Satanic Panic

 

Author: Marlena Perez

In the 1980’s there was a huge moral scare called the” Satanic Panic” where everyone thought that devil worshippers were hidden everywhere and in everything discretely trying to turn children into demon lovers, do awful things with or to them. Published in 1980, the book  Michelle Remembers is typically given the credit for starting the panic because it linked satanic rituals to the abuse of children, but there was never any evidence of abuse by cults. False narratives created a foundation in the minds of Christians for the inner workings of Satanism and that their children would be swayed by Satan. 

People were ready for a full panic over the occult when James Dallas Egbert “disappeared” from his dorm room at MSU in 1979, people were convinced his mind was altered by the game Dungeons & Dragons that he had a psychotic break and ran away under the school to role play a game until he died. A detective stated James was “depressed” and went into the tunnels to commit suicide. Dungeons and Dragons did not have anything to do with James’s disappearance or death. But over the top Christians kept the idea that the game made him carry out supernatural rituals.

 The Satanic Panic made people live out in the world fearful. They did not let their children do anything, Christians thought there were subliminal messages in all things with Satan. Some even thought humans were eating children as part of rituals. Parents did not like their kids watching certain movies, shows and music. Particularly rock and roll. This music was especially open to accusations of backmasking messages, in the 1980s, The Rolling Stones were charged with hiding their support of the devil in their records. But it is not really possible to write lyrics one way and it sound correct the other way. If songs do have hidden messages, it is by accident.

 With all the Satanists running around and committing ritual murders, it was up to the police to stop them. The average devil worshipper is adept at hiding in plain sight, a document called “Identification, Investigation, and Understanding of Ritualistic Criminal Activity,” helped the police keep an eye out for Satanic activity in the Windy City. This provided “insight” into symbolism used by and even provided characteristics that one should look for while speaking to a potential Satanist.

Satanic Temple

 

Works Cited:

 Porter, Mark and Wakeman, Jessie, Associated Press, New York Times, 22 November 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/22/arts/satanic-temple-sabrina-statue.html  Accessed on 20 Oct, 2022.

Rossen, Jake, Mental Floss, 14 May 2021, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/642372/satanic-panic-history-1980s Accessed on 26 October 2022

Links for further research: 

.        “Satanic Panic” Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_panic This article from Wikipedia gives so much information about the Satanic Panic.

       Romano, Aja. “The Satanic Panic Never Really Ended.” Vox, 31 March 2021. Satanic Panic’s long history — and why it never really ended — explained - Vox The Vox is an online magazine, and this article is written Aja Romano explaining the history of the Satanic Panic. The purpose of this article is to inform the readers about the different cases of the satanic panic and what it is. It also speaks about how heavy it was around back then but people think it went away just because it is now shown in different more modern ways. This source is unique because it goes through historically different cases of the panic. This source is relevant because is has modern issues of the satanic panic and lets us know that it us still around today. As written in The Satanic Panic Never Really Ended written by Aja Romano this article is aimed at people who are interested in the history of the Satanic Panic.

       Zadrozny, Brandy. “Satanic panic is making a comeback, fueled by QAnon believers and GOP influencers” NBC News 14 September 2022 https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/satanic-panic-making-comeback-fueled-qanon-believers-gop-influencers-rcna38795 This website is a news channel that streams on TV and writes news articles, this article is written by Brandy Zadrozny, most of this article is based in Utah. The purpose of this source is to be reliable and let us know how the satanic panic is not over. This article is informing us about politicians that have to do with the panic, David Leavitt, who had to deny and fight that he did not murder or cannibalize children. The source is unique because this was written directly about one person, and he was a politician. This source of the NBC is relevant because it was written only a month ago, this is a good source because it is a popular subject with conspiracy theories and politicians. As posted in NBC News this article is aimed at people who believe in conspiracy theories and are interested in learning about the satanic panic.