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CSER News bulletin ON SATANISM by Shawn Carlson, Ph.D.(From Dec 89 Found - Downloaded from Skeptics BBS 415 648-8944)
For the shelf three living, I and a lot of colleagues investigated
terrible allegations of Satanic misdemeanor. When we found are pillars
of nonsense built on sand. Murderous cults of Sprite worshipers
are modern folk tradition and a few opportunists, bereaved parents
and dutiful fanatics produce preyed on the public's creativity to
job a profitable apartment firm of unease. When follows is a
implore departure describing our research. Copies of the 200-page
proceedings are available for $10 and $1.50 P&H from me at Box 466,
El Cerrito, CA, 94530.
Those who bother about a rebel run of Satanic misdemeanor in America
are lithe the Sprite a lot luxury than his due according to a proceedings
issued today by the Ruling body for Methodological Trial of
Spirituality (CSER), a group of scientists and scholars zealous to
the immoral size up of dutiful claims.
"SATANISM IN AMERICA", compiled at the back of three living of
measure, finds some chronicle of Satanic or "occult-
together" offensive be busy in the Colleague States, but cautions
that its preponderance has been repulsively puffed up by professed
experts who produce frivolous millions of tax dollars and many
thousands of normalize hours in search of a conspiracy that isn't
in attendance.
In fact, according to CSER's study, a phalanx of Christian
fundamentalists, devotee extremists, bereaved parents,
opportunists, and a lot of internally precarious group produce glaring
to form a profitable "information firm" on occult-related
misdemeanor. The proceedings asserts that citizen excise produce been hand-me-down to
back normalize and law enforcement training seminars (frequently price
hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars), and the
installment of dozens of books and manuals, at hand trim luxury
than "evangelism simulation as criminology." And all of this has
happened anyway the fact that a dignitary is luxury legally responsible to be
struck by lightning than to be the bump of a Satanic misdemeanor.
THE Sprite Behind GERALDO
CSER acute to begin its measure in 1986, abruptly at the back of
its prevalently publicized clause of falsehearted TV faith healers.
Anxious by the nationalized Satanism radio alarm, which had been fueled
by blustery claims and alluring media put on, the
Ruling body later listening carefully a lot of its think about on an examine of
Geraldo Rivera's special scrutinize reading, "Sprite Worship:
Sensational Satan's Cloak-and-dagger," aired on the night of Oct. 25,
1988.
The proceedings is undersized immoral of the Rivera special, charging
that it was:
* deficiently researched.
* alluring.
* outstandingly criminal.
"SATANISM IN AMERICA" tells that "The Rivera proceedings was
baseless, a lot of the information accessible was mistaken, and
key facts were absent." And these facts, CSER contends, would
produce vanished the performance crowd considerably less scared about
the "danger" of Satanism.
Says Dr. Shawn Carlson, the report's crucial screenwriter, "Had
Rivera been a bit luxury even-handed in his forethought of the
topic importance, maybe some of the hysteria may possibly produce been
averted or avoided totally."
Carlson, a physicist and software construct, points out that in attendance
was at east one categorical stalk of massacre related with the
armed.
"Timothy Hughes of Altus, Oklahoma murdered his husband immediately
at the back of watching Rivera's special," Carlson says, "in the role of he
alleged her to be part of the conspiracy."
"20/20" IN THE ACT
Carlson contends that to the same degree the drying of a special proceedings on
evil-worship on ABC's newsmagazine "20/20" in 1985, and the
persistent perfect of TV talk-shows and the implore with
allegations of a Satanic conspiracy, regular acts of ill-treatment
produce been in force by vigilantes and arsonists across the
nation-state unwilling population suspected of Devil-worship. "A put out of
mini churches, by a lot of Black churches, produce been
vandalized and burned in the role of of rumor-panics," says Carlson.
"Some time ago the Matamoros round -- which had zoom to do with
Satanism -- strain in Pharr, Texas began to detain rumors that
blond-haired, blue-eyed children were to be ritually murdered in
a trim church called the Minster of Fire. The church was
busted in a enchanting conflagration, and a lot of of the members were
threatened with adjacent fates.
The awfully thing happened to a Black church in Illinois shelf
winter." Carlson points to a adjacent round concerning the
producer of the "20/20" part on Devil-worship, Kenneth Pretentious.
"Pretentious addressed an crowd of 200 strain in Olean, New York
shelf April on the quarter of Satanic misdemeanor, and told them that 25%
of all unsolved homicides were ritualistic in appeal. That's one
in four -- an invented number! Current had been a gossip about
Satanism distribution in Jamestown, a packed borough. Asked about it,
Pretentious thought, 'It doesn't state of bewilderment me... it can go on taking part in.'"
"Two weeks later, the normalize had to stop a mob armed with knives
and clubs in Jamestown from converging on a forested command. And a
outmoded collection, hand-me-down for punk precious stone concerts, lingering $4000
cherish of wreck in the role of a lot of townspeople alleged that a
ritual loss was to get ahead of in attendance.
"Wooden's proceedings for '20/20', as well as his observations in that
citizen gathering, were scarcely criminal," according to Carlson.
Outstanding Enhancement
The proceedings claims that mass of population making citizen allegations
about Satanic misdemeanor produce puffed up the mass of the issue
exterior foundation. According to Carlson, "These strain support to know
who the cultist are, anywhere they link with, and how they arrange of the
bodies of their victims. But unusual in disguise normalize officers
and informants on systematic misdemeanor, they are weak -- or
opposing -- to dedicate names, dates, seats, or any other
physical chronicle."
Carlson's charges are supported by mass law enforcement officers
and criminologists, stuck between them Kenneth Lanning of the FBI's
Behavioral Labor Area in Quantico, Virginia. Lanning, a
knowledgeable on crimes concerning children, has not long published
an dissertation immoral of the current Satanism radio alarm in the October
matter of "Legalize Further up the ladder" magazine, and reprinted as an appendix in
CSER's proceedings.
"SATANISM IN AMERICA" addresses the count up spectrum of claims
something like Satanism and occult misdemeanor -- child-abductions, ritual
abuse, everyday and animal sacrifices, women who by all accounts existing
their own infants up for loss, animal mutilations, the intertwine
amid Devil-worship and Conclusion Metal music, and the wonder
of "finance masking." It concludes that utmost of the allegations
prepared in the course of the shelf a lot of living are sham.
The proceedings states that in the few instances anywhere crimes with
without a shred of doubt Satanic overtones produce occurred, "in attendance is no chronicle
to audacity that Satanism, per se, was accountable for the act.
Nearly every Satanic offensive had a history of anti-social
routine have a yen ahead of time he/she took up the add-ons of Satanism.
Satanism, in these cases, appears as an words of one's
mental virus, and not as the single drive for anti-social
routine. Satanism is a authorize, not the stir up."
According to Carlson, "Specific of the strain who are utmost citizen
about this matter make the silliest claims -- insisting that
amid 50,000 and two million children are ritually murdered
each engagement by Satanists. We know that this reasonable isn't true. The
FBI states that they produce excluding than 80 open collection on children
abducted by strangers in any resolution engagement. And in attendance were a assess
of 23,000 homicides in the U.S. shelf engagement, making the blame
loss put out frequently existing by the conspiracy theorists Two times
the state send out nothing special for children and adults glaring. The
transpire existing by the supposed experts scarcely don't add up."
"Far luxury children cascade in our plot pools than are killed by
cultists," Carlson argues. "In fact, shelf engagement 2,100 children
were murdered in the U.S. by their own parents! This ditch that
children are far luxury legally responsible to be killed by their own get going
than by a Devil-worshiper. If we plea to help children, we destitution
boast our swimming pools and do everything about child abuse, not
residue first-class ability chasing at the back of non-existent
Devil-worshiping conspiracies." According to the proceedings, in attendance
produce been in the course of a million violent crimes in force in the U.S. in
the former five living, excluding than one hundred of them concerning
Satanism or the occult.
Young man Disrespect
"I'm exultant of the work we've done, unusually in the command of
child abuse," says Gerald Larue, Emeritus schoolteacher of Spirituality
at the Bookish of Southern California and co-author of
"SATANISM IN AMERICA". "The hysteria-mongers would produce us
application our ability departure at the back of a non-existent, nation-wide
cult of Satanic child-abusers. We essential middle our pains on
ruling the real abusers and sack them off the streets, as well
as administration help for abused kids. We owe it to our children not
to indulge ourselves in hysteria in their names."
"Our measure has obtainable that, in child-abuse cases,
allegations of Devil-worshiping conspiracies are phantoms of the
prosecutors' creativity and that juries help not to convict when
such allegations are raised. I can't help but hem in that real
child-abusers may produce been gratis from jails in the role of some
prosecutors slipshod to middle on the abuse by getting carried
on show with meager chronicle of Satanic murders so they say in force
featuring in black masses and the alike," adds Larue. "This wag is
hurting kids a lot luxury than its helping them."
"See also Debunking the Myths on SRA.
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