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Just a hoax.

Signs posted around Southern California's Big Bear Lake read: ATTENTION CAMPERS: Due to increased Satanic Cult activity in this area, camping is not advised until further notice. SEVERAL PETS HAVE BEEN REPORTEDLY SACRIFICED IN SATANIC RITUALS.”

You guess it! The signs are fake. Well, they're real signs but they weren't posted by the US Forest Service.

According to Big Bear Lake officials, "no known threats of these types of visitors in the area."

https://boingboing.net/2020/07/23/us-forest-service-posters-arou.html
 
... There are several books on the subject. The Lure of the Sinister, by Gareth Medway, is very good although a little hard going in places. ...

Medway authored a 2001 Fortean Times article on the subject. The article has disappeared from the FT website, but it can still be accessed via the Wayback Machine:

Satan in Suburbia
How much reliance can we place on witness and victim testimony in the wake of the Satanic Ritual Abuse panics? Gareth J Medway traces the origins of a modern witch hunt.

By Gareth J Medway November 2001

https://web.archive.org/web/2008043.../features/articles/258/satan_in_suburbia.html
 
I was very dismayed to read an article in The Herald newspaper today, about the anniversary of the Orkney child abuse scandal. It started out recounting the facts, then explained how the scandal harmed the standing of the social services, fair enough, then ended up saying that Satanists exist and are out to get your children so the whole thing was justified, which is grossly irresponsible and the reason this costly farce started in the first place. I know Scotland is a conservative country, but don't drag us back to the Dark Ages, please.
 
Satanic panic hasn't gone away. Here's a story of a Canadian high school principal who was petitioned to be fired because she was a fan of metal band Iron Maiden:
Article

Happily, she got to keep her job. But it makes you worry, nonetheless.
 
Not so much an article on Satanic abuse, but how even mainstream companies, this time Proctor & Gamble got drawn into the Satanic panic of the 80's. It's from AtasObscura and is a fascinating read:

When 1980s Satanic Panic Targeted Procter & Gamble​

The company spent decades battling false claims that it was in league with the Devil.

IF YOU WERE ALIVE IN 1982, you might remember a very special episode of Phil Donahue’s talk show. On that day, the President of Procter & Gamble went on the program and admitted that the company supported the Church of Satan and that its logo contained Satanic symbols. Oh, it happened in 1985? Actually, others remember the episode airing in 1989.

The truth is, this never occurred. P&G has never had any connection to the Church of Satan. The Church itself describes the claim as “completely false.” But the truth has never stopped a good rumor from catching on.

To better understand the P&G rumor, it’s important to grasp its broader context. During the late 1970s through the late 1990s, a potent fear of Satanic cults, known as Satanic Panic, gripped the United States. Years of news and cultural touchstones like the Manson Family trial and The Exorcist had primed the country for this paranoia. In his seminal 1972 study, Folk Devils and Moral Panics, British sociologist Stanley Cohen coined the phrase “moral panic” in reference to events like this, which appear suddenly to threaten societal norms. These events are misrepresented in sensationalistic fashion in the media and eventually reporting on the subject comes to define it for the public.
Read the full story here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/procter-gamble-satan-conspiracy-theory
 
And it;s back.

Eleven people are accused taking part in a child sex ring allegedly involving witchcraft and satanic ‘seances’.

The seven men and four women faced a 14-page indictment listing 43 different charges during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this week.

Most of their accusations involve two girls and a boy allegedly abused at various addresses in the city between January 2010 and March 2020.

It is claimed the trio were raped at different times, while some of the group would ‘clap, cheer and verbally encourage’ while recording the abuse.

One of the girls was said to have been shut in a microwave, a freezer and an oven in an attempt to kill her.

Prosecutors say all 11 got the boy and the older girl to take part in ‘seances (and) use a Ouija board…to call on spirits and demons’.

They also allegedly got the children involved in ‘witchcraft’, leading them to believe that they themselves had ‘metamorphosed into animals’.

The 11 are further said to have worn cloaks and devil horns as well making the young boy stab a budgie to death.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/08/03/glasgow-girl-shut-in-microwave-in-witchcraft-child-sex-ring-17122266/
 
Satanic panic hasn't gone away. Here's a story of a Canadian high school principal who was petitioned to be fired because she was a fan of metal band Iron Maiden:
Article

Happily, she got to keep her job. But it makes you worry, nonetheless.
The weird thing is that "satanic" groups wouldn't exist if it weren't for christianity claiming that anything non-christian is satanic.
 
The weird thing is that "satanic" groups wouldn't exist if it weren't for christianity claiming that anything non-christian is satanic.

To be fair I don't think 'Christianity' claims that, although certainly some sects do. People who don't believe in Christ are not automatically Satanic, just unenlightened :)

Mush of so-called 'christianity' is invented by political power structures without any actual reference to the Bible, in particular to the words of Christ. Those words which, in fact , are the only grounds for differentiation between the Jews and the Christians (and to some extent the Mohammedans, although what they apparently primarily object to is the un-Biblical concept of the trinity).
 
To be fair I don't think 'Christianity' claims that, although certainly some sects do. People who don't believe in Christ are not automatically Satanic, just unenlightened :)

Mush of so-called 'christianity' is invented by political power structures without any actual reference to the Bible, in particular to the words of Christ. Those words which, in fact , are the only grounds for differentiation between the Jews and the Christians (and to some extent the Mohammedans, although what they apparently primarily object to is the un-Biblical concept of the trinity).
considering a political power created the tome that is now called "The Bible" any actual reference to that bipolar contradictary document invalidates your premise. There is nothing but politics in the current christianity, no matter what sect it is or claims to align with. As for the only grounds for differentiation between the jews and christians is also incorrect as most of the "books" in the bible that were not fabricated came from judaic and older documents. It was a sect of the judaic religion that got misappropriated by the romans and changed over and over.
 
considering a political power created the tome that is now called "The Bible" any actual reference to that bipolar contradictary document invalidates your premise. There is nothing but politics in the current christianity, no matter what sect it is or claims to align with. As for the only grounds for differentiation between the jews and christians is also incorrect as most of the "books" in the bible that were not fabricated came from judaic and older documents. It was a sect of the judaic religion that got misappropriated by the romans and changed over and over.
Yes, Fine. Except I've actually been touched by Christ. I don't ask you to believe that. There is faith, and there are religions. Two different things.
 
Yes, Fine. Except I've actually been touched by Christ. I don't ask you to believe that. There is faith, and there are religions. Two different things.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but I wrote about this experience I had on another thread:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.p...ghtings-apparitions.12756/page-6#post-2194751

Every time I went there, I could feel something indescribable, and could not stop going there each morning on my way to work.
And on touching this figure, the feeling became stronger, it is something which has to be experienced.
 
Yes, Fine. Except I've actually been touched by Christ. I don't ask you to believe that. There is faith, and there are religions. Two different things.
I agree, and you being touched by Christ had nothing to do with the bible or any religion, except what part you may have been reading. But if you read it from cover to cover you would find it quite confusing and contradictory. I would say, keep your faith and throw the book away.
 
I agree, and you being touched by Christ had nothing to do with the bible or any religion, except what part you may have been reading. But if you read it from cover to cover you would find it quite confusing and contradictory. I would say, keep your faith and throw the book away.
Agreed. I only value it because it is the best - though no doubt imperfect - record of Christ's words we have.
 
considering a political power created the tome that is now called "The Bible" any actual reference to that bipolar contradictary document invalidates your premise.

I'm not seeing that that necessarily follows.

In what way is it Bipolar? using medical diagnoses as shorthand just begs for misinterpretation and misunderstanding. a different form of words might serve you better?
 
But if you read it from cover to cover you would find it quite confusing and contradictory. I would say, keep your faith and throw the book away.

many of us (perhaps especially those here!) have done just this. As well as various translations and apocrypha. My position is exactly as @Cochise says. Please don't lump everyone together, or think that people necessarily need 101 directions!
 
I'm not seeing that that necessarily follows.

In what way is it Bipolar? using medical diagnoses as shorthand just begs for misinterpretation and misunderstanding. a different form of words might serve you better?
It was over stating, the only word necessary is exceedingly contradictory, then. But bipolar in that God loves you but will send you to hell for some very weird transgressions, mostly defined by people who don't read that book.
 
It was over stating, the only word necessary is exceedingly contradictory, then. But bipolar in that God loves you but will send you to hell for some very weird transgressions, mostly defined by people who don't read that book.

So... nothing to do with Bipolar then. Why use the group term for often abused people when defining what you meant would be so much better?
 
So... nothing to do with Bipolar then. Why use the group term for often abused people when defining what you meant would be so much better?
Because it is bipolar, have you never known someone who is bipolar? The christian god is represented as bipolar, loves you but you better not screw up or you will be burned for ever. The cognitive dissonance is rampant and causes bipolar responses. And if you actually read it you would think it is bipolar because every "book" had a different reason for god to smite you but god loves you so much.
 
I've never met a Satanist, don't know anything about them.
Reading up on their websites, they do seem to be a peaceful group.
Reminds me of the few cases of people being 'possessed' that I've read about.
 
have you never known someone who is bipolar?

Yes, many, unsurprising given the circles in which I work and socialise.

Something that is disliked is the use of the medical label to indicate x, y or z in popular (that is low standard) journalism and hence in general speech. Same with autistics, downs people, schizophrenics, the deaf, the blind and so on.

Using the name of a medical condition as shorthand for undesirable features is shoddy and lazy.

Using it wrongly is incompetent.

If you are BP, that only gives you the right to use the term of abuse about yourself.
 
Because it is bipolar, have you never known someone who is bipolar? The christian god is represented as bipolar, loves you but you better not screw up or you will be burned for ever. The cognitive dissonance is rampant and causes bipolar responses. And if you actually read it you would think it is bipolar because every "book" had a different reason for god to smite you but god loves you so much.

I understand what you're saying, but calling such conflicting dualism (duplicity?) "bipolar" (a la clinical psychology) is frankly off the mark.

A clinically "bipolar" God would alternate between hyperactive intervention and sulking withdrawal rather than permanently threatening destruction, death, and / or eternal damnation while claiming benevolent love.

Passive - aggressive? Maybe (though not a recognized clinical category any more). Bipolar? Nope ...
 
I understand what you're saying, but calling such conflicting dualism (duplicity?) "bipolar" (a la clinical psychology) is frankly off the mark.

A clinically "bipolar" God would alternate between hyperactive intervention and sulking withdrawal rather than permanently threatening destruction, death, and / or eternal damnation while claiming benevolent love.

Passive - aggressive? Maybe (though not a recognized clinical category any more). Bipolar? Nope ...
Yes, such a god follows the model of the tyrant, who requires his subjects adore him and only refer to him in positive terms even though he does nothing to deserve the praise but threatens punishment for those who defy him, or the abusive parent or partner who says they're only punishing you because of your actions, which are normal human tendencies in patriarchal societies. Those characteristics are, unfortunately, not mental disorders.
 
The Grim Reaper already got him seven years ago.

If you have evidence that he has some link to the title of this thread, please post it.
Sorry drunk post I should not post names of people who are still innocent on this green forum...sorry.
 
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