More "Satanism" scare news from elsewhere

"Satanism" scares are far from confined to Africa, alas:

• Hungarians fast and pray to ward off Marilyn Manson, Reuters, Thu Jul 2, 2009. About "some Catholic churchgoers in Hungary, who have posted placards in and around the churches of Sopron, a town near the Austrian border in western Hungary, which is hosting a four-day music festival that lists Manson as one of the main acts."


• What the devil's going on? Headless stag sparks rumours of satanic mischief afoot, Daily Mail, 17th June 2009. The fears are not based on any evidence other than the cops' inability to think of any other motive for the killing. This news story claims, near the end: "Deer skins and heads are believed to be used in satanic rituals in a tradition that harks back to pre-Christian pagan Britain." Where on Earth did that factoid come from??? See also Satanists deny beheading deer near Northwich by y Andrew McCreaddie, Northwich Guardian, Thursday 25th June 2009. The latter article quotes only some members of the (LaVeyan) Church of Satan. We theistic Satanists need to start speaking up for ourselves too.


• Rome church stops holy water over satanic rite fears, CathNews, June 16, 2009. "The Santa Maria Stella Maris church at Fiumicino, near Rome, has stopped offering holy water to worshippers because the parish priest fears it is being stolen for satanic rituals." At the end of the story is a link to the source, on a website called ADNKronos: Italy: Rome church links thefts to 'satanic rites'


• Religious Symbol Intolerance by Fern Joan Marder, Newark Interfaith Spirituality Examinar. About Radioliberty.com and its list of symbols that it claims are occult-based. The Radio Liberty page begins by saying, "Occult symbols are fast replacing Christian symbols in our culture. Therefore, we encourage you to use this list to warn others, especially Christian children who intentionally wear and display them because they are popular." The RadioLiberty.com site is also full of grand conspiracy claims and even endorses a variant of ye olde anti-Jewish blood libel, with an apparently-approving link to a video titled "Zionist Jews Sacrifice Babies for Satan - Oprah Winfrey." Fortunately, stuff like this is far from mainstream here in the U.S.A. at the present time. But it is indeed growing within various fringe subcultures.

On the other hand, I also came across a very interesting recent blog post about the "Satanic Ritual Abuse" scare. I've discussed it on my Wordpress blog, in the post San Fernando Curt on the SRA scare.