"Satanic ritual"? Or a Christian fundamentalist/Pentecostal/Charismatic/new-Apostolic attempt to drive out Satan?

According to the news story Police told fire part of satanic ritual by Jennifer Baker, Cincinnati.com, March 2, 2011: "Charmaine Ranford, 25, of Lincoln Heights, faces one count of aggravated arson. ... Ranford is accused of purposely setting a fire at the Marietta Terrace apartments at 10101 Love Court in Lincoln Heights on Monday. When police took her into custody on Tuesday, she described the act as part of a 'satanic ritual,' records show. No injuries were reported, and damage from the fire was minor, Lincoln Heights police said."

Likewise, according to the news story Woman told police she started fire to perform satanic ritual, FOX19, March 2, 2011: "CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - A Lincoln Heights woman is behind bars after police say she purposefully started an apartment fire as part of a satanic ritual. ... According to court documents, Ranford started a fire at Marietta Terrace on Monday. She admitted to starting the fire and acknowledged she was performing a satanic ritual."

But then, according to the following story: Police: Woman Claims Fire Was Attempt To Remove Satan, WLWT, March 2, 2011: "When confronted by officers, they said Ranford claimed the fire was part of a Satanic ritual. But the woman later said that the fire was to remove Satan from the items being burned, not to worship him" [Emphasis mine].

The WLWT page originally carried the "Satanic ritual" headline too, but then promptly updated it. The other sources have not yet done so.

Maybe the police and court records got Ranford's initial confession wrong? That would seem the most likely explanation. Burning objects that are believed to be inhabited by demons, or which are regarded as a source of temptation, is a very common practice among fundamentalists, Pentecostals, Charismatics, and new-Apostolics. (For some documented examples, see New Apostolic Reformation Leaders Burn Native Art by Bruce Wilson, Talk To ACtion, Tue Oct 19, 2010.) And I would suspect that not every pastor who promotes the burning of such objects is also careful to teach the congregation about fire safety.

Some Satanists, and some non-Satanist ex-Christians too, occasionally perform rites of Cathartic blasphemy that involve burning Bibles or other objects representing their past experiences with abusive authoritarian forms of Christianity. But such rituals are far less common than fundamentalists/Pentecostal/Charismatic/new-Apostolic burnings of non-Christian religious artifacts and lots of other things too, everything from pornography to Harry Potter books. Statistically, it is far more likely that Charmaine Ranford was following fundamentalists/Pentecostal/Charismatic/new-Apostolic teachings than that she was actually practicing some "Satanic ritual." Moreover, had Ranford burned a Bible or any other Christian religious artifact, or if the ritual had involved any actual Satanic symbolism, I'm sure these details would have been featured in the headlines.

I also wonder whether she really intended to confess to "arson" (an attempt to burn the entire building), or whether she just started a fire for the purpose of burning particular objects and was insufficiently mindful of fire safety. I would be interested to know how the police went about interrogating her. It is, alas, far from unheardof for cops to pressure suspects into confessing to something far worse than they are actually guilty of, if anything. It is also not uncommon for the police to make exaggerated charges against someone in anticipation of a plea bargain. Since Charmaine Ranford is also African-American, I also wonder if racism, on the part of the police, might have been a factor here.

I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect that this woman is a victim of -- among other things -- bureaucratic ignorance about the practices of her particular form of Christianity. If so, I wonder whether her church, if any, will come to her defense, or whether they too will jump to the conclusion that she was practicing "Satanic ritual" and therefore shun her.

Exorcism, Satanic panic, and a sex scandal involving a Catholic exorcist and anti-abortion activist

Given the popularity of the latest exorcism movie The Rite, and given all the talk about how the exorcism trend is scaring people back into the Catholic Church, I've written several posts about exorcism and related topics on various blogs:

• Exorcism and religious intolerance, Talk To Action, February 1, 2011


• Catholic exorcism and NYPD “experts on occult crimes”???, LiveJournal, February 6, 2011


• The Catholic exorcism trend and Italy’s Satanic panic, Wordpress, February 9, 2011.


• Bill Donohue boasts: exorcism now mainstream, LiveJournal, February 11, 2011


• Preliminary response to Michael Cuneo on exorcism, Wordpress, February 12, 2011

"Days of Satanism" in Egypt, mid-to-late 1990's C.E.

According to Nader Sadek, Let the Egyptian Uprising Set the Country's Artists Free, on artinfo.com, February 2, 2011:

The biggest conflict between the realm of art and the government in Egypt transpired in the mid-to-late 1990s and was known across the Middle East as "the days of Satanism." Thousands of heavy metal fans had formed a subculture that was perceived, and treated, as a threat to the Egyptian government. Long hair, loud and incomprehensible music, and a rebellious attitude echoed society's repressed demand for self-expression and liberation. Thousands of metal fans, from rich and poor families alike, were arrested and faced the possibility of execution under charges of apostasy, as converting from Islam to another religion (Satan worship!) is punishable by death. The metal-fans-cum-prisoners were finally freed after approximately three months. One of the victims of this event joined the growing community of bloggers committed to exposing government corruption and police brutality. While his blogs have been read internationally, more importantly he has helped build local networks intent upon raising awareness and mobilizing the dissent visible in the streets of Cairo today.

P.S., February 8, 2011: More news stories on the same topic are linked in this Facebook note.

P.S.

Jared Lee Loughner

A couple of weeks ago, I posted the following on the group blog Talk To Action, about suspected mass murderer Jared Lee Loughner, who is believed to have shot Arizona Congress Representative Gabrielle Giffords:

• Jared Lee Loughner and the "sovereign citizen" movement - Tue Jan 11, 2011


• More about Jared Loughner's politics, plus some conspiracy debunking resources - Tue Jan 18, 2011


• Religious right wingers blame Jared Loughner's actions on atheism and occultism - Tue Jan 18, 2011

In the first two posts I discuss what is known about Jared Loughner's political beliefs by people who are actually knowledgeable about various fringe political beliefs -- solid information which did NOT get much attention in the mass media, being drowned out by ill-informed debate over whether he was a leftist or a follower of the likes of Sarah Palin and Glen Beck.

In the third post, I discuss the background of the claim, by many right wingers, that Loughner is/was a Satanist or Pagan.

Talk To Action is a group blog for people who oppose the religious right wing. If you choose to post a comment there, please be sure to read their Guidelines first. (In particular, note that the majority of the people who post on Talk To Action regularly are liberal Christians. Do NOT post anything there that is disrespectful toward any of the Abrahamic religions in general, as distinct from the religious right wing in particular. And, even regarding the religious right wing, what's desired at Talk To Action is solid news and analysis, not name-calling.)

New York Daily News and CBS News websites quote me on Christine O'Donnell

I got quoted on the New York Daily News website just now: NYC Satanist: O'Donnell Isn't One of Us by Kenneth R. Bazinet, September 21, 2010. NYC Satanists, Luciferians, Dark Pagans, and LHP Occultists got mentioned too.

P.S.: Later today, we also got mentioned -- and in a much better, less condescending way -- on the CBS News site: Christine O'Donnell's "Witchcraft" Comments Rebuffed by Satanist by Stephanie Condon.

P.S. (9/23/2010): Today, the above CBS News story was linked to by Christine O'Donnell's Younger Years: Forget Witchcraft, Think Media Goddess by Suzi Parter, Politics Daily.

P.S. (10/30/2010): My press release was mentioned in Crying Witch: Learning From the O’Donnell “Dabbling” Debacle by Spencer Dew on Religion Dispatches, October 28, 2010.

Christine O'Donnell's alleged "little midnight picnic on a satanic altar"

Lately, quite a bit of mass media publicity has been given to Christine O'Donnell's claim to have "dabbled into witchcraft" and "had a little midnight picnic on a satanic altar" on one of her first dates.

It is clear that the "witch" she allegedly dated was not a serious practitioner of either Wicca or Satanism. As far as I am aware, no serious practitioner of any variant of Wicca or Satanism would have a picnic on one's altar.

To put her claim into context, we should note her tendency to confuse Satanism with not only Wicca but also rock fan culture. Back in 1997, in the Washington Post (15 June 1997), Christine O'Donnell made some pretty far-fetched claims about the alleged mass popularity of Satanism among young people. (See Remembering Christine O'Donnell: Praising Helms, Missing Lenny and Squiggy, and Worries of Rampant Satanism, Right Wing Watch, September 15, 2010.)

See also more about Christine O'Donnell on one of my other blogs.

P.S.: I just now posted comments (here and here) in reply to some nonsense about Satanism in the comments area of this page about Christine O'Donnell on Crooks and Liars.

How bigotry against Muslims threatens Pagans and Satanists too: an example

The Green Bay Gazette has a Guest column: America needs to have the real debate on Islam, in which one Dan Linssen said the following on August 20, 2010:

When our founding fathers drafted the First Amendment to the Constitution stating "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," they likely viewed religious diversity as variations of the Judeo-Christian theme prevalent throughout Europe and the colonies at the time. But things are much different today.

So, the first question we should be discussing is: Do we really mean "any" religion? Satanism is on the rise in countries like Poland, and it has become so prevalent that its practice is now allowed in the British Royal Navy.

What if the Aztec religion, complete with horrific human sacrifice and its policy of conversion or death, suddenly enjoyed resurgence? What if some religion worshipped a god of fertility and practiced pedophilia?

Do we truly believe Americans should be allowed to practice any religion? If not, we are abandoning a founding tenet of American liberty. And where do we draw the line?

I'm guessing the majority of Americans have limits to what they believe is acceptable as religion. But that's not what we espouse. We need to resolve this dichotomy.

First, "human sacrifice" and child molestation are not allowed under U.S. law, period, not even in the name of religion. Dan Linssen is grossly ignorant of constitutional law if he really thinks these are unsettled questions. He needs to look at, for example, the Supreme Court decision in Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993), which ruled on the legality animal sacrifice.

The 1993 Supreme Court ruling held that no law can single out animal sacrifice. But animal sacrifice can still be prosecuted under other, more general laws, e.g. against cruelty to animals, depending on the locale. Thus, animal sacrifice - at least of some species of animals - might be legal in many rural areas, where hunting is allowed and where people are allowed to slaughter their own farm animals, but still illegal in most urban areas. The point is that animal sacrifice must be subject to the same laws that govern animal-killing in general, whatever those laws might be. (See my page about animal sacrifice.)

Laws against murder and child molestation are general. They do not single out any religion. Thus, no religion is allowed to commit these crimes as part of its religious practice.

Be that as it may, the worship of "fertility gods" need not entail "human sacrifice" or child molestation. Nor does it typically involve such activities, at least in today's world. Ditto for Satanism. See the Church of Azazel statement against violent crime and vandalism, for example. There are plenty of law-abiding Pagans, and there are plenty of law-abiding Satanists too.

By the way, the decision by the British Navy to allow a Satanist to practice his religion does not imply that Satanism has become "prevalent" there.

Anyhow, Pagans and Satanists should take note of the following: See how Dan Linssen appears to be using the current wave of anti-Muslim scaremongering to argue that the government should consider taking away our rights too. And indeed, if even the constitutional rights of Muslims can be abridged, then all the more so can the rights of smaller religious minorities. We must stand up for across-the-board religious freedom, limited only by generally applicable laws with a secular purpose.

(Dan Linssen himself seems educable, though. On his blog, he does not come across like a full-blown religious right wing demagogue. However, it is highly likely that plenty of right wing demagogues will be using arguments similar to his in the not-too-distant future.)

Satanic panic in Russia

In Russia, it looks like we now have a combination of (1) what MIGHT be a actual small but abusive, authoritarian group which may have pressured its female members into having sex with the leader, in the name of Satanism, and (2) general panic about Satanism, with claims that Satanism poses more of a public threat than Islamic supremacist terrorists. Here are the current Russian headlines:

• Satanic rapists on trial, RT, February 5, 2010


• Russian Satanic cult foiled in attempt to infiltrate police, RiaNovosti, February 5, 2010

Both these stories are about a group called the Nobilis Ordo Diaboli, based in Saransk. Its founding members were 24-year-old Belarus national Alexander Kazakov and 23-year-old local Denis Danishin.

As for the "Satanic rapists": The RT story says, at the very end: "When police cracked down on the cult in 2009, they seized numerous books about Satanism and occult paraphernalia like animal sculls [sic]. The defendants claim that their sect was a mere role-playing club, and everything the members did was done voluntarily. They also deny charges of sexual abuse and violence." I have to wonder whether the women in the group were pressured, by the cops, into making false accusations against the leaders, as a way of getting themselves off the hook for whatever they might have been charged with. Anyhow, the trial is still ongoing, so it's premature to judge whether their leaders are guilty or innocent of the crimes they are accused of.

As for "infiltrating the police," if indeed that's true, I would say that religiously diverse police departments are a necessity in order to avoid religious bigotry in how the laws are enforced. I would be much more worried about theocratic Christians who "infiltrate the police" in far greater numbers than any small religious sect possibly could, for the purpose of using the police department to harass minority religions.

An earlier, related news story is Satanic cult leader arrested in central Russia, RiaNovosti, January 28, 2009.

Religious freedom in general does not seem to be one of Russia's strong suits. See the article Russian Supreme Court bans regional Jehovah's Witnesses branch, RiaNovosti, .

Lutheran pastor, in Texas, labels Oprah Winfrey and Mormons "Satanic"

For some insight into what "Satan" means to those Christians who promote belief in Satan, see Focus on Faith: Want to Re-Define God? by Rev. Dr. Bobby W. Leggett, Trinity Lutheran Church-Blanco, November 11, 2009.

Leggett starts off by alleging that Oprah's followers are "the fastest-growing church in the world" and calls them "a cultic religion ... Satanic in what it teaches." Later in the column, Leggett says, "There are two kinds of religion in the world. First, is man-centered religion. Religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism, Communism, Satanism, humanism and Oprahism." The only other kind of religion in the world is, of course, what he calls "historic Christianity" (and perhaps Judaism and Islam?). He then says, "In any occult religion God is always reduced and the human is always elevated to be a god. ... What was the Serpents promise in Genesis, '…you shall be like God.'"

Leggett's column, by the way, appears not on the Trinity Lutheran Church website, but on the website of a supposedly secular local newspaper, the Blanco County News, in Blanco, Texas. Here in New York, it's hard to imagine a column like this getting published in a local newspaper. Texas is in the Bible Belt, after all.

However, even here in New York City, I'm pretty sure that your average evangelical storefront church pastor would agree with Leggett's column, as would at least some of the people in the Catholic hierarchy. (A somewhat similar statement, though more nuanced, appears in the Vatican document Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Waters of Life: A Christian reflection on the “New Age”: "Mind-expanding techniques are meant to reveal to people their divine power; by using this power, people prepare the way for the Age of Enlightenment. This exaltation of humanity overturns the correct relationship between Creator and creature, and one of its extreme forms is Satanism.")

Ygraine Gidney-Mitchell on news stories about "Satanism" and crime

Ygraine Gidney-Mitchell is a longtime member of the Church of Satan and very attached to the view that the CoS represents the one and only "genuine Satanism." Obviously, I do not agree with her on that point.

But she has written an otherwise very interesting article, Orlando criminal is not a Satanist. Less 80's, more justice, please, in which she makes some excellent points in response to the mass media's tendency to cast aspersions on Satanism whenever some criminal happens to have some "items ... associated with Satanism and witchcraft."

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.

More Satanic panic stories from Africa

AllAfrica.com has a story, Zambia: Katete Pupils Expulsions Queried, Times of Zambia, 24 June 2009, about an official reaction to a school expelling students for practicing "Satanism":

EASTERN Province education officer, Pilila Jere has demanded a full report from Katete Girls Boarding High School management on the expulsion of five pupils accused of practicing satanism.

Ms Jere said in an interview in Chipata yesterday that she was shocked to learn that the pupils had been sent away from the school without proper investigations and formal communication with her office.

Ms Jere said one of the parents whose child was sent away from the institution which is run by the Reformed Church in Zambia (RCZ) complained to her about the school management's decision.

"It is saddening and shocking that pupils were sent away from the school on suspicion of practicing Satanism. Such allegations require exhaustive investigation," she said.

Meanwhile, on a South African news site called IOL, there's a story about two accused murderers whose defense is apparently "some Satanists made us do it": Money, sex blamed for Lotter claim by Tania Broughton, June 22 2009.

And, according to a South African news site called The Citizen, the SA Police Service has a "Satanism unit" and purported "Satanism experts": "JOHANNESBURG - Satanism expert Dr Kobus Jonker, former head of the SA Police Service’s satanism unit, is to evaluate convicted schoolboy murderer Morné Harmse to assist the South Gauteng High Court in deciding whether the boy was out of touch with reality because of 'influences from the dark side' when he fatally wounded a fellow pupil with a samurai sword," according to the news story Satanism expert to quiz killer, 6/16/2009. I have to wonder if these "Satanism experts" are anything like the fundamentalist Christian "Satanism experts" who stoked the Satanic panic of the 1980's and early 1990's here in the U.S.A.

P.S.: Just now, after posting the above, I came across another AllAfrica.com story from today: Zambia: We Killed 300 People, Ex-Satanist Teens Testify, Times of Zambia, 2 July 2009. This story is about two teenagers being sued for slander by Kamba Ward PF councillor Oscar Himanga, whom they claim initiated them into Satanism eight years ago. Supposedly, at Himanga's instigation, they then killed hundreds of people by magical means. The boys made some pretty darned fanciful claims, such as, "The boy testified that the next day, Mr Himanga took him and his friend to an old warehouse in Kawama where they found white men who were half humans and half snakes" and "He said after they were initiated, he had powers to turn into a dog and two people had seen him do that."

Roundup of recent international "Satanism" scare news

Searching Google news for stories about "Satanism," I find the following:

• Crimes against Religious Leaders in Russia Likely to Trigger Witch Hunt by Paul Goble, Georgian Daily, May 27, 2009, about the concern that recent violence against mainstream religious leaders may trigger witchhunts against people of nonmainstream religions.


• A bunch of stories from two days ago (May 25, 2009) about the arrest of 104 alleged "Devil worshippers" in Iran. Here's the Reutors story, containing the most detailed account I've found so far. The New York Times carried an abbreviated version. AFP carried the story today (May 27), as did Sky News. As we will see in the next batch of stories, below, there is reason to doubt the claim that the people arrested are in fact "Satan worshippers."


• Some stories about prohibitions on heavy metal music concerts in the Middle East. There is currently such a ban in Jordan, according to the Global Post story Rock and a hard place by Tom A. Peter, May 25, 2009. On the other hand, the ban has been lifted in Morocco, according to the Global Voices story Morocco: When Arabs Rock by Hisham, May 24th, 2009, and The National (UAE) article Morocco’s metalheads make return by John Thorne, May 6, 2009. In both cases, heavy metal is/was banned because of rumors about "Satanist" and other un-Islamic content.


• Some tales of dubious allegations of "Satanism" in South Africa: (1) South Africa: Drugs and Satanism Surrounds Child's Death Lavern De Vries, allAfrica.com, April 22, 2009, about a legal wrangle between the dead child's natural mother and foster parents, and (2) Satanist takes blame for deaths, News 24, May 13, 2009, about the "confession" of an obviously mentally ill 15-year-old girl. Hopefully it will be obvious to most people that the allegations here are unlikely to be true. South Africa has been going through quite a Satanic panic lately, according to various news stories linked in the blog entry Satanic Panic in South Africa, posted on September 29, 2008 by Richard Bartholomew.

"Witch Hunt" -- on the Bakersfield cases

I recently came across this review, by Aaron Whitehead, of "Witch Hunt" a recent MSNBC TV documentary about one of the first alleged cases of "Satanic ritual abuse" back in the 1980's.

Here are some other reviews:

• Los Angeles Times - ‎Apr 10, 2009‎


• San Jose Criminal Law Examiner


• KGET 17 - ‎Apr 10, 2009‎


• Bakersfield Now

Though I didn't get to see it, I'm VERY glad that such a documentary was aired recently.

See also my collection of links about the Bakersfield cases on my "Against Satanic Panics" site.

Gwydion Tiamat's precaution against hate crimes against Satanists and Pagans - P.S. to my response to Hrafnkell

In a comment beneath my previous post, "Are Satanists Pagans?" - response to Hrafnkell, Hrafnkell posted a link to the Washington Post article A Capital City With The Devil in the Details? by Dan Morse, Wednesday, April 9, 2008; Page C01.

The relevant part, on page 2 of the article, says:

The Washington Monument ... was described by Bay, the South Carolina author, as a filthy, phallic and satanic homage to the god Baal.

Unlikely, said an avowed Satanist from Laurel.

He agreed to meet at the Washington Monument recently, strolling up the Mall in a long black robe and passing through a throng of sun-drenched tourists. A government contracting employee, the 37-year-old spoke on the condition that he be identified only by his satanic name (Gwydion Tiamat). Friends' houses have been firebombed, he said, and they're just pagans.

A husband and father and the director of the East Coast office of the Brotherhood of Satan, he said "a couple of thousand" Satanists live in the Washington area. This is a group that is widely misunderstood, he said: Members don't sacrifice cats; they're not out to hurt people; they simply acknowledge that humans are carnal animals and enjoy the freedoms and indulgences that flow from that understanding. "Having a whole Sara Lee strawberry cheesecake, for example," he said.

And in one sense, he mused, while looking toward the Lincoln Memorial and the infinite regions beyond, McCain is right.

"Satan," said Tiamat, "is everywhere."

I find nothing here contradicting my earlier interpretation of Gwydion Tiamat's remark about his friends who were "just pagans." Again, it seems to me he's saying not that these particular friends of his were also Satanists, but that, if even his Pagan friends' houses got firebombed, then he, as a Satanist, would be in even more danger.

I seriously doubt his estimate of "a couple of thousand" Satanists living in the D.C. area. I think a couple hundred would be more like it, if that many.

There are, after all, far fewer Satanists than modern Pagans, even in anonymous media like Internet forums. I've seen estimates of between half a million and a million modern Pagans in the entire United States. I would not expect the number of Satanists to exceed 5% of the number of modern Pagans, which would give us a maximum of 50,000 Satanists in the entire U.S.A. More likely I would expect there to be between 10,000 and 20,000 Satanists in the entire U.S.A.

The Washington Post article starts out as follows:

Presidential candidate John McCain keeps calling Washington the city of Satan. Turns out he's not alone.

"McCain was right," said David Bay, speaking by phone from Lexington, S.C., where as director of Cutting Edge Ministries he has long asserted that Washington's streets are positioned to usher in Lucifer as "the ultimate master of Government Center."

...

Using Dupont and Logan circles as northern points, Bay instructs, you can trace various interlocking streets to form a demonic pentagram, one that bores directly into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

This is followed by a brief summary of typical anti-Masonic claims, followed by a brief retort from a Mason.

How they'll clean up after you at a Maltese hospital

A little comic relief, from the Times of Malta:

Illum says that claims that a birth at Mater Dei Hospital had satanic connections have lead to the blessing with holy water of all places where the mother was before, during and after the birth. Sources told the paper that during her stay in hospital, the woman often spoke on satanism and asked the priest who was giving Holy Communion to stay away.

- Malta and international press digest, Times of Malta, Malta - May 10, 2008.

Laurie Cabot, "expert" on "non-traditional faiths"? - blooper on animal sacrifice

The news story What washed up on the Keansburg beach? by Alyssa Passeggio (Bayshore Courier, New Jersey, U.S.A., May 9, 2008) reports the discovery of animal remains along Keansburg beach, including (1) garbage bags of headless chickens and (2) bones and hooves of deer, goat, or sheep. Cops think these are animal sacrifices and have arrested two Aborishas (Santeria practitioners).

The news story mentions a similar finding last year, on which Laurie Cabot (a well-known modern Pagan Witch) is paraphrased as blaming "a ritual performed by individuals practicing Santeria, San Paulo, Voodon or Satanism."

It's possible she was misquoted. But, if Laurie Cabot really did say "Satanism" or even "Devil worship," then she's utterly wrong.

The vast majority of Satanists, even most theistic Satanists, staunchly reject the idea of animal sacrifice. (See Animal sacrifice and Satanism on my page about Animal Sacrifice on my Theistic Satanism site.)

And the small minority of today's theistic Satanists who perform animal sacrifices would be unlikely to sacrifice chickens, sheep, and goats in particular, for reasons I explain here in my longer post on my LiveJournal blog: Laurie Cabot - willfully ignorant about Satanist views on animal sacrifice?

Anyhow, I also question the cops' claim that the recent New Jersey incident, in particular, has anything to do with a Santeria sacrifice. Garbage bags seem like a very non-traditional - and not very reverent - way to dispose of a sacrifice.

Blaming "Satanists" for Catholic clergy sex scandals???

The recent flurry of Italian Catholic public pronouncements about "Satanism" might be, in part, a response to an October 2007 sex scandal involving a Vatican official, Monsignor Tommaso Stenico, director of one of three Vatican departments that make up the Congregation for the Clergy, the Vatican “ministry” for the clergy.

An undercover TV reporter caught Msgr. Stenico, on video, propositioning a young man. When confronted, he tried to excuse himself by claiming that he himself was really just doing another undercover investigation. He claimed he was investigating an alleged conspiracy of "Satanists" who were out to seduce clergy.

More details, plus links to news stories, in a post Blaming "Satanists" for Catholic clergy sex scandals??? on my LiveJournal blog.

More about Satanism and the Catholic Church in Italy

I just now came across Satanic Cults in Fashion in Rome, Says Priest by Jennifer Riley, Christian Post, Tue, Apr. 22 2008. Nothing new, really. Mostly just a shorter version of the CBN article I wrote about in my previous post.

Again we have the claim: "The overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation of Italy has an estimated 800 satanic cults, with more than 600,000 followers." This article then melodramatically adds: "But Rome, home to Vatican City and the pope, is where the fiercest spiritual battle is taking place."

Some news from Italy, about Satanism and about the Catholic Church

I recently came across an interesting article on the CBN website, part of Pat Robertson's empire: Is the Devil Gaining a Foothold in Rome? by George Thomas, April 21, 2008.

First, I'll skip ahead to and quote in full the most interesting part, about Marco Dimiti, the leader of a Satanist group in Italy:

But Marco Dimiti says that the Catholic Church's portrayal of Satan is part of the problem.

To many Italians, Dimitri represents the devil. He heads the Children of Satan, a group that reportedly has more than one-thousand members.

"We don't have a cult of devil worship, that would be absurd because the cult of the devil would be the cult of evil - but for us, good and evil are subjective to each individual," says Dimitri.

In 1996, Dimitri was accused of raping a 2-year old boy and a teenage girl in satanic rituals. He was jailed for 14 months before being exonerated by the Italian courts.

"True Satanism puts man at the center of the universe - and is a noble expression," Dimitri said. "I want to say to Father Amorth what I say to all exorcists. Leave people in peace!"

The rest of the article features claims by Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's Chief Exorcist; Father Pedro Barrajón, a Catholic priest who serves in Rome; and Silvano Lilli, an evangelical pastor in Rome.

One claim is: "There are an estimated 800 satanic cults operating in the country [Italy], with more than 600,000 followers." Yeah, right. I wish.

And then Lilli says: "The devil's diabolical influence is growing in so many areas of our society. ... He needs to be driven out." He doesn't explain what he means by "the devil's diabolical influence." If he's a typical religious right winger, that means things like feminism and gay rights, I guess.

Then Amorth talks about how he does exorcisms.

After that is a discussion of the "Beasts of Satan" case, about which see this collection of news stories on my Against Satanic Panics site.

See also Italy's recent Satanic panic - and its impact on the Roman Catholic Church worldwide, and see also the collection of news stories about Exorcism, the Vatican, and the recent Italian Satanic panic on my page about Exorcism, "spiritual warfare," and anti-occultism.

Next in the CBN article are several paragraphs bemoaning the rise of "magicians, fortunetellers and faith healers" as rivals to the Church.

After that are the several paragraphs I quoted earlier about Marco Dimiti.

The article ends with more exorcism-talk by Amorth.