majority of people scoffed at the idea of pervasive Satanism as an issue in that era.

It's nothing more than fodder for local stories, like every small town that has a Cry Baby Bridge, or a Civil War era haunting.

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i think cable TV had a lot to do with proliferating the meme. outlets like TBN went "all in" on this stuff

then with VHS and the explosion of media, things like the following were created/widely released

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This is very true. It was sensational.

When Satanism would make the news (rightly or wrongly) the entertainment industry would jump "all in".

It scared people that their kids suddenly claimed to be Satanist. But there really weren't that many in any given population.

I'm going to have to set aside some time to watch that law enforcement guide. I'm curious to see how LE perceived the issue.

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Media is the reason you have the perception that you do. There were always a couple of religious nuts in every congregation who believed the media, as you do, and were very vocal about it. But the vast majority of people scoffed at the idea of pervasive Satanism as an issue in that era.

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this idea is still pervasive

if you want an example, just do some simple research on google about the responses when the Church of Satan (not the same thing) does their "monument shtick". you will get responses like it's 1990 all over again

a very recent example from Belle Plain, Wisconsin

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Belle Plaine became a target of the Satanic group after the city allowed a squabble with the Vets Club over another monument in Veterans Memorial Park. A soldier statue known as “Joe” knelt in front of a small cross. After being taken down by the city earlier this year, the council allowed it to return after complaints from the Vets Club. The city made a section of Veterans Memorial Park “a limited public forum” for privately-owned memorials.

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“The monument may also attract pre-existing Satanists to our community as a place for theistic Satanic ritual activities that victimize our children,” he said.

It could lead to a “form of grooming similar to that used by pedophiles,” Father Lynch said, which “Satanists use … to erode a child’s trust in caring authority figures including their parents, teachers and police officers.”

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i'm not denying the media played a role, but this detached view that it was somehow isolated to extremists is very naive

people were tried and many were wrongly convicted of crimes across the country. that requires entire communities in action in various data points across the entire United States. that's more than just isolated religious extremists

That's it! The Hosanah Church case in Ponchatoula. My mind is wrecked! How could I forget!? I had even already watched those videos.

Well, SFP, that one case at least seems to discredit your theory that it was all hype and no substance. Here we have a case where multiple adults including a deputy sheriff, use a church to commit ritual sexual abuse of children.

If the claim you're making is that there was no evidence of "supernatural" evil involvement, or no evidence of dabbling into satanic ritual magically drawing these perps into child sex abuse, then I guess I agree. But the concept that evil exists and corrupts men's minds and hearts and that the power of ritual to augment and empower those evil impulses is a true reality.

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Well, SFP, that one case at least seems to discredit your theory that it was all hype and no substance. Here we have a case where multiple adults including a deputy sheriff, use a church to commit ritual sexual abuse of children.

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the FBI agent said there was no evidence of Satanic rituals

nowhere did i say that people didn't molest children, or that it never occurred in groups

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But the concept that evil exists

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i kind of got into this last week after the shooting, but i don't think "evil" exists, at least as an external force or objective measure

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the power of ritual to augment and empower those evil impulses is a true reality.

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sure but you may be looking at this from the wrong perspective

people who engage in taboo acts hide this from society

when they find people who have similar outlier, taboo preferences, there is a bond that develops

now in this case that taboo was something absolutely terrible, but it's not that "evil" took over. yes there was a normalization b/c of the group dynamic (especially when viewed in terms of their societal exclusion), but that's not sinister, either. it just happens they had a group dynamic centered on some terrible stuff, and that happens. hell look at Islamism for a much less taboo, but just as terrible, group dynamic/reinforcement. shite just happens

Adding the "satanic panic" narrative to this doesn't take away the core issue...

A child was manipulated in a case, while child abuse of any sort would get you up to a lifetime in jail...

This is not satanic panic...that term is used to vilify even pointing out the horrendous aspects of our dark self-loathing culture