Review: Accused: The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax - Channel 4

Joseph Reaidi

Channel 4
hamhigh.co.uk
March 10, 2024

A horrific hoax in which parents and teachers were falsely accused of being part of a Satanic paedophile ring in Hampstead made for a dramatic news story – but Channel 4’s 90-minute documentary is a stark reminder of how deeply this affected innocent mothers.

"This is a true story on a lie." That’s how Emily Turner’s upcoming film Accused: The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax opens, before it retells the chilling story that caught attention across the globe.

I will never forget my horror when I first heard the allegations of children being sexually abused by a satanic cult operating out of Christ Church and the adjacent primary school in 2014.

When it became clear these were baseless claims, I was baffled at how such claims came to be spread.

Yet despite my knowledge of what unfolded, I was still taken back to hear the retelling of the story through the voices of four mothers accused of abusing children and who had their names and addresses leaked as they faced harassment from the public.

Turner manages to make viewers empathise with these women – while still keeping them anonymous – by having actors lip-sync with the recorded interviews as though they were speaking to a camera.

The claims first spread after two children were recorded telling entirely made-up stories concocted by their mother Ella Draper’s new boyfriend, Abraham Christie.

While snippets were shown of these videos and other uploads which fuelled the conspiracy, a simulated ticker of views and likes rapidly builds up in the corner of the screen, emphasising just how quickly this spread worldwide.

“It felt like the modern world and the internet meets this medieval witch hunt,” one mum said.

Then there is the shocking revelation that paedophiles used the leaked data to email the parents and share their grotesque interest in their children. It was heart wrenching to hear that predators even managed to take images of one mum’s daughter from her Google profile picture for their own gratification.

Accused also bravely gives a platform to two key conspiracy theorists, who to this day believe that the Satanist cult was real.

While there is arguably a danger in letting the same people who spread these false narratives once again speak to a wide audience, it’s almost mind boggling to see their responses even after the fraud was debunked and both Draper and Christie jailed.

In a post-pandemic world where conspiracists thrive more than ever online– whether it’s denying the existence of a global virus or the government controlling the weather through ‘chemtrails’ – it’s undeniably fascinating to hear from a side unwilling to accept that their theories were wrong.

Turner even revealed to us that Sabine McNeill, who was jailed over stalking the parents and breaching a restraining order, tried to walk out of her interview several times.

And as tragic as the circumstances were, it is empowering to hear how the four mothers – described as warriors and not victims – took back control in a world of online misinformation where they faced constant harassment.

https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/24140900.review-accused-hampstead-paedophile-hoax---channel-4/

The history of Satanic Panic in Hollywood

Aimee Ferrier
FAR OUT
January 14, 2024

For centuries, those enticed by a good conspiracy theory or two have often found allure in the idea that Satanic worship is the only reasonable explanation for the world’s corruption and other ‘ills’. Yet, this phenomenon has often been used as a scapegoat to blame people for not fitting into prescribed societal moulds. There have been countless instances throughout history to suggest that those interested in fighting the threats of Satanism are actually more concerned with the ‘threat’ of femininity, homosexuality or Judaism, for example.

The Salem Witch Trials, which occurred between 1692 and 1693, are a glaring example of women being targeted by the patriarchy for their lack of adherence to expected feminine norms. Women were accused of being witches and worshipping the devil, leading to subsequent torture and death. That’s just one example – for years, people have been tried and executed for supposedly worshipping the red-horned figure, and the phenomenon is still present in society today.

These days, the internet makes it easier than ever for conspiracists around the world to connect online and analyse media and famous figures for signs of potential devil worship. Many conspiracy theorists associate Satanism with child abuse, suggesting that certain celebrities have engaged in ritualistic sacrifice as a way to become famous or have drunk the blood of children to retain their youthful appearances (many conspiracists seem to forget about the prominence of the plastic surgery industry).

However, Satanic Panic began to pick up pace in the 1980s and 1990s, mainly in the United States – a country where religious fanaticism is strikingly prominent in many areas. You only have to cast your mind back to the West Memphis Three case from 1994 – where several teenage boys were falsely accused of murdering children in a devil-worshipping ritual – to see the mammoth effects of Satanic Panic. One of the three accused teenagers, Damien Echols, was sentenced to death via lethal injection, although he was eventually released from prison in 2011. When he was convicted, much of the evidence used against him consisted of his interest in bands like Metallica, wearing dark clothing, and expressing an interest in Wicca. The teenager had several alibis that proved he was not involved in the murders.

In an interview with The Guardian, Echols explained that many of the religious members of his neighbourhood were constantly blaming any traces of corruption on Satanism, even believing that roadkill was actually evidence of ritualistic worship. He explained: “The local media had run so many stories about Satanic orgies and human sacrifices that by the time we walked into that courtroom the jury saw the trial as nothing more than a formality. It was over before we even walked in.”

The fact that the case was so highly publicised and given significant Hollywood treatment – Echols even served as inspiration for the character of Eddie Munson in Stranger Things – reflects just how intense the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and ‘90s really was. Most of those obsessed with sniffing out every possible Satan worshipper tended to be – and still are – right-wing or extremely traditional and conservative Christians. Using Satanism as an excuse to attack the left, those of other religions, backgrounds, beliefs or lifestyles, many conspiracists hide their bigotry behind feigned concern for child safety. In reality, most Satanic child-sacrificing theories have been found to lack substantial evidence, with conspiracists playing into the homophobic narrative that the LGBTQ+ community supposedly poses a paedophilic threat to children.

But why did the Satanic Panic become so widespread in the 1980s and ‘90s? There were many reasons for this ongoing moral panic, from books such as The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey, published in 1969, to the 1980 memoir Michelle Remembers by Lawrence Padzer and Michelle Smith. The latter detailed Smith’s apparent memories of childhood abuse at the hands of devil-worshippers, which she remembered through hypnosis, although the book was later debunked and has since been disregarded.

The Manson Family cult’s string of violent crimes, most notably the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969, were key moments in Hollywood history. The most famous victim of the crimes was successful actor Sharon Tate, who was then heavily pregnant with a child fathered by her husband, Rosemary’s Baby director Roman Polanski. In The White Album, Joan Didion wrote, “Many people I know in Los Angeles believe that the Sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969, ended at the exact moment when word of the murders on Cielo Drive travelled like brushfire through the community, and in a sense this is true. The tension broke that day. The paranoia was fulfilled.”

Tension continued to mount in the United States over the years, and by the 1980s and ‘90s, enough horror movies exploring Satanism – with more graphic violence than ever before – had been made, leaving many people even more scared of The Devil. From The Omen (one of the highest-grossing movies of 1976) to the Oscar-winning religious supernatural horror The Exorcist, Hollywood was churning out productions that supplanted an even greater fear of The Devil in audiences.

Additionally, Rosemary’s Baby, which includes a scene where Rosemary, played by Mia Farrow, is raped by Satan, was another significant horror movie that terrified many viewers with its spine-tingling exploration of occult activity and Satanism.

With developments in special effects and the abolishment of the Hays Code allowing directors to make scarier, more realistic-looking movies laden with profanity, violence and gore, it’s no surprise that many susceptible viewers saw a real threat within them. Still, we cannot necessarily blame cinematic depictions of Satanism for the rise of the Satanic Panic – that would be too easy. These filmmakers certainly didn’t make their horror movies with the intention of causing moral panic and playing into Satan-fearing conspiracy theories. Yet, as with all works of art, films can be interpreted as audiences wish, taking on a meaning separate from the director’s intentions.

Thus, from movies about Satanism inciting widespread fear, to conspiracies suggesting that celebrities have achieved their success through secret devil-worshipping rituals, Hollywood and the Satanic Panic have always been interminably linked. It seems as though, while Satanic Panic is not as rampant as it was a few decades ago, fears of Satanism within Hollywood, as well as the music industry, are still potent topics of discussion among conspiracy theorists.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/history-of-satanic-panic-in-hollywood/

I grew up in the Satanic Panic - and it's happening again

I too have been afraid of things that couldn't hurt me. It is never too late to interrogate your fears

GIGI GRIFFIS
SALON
JUNE 19, 2023

I was a young teen when I destroyed my music collection in the name of Jesus.

I stood in the cul-de-sac with my best friend, Joanna, and we smashed our CDs to smithereens on the hot, hard asphalt. Scratched and snapped and broken into pieces, these secular musicians would never again whisper their ungodly thoughts into our young, impressionable ears—a thing we had been convinced, in church and youth group and summer revivals, would tempt us slowly away from our god.

Hallelujah! Free from . . . smooth jazz? Good Charlotte? No Doubt? I don't remember which bands they were, but I do remember that anything not made by a Real Christian™ was trying to plant demonic influence in my very soul. So smash

"Riot Girl" on the pavement; scratch "I'm Just a Girl" until it is no more. The devil isn't in the details, you see: He's in the music.

With that story as my Genesis, you won't be surprised to learn that I grew up during the Satanic Panic of the '80s and '90s, when a large portion of the U.S. population truly believed that cartoons and musicians and a certain type of book were trying to convert their kids to Satanists. Rock music, they said, when played backward, contained hidden messages from the devil. The Smurfs were a gay cult. My Little Pony was trying to entice me to witchcraft (never mind that the witches were the bad guys). And an underground Satanic cult was abusing children en masse.

The only safe choice for us teens: Smash those CDs. Turn off the cartoons. Burn the books.

Be afraid.

Because anything might be trying to destroy your soul. A punk rocker, a Care Bear, a rainbow.

Now, the so-called villains are drag queens, queer people, history teachers, gender rebels. Ironically, in the crossfire of both panics lie the children—who are learning to be afraid

This was my childhood. My teen years. My formative moments. A collection of fever-pitch fears that the most innocuous things might be the very path to hell. You may not be surprised to learn that I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in my 20s. I'm hypervigilant, prone to panic attacks, triggered in the clinical sense of the word. For so much of my life, everything felt like a threat. Some (even innocuous) things still do.

Fear is something I've since learned to interrogate in myself. Because fear is natural, and even good sometimes. It tells us not to touch the hot stove. It asks, "Do you really want to walk down that dark alley"? It protects. But when the fear is unjustified—not grounded in real danger—it can be a prison. It can do real harm.

During the Satanic Panic of the '80s and '90s, that fear led to the false imprisonment and deportation of innocent people. Terrified parents decided their kids were being abused by daycare providers and, despite a complete lack of evidence, the paranoia that had gripped the nation pushed judges and juries to convict. One couple spent 21 years behind bars.

And then there were the invisible victims, like me and my cohort. With our panic attacks and our shame and our confusion about who and what to trust. With our childhoods missing pieces because instead of laughing at cartoons, we were being asked to interrogate them, tattle on them, and destroy them in the name of God. The panic stole some part of our innocence and had a ripple effect deep into our lives.

For the past few years, I've watched—with growing unease—as another Satanic Panic unfolds in my lifetime.

QAnon is still growing (in 2021, an alarming 16 percent of Americans said they believe its core tenets, according to a 2022 PRRI study), pushing the idea that secret Satanists within the government are both sacrificing children (because the bad guy is always secretly sacrificing children) and trying to undermine your personal safety and take away your (unspecified) rights. Rippling outward from there, an even larger sample of the population seems to be stuck on the idea that children's books and history classrooms hide a secret evil that's coming for our children.

Just like in the '80s and '90s, it's not just the secret, powerful Satanists who are the focus of this cultural fear. It ripples outward to yet again demonize marginalized groups. It's the heart of the panic about Critical Race Theory and gender education that has already resulted in the introduction of dozens upon dozens of legal attempts to censor education. It's the foundation of the panic about so-called obscenity in kids' books (being so loosely defined as to sometimes include fart jokes or dressing the "wrong" way), leading to campaigns to defund entire library systems. And it's what has turned the nation to a sinister debate about who uses what bathroom, which has already resulted in legal changes that Human Rights Watch warns will undermine people's rights to health, education and privacy.

They say that history repeats itself, but I didn't realize history was so short. That I'd watch the fever pitch play out in my teen years and again as I approach 40. Of course, these aren't the only two moral panics to grip a nation and destroy lives. Go back further and you find actual witch hunts. You find Jeanne d'Arc burned at the stake for wearing pants. You find the myth that Jewish people were ritually killing Christian children, a myth known as blood libel that has put millions of Jews in danger in multiple eras.

Our children aren't in danger from the stranger in eyeliner or the person of ambiguous gender; they are in danger from their fathers, brothers, family friends. The latter is an uncomfortable truth, one our hearts rebel against.

We like to think modern people are logical. But I see no logic in the screaming terror at seeing a performer in a feather boa or in the stubborn denial of the real statistic that 80 percent of those who commit sexual violence know their victim. Our children aren't in danger from the stranger in eyeliner or the person of ambiguous gender; they are in danger from their fathers, brothers, family friends. The latter is an uncomfortable truth, one our hearts rebel against.

In 2020, as I watched these dominos falling, fear building, I quietly started writing a book I'd meant to write for years: "The Wicked Unseen," a young adult novel set during the Satanic Panic that asks the same questions, now weighing even more heavily on my heart. How do we bridge the gap between what we are afraid of and what we should be afraid of? How do we get better at interrogating our fears? If the stove is clearly off, should we still be afraid to touch it? If statistically there is no danger from drag queens, should we be afraid of them?

In my book, the pastor's daughter disappears on Halloween weekend, and the whole town cries "Satanists!" But their panic, their assumption, their focus on Satan, is keeping them from the truth. And that's the point. Panic often keeps us from the truth. Instead of making us safer, it makes us less safe.

In the '90s, the so-called villains of the panic were innocent daycare teachers who ended up jailed or deported with no proof of wrongdoing. Now, the so-called villains are drag queens, queer people, history teachers, gender rebels. Ironically, in the crossfire of both panics lie the children—who are learning to be afraid. To break their CDs and burn their books and run from ideas their parents disagree with instead of wrestling with them. Children like me, in therapy for over a decade, grieving the unnecessary loss of childhood innocence.

I'm not coming to this essay on a high horse, the wide-eyed shock of How could this happen? or This is not my America. I'm coming here with a broken CD in my outstretched hands, saying I too have been afraid of things that couldn't hurt me. And that it is never too late to interrogate your fears, measure them against the facts, and change your mind.

We do it every day.

When we jump because we thought the scarf on the floor was a snake—but realizing it's a scarf, we pick it up. When we think someone doesn't like us and then learn they're shy and become their friend.

The panic is here. The panic is dangerous. But the panic isn't inevitable. I say this as person who has—many times—reevaluated and changed my mind. Every one of us has the choice to stop participating, to make those mind changes, heart changes, action changes. To say that if "My Little Pony" can turn us from church to witchcraft, well, our faith wasn't very strong in the first place, was it?

By GIGI GRIFFIS

Gigi Griffis writes edgy, feminist historical stories for adults and teens, including "The Empress," a Netflix tie-in. She’s a sucker for little-known histories, “unlikable” female characters, and all things Europe. After almost ten years of semi-nomadic life, she now lives in Portugal with an opinionated Yorkie mix named Luna and a fancy blender that cost more than her couch. Her main hobbies are righteous anger, swearing, and gazing lovingly at the dog or the blender. "The Wicked Unseen" is her YA debut.

https://www.salon.com/2023/06/19/i-grew-up-in-the-satanic-panic--and-its-happening-again/

Satanism, ritual cults and Hollywood: debunking 'satanic panic' conspiracy theories

Author

1. Bethan Juliet Oake

PhD Candidate in the School Of Philosophy, Religion And History Of Science, University of Leeds


Disclosure statement

Bethan Juliet Oake receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) via the White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities (WRoCAH).

The Conversation
May 23, 2023
Partners
University of Leeds provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK.

Earlier this year the non-binary singer-songwriter, Sam Smith, performed their song Unholy, at the Grammys. Dressed in a red devil-horned top hat and latex costume, the performance drew upon popular occult and gothic aesthetics. And it attracted a huge amount of criticism for the supposed promotion of satanic imagery.

Conspiracy theorists alleged that the performance was, in fact, a real, satanic ritual orchestrated by an elite cult of Hollywood satanists. Its supposed aim? To morally subvert society by brainwashing and indoctrinating young people.

Only a few months prior, a similar mass online panic had taken hold in the form of the Balenciaga scandal – with conspiracy theorists claiming that the fashion brand was secretly engaging in child trafficking and satanic ritual abuse.

This was after photographs for its latest campaign featured children holding teddy bear bags that appeared to be dressed in bondage fetish-wear.

These are just the latest in a string of satanic conspiracy theories, from the 2014 Hampstead hoax, which involved false allegations of a satanic paedophile ring operating out of a north London school, to the rise of the now infamous QAnon movement, where supporters believe that Satan-worshipping elites are trying to take over society.

Satanism scares

In the UK and further afield, there’s a long history of claims that secret, Satan-worshipping cults exist that ritualistically abuse and sacrifice children. Emerging in the form of moral panics known as “satanism scares”, it’s possible to trace these rumours and myths back to second-century Rome. Yet they really rose to prominence during the Middle Ages.

This satanic mythology has often been used as a way to demonise Jewish communities. In particular, they’ve often involved false allegations that Jewish people use the blood of non-Jewish – usually Christian – children for ritual purposes.

The European witch-hunts which happened during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries also incorporated claims of devil-worship and child sacrifice.

Sam Smith at the 2023 Grammys.

While accusations of satanic abuse have repeatedly been found to be unsubstantiated and allegations debunked, these rumours and conspiracy theories can cause very real harm.

False satanic abuse allegations have resulted in harassment, death threats and online attacks. In one instance a child was kidnapped after a group falsely believed they were the victim of satanic ritual abuse. And there have even been death sentences (later overturned), in the case one 1990s murder trial in the US.

Indeed, satanism scares can be considered a form of witch-hunt. In the 1980s and 1990s there was a mass satanism scare in the US and UK which became known as the “satanic panic”.

This episode saw many people falsely accused, arrested and at times convicted of satanic abuse. To this day, courts are still working through exonerating those falsely accused.

In one case, a US couple spent 21 years in prison after being found guilty of satanic ritual abuse. Their conviction was eventually overturned due to the faulty witness testimony.

The most famous case was the McMartin preschool trial, which is still the longest-running and most expensive trial in US history. It followed false allegations that hundreds of children had been sexually abused and involved in satanic rituals at a California preschool. It led to fears that children and wider society were under attack from satanic forces.

The satanic panic gained momentum from religious TV channels, public authorities and perhaps most prominently from tabloid media. In both the US and the UK it built upon preexisting societal moral panics relating to cults and child abuse, as well as drawing upon existing homophobic narratives.

Today’s theories

Conspiracy theories appear to reemerge at times of crisis, such as the COVID pandemic and terror attacks. They are often used as a way to scapegoat specific groups considered responsible for widespread societal anxieties.

Satanic cult conspiracy theories today also integrate themselves within other conspiracy theories. Following the pandemic, anti-vax narratives and COVID-19 conspiracy theories are often incorporated.

Some of these allege that the vaccine is the “mark of the beast”, or an attempt by supposed “satanic elites” to control the masses.

Such claims have also latched onto homophobic and transphobic narratives, intertwining allegations of satanic ritual abuse with existing right-wing ideas that attempt to associate LGBTQ+ communities with grooming and paedophilia.

They also incorporate “new world order” conspiracies, which are often explicitly antisemitic. These allege the existence of a powerful network of elites with a hidden, subversive satanic agenda.

While such allegations may appear far-fetched – and it may be difficult to understand how people can believe in them – at their core, satanism scares centre around two very common enemies: Satan and child abusers. In this sense, they act as a kind of demonology blueprint.

Many people may first become involved with these theories because they have genuine concerns about child abuse or “cults”. But these initial concerns can then be manipulated by conspiracy theory rhetoric and online misinformation.

Beyond simply affecting those falsely accused, these conspiracy theories can also be emotionally damaging for those caught up in them and their families.

The image of satanism that these theories propose draws on sensationalised occult stereotypes along with horror aesthetics. It lumps them together with notions of witchcraft, satanism, the paranormal and ceremonial occultism to create an amalgamated image of evil.

This is important because ultimately, understanding the ways that “satanic panic” can piggyback off of and weaponise popular political and social issues is crucial in recognising and removing their harmful effects.



https://theconversation.com/satanism-ritual-cults-and-hollywood-debunking-satanic-panic-conspiracy-theories-203453

The Satanic Temple: Think you know about Satanists? Maybe you don't

Rebecca Seales
BBC News, Boston
May 20, 2023

This may be the world's largest ever gathering of Satanists - and it's about to begin at a Marriott hotel in downtown Boston.

In a candle-lit room set aside for Satanic ceremonies, a neon sign welcomes you to The Little Black Chapel. A raised altar stands at one end, a white pentagram on the floor in front of it.

The ritual being performed here is an "unbaptism", in which participants symbolically reject religious rites performed when they were children.

"No names," says a Satanist who agreed to let me witness their ceremony, as long as they aren't identified.

They wear a floor-length, hooded cloak and a black face mask. Their hands are bound with rope, which is then cast off to represent liberation. Pages are torn out of a Bible to symbolise overturning their Christian baptism.

It's clear the experience was powerful for them.

"As a gay child, being told you are an abomination and should be destroyed, warped a lot of my thinking. Finding The Satanic Temple has really helped me embrace logic and empathy."

The Satanic Temple is recognised as a religion by the US government, and has ministers and congregations in America, Europe and Australia.

More than 830 people snapped up tickets for its late April convention, dubbed SatanCon.

Members say they don't actually believe in a literal Lucifer or Hell. Instead, they say Satan is a metaphor for questioning authority, and grounding your beliefs in science. The sense of community around these shared values makes it a religion, they say.

They do use the symbols of Satan for rituals - for example when celebrating a wedding or adopting a new name. That might include having an upside-down neon cross on your altar while shouting: "Hail Satan!"

For many Christians, this is serious blasphemy.

"That's not wrong," agrees Dex Desjardins, a spokesperson for The Satanic Temple. "A lot of our imagery is inherently blasphemous.

"We've got folks who wear inverted crosses. And our opening ceremony did have the ripping up of a Bible as a symbol of oppression, especially oppression of LGBTQ folk and women, and also the BIPOC community, and pretty much anybody who's grown up with religious trauma, which is a tremendous number of our members."

The Satanists say they respect everyone's right to choose their faith, and they're not trying to upset people.

But Christian protesters from many denominations have gathered outside the hotel, carrying signs warning of damnation.

"Repent and believe the Gospel," urges one. "Satan rules over all the children of pride," says another - the letters of "pride" shaded in the rainbow colours of the LGBTQ Pride flag.

"We are hoping to show God that we do not accept this blasphemy, and that we Catholics have not abandoned the public square to Satanists," says protester Michael Shivler, from a conservative Catholic group.

Convention-goers in the lobby eye the protest outside. "They called us 'dope-smoking masturbators'," one man reports. "Oooh, sky daddy is mad with me!" someone else jokes.

Hellbillies, horns, and Satanic self-pleasure

The event takes up the whole fourth floor of the hotel. The Satanists fill it with androgynous goth chic, flamboyant robes, hand-painted horns, diabolical tattoos, and high-maintenance moustache choices.

Most people here are old enough to be parents, and several are. I spot at least one pushchair.

Presentations are given, including one called "Hellbillies: Visible Satanism in Rural America", and a seminar on Satanism and self-pleasure.

Political activism is a core part of The Satanic Temple's identity. It believes religion and the state should be kept separate, and frequently files lawsuits in the US to defend the distinction. Their point is serious, but they relish bringing satire and outrageousness to the fight.

In Oklahoma, for example, they asked to erect an 8ft (2.4m) Satanic statue at the state capitol when a monument of the Ten Commandments was put up, noting that the First Amendment requires all religions to be treated equally. (The Commandments were ultimately removed after a court battle.)

The Temple also advocates for abortion access, arguing that everyone should have autonomy over their own body.

Earlier this year, it opened an online clinic based in New Mexico, which provides abortion pills by mail.

It has also developed an abortion ritual for people terminating a pregnancy - which is designed to be comforting and involves reciting an affirmation before the abortion - and argues its members must be religiously exempt from abortion bans that would stop them performing it.

That rationale has drawn criticism from some quarters, including in Catholic newspaper the National Catholic Register which called the ritual "nothing more than a grotesque parodying of religious rituals and symbols".

The Yellowhammer Fund, which finances low-income people seeking abortions, declared that "putting your dollars and trust in grassroots organisations that have been doing this work for decades" was a better way to support abortion access.

In a hall packed with supporters, the directors of TST's campaigns present updates on their work. Successes are greeted with whoops, applause, and the sign of the horns.

Another project drawing headlines is After School Satan Clubs - slogan: "Educatin' with Satan". The Temple would rather keep religion out of schools, but wants to counter faith groups coming in to evangelise to pupils.

So where local people have asked it to, it tries to launch an After School Satan Club, focused on community service, science, crafts and critical thinking.

Opponents say it's frightening children, but TST says its content is demon-free. They have a kids' song - My Pal Satan - with a bopping animated goat, and the lines: "Satan's not an evil guy, he wants you to learn and question why. He wants you to have fun and be yourself - and by the way there is no hell."

'Satan loves you!'

Dozens of artists and vendors have set up stalls to sell Satanically inspired crafts. They have everything from "Satan Loves You!" beanies, to crocheted toys modelled on the Baphomet - a goat-headed Satanist symbol with wings.

The Satanic Temple is selling its own T-shirts too. The group doesn't take membership fees, and is kept running largely off donations and merch sales.

A newly launched children's book, titled Goodnight Baphomet, draws coos from bystanders.

The Satanic Temple's code of guiding principles - the Seven Tenets - prioritises empathy, control over one's own body, and respect for other people's freedoms, including the freedom to offend.

Translate that into a kids' book, and it includes rhymes like: "Respect everyone's right to be, especially when they disagree. If their words make you mad, set them free - don't be sad!"

Araceli Rojas, who flew from California to be here, finds the tenets relatable and easy to apply.

"I feel like I've always been quote-unquote a Satanist, I just didn't know it."

She says she first learned about TST through TikTok in 2020. "At that point I looked into it. A little scared, I think, like most would be. And I really wanted to make sure that they weren't sacrificing babies! Then I started getting into the culture, and the scene, and I started to join meetings… and eventually I realised no, they're not, it's just a symbol that they use and it's genuinely really good people."

Chatting around the merch stalls, many people say their intro to The Satanic Temple came from the 2019 documentary Hail Satan?, directed by Penny Lane, which explores the Temple's principles and early activism.

TST says it boosted membership from perhaps 10,000 in 2019, to more than 700,000 today.

Those gathered in Boston include local government staff, medics, engineers, artists, people in finance, a social worker, a therapist, and a circus performer. Many belong to the LGBTQ community. Plenty are married to Christians - or at least to non-Satanists.

Members tend to lean to the left politically, but there's no political test to join and the Temple will not endorse any party or candidate.

Lucien Greaves, The Satanic Temple's co-founder, arrives with personal security, dressed in black and carrying a Thermos. "English breakfast tea. I got it from a shop that sells British stuff." He smiles when I accidentally say "bless you!"

Greaves (a pseudonym) started the movement a decade ago with a friend, Malcolm Jarry (also a pseudonym). They shared a commitment to religious freedom, and opposing what they see as Christianity encroaching on legislation.

News outlets, especially in the US, often present The Satanic Temple as attention-seeking pranksters pretending to be a religion, something he strongly objects to.

"People are hesitant to take anything we say at face value, but I feel like everything we say is pretty straightforward and we're not misrepresenting ourselves at all."

If you're trying not to look like trolls, was it wise to name your abortion clinic "Samuel Alito's Mom's Satanic Abortion Clinic", after the Supreme Court judge who backed the decision to remove the federal right to abortion? And then put it on a T-shirt?

"Part of the consideration was refusing to yield to this idea that everything must be sober and humourless to be authentic at all," says Greaves.

"My thinking on that was - nothing could be more serious than us opening a telehealth clinic. I just would hate to see us lose any sense of humour." Greaves has had to adjust his life to deal with the personal risks he faces as America's most prominent Satanist.

"I moved at some point within the past four years and I don't even have people over, because I don't want to have to move again."

Some TST members feel unable to acknowledge openly that they're involved, citing risks to their safety. Members who have been outed have lost their jobs, lost their children in custody battles, and found fake bombs under their cars.

Chalice Blythe, spokesperson for the Temple's religious reproductive rights campaign, received online harassment in the middle of SatanCon, after footage went viral of her tearing a Bible during the opening ceremony.

It's not the first time she's been threatened. In 2016, a family member leaked her details online and a gunman turned up at her home.

The gunman "said 'this is what I'm here to do - I have this gun with that bitch's name on it.' I know they went to jail.

"Legally changing my name, I've had to do that."

As far as she's concerned, it's worth it. "If my enemies are people of a crazy evangelical mindset who want to take my rights away - those are the kind of enemies I'm proud to have."

Typhon Nyx, in his 30s, is one of many TST members who uses an alternative name in the community - a "Satanym", as they call it. He says he moved from atheism to Satanism only recently.

"Satanism stands for everything I believe in," he says. "Including bodily autonomy, compassion, respect, science. And Satan represents those who were cast out, those who think differently.

"I never found my friends being accepted in the Christian circles. The appeal of Satan is that he is the accepting one, the inclusive one, and someone I can more identify with.

"Although, I don't believe he actually exists."

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65549975

 

Woman convicted in Fall River 'cult murders' denied parole - here's why

Audrey Cooney
The Herald News
Nov. 15, 2022


NATICK — The state’s parole board denied parole for the woman convicted in Fall River’s infamous “cult murders,” saying Robin Murphy has not proved she is willing to be honest or take accountability for her past behavior.

“The Board is of the opinion that Robin Murphy has not demonstrated a level of rehabilitative progress that would make her release compatible with the welfare of society,” the board wrote in a decision released on Nov. 10.

Murphy, 59, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after she confessed to the killing of Karen Marsden, one of three women and teenage girls gruesomely murdered in Fall River in 1979 and 1980 by members of a so-called satanic cult.

Carl Drew, a pimp and drug dealer whom police said created a self-styled satanic cult to keep the people working for him in line, is serving a life sentence for Marsden’s killing. Andrew Maltais, an alleged cult member, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Barbara Raposa and died in prison. No one has been convicted in the killing of the third victim, Doreen Levesque.

In 1985, Murphy recanted her testimony and has maintained her innocence since then.

Murphy was 17 at the time of Marsden's killing. She spend more than 20 years in prison before being released on parole to a long-term treatment facility in 2004. She returned to prison in 2011 after allegedly violating her parole by failing to discuss a relationship with a woman who had a felony conviction to her parole officer and by being in the vicinity of a drug transaction.

Murphy appeared before the board on March 8 of this year to ask for parole again. During the hearing, she told the parole board that she lied about her involvement in the killings in order to ensure that Drew and Maltais went to prison. Murphy said Maltais sexually abused her for years starting when she was 11, and she worried he would do the same to other young girls. Marsden, who was in a relationship with Murphy, was scared of Drew and convinced he was going to kill her, she told the board.

She described her false testimony as a “suicide mission.”

“I didn’t care what happened to me,” she said.

She also told the board that she had made progress on addressed her mental health and childhood trauma while incarcerated and felt confident she could now avoid developing unhealthy, codependent relationships like the one she established with a woman convicted of a felony, which led to her parole being revoked.

In its decision, the parole board wrote that it found Murphy’s changing story about the murders concerning.

“The Board remains concerned about her ability to tell the truth when she has admitted to the Board she has lied under oath,” it wrote.

The board acknowledged that Murphy has taken advantage of available work, educational and treatment programming and has had a positive behavioral record while incarcerated. And, they recognized that parole decisions in the case of people convicted for crimes allegedly committed when they were minors should take their age into account.

Still, they said, Murphy is “only just beginning to address her codependency issues” and not rehabilitated enough to avoid the risk of recidivism.

Fall River state Rep. Alan Silvia, who worked on the “cult murder” cases as a young police detective and has testified several times against Murphy being granted parole, said he received a call from the parole board last week about their decision while he was at work in the State House.

“I’m glad that they made that decision,” he said, adding that Murphy had threatened his life in letters she sent from prison.

Murphy will be able to request parole again in two years.

“It’s a case that never seems to rest,” Silvia said.

https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/courts/2022/11/15/robin-murphy-convicted-in-fall-river-cult-murders-denied-parole-satanic-carl-drew/69646239007/

Did the Satanic Panic Ever Really End?

By Ripley's Believe It or Not!
October 27, 202


Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!

In the 1980s, angry parents insisted that the devil was whispering to their children through heavy metal music. Listening to it would surely cost the kids their souls and send them running into the open arms of a satanic cult.

While that may sound far-fetched, it’s only a record scratch on the surface of what was playing out in America in the ’80s and ’90s. Dubbed the Satanic Panic, this period was full of paranoia-fueled accusations about cults, murder, torture, and abuse that were not only false — they ruined innocent lives.

The Period of Panic

Similar to the Salem witch trials, people were accused of something that had no solid evidence and brought to court. This was largely due to the fear of change, and people with longstanding “traditional” beliefs felt that the changing attitudes of the time threatened their way of life.

A book called Michelle Remembers was published during this time. It’s since been discredited, but not before the damage was done. Co-written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his psychiatric patient (and later wife) Michelle Smith, the book details alleged memories Smith uncovered in therapy.

These “memories” include supposedly spending years as a child imprisoned by a satanic cult, and one version of the book’s cover describes the contents as a battle of innocence versus evil. This book was used as a blueprint for court cases to come in the following years, and Pazder even testified in the McMartin preschool trial.

The Devil is in the Details

The McMartin preschool trial happened at the height of a time when, according to History.com, “parents and daycare workers were jailed after false, and often absurd, allegations about child sexual abuse. As this hysteria swept the country, abuse counseling quickly became a cottage industry, attracting often-unqualified people who seemed to find sexual abuse everywhere.”

One teacher at the school was put through more than six years of persecution and trials without evidence, and The New York Times reported that parents even showed up at the school after it was ordered to be demolished to dig for hidden underground tunnels they were sure existed.

Judging Books by Their Covers

Another famous case of Satanic Panic was that of the West Memphis Three. Following the murders of three young boys, the town quickly pointed fingers at three local teens (Jessie Misskelley Jr., Damien Echols, and Jason Baldwin) who were rumored to be involved in occult activities. One of them, Damien Echols, had the word “evil” tattooed across his knuckles because he thought it looked cool.

After spending 18 years in prison, with one of the men being on death row, they were released. Believe It or Not!, Stranger Things’ misunderstood metalhead character Eddie Munson was based on Echols!

Modern Cultural Examples

When it comes to bands being accused of being in league with the devil, many well-known names were subjected. According to VH1, some of these include Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, and Mötley Crüe. In 1985, two Judas Priest fans attempted suicide. One of them lived and later tried to sue the band, saying that one of the lyrics played backward encouraged them to kill themselves.

Though this may all seem like a thing of the past, similar paranoia and fears are still rampant today. A woman in Texas said that Hocus Pocus 2 could bring evil into people’s homes, according to Variety. She said, “A worst case scenario is: you unleash hell on your kids and in your home. The whole movie is based on witches harvesting children for blood sacrifices.”

“Do not watch this film,” she continued. “Everybody thinks it’s fake and innocent, but they could be casting any type of spell that they want to, anything could be coming through that TV screen into your home.”

Another recent example is QAnon. According to NPR, people “believe that a shadowy cabal kidnaps children, tortures them and uses their blood in satanic rituals.” Many people involved in the conspiracy believe that powerful politicians are responsible this time, not the preschool teachers or daycare workers of the ’80s and ’90s.

Even musician Lil Nas X has sparked Satanic Panic type rumors with his music video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” according to ABC News. The panic that arises when people are confronted by beliefs that challenge their own isn’t going anywhere, and so it seems that the harmful type of accusations that fueled the Satanic Panic may continue as well.


By Kelsey Roslin, contributor for Ripleys.com



https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2022/10/27/did-the-satanic-panic-ever-really-end/

Satanic Panics Can Inspire Major Changes in Society

A Personal Perspective: The devil we think we know: Satanic panics then and now.

Troy Rondinone Ph.D.
Psychology Today

October 5, 2022

Four decades ago, America was in the grip of an attack by the forces of Satan.

In a series of highly publicized court cases, childcare providers were accused of “ritual abuse.” This involved despicable acts of sexual assault, pornographic filmmaking, animal sacrifice, infanticide, grave robbing, and even cannibalism. The problem was serious enough to inspire mainstream press coverage, TV reports, documentaries, and feature films.

Cases of ritual abuse circulated around the country in the 1980s. In Kern County, California, for example, children claimed that caretakers donned black robes and inverted crosses before sacrificing animals and babies, and then forcing them to do abominable acts on camera. Kern County took it seriously enough to create the Ritual Abuse Task Force. The Task Force proceeded to interview hundreds of witnesses, send people to prison, and even acquire a backhoe to dig up the earth in search of tiny buried bodies. None were found.

The most notorious case of the Eighties concerned the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California. It all began when a 2-year-old child, according to his mother, reported being sexually abused by a male teacher. Soon the parents started talking among themselves. The allegations began to cascade. Eventually, the narrative expanded to involve an alleged 1,400 child victims.

The McMartin Preschool case became a media cause célèbre and turned out to be the longest trial in American history. It eventually involved thousands of witnesses, numerous caseworkers, dozens of psychiatric authorities, and large child abuse organizations.

By the time the trial ignominiously ended in a dismissal of charges, it had gotten to the point that the preschool was accused of putting children on airplanes and taking them out to points unknown, where Satanists filmed them while performing heinous acts involving wild animals—sharks and lions included. There was even, apparently, a "goatman."

Where did this chaos come from? Was there really a massive spike in Satanic ritual criminality in the 1980s?

According to Richard Beck in We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s, the backstory of this panic was a more mundane set of events. The nuclear, patriarchal family seemed to be under attack. More mothers were going to college and working and sending their kids off to daycare, and a full-blown backlash against the feminist gains of the 1970s was in effect. The backlash ended up taking some unexpected twists and turns. Satan became one culprit.

Germane to our own times is the idea that Satan is still out there, inspiring evil. According to the popular conspiracy theory known as QAnon, a highly placed group of Democrats, led by Hillary Clinton, are involved in ritual child abuse. They supposedly traffic in minors and escalate to full ritual sacrifice and blood-drinking. Reports The New York Times, at a recent rally, Donald Trump played the tune to a popular QAnon song while members of the audience held aloft a single finger, referencing the QAnon slogan, “Where we go one, we go all.”

The central rhetoric of QAnon is eerily like the McMartin panic. In the case of McMartin, concerned parents took to the streets in protests against Satanism, putting signs around children’s bodies with messages like, “Help Me! Stop Child Molesters!” In QAnon protests, one might see children holding up signs saying, “I’m Not For Sale.” And “#Savethekids.”

It is easy to dismiss these conspiratorial episodes as irrational aberrations, perhaps even as evidence of psychological disturbance. Yet belief in Satanic conspiracy easily can, and does, move to the center of our national discourse. A group of devout believers, battling the forces of Satan, can wreak harm to our fragile democratic system.

Following the McMartin trial, for example, California passed the Crime Victim Justice Reform Act. This legislation drastically changed criminal law in the state. It allowed hearsay evidence to be used in court, and, writes Beck, “removed clauses from the state constitution that provided defendants indicted under a grand jury with the right to a preliminary hearing.”

QAnon believers, we know, were actively involved in storming the capital on January 6, 2021.

Today, roughly 20 percent of Americans believe in the QAnon Conspiracy Theory. They, like the McMartin believers, feel they are battling an existential threat to their children and to their nation. Such belief, even though rooted in fallacy, poses a threat to our society. The devil we should watch out for, it seems, is in our fearful minds.

References

Beck, R. (2015). We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s. New York: PublicAffairs.

Feuer, A. "Trump Rally Plays Music Resembling QAnon Song, and Crowds React." New York Times. Sept 18, 2022.

More references

About the Author

Troy Rondinone, Ph.D., a professor of history at Southern Connecticut State University, is the author of Nightmare Factories: The Asylum in the American Imagination.


https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-asylum/202210/satanic-panics-can-inspire-major-changes-in-society

CultNEWS101 Articles: 3/21/2022 (TikTok, Seven Mountain Mandate, 7M Films, Podcast, Transcendental Meditation, Satanic Panic, Legal, Cult Recovery, Events, Video, Event, Triggers, Shunning, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lebensborn, Nazi)

TikTok, Seven Mountain Mandate, 7M Films, Podcast, Transcendental Meditation, Satanic Panic, Legal, Cult Recovery, Events, Video, Event, Triggers, Shunning, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lebensborn, Nazi

Global Grind: A TikTok Dance Cult? One Famed TikToker's Family Believes She's Being Held Hostage In Hollywood

" ... A widely successful TikToker named Melanie Wilking is alleging that her sister and former collaborator Miranda has been held hostage by an entertainment management firm since January 2021, which she and her family also believe to be a cult. The Michigan born sisters started their entertainment careers on YouTube before amassing their 3 million followers on TikTok in 2020 together. The Wilking sisters often posted their sisterly dances with vibrant and bubbly personas.

Unfortunately for their blossoming joint social media accounts, Melanie and her parents think the cult is standing in the way of their family. In a tearful Instagram Live on Feb. 25, Melanie and her parents made claims that Miranda is being held hostage by an organization called 7M Films, an offshoot of a Penetecostal sect that believes in something called the Seven Mountain Mandate.

The Seven Mountain Mandate is based on a selective reading of Bible verse Isaiah 2:2, from which "a group of self-proclaimed 'apostles' have a plan rooted in biblical prophecy to 'invade' every sphere of life as we know it." According to followers of 7M, the key facets of life are education, religion, family, business, government, entertainment, and media. They believe it is their job to rid those institutions of demons and witchcraft.

This group took on the White House as former President Donald Trump's "spiritual advisor" and now they are breaking their way through the TikTok algorithm." 

Profiling Evil: "Transcendental Meditation Cult"

Mike King interviews Patrick Ryan.

The Herald News: Robin Murphy, convicted in Fall River 'cult murder,' tells her story to the parole board

"Robin Murphy, one of three "people convicted in the Fall River "cult murders," is again looking to be paroled after spending more than three decades behind bars.

"I feel as though the board doesn't think I take responsibility for my actions. I don't know how to better express that I have," she said during a parole hearing on Tuesday.

In 1979 and 1980, two local young women and one teenage girl — Doreen Levesque, Barbara Raposa and Karen Marsden — were gruesomely murdered in the Fall River area. The graphic nature of their killings and the involvement of a so-called Satanic cult, at a time when "Satanic panic" gripped the nation, contributed to a subsequent frenzy that surrounded the murders.

Alleged cult leader and pimp Carl Drew was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the Marsden murder and remains in prison. Andrew Maltias, another alleged cult member, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the Raposa murder and has since died. No one has ever been convicted for Levesque's killing.

Murphy, who was just 17 when she was arrested, took a deal in exchange for testifying against Drew and Maltais. She admitted to killing Marsden and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. In 1985, she recanted her testimony and has maintained her innocence since then."

ICSA Annual Conference: Leaving family to join a cult, getting out, & healing. The power of connection

Jennifer French

June 24, 2022, 4:00 PM-4:50 PM

When an individual joins a cult, it can be the case that so many others are affected beyond that individual. In 2001, at the age of 25, I joined a "mystical christian" cult that I would remain in for 11 years. I was immediately targeted by the leaders as they sensed the close bond I had with my brother, mother, and father. This schism from my family would prove to be one of the greatest experiences of torture I would endure. But it was also this deep connection with family that seemed to shift from a bold rope that tied us all together, able to endure, until it slowly thinned into a frayed piece of string, constantly tugged on by the leaders of my group until it was a whisper of a web that I perceived as a glistening temptation of the past.

And then an awakening began to emerge, resulting from my question that arose against the messages I had been fed. I wondered for the first time in a long time, 'Why had I not communicated with my family in 8 years?' Any question of being attached had disappeared years ago with the puff of wind that sent the thin silky thread floating as a distant memory. This curiosity initiated my return to self and release from the group.

While the survivor stories of how we left are varied, the role that relational connections might play are often central to recovery, healing, or even survival. We will explore the power of this beyond my story. My hope is that this presentation provides relatable information for survivors, and helpful suggestions for friends and families with a loved one in a group of high control.

Jon Atack: The Dynamics of  Cult Involvement 

"Pat Ryan and Joe Kelly have worked helping people exit and recover from cults for many years. In this week's video, they join Jon to talk about the nature of authoritarian control, the nostalgia some people hold for the early days of their involvement, and how no two experiences are ever the same."

ICSA Annual Conference: Recovering a sense of personal identity after leaving a high demand group, or relationship

"Fervent, earnest, participation in a cult or other high demand social experience can result in loss of a sense of personal identity as we become more identified with the group. This loss can be characterized by many things but personality function alterations, changes in basic values, and adoption of new and consistent behavior patterns that mirror those of the leader or of other participants in the experience, are at the top. Those who grow up in these conditions, SGA/MGA's, may have never experienced reality any other way. This can be difficult for the emerging survivor to articulate, especially since the concept of a sense of personal identity itself is controversial. It has been argued that the concept is a fantasy and does not exist, just a construct of a Western worldview that must be recognized as such and left behind. It can also be difficult for the emerging survivor to identify exactly what is wrong now that they have left. They can, with certainty, identify with not fitting in where and with whom they used to feel at home. SGA's say they have never felt they fit in and cannot imagine ever feeling that way. This feeling can be present whether the emerging survivor identifies with having been "brainwashed" or not. This session will enable participants to recognize the three above aspects of personal identity and to know how to address each as they enable themselves or others to function freely in society outside the group."

ICSA Annual Conference:  Coping with Triggers and Shunning - How To Change and Use Our Belief System - Gary Alt

"Coping with triggers and shunning may seem like two different topics. However, they have at their basis the same factors, and changing these factors in our favor can help us to cope with both, and in fact thrive beyond them. There is little one can do to stop the shunning by still-members of the group we have exited from. Those triggers that explode in our hearts and minds without notice can be difficult to react positively to. Those things are hard to change. What we can change is how we react to them. How we react to them is linked to our belief system - what we believe about ourselves, and what we believe about the group we have left (how much it still matters to us). How can we change our belief system?"

"Gary Alt was one of Jehovah's Witnesses for 41 years, from the age of 16. He served part of that time as a congregation elder and as a member of the headquarters family in Brooklyn NY. Since exiting the organization, he has been educated and trained as a Life Coach by The Coach Training Academy, and received his certification from Certified Coaches Alliance. He specializes in helping former members of high-control groups."

Timeline: The Nazi breeding and infanticide program you probably never knew about

"It sounds like the stuff of dystopian fantasy: women encouraged to bear children to hand over to a totalitarian regime. But for thousands of Europeans, including ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, such a program isn't imaginary — it's the story of their lives. Lyngstad and approximately 20,000 others are the Lebensborn, survivors of a Nazi breeding program designed to create racially "pure" children for the Third Reich.

Between 1935 and 1945, the secret program encouraged racially "fit" women to bear children for the Reich and protected babies thought to exemplify Nazi Germany's Aryan ideals. Translated as "fount of life," the Lebensborn program involved secret birthing facilities, hidden identities, and the theft of hundreds of thousands of children.

The program has its roots in World War I, which decimated Germany's male population and contributed to a sharp decline in the country's birth rates, which fell 43 percent between 1920 and 1932. This was a problem for Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, which came into power in 1933 with plans to usher in a new world order, one in which Nordic and Germanic "Aryans" — whom they considered the most superior of the races — would rightfully reign supreme. In order to carry out Hitler's vision of a completely Aryan Europe, the Nazis would need address the country's genetic shortage.

SS head Heinrich Himmler was convinced that abortion was the primary reason for the falling birthrate, and in 1935 he decided to strike back. He decided to make abortions of racially "pure" children less appealing by offering an alternative to their mothers. Women who could prove that their unborn child would fit Nazi racial purity standards could give birth to the child in secret, comfortable facilities.

But there was a catch: Once the babies were born, they had to be relinquished to the SS. The SS would then educate them, indoctrinate them in Nazi ideology, and give them to elite families to raise."

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