BOOK REVIEW: The Satanism Scare

The Satanism Scare.  Edited by James T Richardson, Joel Best, and David G Bromley.  NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 1991

           This is a series of articles surveying the alternately venal and well-intended “Satan’s coming for our kids” craze of the 1970s-80s.

            The “satanic scare” was made up of several streams of thought and/or hysteria:

• ·         An EVIL organized religious-belief system has consistently preyed on “the children,” the most vulnerable of society
• ·         The economic and social power accrued by these irredeemably EVIL practitioners allows them to get away with it
• ·         Children never lie or confabulate, even with coerced or plied with leading questions
• ·         Any rebellious teen who is curious about new ideas, practices, or beliefs is gonna get swallowed up by EVIL
• ·         The worse the allegations of EVIL, the more likely it is to be true (or partially true)

            The articles survey the broad swaths of the concept and dissect some local instances. The authors’ information is borne from research questionnaires, surveys of media coverage, and assessment of the books generated by drum-beaters and so-called “survivors.”

            The time for the “Satanic Panic” was ripe. The teen and pre-teen age/consumer group had more autonomy and social (that is, spending) power than previous times. Their parents’ (and grandparents’) generation had mostly grown up under wartime strictures. These elders had “saved the world”—but instead of being grateful, the kids were mocking “establishment” values.

            The responses of the social anxious, when confronted by insecurity, are similar worldwide. Part of the population feels “things” are falling apart, they aren’t as good as they “used to be.” This falling-short of the “good old days” is demonstrated by the way our own kids don’t respect the ways and the world we worked so hard to provide for them.

            The teenage resentment and disquiet makes the youngsters ripe for being victimized by the EVIL people who tempt our youth with strange new ways, using the age-old lures of sex and drugs and alcohol.  And our kids may end up slaves to the EVIL, servants to the EVIL, or even human or sexual sacrifices to the EVIL!

            The reality was much tamer.  Bored kids sought distraction in things declared off-limits by Mom and Dad.  Savvy capitalists realized money could be made from marketing edgy music or other media. Other seedy capitalists realized they could achieve money and a weird kind of acclaim by asserting knowledge about the EVIL, or by claiming to have escaped the EVIL.

            Here’s the deal.  Among other ways to be selfish and antisocial, selfish and-or sociopathic types have used the trappings of devil worship to cow or enthrall younger people.  But decades of many-pronged investigations in many states and other countries have proven that there are no generational child-sacrificing, nihilistic “satanic” cults.

            There are some lower-case “satanic” churches and plenty of self-proclaimed “witches.” But, like any other people, they’re a mixed bag of happy, delusional, well-adjusted, and cranky humans.  The mentally ill, or some who have chosen to commit crimes, are present in any demographic.

            The Satanism Scare says much more about the insecurity of the self-proclaimed defenders of the children than it does about any organized danger to children.  Most of the “evidence” of EVIL practices were leftovers from kids’ drinking parties, or graffiti left to scare the next kids to come along.  The murders or child abuse uncovered as evidence invariably were linked to mental and-or emotional aspects of the culprits, who allied themselves with the purported bad guy, the Devil, to absolve their own blame, or to placate a non-existent demand for sacrifice.

            Chapter 16 chronicles an interesting fact that, in the public eye, something labeled “satanic” belief is automatically more negatively connotated than something called “witchcraft.”

            For me the most interesting chapter was Chapter 17, about “Legend-Trips.”  I remember that in Bartlesville, OK, the cool teens went to the ruins of the Labadie house, which was rumored to be haunted. Links here.  “Legend-Trips” is a catch-all term for the type of group-initiation experience also exemplified by daring each other to spend an hour in a cemetery at night, or reciting a name in the dark to a mirror, and so on.

            For a fascinating look into the mindset of pathetic people … for an interesting survey or misguided parental fear … for a dispassionate look at the evidence behind so-called satanic worship … for lots of statements which you’ll feel apply to the human condition in general …

            Buy this book, or check it out from a library.  Remember, the Devil may be real, but you don’t need to torture cats or write on the wall of a vacant house to get his attention.  When we live our lives selfishly and ignore the needs of the poor, or bad-mouth someone we don’t like, we’re doing the Devil’s work just fine.

See you Monday.