The First Sermon of The Cult of R’Lyeh on Earth (666)

Michelle Remembers and the misrepresentation

of Satanic Religion in 1980s America

A Presentation by Tim Thompson

19 – 5 - 2016
 The Role of the Media in Misrepresenting Satanic Religion

"The study of the media is closely related to the impact of ideology in society. Ideology refers to
the influence of ideas on people's beliefs and actions. The concept has been widely used in
media studies, but it has also been controversial... Powerful groups are able to control the
dominant ideas circulating in a society to justify their own position... religion is often
ideological: it teaches the poor to be content with their lot. The social analyst should uncover
the distortions of ideology to allow the powerless to gain a true perspective on their lives...
Ideology is about the exercise of symbolic power - how ideas are used to hide, justify or
legitimate the interest of dominant groups in the social order... ideological aspects of TV
reporting... systematically generate bias... mass media - including not only the news but also all
varieties of programme content and genre - greatly expand the scope of ideology in modern
societies... audiences cannot answer back in a direct way." (Giddens and Sutton, 2009)
 The Role of the Media in Misrepresenting Satanic Religion

"'Nightmare Tales - Why People Join Violent Cults' is the headline of an article in a news
magazine. In the first paragraph we are plunged into a gruesome account of a woman’s
experience of extreme abuse... at the hands of a Satanic cult. By the end of the second
paragraph we are informed of the following 'facts': thousands of people join some 3,000 cults
each year, 'dozens' of these cults are violent, and cults can take control of people's minds and
brainwash them... In the next two paragraphs we are treated to a recounting of the bloody
Manson Family murders... another psychiatrist tells us, 'Cult members actually suspend their
rational thought processes to do whatever the group leader asks them, even if it involves
murder and suicide'... From experimentation with alternative religious views, one runs the
risk of becoming a zombie enslaved to an unbalanced and immoral cult leader. Once so
enslaved, this article explains, you will lose all your material goods and savings to the greed of
the cults." (Dawson, no date)
The Role of the Media in Misrepresenting Satanic Religion

“[a] stereotype is a one sided, exaggerated and normally prejudicial view of a group…
which would be resistant to change or correction from countervailing evidence, because [it
would] create a sense of social solidarity” (Abercrombie, Hill, and Turner, no date)

“What is the first thing that springs to mind when you think of the word Satanist? Do your
thoughts become flooded with images of devil worshipping cults gathering in the middle of
pentagrams drawn on the floor of some godforsaken lair? Are the cult members all robed in
black, chanting in some unholy language while about to perform a child sacrifice to the
devil himself?
“If so you may be relieved to discover that this is actually an extremely inaccurate
description of a real life Satanist. In reality the Christian church, the media and other
sources of information have a tendency to misrepresent actual Satanists... True Satanists
are none of these things and are in fact opposed to many of the viewpoints they are accused
of having.” (RJ Morwood, 2014)
Michelle Remembers as the Main Example of this Misrepresentation

“The Satanic Panic was a time period roughly covering the 1980s when many people
became growingly concerned about Satanic conspiracies spreading throughout the United
States. People were particularly fearful that Satanists were targeting children both
physically and psychologically... The Satanic Panic was a result of hysteria, much like the
historical witch hunts... The hysteria spread quickest when children were the supposed
victims and they were asked leading questions... This alleged molestation is now known as
Satanic Ritual Abuse, or SRA, and the FBI has concluded that it is a myth... No group was
ever found guilty of wrongdoing in these cases.” (Beyer, 2016)
Michelle Remembers as the Main Example of this Misrepresentation

“[According to Michelle Remembers] Michelle Smith was five years old when her mother
offered her up to a cult of devil worshippers - to be used demonically to raise Satan
himself. Twenty-two years later, on a psychiatrist's couch, she relived the long-buried
horrors inflicted upon her, as her childhood agonies came screaming forth in terrifying
detail.

“With the help of her Bishop, Michelle brought her hideous story to the Vatican - Satanic
witches chanting to summon the Devil, wounds appearing on her skin, human and animal
sacrifices. [According to this book] the full story, with vivid photographs, records
Michelle's victory - a child's survival in the face of sheer madness.” (Smith and Pazder,
2016)
Michelle Remembers as the Main Example of this Misrepresentation

“Seven people... were charged with child abuse... one district attorney called the state’s case
‘incredibly weak’ and dropped charges against five of the seven defendants... By the time
the incredibly long and expensive trial ended in 1990 the number of victims whose claims
were asserted had dwindled to only 48... Eventually the state gave up trying to convict [one
of the defendants] who had already spent five years in prison despite not being convicted of
anything... The trial cost $15 million–still the most expensive state criminal trial ever–and
ruined countless lives. In the years after the trial, the children accusers grew up and many
stated plainly that their testimony had been coerced, that they knew it was wrong at the time
but wanted to please their parents and the investigators.” (Munger, 2014)
The Response from the Satanic Religion and the Future
“During the 1980’s, the media worldwide launched a ‘witch hunt’ which is now referred to as
‘The Satanic Panic.’... Typical of the historical accusations made against the Jews by
Christian zealots in earlier centuries, Michelle Remembers claims that devil-worshippers
have a conspiratorial network dedicated to ritual child sacrifice and world domination... In
due course, the ‘Satanic Panic’ was debunked like any other urban legend, but not before the
most costly trial in United States history took place, persecuting several innocent individuals
who ran a day school... courts of law are reversing decisions made against people who were
accused by family and friends caught up in this Salem-like madness, and substantial financial
awards are being judged against the Christian ‘therapists’ who essentially brain-washed
pliable patients into belief in false ‘ritual abuse’.” (Priest and Gilmore, 2003)
The Response from the Satanic Religion and the Future

“The S.A.F.F. is a not-for-profit organisation which was inaugurated in 1988 to protect

minority religions and alternative beliefs from victimisation and suppression caused by
irresponsible media incitement of latent religious prejudices. We have a float of over 1000
members who have successfully achieved sterling work in protecting the interests of
individuals and unorthodox philosophies in the U.K... Our work is completed entirely by
volunteers dedicated to keeping open the freedom of belief and right to free-speech of
individuals worldwide during this climate of manufactured paranoia. If you think you might be
able to assist... first review the content of website...” (S.A.F.F. Homepage: We expose the
truths behind media spin, no date)
The Response from the Satanic Religion and the Future

That is not dead Which can

Eternal Lie, yet with Strange
aeons even death may Die.
 Bibliography
Abercrombie, N., Hill, S. and Turner, B. (no date) The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology.
Beyer, C. (2016) What is the Satanic panic? Available
at:http://altreligion.about.com/od/satanism/f/satanic_panic.htm (Accessed: 8 May 2016).
Dawson, L. (no date) Comprehending Cults. Oxford University Press.
Giddens, A. and Sutton, P.W. (2009) Sociology. 6th edn. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Michelle remembers. Available at: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/676637.Michelle_Remembers
(Accessed: 8 May 2016).
Munger, S. (2014) ‘Michelle Remembers’: The story of the literary hoax that started a tragic moral panic.
Available at: https://seanmunger.com/2014/11/06/michelle-remembers-the-story-of-the-literary-hoax-that-
started-a-tragic-moral-panic/ (Accessed: 8 May 2016).
Priest, H. and Gilmore, M.P.H. Church of Satan History: The Satanic Panic (2003) Churchofsatan.com. Available
at: http://www.churchofsatan.com/cos-satanic-panic.php (Accessed: 8 May 2016).
RJMorwood (2014) Devil Worshipers and the church of Satan. Available at:
http://www.moonproject.co.uk/devil-worshipers-and-the-church-of-satan/ (Accessed: 8 May 2016).
S.A.F.F. Homepage: We expose the truths behind media spin (no date) Available at: http://www.saff.ukhq.co.uk/
(Accessed: 8 May 2016).