Satanic Panic of the 1980's
The Satanic Panic was a time of hysteria and horror in the United States. People everywhere were convinced Satanists cult were targeting children and infants to convert them to Satanism or to sacrifice them for Satan. The Conspiracy grew when people began to believe Satanists were infiltrating day care centers and elementary schools to obtain and convert more children more easily. Many children came forward making claims they had been sexually abused in Satanic Ritual Abuse fashion. There has been no sufficient evidence to prove any Satanist cults were torturing and sacrificing children and the claims were highly investigated bout found false.
The most renowned Satanists would be Mike Warnke. He claimed to have been the High Priest of the Satanist movement and recorded his experiences in his book The Satan Seller. This book tells the story of Warnke being orphaned as a child and being strongly introduced into the Satanism world. It goes further and shares details of his downward spiral into the world of drugs and alcoholism and his participation in sexual orgies all leading to his position of High Priest. This position allowed him to oversee all the actions of the cults including the summoning of demons, casting of magical spells, kidnapping and raping of children, and ritual sex acts.
The most renowned Satanists would be Mike Warnke. He claimed to have been the High Priest of the Satanist movement and recorded his experiences in his book The Satan Seller. This book tells the story of Warnke being orphaned as a child and being strongly introduced into the Satanism world. It goes further and shares details of his downward spiral into the world of drugs and alcoholism and his participation in sexual orgies all leading to his position of High Priest. This position allowed him to oversee all the actions of the cults including the summoning of demons, casting of magical spells, kidnapping and raping of children, and ritual sex acts.
An attempt at suicide by a heroine overdose left a young Warnke confused and very angry. This led him to his eventual conversion to Christianity where he began to evangelize others. Warnke now is living happily and his book (seen in the picture to the right) is still being purchased today.
"The Satan Seller, first published in 1973, purported to tell of Warnke's college days as a high-ranking Satanist in the mid-1960's. Warnke, a proteg of evangelist Morris Cerullo, also claimed to have been a member of that ultraconspiracy, the Illuminati during this time. (But it wasn't until he found Jesus that he began making real money; his ministry currently grosses two million dollars a year. The IRS recently revoked his tax-exempt status.) The Christian magazine Cornerstone, in a fine display of a movement policing its own, reports that college friends of Warnke's remember him as a likeable, not-very- offensive storyteller. Beyond a little Ouija board play, Warnke's circle of friends had never gotten anywhere near the Satan worship, gang rape, and major-league drug dealing that Warnke describes. When told of Warnke's current claims of those days, most of his friends from the period responded with laughter or questions like "Is this a joke?" " (Siano)
"When Mike Warnke shared his lurid past as an army brat, drug addict and high priest of Satan, we were mesmerized. Mike’s book, The Satan Seller , was in high demand. Kidnapped into the church of Satan after being shot, Warnke was saved by Jesus Christ. He came clean about baby sacrifices, summoning evil spirits, orgiastic perversions, rapes, Illuminati conspiracies, very long fingernails, ritual slayings, and magic spells. Mike, who billed himself a “Christian comedian,” put out spoken word albums about his conversion and about the dangers of Halloween, among other things, selling millions of books and records. Warnke was by far the coolest testament to Christ’s awesome powers. Defying the powers of darkness, he told his story to Oprah, Larry King, and more." (Luzajic)
"When Mike Warnke shared his lurid past as an army brat, drug addict and high priest of Satan, we were mesmerized. Mike’s book, The Satan Seller , was in high demand. Kidnapped into the church of Satan after being shot, Warnke was saved by Jesus Christ. He came clean about baby sacrifices, summoning evil spirits, orgiastic perversions, rapes, Illuminati conspiracies, very long fingernails, ritual slayings, and magic spells. Mike, who billed himself a “Christian comedian,” put out spoken word albums about his conversion and about the dangers of Halloween, among other things, selling millions of books and records. Warnke was by far the coolest testament to Christ’s awesome powers. Defying the powers of darkness, he told his story to Oprah, Larry King, and more." (Luzajic)
ARe your kids' schools safe?
The future is held by the youth of the country. Due to this it is not surprising that hysteria broke out as it was believed Satanist cults were infiltrating day-care centers and schools. Any mother can tell you the pain caused when you think your child is in danger so when claims were beginning to be brought forth the CIA began its investigation. McMartin Preschool was accused of sexually abusing their students in tunnels underneath the school as part of a Satanist movement. The investigation began in 1983 and after seven years and over $12 million spent on the investigation it was determined that there was not enough evidence to support the accusations that children where supposedly abused as an act of Satanism. Medical examination of the children also did not support the accusation with lack of physical evidence the children were sexual abused. "[The acts include] oral sex, fondling of genitals, buttock or chest area, and sodomy, possibly committed under the pretense of "taking the child's temperature." Also photos may have been taken of children without their clothing. Any information from your child regarding having ever observed Ray Buckey to leave a classroom alone with a child during any nap period, or if they have ever observed Ray Buckey tie up a child, is important." (Linder)
"parents began questioning their children and the children began telling stories of abuse at the preschool; that they had been touched inappropriately, that their pictures had been taken, that they had had been forced to engage in anal and oral sex, and forced to play a game called "Naked Movie Star." "
"parents began questioning their children and the children began telling stories of abuse at the preschool; that they had been touched inappropriately, that their pictures had been taken, that they had had been forced to engage in anal and oral sex, and forced to play a game called "Naked Movie Star." "
Below is a Video which helped feed the belief that Satanists were actually in our schools. The Retired Head of the CIA talks about how he believes there is enough evidence for a re-trial.
Beginning at minute 25.
Beginning at minute 25.
This is a photo of Mrs. McMartin in court during trial. Her school was debunked leaving her jobless and forced to go to trial. She was eventually released of all charges due to a lack of evidence to convict her.
In this photo is Ray Bucky seen in court. Bucky is the son of Mrs. McMartin who taught at McMartin pre-school where he was accused of taking the children down into tunnels where he would sexually abuse them. The tunnels were not found and he wasn't convicted either due to lack of evidence.
McMartin school (seen in the picture) was debunked and quickly closed after the first allegations were made. Supposedly the kids were abused in tunnels under the school but these tunnels were never found.
Unfortunately the Satanic Panic was more similar to the Salem Witch Trials in which kids lied and exaggerated the truth feeding off the publics' hysteria. Many children were convinced they had been abused by satanists but psychologists and experts say their minds produced these memories after hearing simliar stories when they were young. Their minds latched onto this idea making them believe it had happened to them. An example of this is two sisters named Bonnie and Patty who sued their mother for supposed sexual abuse when they were young.
Those abused by satanic cults are often unsure of certain details and are unwilling to talk about details which leads many intellectuals to believe it was a creation of their minds and not their actual experiences.
The two women do not like the accusation that their therapist had slowly input these ideas of being abused into their minds rather than it actually happening. Many psychologists believe no Satanic abuse was inflicted on those claiming so. The mind is easily convinced and it is important to realize especially with cases like these.
During the 1980's hysteria distorted the perception of many allowing them to believe Satanic Ritual Abuse was growing and children were in danger. It seemed that everyone was blaming the Devil for crimes committed.
In 1985 nurse Margaret Kelly Michaels of
Wee Care Nursery was charged with child molestation and was successfully tried. A few years later the charges were dropped after the courts deemed the evidence unsupportive and insufficient for conviction.
In 1985 nurse Margaret Kelly Michaels of
Wee Care Nursery was charged with child molestation and was successfully tried. A few years later the charges were dropped after the courts deemed the evidence unsupportive and insufficient for conviction.
Magaret Kelly (as seen left in court) was another victim of exaggerated beliefs and powerful hysteria. She was incorrectly convicted of child molestation ruining three years of her life.
"Satanism: A New Form of "Stranger Danger"
In today's version of "stranger danger," it is the satanic devil worshipers who are snatching and victimizing the children. Many who warned us in the early 1980s about pedophiles snatching fifty thousand kids a year now contend they were wrong only about who was doing the kidnapping, not about the number abducted. This is again the desire for the simple and clear-cut explanation for a complex problem.
For those who know anything about criminology, one of the oldest theories of crime is demonology: The devil makes you do it. This makes it even easier to deal with the child molester who is the "pillar of the community." It is not his fault; it is not our fault. There is no way we could have known; the devil made him do it. This explanation has tremendous appeal because, like "stranger danger," it presents the clear-cut, black-and-white struggle between good and evil as the explanation for child abduction, exploitation, and abuse.
In regard to satanic "ritual" abuse, today we may not be where we were with incest in the 1960s, but where we were with missing children in the early 1980s. The best data now available (the 1990 National Incidence Studies on Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children in America) estimate the number of stereotypical child abductions at between 200 and 300 a year, and the number of stranger abduction homicides of children at between 43 and 147 a year. Approximately half of the abducted children are teenagers. Today's facts are significantly different from yesterday's perceptions, and those who exaggerated the problem, however well-intentioned, have lost credibility and damaged the reality of the problem." (Lanning)
In today's version of "stranger danger," it is the satanic devil worshipers who are snatching and victimizing the children. Many who warned us in the early 1980s about pedophiles snatching fifty thousand kids a year now contend they were wrong only about who was doing the kidnapping, not about the number abducted. This is again the desire for the simple and clear-cut explanation for a complex problem.
For those who know anything about criminology, one of the oldest theories of crime is demonology: The devil makes you do it. This makes it even easier to deal with the child molester who is the "pillar of the community." It is not his fault; it is not our fault. There is no way we could have known; the devil made him do it. This explanation has tremendous appeal because, like "stranger danger," it presents the clear-cut, black-and-white struggle between good and evil as the explanation for child abduction, exploitation, and abuse.
In regard to satanic "ritual" abuse, today we may not be where we were with incest in the 1960s, but where we were with missing children in the early 1980s. The best data now available (the 1990 National Incidence Studies on Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children in America) estimate the number of stereotypical child abductions at between 200 and 300 a year, and the number of stranger abduction homicides of children at between 43 and 147 a year. Approximately half of the abducted children are teenagers. Today's facts are significantly different from yesterday's perceptions, and those who exaggerated the problem, however well-intentioned, have lost credibility and damaged the reality of the problem." (Lanning)
Lies eventually Die...
Lies feed off of fear and often thrive on half truths and false beliefs. But like everything else, the truth eventually comes out in the end. After all the cases of supposed Satanic Panic seemed to come up short with poor evidence and unlikely and unbelievable stories. Conspiracists never give up trying to come up with new effective evidence, but the truth is clear. Though Satanism is a real thing, Satanists infiltrating schools and Ritually Abusing children never happened. In the the end it is just scary story.