Post by FilmFlaneur on Nov 18, 2020 19:12:16 GMT
On what experience do you base your assumption that satanism is widely recognizable by any paraphernalia?
On the testimonies of at least some of those who claimed their abusers were neccessarily satanic. In many of the more lurid cases the details appear to be carried over from movies rather than genuine experience, where the iconography is instantly familiar. But don't take my word for it. Here for instance is the the description of supposed satanic ritual from a more credulous - and ultimately quite amusing - source Satanic Cult Awareness, Hirst and Marsh(1993) in which child abuse is a major concern. It is, supposedly, "a training manual ... the result of compiling information from several years of occult investigations including volumes of written documentations from several investigators across the nation." It is also a report which purports to show the facts of satanism, still without any examples of successful convictions, naturally.
The steps taken before and during a ritual are described below. Keep in
mind that each group may do things differently so this. is merely an example
of how one group conducts itself.
1. Preparation of the ritual area
2. Dress in garb and jewellery (if clothing is to be worn)
3. Ring bell to begin ritual
4. Light flame on the altar
5. Hold invocation
6. Celebrant drinks from chalice
7. Conjuring of demons begins
8. Execute desire
9. Extinguish flame
10. Ring bell to end ritual. utter closing, "So it is done."
www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Photocopy/140554NCJRS.pdf
mind that each group may do things differently so this. is merely an example
of how one group conducts itself.
1. Preparation of the ritual area
2. Dress in garb and jewellery (if clothing is to be worn)
3. Ring bell to begin ritual
4. Light flame on the altar
5. Hold invocation
6. Celebrant drinks from chalice
7. Conjuring of demons begins
8. Execute desire
9. Extinguish flame
10. Ring bell to end ritual. utter closing, "So it is done."
www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Photocopy/140554NCJRS.pdf
See also www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/walmart-selling-satanic-paraphernalia where there appears no doubt.
In other cases paraphernalia is what people make of it. In one case in Orkney the 'satanic black gown' confiscated by over-zealous investigators turned out to be something a teacher would wear in class.
Child abuse is a crime, satanism is not. Why do you ask me to substantiate satanism by court findings?
Er ... perhaps because we are talking about supposed satanic child abuse, rather than just satanism? See how it works?
The reason is that you think you know anything better than I do and believe you can help. As admirable as the effort is, I really have to ask you to please find something for which you have any talent.
It is ironic that you find it easy to deny the existence of heart transplants, say, for which evidence can easily be found, while still supporting the idea of satanic child abuse - for which substantiation has been discovered lacking in almost every case that comes to court. Ah well.
The absence of any substantiation for the opposing view on your part is just as predicted in my last message. But since you are now resorting to telling me what I think, and moreover appear to have no knowledge of even some standard authorities, all the while providing none of your own, I will leave it there. For everyone else, one last link, to that of a more recent assessment of the scandal: Satanic Abuse, False Memories, Weird Beliefs and Moral Panics (Waterhouse, 2014) which has found quite wide dissemination and reputability:
The vast majority of academic researchers have long since concluded that Satanic ritual abuse is a myth. Official government funded reports following investigations in the US and UK, both published in 1994, established there was no corroborative evidence. (See La Fontaine, 1994; Goodman, Qin, Bottoms and Shaver, 1994.)
I conclude that my investigations provide evidence for the concept of moral panics created through an ‘explosive amplification’ of anecdote, social and official concern about issues such as child abuse, spread by ‘claims-makers’ and a globalised mass media. Although sporadic claims of Satanic abuse continue I conclude there is still no corroborating evidence.
openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/11871/1/Satanic%20abuse,%20false%20memories,%20weird%20beliefs%20and%20moral%20panics.pdf
I conclude that my investigations provide evidence for the concept of moral panics created through an ‘explosive amplification’ of anecdote, social and official concern about issues such as child abuse, spread by ‘claims-makers’ and a globalised mass media. Although sporadic claims of Satanic abuse continue I conclude there is still no corroborating evidence.
openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/11871/1/Satanic%20abuse,%20false%20memories,%20weird%20beliefs%20and%20moral%20panics.pdf