England: Some myths never die. Indeed, the internet seems to enable them to spread far more quickly than before. That some people are simply violent cunts who need to be locked up never occurs to most. It's either space aliens, the Beast of Bodmin or, as in this case, some kind of imaginary Satanist.
Satanic link to Cornwall horse mutilation investigated—BBC News, 11th January 2012.
United Kingdom: a little over three weeks ago, The Observer posted a story about a prominent Tory, Philippa Stroud, alleging that she was involved in attempts to "cure" LGBT people. She has disputed this allegation, and the paper has appended her complaint to the article. Part of the summary of this complaint jumped out, as it makes her look as if she's a believer in the Satanic abuse myth:
In addition, the reference to demonic activity in her book "God's help for the poor' does not relate to sexual orientation but to those who have been involved in occult practices, including violence and sexual abuse.
That last comma is in a particularly interesting place...
Rising Tory star Philippa Stroud ran prayer sessions to 'cure' gay people—The Observer, 2nd May 2010.
United Kingdom: I'm still busy dinking with the back-end, so I leave it to Richard Bartholomew to observe that the Satanic abuse myth "true believers" didn't go away when their ridiculous allegations were proved to be hate-driven lies, they just evolved: Satanic Panic Rides Again.
Well, the comments might be working, or they might not be (previewing first definitely does work), and regardless, they look odd. Search definitely isn't working, but here are a few stories to keep you occupied while I try and fix things:
Jersey: To those familiar with the "satanic panic" of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the investigation into allegations of child murder at the Haut de la Garenne children's home on Jersey bore a stark familiarity. Today, police released a statement that there were no murders committed at the home, and that evidence they had previously released was inaccurate.
They said there was no evidence that any children had been murdered or bodies destroyed at the former home. ...
The Deputy Chief Officer, David Warcup, expressedmuch regretatmisleadinginformation released by his predecessor on items found at the property.
Detectives said only three of the bone fragments found could be human, and two of these were hundreds of years old.
'No child murders' in Jersey home—BBC News, 12th November 2009.
United States: Progress in forensic science has cast serious doubts on the convictions of three men for satanic
murders when they are teenagers. The bodies of three 8-year-old boys, Steve Branch, Michael Moore and Chris Byers, were found hog-tied in a drainage ditch in Arkansas in 1993, and they appeared to to have been mutilated.
A young mentally reatrded
man, Jessie Misskelley, made a confession to the police, implicating two of his friends. He told police the boys had been sodomised, forced to perform oral sex, and mutilated. He also mentioned occult rituals and orgies, which led to satanic cult rumours spreading round the local area. But even at the time, Misskelley's testimony was known to be suspect. Many things didn't add up. He initially claimed he attacked the children at a time they were known to be in school, then came up with four other alternatives after prompting from the police. He got the colour and type of cord used to tie the children up dramatically wrong.
Despite the judge deeming this statement to be inadmissible as evidence, a witness made reference to it, and it was considered by the jury. And there were other problems with the evidence, questionable witnesses and prejudicial closing arguments. The main expert witness was a self-styled occult expert with degrees that did not require class attendance.
The new forensic evidence, the work of half a dozen scientists, has failed to link DNA evidence to any of the men convicted of the murders, but it has uncovered a link with the stepfather of one of the dead boys. The scientists also came to a different conclusion about how the bodies came to be mutilated: it was clearly the work of animals and fish in the ditch where they were found.
The oldest of the men convicted was sentenced to death, but fortunately has not been ritually sacrificed yet.
More information on this miscarriage of justice can be found at Free West Memphis 3.
Some stories I missed, or didn't get round to writing about:
Oh, my god, the fan fiction.)
England: Anyone old enough to have been involved in neopaganism in the UK in the 1980s will remember the Rev. Kevin Logan (a.k.a.Kev. the Rev.
). The Anglican vicar spent a lot of time and effort promoting the Satanic Abuse Myth, and propogating outrageous lies about neopaganism. He fell from grace after a seriously disturbed woman, Caroline Marchant, committed suicide while in his care. R.A. Gilbert summarised the story:
Caroline Marchant professed to be a victim of satanic abuse and to have been involved in child sacrifice.... Her story, however, was utterly untrue.... Many of the 'satanic' elements in her story seem to have been derived from the work of Doreen Irivine (who counselled Miss Marchant at the Zion Christian Temple at Yate, near Bristol). What she needed most was psychiatric help, whereas what she received was spiritual counselling by fundamentalists who saw demons rather than a disturbed mind. In February 1990, while in the care of the Reverend Kevin Logan, Caroline Marchant committed suicide. (Gilbert 1993, 154).
Well, he obviously thinks no-one can remember him after 17 years, and is back having a go at Harry Potter. Nor does he seem to have spent the time learning anything about neopaganism, as he strangely seems to think that Rowling's books have something to do with it.
The Rev Kevin Logan, of Christ Church with Cannon Street, Accrington, said that JK Rowling's teenage hero has many similarities with Jesus Christ - but the author's references to paganism could lead children into danger...
The Potter epic encourages kids to be curious in an area that God forbids,he said.It is also an encouragement to the vulnerable and under-age to learn more of paganism and the occult, which have a track record of emotional and spiritual damage.
Obviously failing to look after someone in your care, and contributing to intense religious pressure on her to lie, to the point where she kills herself, does not give the Rev. Logan himself a track record of emotional and spiritual damage.
But there is a reason for his sticking his head over the parapet. In 1988, he published a book which he entitled Paganism and the Occult: A manifesto for Christian Action, in which he expounded, well, a load of complete bollocks. Gilbert (a Christian) was more restrained when he reviewed the work:
The author's aim is to provide the basis for converting occultists to Christianity, but his lack of objectivity and of factual accuracy remove credibility from his attempt. (Gilbert 1993, 177)
So, why do we think Kev. the Rev. is back to his old media-whoring ways?
Christian comment on the issue is being sought as Mr Logan prepares to update his book 'Paganism and the Occult'.
I wonder if they'll send the Prattle a review copy?
Vicar calls for Harry Potter debate—The Blackburn Citizen, 19th September 2007; Gilbert, R.A., 1993, Casting the First Stone: the Hypocrisy of Religious Fundamentalism and its Threat to Society, Shaftesbury, Element Books.
Italy: Normally a fashion leader, Italy has waited 20 years to come up with its own version of a familiar Satanic panic. Six people associated with a kindergarten have been arrested in connection with allegations similar to those which swept America a couple of decades ago.
Some victims spoke of esoteric and satanic rituals, where adults forced them to drink human blood, exited from wounds that the same persons caused.
The pupils described the intimate parts of the body of the arrested persons and mentioned also piercing and tattoos, which a child at such a tender age wouldn't know, if he or she has not seen them before.
The little victims described the dreadful scenes saying:In the villa where they took us, a man cut his arm and coerced us to drink his own blood which he poured in a glass, with other substances. Then they made us do a series of strange games, sort of performances with masked adults and massages to female teachers with oil.
The Catholic Church has recently been whipping up hysteria about Satanism in Italy, promoting exorcism, and church representatives have been behind outrageous stories in the press.
Italy rocked by satanic, drug-induced sexual abuse in kindergarten—Malta Star, 26th April 2007.
Australia: The Ordo Templi Orientis has come to a settlement with a woman who accused them of ritual abuse:
In a settlement reached today, Dr Michaelson will attempt to have the offending website shut down and has acknowledged no proof has ever been produced to support the allegations, which caused serious offence to the society's members.
Groups settle row over website paedophile claims—ABC News, 27th November 2006; see also Myth promoter's lies land her in court—Pagan Prattle, 23rd November 2006.
Australia: It takes about a day to get between Prattle Towers Northern Hemisphere in Edinburgh, and Prattle Towers Southern Hemisphere near Sydney, so you have to wonder why the news that Satanic Ritual Abuse was a pernicious myth appears not to have made the journey to Australia yet.
Reina Michaelson , a psychologist, believes that the O.T.O. hosts parties where children are sexually abused, sacrificed and eaten, and published an article to that effect. But Victoria has laws against religious vilification, and they apply to all religious groups, so the O.T.O. sued.
It has complained under Victoria's religious hatred law that Dr Michaelson and her organisation vilified OTO members, causing revulsion, ridicule, hatred and contempt.
According to OTO's statement of complaint, Dr Michaelson said it was not a religion but a child pornography and pedophile ring, that its members practised trauma-based mind control, sexual abuse and satanic rituals to discourage its victims from complaining to the authorities, and that it condoned kidnapping street children and babies and children from orphanages for sex and sacrifice in religious rituals.
Much effort has been made to present Michaelson as a respectable proponent of children's rights, and she has insisted the article concerned was posted to the web without her knowledge or consent. But Red Wolf has been digging...
Scotland: A woman at the centre of ritual abuse allegations on the Isle of Lewis has told the police that she was not telling the truth. Angela Stretton, 39, who has learning difficulties, said that she had been pressurised into making false allegations during a long series of interviews with police and social workers.
I had lots of meetings with police and social workers. They kept questioning me about different people. It was a different person every day. They had a list of names, including my mum and brother. They said things about taking photos and killing animals and drinking their blood,she said.
At first I said no, they wouldn't do that. But they kept on and on at me. They said I had to tell the truth for the children. I felt really under pressure, so I suppose I told them what they wanted to hear. I just agreed with what was being said.
Stretton also has a history of making hoax calls, but this did not stop the police using here as their star witness to bring rape and child abuse charges against eight people, including a 75-year-old woman.
The similarities to the earlier Orkney case are so surprising it makes you wonder if police and social services on the Isle of Lewis had actually read Lord Clyde's enquiry report. Both cases centred around families where abuse was taking place, of the sadly common sort within the family. But whereas in Orkney, the social workers were much too enthusiastic to take children into care, the Lewis ones seemed reluctant to do so, even though the children were clearly in immediate danger of continuing abuse. They and the police were more interested in uncovering an island-wide satantic abuse ring than the welfare of children.
In Orkney, the main source of evidence was a child from the family where abuse had taken place, who was badly disturbed and awaiting an appointment with a child psychologist. The social workers believed every outrageous claim she made, except when she told them she was making it all up.
Yet the Orkney events happened while the abuser of the children was in prison, having been convicted. In this case, the real child abuser is likely to have got away with their crimes because of the police and social workers' determination to chase after fantasies.
Satanic abuse key witness says: I lied—The Observer, 24th September 2006. See also: Satan-obsessed social workers probed—Pagan Prattle, 15th July 2004; This is important—Pagan Prattle, 11th July 2004.
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