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.
