Against Satanic Panics > Recent scaremongers > Lunatic fringe
Recent anti-Satanist scaremongers:
The lunatic fringe
by Diane Vera
Copyright © 2006 by Diane Vera. All rights reserved.
On this page I'll briefly mention various anti-Satanist scaremongers who seem to me to be lunatic fringe. By "lunatic fringe," I mean that I think they're probably not being taken seriously by very many people in law enforcement, at least at the present time. (Unfortunately, some other anti-Satanist scaremongers, such as Dawn Perlmutter, apparently are being taken seriously by quite a few people in law enforcement these days.)There are many, many lunatic-fringe anti-Satanist scaremongers out there, and I don't intend for this page to become a comprehensive resource on all of them. I am much more concerned about the more-respectable-seeming scaremongers. But I'll list here some of the more interesting (for one reason or another) lunatic-fringe scaremongers I happen to come across.
- Traditionalist Catholics vs. the alleged "Satanists" in the Vatican
- Grand-conspiracy theorists in general
- Miscellaneous lunatic-fringe anti-Satanist scaremongers
- Traditionalist Catholics vs. the alleged "Satanists" in the Vatican
At least some (I don't know how many) ultra-conservative Catholics believe that there is a conspiracy of "Satanists" hiding within the Catholic clergy, even within the upper reaches of the Catholic hierarchy, and even within the Vatican itself. The most notorious proponent of this idea has been the late traditionalist Catholic writer Malachi Martin. The alleged "Satanists" have been blamed for all the post-Vatican II modernizations which the traditionalists didn't like. More recently, the clergy pedophilia scandals have been blamed on an alleged conspiracy of "Satanic pedophiles." See, for example:
- Malachi Martin and the “Enemy Within”: Satanic Plots and the Fall of the Catholic Church on Priests of Darkness, a website by an ex-Catholic about "Sex, sin, and Satanism in the Catholic Church, in history and in popular culture." This article tries to present a balanced view of Martin's "Satanism" allegations and voices both sympathy and skepticism, tying Martin's allegations to his reactionary traditionalist agenda.
- Two Eminent Churchmen Declare "Satanism Is Practiced in Vatican!" (01/02/97) on the Fatima Network site. Quotes Malachi Martin and the African former Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo. Note that the Fatima Network opposes not just Satanism but also religious liberty in general, even for non-Catholic Christians, in favor of Roman Catholic theocracy - see, for example, So Much for "Freedom of Religion" and The Final Consequence of "Religious Liberty" by Christopher A. Ferrara. These folks also believe that the world still faces a major threat from "militant atheists" (see, for example, Our Lady's Urgent Appeal to Us in the 1990's: An Explanation Of The Fatima Message) and that God sends women to hell for failing to dress in accordance with a very strict standard of Christian modesty. For some skeptical commentary on the alleged miracles of Fatima, and for some historical information about the Fatima movement in general, see various links in the threads Fatima debunking? Any good articles? and The Fatima miracles and prophecies on the Internet Infidels message board.
- Interview, February 14, 1998 with former Archbishop Milingo, on Milingo's website - includes some claims about Satanism in Italy. See also The Devil at Home in Rome: Insiders Claim Satanists Skulk in the Vatican on Priests of Darkness.
- Pedophilia and Satanism in the Vatican by Ernesto Cienfuegos, La Voz de Aztlan, 5/10/2002, where Malachi Martin is also quoted as denouncing the alleged "Black Rites" of Wicca.
I would imagine that the "Satanism" allegations, by two "eminent churchmen" with large popular followings, would have put some pressure on the Vatican to appear to take a tough public stand against Satanism. Milingo, in particular, may have contributed to Italy's current Satanic panic.
I first ran into these allegations in 2003. For my reaction, see The "Satanic Ritual Abuse" scare - it's BAACK! - The alleged conspiracy of "Satanic pedophiles" in the Catholic clergy on my Theistic Satanism website.
- Grand-conspiracy theorists in general
The SRA scare never fully died. It was pretty throughly discredited by the mid-1990's, but a hard core of believers remained. The staunchest believers have been extreme right wing grand-conspiracy theorists.
Googling "Satanic conspiracy" brings up oodles and oodles of web pages; I won't bother to list them here. Instead, I'll just list some of the relatively few web pages which critique grand-conspiracy theories:
- Conspiracy Theories and Paranoia: Notes from a Mind-Control Conference by Evan Harrington, Skeptical Inquirer, September/October 1996
- 08: What is a Conspiracy Theory? in the sci.skeptic FAQ
- Illuminati, The New World Order & Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists (PCTs) in The Skeptic's Dictionary
- Relevant pages on Anti-Masonry: Points of View:
- Review of Cult & Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America by James Randall Noblitt and Pamela Sue Perskin
- Leo Taxil: The Tale of the Pope and the Pornographer
- Neil Brick
- Baphomet
- Satanism
- Lucifer
- The Goat
- The Illuminati
- 33rds RULE!
- Conspiracism on the website of The Public Eye
- Miscellaneous lunatic-fringe anti-Satanist scaremongers
Here I'll briefly mention some lunatic-fringe anti-Satanist scaremongers whom I haven't yet grouped into any category large enough to warrant its own separate section on this page.
- Jim Cairns, owner of the websites Satanic Ritual Abuse, Missing Persons and Satanism and The Missing Persons Issue Ireland. For some brief skeptical commentary, see More Satanic Panic in the UK in the blog Bartholomew's notes on religion.
Cairns believes that a vast Satanic conspiracy has infiltrated just about every Christian religious organization including and especially "Born Again" (evangelical and charismatic) Christian churches. In Satanism and the "Born Agains" he claims, "Many people rightly believe that the 'Born Again' movement is fascist in nature and in its practise! These fascist 'Born Again' Christians are against homosexuals and they believe in exclusive salvation . Exclusive salvation means to them; only those who are 'Born Again Christians' will enter the kingdom of God! All others will burn in hell! They are Anti-Christ." I find it rather ironic that he says the "Born Again Christians" are "Anti-Christ" because they are "against homosexuals," given that most of Cairns' fellow anti-Satanist scaremongers are themselves "against homosexuals."
- More later.
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