Click here to go back to the homepage


Satanic Ritual Abuse

SRA conspiracy theories tell of a large (more than three people and influence greater than one town), organized (having some sort of leadership and planning), powerful (in resources or societal influence), secretive cult or network of cults engaging in the abuse of children in "satanic" rituals. Some claim the cults are transgenerational, having existed throughout history and passed down through families.

The cult's activities are often said to include stereotypical satanic symbolism, such as Halloween, the black mass, the number six, pentagrams, and dark robes. The cult's crimes activities are often described to contain violence, sexual abuse, the creation of CSEM/CSAM and snuff, bodily fluids, cannibalism, forced perpetration, dead bodies, animals, pregnancy, abortion, trafficking, human experimentation, ritual sacrifice of humans and/or animals, disrespect towards Christianity, and mind control.

The truth is: no such cult or network of cults exists. Child abuse is absolutely real and can be perpetrated by members of any religion, including satanists. However, there is no secret cabal of powerful, large, organized "satanic" cults abusing children as part of rituals, and there never has been. This is a dangerous, antisemitic conspiracy theory that created the satanic panic.

Investigations

There have been several large-scale investigations in multiple countries into the existence of large, powerful, organized cults abusing children in "satanic" rituals, and all have found no evidence of these cults existing.

An American investigation by FBI agent Kenneth Lanning, "Investigator's Guide to Allegations of "Ritual" Child Abuse,":

In none of the cases of which I am aware has any evidence of a well-organized satanic cult been found [5 (p.19)].

An American study, "Characteristics and Sources of Allegations of Ritualistic Child Abuse," investigated claims of "Satanic Ritual Abuse," and found that while there was often substantial evidence for other types of religion-related abuse (such as by Christians), there was never any hard evidence for the existence of large, organized cult abuse involving "satanic" rituals, despite the fact that the described abuse included events which should have left evidence (such as murder):

Results show that the purported evidence for claims of ritualistic abuse, especially in cases the involved alleged adult survivors of satanic cult activity, is questionable [6 (p. 2)].

For instance, there was no hard evidence for intergenerational satanic cults that sexually abuse children. There was, however, evidence in a few "borderline" cases, typically involving a lone individual or two people whose abuse of children involved satanic themes [6 (p. 5)].

In summary, a very small group of clinicians, each claiming to have treated scores of cases, accounted for most of the reports of ritualistic child abuse. Reports by adult survivors were particularly extreme, involving acts such as murder, which should have left some traces of hard evidence. However, hard evidence for satanic ritual abuse, especially abuse involving large cults, was scant to nonexistent. Evidence for lone perpetrators or very small groups (e.g., two people) who abuse children in ways that include satanic themes was uncovered, although such abuse was infrequent [6 (p. 6)].

A study in the UK, "Extent and Nature of Organised and Ritual Abuse," similarly found no evidence for a large, organized cult abusing children in "satanic" rituals:

Organized abuse accounts for a small minority of all cases handled by child protection teams. However, no evidence was found that the sexual and physical abuse of children was part of rites directed to a magical or religious objective. In the three substantiated cases of ritual, not satanic, abuse, the ritual was secondary to the sexual abuse. Other alleged disclosures of satanic abuse by younger children were influenced by adults [7 (abstract)].

Rites that allegedly include the torture and sexual abuse of children and adults, forced abortion and human sacrifice, cannibalism and bestiality may be labelled satanic or satanist. Their defining characteristic is that the sexual and physical abuse of children is part of rites directed to a magical or religious objective. There is no evidence that these have taken place in any of the 84 cases studied [7 (p. 30)].

A commission established by a motion in the Dutch Parliament issued a report, "Between disbelief, support and detection," also finding no evidence for large, organized satanic cult abuse. Quoting an article on the subject:

For the existence of networks engaged in ritual or satanic abuse of children, the committee found no evidence to support the stories of alleged victims [8].

Bigotry

Additionally, historians also find no evidence for the existence of these secret, large, organized, powerful satanic cults. Instead, it's largely agreed among historians that the cultural stereotypes of satanism (such as the black mass) were invented by Christians as propaganda against those that disagreed with them [1 (p. 7-8)][4]. Historical claims of an SRA conspiracy are either propaganda, hoaxes, or forms of the "blood ritual myth," an enduring cultural legend accusing a marginalized group of kidnapping and murdering children as part of secret organized ritual abuse. Historically, these claims have often been part of antisemitic conspiracy theories known as blood libel [2 (p. 75-77)][4]. Blood libel claims have been used to justify the persecution of Jews throughout history and were weaponized by the Nazis as part of antisemitic propaganda [3]. In their most extreme form, SRA conspiracy theories are a type of New World Order conspiracy theory. New World Order conspiracy theories claim that there is a secret cabal of powerful elites attempting to take over the world, often the Illuminati, Freemasons, Satanists, Jewish people and other groups are implicated as being the part of the cabal. New World Order conspiracy theories have antisemitic origins and incorporate antisemitic narratives [9][10][11].

The use of the term "satanic" is in itself discriminatory, as the rituals said to be involved in SRA often have no connection to the practices of satanic religious groups [5 (p. 14)]. Despite the fact that the rituals weren't connected to satanism, satanism was still blamed simply because of Christian prejudice and stereotypes [5 (p. 9)]. Additionally, a variety of marginalized religious practices, such as Santeria, voodoo, Buddhism, Hinduism, and witchcraft, were lumped together and called "satanism," ignoring the diversity and differences between these beliefs [5 (p. 9)]. All of this just further contributed to bigotry against minority religions.

Michelle Remembers

The real history of SRA conspiracy theories can be traced back to Michelle Remembers, one of the first satanic cult survivor stories, which led to a wave of imitations [2 (p. 82)]. FBI agent Kenneth Lanning could find no reports about an SRA conspiracy that predated the book [1 (p. 51)]. The heavily debunked book marketed itself as the true story of Michelle, who "recovered" memories of being tortured by a secret satanic cult in childhood. She claims she was able to escape because the archangel Micheal and the Virgin Mary herself came down and saved her, also healing all Michelle's scars (and erasing all physical evidence of the torture, how convenient) with heavenly magic. Obviously, this is impossible, and the story practically debunks itself. Michelle "recovered" these objectively impossible memories during hundreds of hours hypnotic regression sessions with her therapist, Lawrence Pazder, who later married her (which is extremely unethical) [1 (p. 46)][2 (p. 81)][12]. Investigation into Michelle's story have found class photos of Michelle at school, visibly healthy, during the time in which she claims to have been held in non-stop captivity by the satanic cult [1 (p. 47)]. Her two sisters (which the book conveniently does not mention) also deny Michelle's story [1 (p. 47)][2 (p. 82)]. Michelle's story is suspected to be inspired by Pazder's stories of his experiences viewing West African religious practices, and pop culture phenomenon like the movie The Exorcist [1 (p. 48)][2 (p. 82)]. Other hoaxes that contributed to the satanic panic are Lauren Stratford's (aka Laurel Rose Wilson's) book Satan's Underground and Mike Warnke's book The Satan Seller.

McMartin Preschool

A textbook case of the societal panic resulting from the satanic cult conspiracy theory is the McMartin preschool trial. It was the nation's longest and most expensive criminal case, lasting seven years and costing taxpayers over $13 million, and resulting in no convictions [1 (p. 52)][2 (p. 15) (p. 110)][13]. It started with a singular accusation of abuse by a mother of one of the preschool's young students, Judy Johnson, who believed her son was sodomized by McMartin teacher Ray Buckley after seeing some redness on his anus [1 (p. 52)][14]. Her ex-husband disagreed, and believed the redness was due to diarrhea and poor hygiene [14]. The boy himself also denied having been sexually abused, and the hospital Johnson took him to for an examination did not find the boy's symptoms to be the result of sodomy [14]. Johnson was also a paranoid schizophrenic [1 (p. 52)][14].

Despite all of this, Johnson continued to make accusations against Ray Buckley, leading the police to investigate. As part of their investigation, the police sent out a letter to all parents of children attending the preschool, urging them to ask their children if they had been victimized by Buckley [1 (p. 52)][14]. Frightened, the parents questioned their children extensively, but none of the children reported any abuse [14]. Even though they had denied being abused, the children continued to be questioned by their parents, social workers, and law enforcement, in overbearing, long interviews, where they were asked leading questions [1 (p. 52)][14]. If a child still refused to disclose abuse, they were considered in denial [1 (p. 52)]. Eventually some children started disclosing bizarre accounts of abuse, claiming that they were taken on hot air balloon rides, that there were tunnels under the school, and were involved in rituals with lions and elephants [1 (p. 52)]. After a sensationalist television special and Lawrence Pazder (author of Michelle Remembers) becoming involved as counsel for the case, the popular story of satanic cult involvement at McMartin preschool began to take form [1 (p. 52)][2 (p. 18)].

The bizarre nature of the allegations continued to escalate. Judy Johnson claimed her son had been taken for naked horse rides on the beach, that he was buried in a coffin, a baby's head was cut off, and other allegations of abuse, spoken in a disconnected and convoluted way that is characteristic of someone experiencing a psychotic episode [14]. She accused school board members, strangers in cars, and models in newspapers of all being part of abusing her son and said someone had broken into her house and sodomized the family dog, and she was being stalked by an AWOL marine [14]. After threatening someone who opened her door with a shotgun, she was forcibly hospitalized in a psychiatric facility [14]. The children's allegations also became more bizarre and severe, which the initial prosecutor for the case, Glen Stevens, now believes to be in part due to the influence of Michelle Smith and Lawrence Pazder who acted as counselors on the case [2 (p. 15)]. Pazder believed the case was part of an international satanic cult conspiracy [14]. Meanwhile, the police still could not find any evidence of Buckley, or any of the other staff at the daycare, committing any crime [1 (p. 52)][14]. A team of archaeologists conducted meticulous digs underneath the school building looking for tunnels and found nothing [14]. The FBI and INTERPOL were involved, and massive rewards were offered for anyone who could find even one photograph of CSAM/CSEM involving McMartin, but nothing was ever found [14].

Eventually all charges were dropped, and the accused were found innocent, but the damage had been done. Buckley had already spent 5 years in jail while awaiting trial, the preschool had closed, the accused's reputations had been ruined, and there were violent attempts on their lives [1 (p. 52)][14]. A retractor who was one of the children involved in the case has since come forward and explained that the pressure of the interviews, and his parent's refusal to believe him when he denied being abused, caused him to lie and make false allegations against Buckley [15]. The interviewing methods used in the McMartin case have been investigated and found to be seriously flawed and prone to producing false testimony [14][16].

Despite the fact the accused were found innocent and there was never any proof, there still exists a section of conspiracy theorists who claim that the SRA conspiracy theory claims about McMartin are true. A common claim made by conspiracy theorists is that there really were tunnels underneath the McMartin Preschool. This is blatantly false. This idea comes from Roland Summit, who (after the original dig in 1985 found no evidence of tunnels) publicized the findings of a new dig funded by parents of McMartin children in 1990, claiming it had found evidence of tunnels [14]. Not only is this dig inherently questionable considering the parents involved had been found planting bogus evidence at the previous dig, and the coordinator for this new dig was Ted Gunderson, a conspiracy theorist, but the actual archeological report from the second dig (which Roland Summit tried to hide) actually contains a section written by a consulting geologist who disagrees that there was evidence of tunnels [14][17]. And further analysis of the 1990 archeological report found that the "tunnels" were, in reality, just the remains of a rural family's trash pit [18].

What about people who remember being abused by a large, powerful, organized secret satanic cult?

There are many reasons why someone may remember something like this. The following explanations are a collection of hypotheses proposed by professionals in law enforcement and psychology [5][23].

For one, it is possible for someone to be misled by their abusers. Abusers may lie about their power/influence, the number of people involved in the abuse, the types of crimes they've committed, and more. This doubles as both psychological abuse/torment and a scare tactic to discourage victims from ever escaping or contacting law enforcement. The abuse itself could also contribute to memory confusion. Starvation, sleep deprivation, forced drug consumption, traumatic brain injuries, and isolation, especially when experienced by a young child, could all lead to inaccurate recollections of events. Traumatic events could also cause high levels of dissociation, which makes it harder to discern fiction from reality. For example, a child in an intense dissociative state may misinterpret a film or video as being reality, when normally they would be able to tell the difference.

Another possible explanation is pathological distortion, such as delusions or hallucinations caused by schizophrenia.

Someone could also develop false memories due to suggestion. Therapists, social workers, friends, family, etc. suggesting to someone that they had an experience could lead them to develop false memories of it. Memories can also be contaminated by exposure to others' stories or media. Hearing others' experiences in support groups or group therapy, reading others' stories in books or watching them in video, and consuming fictional media are all possible sources for memory contamination. For more information about how false memories form and how they work, see this SSCT page debunking common misconceptions about false memory.

The final reason I'll mention here is screen memories/pseudomemories. Screen memories are a specific type of false memory where the false memory is acting as a defense mechanism to 1) cover up/hide aspects of genuine traumatic memories or 2) compensate for or metaphorically represent someone's feelings or emotions. For example, an abused child may have difficulty understanding why their parents would hurt them. Not ready to face those feelings of confusion, the child's mind may generate a screen memory of their parents being satanists to create a black-and-white explanation for the abuse. To a child, "my parents abused me because they are evil devil worshipers" can be an easier explanation to digest than trying to unravel the confusing complexities of real life.

Impact

Hoaxes about secret international satanic cabals ultimately drew attention and resources away from actual child abuse [7 (p 31)]. Simultaneously, they discourage people from seeking help or reporting their abuse to law enforcement by convincing them their abusers are too powerful and influential to fight against. These conspiracy theories have also been used by abusive therapists, who pressure their patients into "recovering" false memories of a satanic new world order conspiracy theory. Pat Burgus is one example of a patient to have suffered this type of abuse [19]. The remnants of the satanic panic continue to fuel Qanon conspiracy theories [20][21][22].

[1] Satanism by Joseph P. Laycock
[2] Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend by Jeffrey S. Victor
[3] https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/blood-libel
[4] Satanism, UFO Abductions, Historians and Clinicians: Those Who Do Not Remember The Past by Richard Noll
[5] Investigator's Guide to Allegations of "Ritual" Child Abuse by Kenneth V. Lanning
[6] Characteristics and Sources of Allegations of Ritualistic Child Abuse by Gail S. Goodman
[7] Extent and Nature of Organised and Ritual Abuse by J. S. La Fontaine
[8] https://www.pepijnvanerp.nl/2022/12/dutch-commission-finds-no-evidence-for-satanic-ritual-abuse/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork
[9] https://www.isdglobal.org/explainers/new-world-order-explainer/
[10] The New World Order: The Historical Origins of a Dangerous Modern Conspiracy Theory by Myles Flores
[11] https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/New-World-Order
[12] https://www.apa.org/monitor/dec04/ethics
[13] MCMARTIN PROSECUTION HALTED, ENDING LONGEST CRIMINAL CASE by Jay Mathews
[14] Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt by Debbie Nathan
[15] I’m Sorry by Kyle Zirpolo, as told to Debbie Nathan
[16] Children's use of anatomically detailed dolls to report genital touching in a medical examination: Developmental and gender comparisons
[17] <www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume7/j7_2_1_31.htm>
[18] What was Under the McMartin Preschool? A Review and Behavioral Analysis of the “Tunnels” Find by Joseph W. Wyatt
[19] Dangerous Therapy: The Story of Patricia Burgus and Multiple Personality Disorder by Cynthia Hanson
[20] America's Satanic Panic Returns — This Time Through QAnon by Noah Caldwell, Ari Shapiro, Patrick Jarenwattananon, Mia Venkat
[21] https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/qanon
[22] QAnon, Blood Libel, and the Satanic Panic by Tal Lavin
[23] Historical Versus Narrative Truth: Clarifying the Role of Exogenous Trauma in the Etiology of MPD and its Variants by George K. Ganaway


Click here to go back to the homepage

Edit

Pub: 05 Feb 2024 01:31 UTC

Edit: 05 Feb 2024 02:09 UTC

Views: 729