<\/p>\n
Almost every week I drive to the Bay Area to do some healing Don just sent it to me, and I post it below the fold. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Help! <\/span>I was Don Frew<\/p>\n In the 1980s, America was in the Also in the 1980s, I was a police <\/p>\n SATANIC CRIME IN AMERICA: <\/p>\n Satanism is alive and well in [With his permission<\/b> I have shortened Don’s account …Every criminal case involving <\/p>\n …Setting aside the observation that …The vast majority of so-called …As with the “Breeders” and other … None of these accounts have It should be (Note<\/b>: None of this means that we are arguing that these . . . <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thanks to our book, and the many Flash forward to the beginning of I kept waiting for the other shoe Catholic clerical pedophilia is a The Satanic Ritual Abuse Putting aside the professional Patient<\/u>: I see ten people <\/p>\n Therapist<\/u>: Really? <\/span>Are there three more, possibly behind <\/p>\n Patient<\/u>: Wait… three more <\/p>\n Therapist<\/u>: Ahhh. <\/span>[…but therapist doesn’t continue to ask In the pamphlet reprinted above, Both groups “remembered”:<\/p>\n — being taken from their home \/ — being taken to a special — being taken by people \/ beings — being placed on an altar \/ — being used \/ abused in a sexual — being returned with no memory of We noted with interest that the Something<\/i> was going on, of that we never had any doubt, but And then I remembered Jacques
\nwork where mainstream medicine has proven unsuccessful. <\/span>Afterwards I often join my friend and
\nnoted Wiccan Don Frew<\/a> for dinner, The Daily Show, and stimulating
\nconversation. <\/span>One evening he was
\ndescribing the fascinating and very strange similarities between a wide variety
\nof “recovered memory” cases. Don’s point was not to offer an explanation, but
\nrather to suggest our world is far weirder than we imagine. <\/span>I suggested he write up his argument,
\nand I’d post it on my blog. <\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nabducted by … Wait a minute. <\/span>What
\nwas that again?”<\/b><\/p>\n
\ngrip of what is now called “the Satanic Hysteria”. <\/span>Books and TV programs were selling the idea that organized
\nSatanic cults were kidnapping, sexually abusing, and sacrificing children in
\nvast numbers. <\/span>Many criminal cases
\nwere prosecuted, often with little result. <\/span>The most high-profile of these was the McMartin Preschool
\ncase in which hundreds of children were allegedly abused in Satanic rituals by
\nthe family that owned the preschool and their staff. <\/span>The case was the longest and most expensive trial in
\nCalifornia history and resulted in a hung jury. <\/span>When the principal defendant was retried, that trial, too,
\nended in a hung jury. <\/span>The most
\nprominent “Satanic” case that is still sometimes in the headlines is the
\nongoing appeal process for the so-called “West Memphis Three”, three young men
\nconvicted of molesting and murdering three boys in a “Satanic” ritual. <\/span>Two documentary films – “Paradise Lost:
\nThe Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” and its sequel – and numerous books have
\npointed out the utter lack of any<\/i>
\nforensic evidence tying the accused to the crime and the prosecution’s rush to
\nconnect an inexplicably brutal crime with the only local kids with an interest
\nin the occult.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nconsultant specializing in occult crimes.
\n<\/span>I was asked to be part of a two and a half year investigation of
\nso-called “Satanic” crimes led by Shawn Carlson and Gerald LaRue of the Committee
\nfor Scientific Examination of Religion (CSER). <\/span>Our investigative team also included Robert Hicks, a
\ncriminal justice analyst with the Virgina Department of Criminal Justice
\nServices, and Ken Lanning of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent
\nCrime at the FBI Academy in Quantico VA.
\n<\/span>CSER published our results in 1989 in the book Satanism in America:
\nHow the Devil Got Much More Than His Due<\/a><\/i>. <\/a> <\/span>In this, the first skeptical
\nexamination of “the Satanic Hysteria”, we came to the following conclusions
\n(reprinted from the pamphlet that came with the book in 1989)…<\/span><\/p>\n
\nWild Rumors; Reasonable Explanations.<\/b><\/p>\n
\nthis country… on afternoon talk-shows and in police seminars. <\/span>In reality, the number of Satanists in
\nAmerica is very small, and so far no Satanic cult or organization has ever<\/i> been convicted of criminal activity. <\/span>However, this has not prevented a
\nnumber of individuals, often with hidden religious agendas, from making their
\nlivings by informing our legislators, therapists, and law-enforcement personnel
\nthat Satanism is a growing threat to our society and our children. <\/span>This myth has distracted attention from
\nsome very real problems in our society and has led to great damage to the lives
\nof many individuals.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nhere to include just the major conclusions in order to focus on what I find particularly fascinating in his account. If there is demand for it I’ll post the edited parts as well, but they deal with a happily now passed Satanism hysteria.]<\/b><\/p>\n
\nallegations of Satanic cult activity has either resulted in a not guilty
\nverdict or has been thrown out for lack of evidence. <\/span>Cases of “Satanic” crime resulting in actual convictions
\nhave all involved individuals acting alone (or with a couple of buddies) and
\npracticing highly idiosyncratic forms of Devil-worship.<\/p>\n
\nit would be hard to hide a quantity of ritual sacrifices that is more than
\ntwice<\/i> the number of murders recorded each
\nyear by the F.B.I., the fact is that the number of genuinely missing children
\nis very small. <\/span>The National Child
\nSafety Council (a branch of the Justice Department) and the F.B.I. together
\nreceive about 240,000 missing child reports each year. <\/span>Once you remove the repeat reports of
\nstraying toddlers, the known runaways, and the children known to have been
\ntaken by parents in custody disputes, you are left with about <\/span>67
\nchildren abducted by strangers each year<\/i>. <\/span>Both groups agree that they receive at
\nleast half the reports, so no more than 140 children are being abducted by
\nstrangers each year. <\/span>At least half
\nof these children are eventually recovered; so far <\/span>none<\/i> have reported having been taken by
\nDevil-worshippers. <\/span>This means that
\neven if <\/span>all<\/i> of the remaining
\nchildren are being abducted and sacrificed (which seems unlikely) <\/span>at
\nmost 70 children<\/i> could be being killed by
\nDevil-worshippers each year. <\/span>If
\ntrue, this would still be an alarming and distressing figure! <\/span>But compare this with the 150 children
\nwho drown in swimming pools each year, or the 2,100 that are killed by their
\nown parents, and it becomes apparent that other threats, especially those
\nwithin the home & family, are much more of a real danger than are
\nSatanists.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\n“survivors” are Born Again Christians who only “remembered” being ritually
\nabused in the course of therapy, often under hypnosis. <\/span>So far, not a single one<\/i> of these women, who were allegedly more deeply
\ninvolved in these groups than any F.B.I. Mafia-infiltrator, has been able to
\nproduce verifiable names, dates, or places. <\/span>This makes their information highly suspect. <\/span>Two of the most well-known of these
\n“survivors,” Lauren Stratford and “Elaine”, have been thoroughly investigated
\nand their stories <\/span>proven<\/i> to be
\nsubstantially false. <\/span>As Lauren
\nStratford was the first woman to use the term “Breeder”, and her story is a
\ncomplete fabrication, the stories of all the other women claiming to be
\n“Breeders” must be called into question.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\n“survivors,” these alleged former Satanists have yet to produce any<\/i> tangible evidence to support their claims. <\/span>This is especially puzzling as some,
\nsuch as Mike Warnke, claim not to have been victims, but to have been
\nmasterminds and ring-leaders. Somehow, they feel that they now have no more
\nobligation to expose their alleged former co-Satanists other than to lecture
\nabout Satanism on the Christian speakers’ circuit. <\/span>This would be like a Mafia Don leaving the Mob, going on the
\nTonight Show, and feeling that they have done their bit for law and order
\nsimply by saying publicly “Yes, there is a Mafia.” <\/span>Why have none of the “reformed Satanists” turned themselves
\nand their co-conspirators in to the police?<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nevidenced a knowledge of the occult or of Satanism that is deeper than that
\navailable to the general public in horror films or comic books. <\/span>In fact, many of the survivors’
\naccounts include information that is only<\/i>
\nfound in conservative Christian anti-occult tracts. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nnoted that this is the same kind of argument used to support the claims of
\nalleged “abductees” by U.F.O.’s.
\n<\/span>However, the evidence in favor of the U.F.O. “abductees” is marginally better<\/i> in that it sometimes includes physical evidence, of
\nwhich the Satanic “survivors” have produced none. <\/span>The rule here should be: If you are not willing to believe
\nthat people are being kidnapped by space aliens, then there is <\/span>no<\/i> reason for you to believe the stories of alleged
\n“survivors” of Satanic cults.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nadults and\/or children weren’t<\/i><\/span> abused, sexually or
\notherwise. <\/span>We just question the
\nSatanic aspects of their stories.
\n<\/span>Clearly these individuals are in need of therapy and counseling by
\nprofessionals conversant in the myths and realities of Satanic crime.)<\/p>\n
\nsimilar books that followed, the Satanic Hysteria passed. <\/span>It enjoyed a brief revival in the
\nUnited Kingdom, but a quick investigation by the British government found that all<\/i> claims could be traced to British parents attending
\nprograms and rallies by American Christian “anti-Satanism” agitators. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe 21st<\/sup> century and the current clergy pedophilia scandals
\ninvolving Catholic Priests. <\/span>Hmm… <\/span>I couldn’t
\nhelp but wonder about all those cases in which children and “adult survivors”
\nsaid that they had been taken to a church, tied to an altar, and subjected to
\nsexual abuse by men in black robes.
\n<\/span>In the 1980s everyone assumed that such men just had to be<\/i> Satanists.
\n<\/span>I mean, nothing else would make sense, right?<\/span><\/p>\n
\nto drop and for someone to make the connection, but so far, no one has, and
\nthat’s probably a good thing since I think the two phenomena – claims of
\nSatanic Ritual Abuse and claims of Catholic clergy pedophilia – are not<\/i> related.
\n<\/span>That’s because they fall into two very different patterns.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nstraightforward, if sordid and horrific, phenomenon. <\/span>Catholic children are abused by Catholic Priests. <\/span>The children know it is happening, even
\nif those around them frequently refuse to believe it. <\/span>They may hide it, but they remember the abuse, and it gnaws
\nat them into adulthood.<\/p>\n
\nphenomenon is a very different thing, since it is primarily driven by “adult
\nsurvivors” who only remember what happened through “recovered memory”, i.e. some
\nform of hypnosis. <\/span>The stories told
\nby the children who were supposedly abused by Satanists were very vague and
\nfanciful until they were given form and detail by adult “experts”. <\/span>I worked on the McMartin Preschool case
\nand I know that the “Patient Zero” for Satanic Ritual Abuse – “Michelle” of the
\nbook Michelle Remembers<\/i> – was brought in
\nto talk to the children. <\/span>Her
\nparadigm of a global, Satanic church orchestrating mass sacrifices gave form to
\nthe children’s’ ramblings. <\/span>One of
\nthe aspects of the McMartin case that sank the case for prosecution was their
\nfailed efforts at trying to explain the difference between the children’s
\n“real” testimony about participating Satanic rituals (which the Prosecution
\nwanted the Jury to believe) and their “imaginary” testimony about such things
\nas flying to another state on a private jet with movie stars and the state
\ngovernor to participate in Satanic rituals, and then fly back again, all during
\nin the space of one hour at the preschool one afternoon (which they wanted the
\nJury to ignore).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nex-Satanists, who can easily be debunked and dismissed as con men, the real
\ndetails about the criminal Satanic cults, their members, their rituals, and
\ntheir administrative organization all came from folks who had no memory of
\nany of this<\/i> for most of their lives. <\/span>These “adult survivors” (and I use the
\nterm here <\/span>specifically<\/i> in the
\ncontext of “recovered memory”) only “remembered” these details in repeated,
\nexhaustive counseling sessions with someone already disposed to find
\nSatanism. <\/span>Having read many
\ntranscripts, I can say that sessions would often go along the lines of …<\/span><\/p>\n
\nin the room.<\/p>\n
\nyou? <\/span>That would make a coven.<\/p>\n
\npeople just entered the room.<\/p>\n
\nif there are any additional<\/i> people,
\nsince 13 is the desired number.]<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe authors of Satanism in America<\/i> noted
\nthe similarity between the claims of “adult survivors of Satanic Ritual Abuse”
\nand those of “UFO abductees”, who also “remembered” their experiences after
\nrecovering from “missing time”.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nbed \/ car \/ safe place.<\/p>\n
\nstructure.<\/p>\n
\nwho were very different from themselves.<\/p>\n
\ntable.<\/p>\n
\nmanner.<\/p>\n
\nthe event.<\/p>\n
\n“adult survivors of Satanic Ritual Abuse” were almost all born-again Christians
\nwhile the “UFO abductees” were almost all either secular or New Age in their
\nbeliefs. <\/span>The “bad guy” in each
\nstory was whomever their own subculture identified as “The Other”! <\/span>After this, it came as no surprise to
\ndiscover that some adult Mormons “remembered” being abducted as children by
\nFreemasons who sexually abused them in Masonic rituals, and that some adult
\nJews “remembered” being abducted as children by men in SS uniforms who sexually
\nabused them in Nazi rituals!<\/p>\n
\nwhatever that something was, it was being understood and interpreted in the
\ntrappings and terms of each persons’ own culture.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nVall\u00e9e<\/a>. <\/span>In 1969, Vall\u00e9e published Passport
\nto Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers<\/a><\/i>.<\/a> <\/span>Essentially, he argued that if one
\nexamines <\/span>all<\/i> of the reports of
\nhuman interactions with alleged extraterrestrials, and not just reports that
\nfit the “space aliens visiting our planet in spaceships” paradigm, then one
\nsees a consistent pattern of humans interacting with an “other” – faeries,
\nangels, aliens – in a very stereotyped way, but interpreted according to the
\ncultural paradigm of the witness in question. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n