What happened to the satanic panic?

[Wertbag]

I have read about the over the top crazy claims that were being made in the 80s and 90s,with everything from music, to movies to D&D and anything involving magic being labelled as satanic. However what I haven't found is any detail about what became of the phenomenon. Did it die out because it was too ridiculous? Did it never die out but the media stopped reporting on it? Did church leaders speak out against the idea? 

You still hear of small groups complaining and even some poorly attended protests, but no one seems to care like they used to... 

[◊ Krowb ◊]

Same thing as carpal tunnel . . . it simply no longer became newsworthy.  I remember in high school our pastor hyped a Sunday Night sermon on the satanic influence of video games.  A good friend and I sat in the back and snickered with the other kids running the sound board.  This was in the early 2000's.

 

Same thing with my sister telling me that I was opening a literal portal to Hell with my video games.  It just kind of quit making the news.  At this point we're now the adults know it was all BS anyway.

 

 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

https://www.vox.com/culture/22358153/satanic-panic-ritual-abuse-history-conspiracy-theories-explained

[☆ DarkBishop ☆]

On 12/29/2021 at 5:31 AM, Wertbag said:

I have read about the over the top crazy claims that were being made in the 80s and 90s,with everything from music, to movies to D&D and anything involving magic being labelled as satanic. However what I haven't found is any detail about what became of the phenomenon. Did it die out because it was too ridiculous? Did it never die out but the media stopped reporting on it? Did church leaders speak out against the idea? 

You still hear of small groups complaining and even some poorly attended protests, but no one seems to care like they used to... 

I dont think it dies out. I've see It since. My parents pastor a long time ago condemned the Harry Potter movies because it was glorifying witchcraft. But later when they got a new pastor I guess it was alright then. And my mom started watching the movies and fell in love with them. 

 

Reminds me of what just happened with Fish153. Whatever the pastor says is the gospel truth. 

 

(Edit: Had to add that the first pastor I sat under after having my salvation experience was adamant that not only was rock of the devil but even Christian rock and other Christian music was of the devil. He preached a whole sermon on it one sunday.

 

It was years before I would listen to anything other than southern gospel. Finally I realized .......  well southern gospel hasn't always been around.... did they say the same thing about it? And I tried contemporary Christian and "felt the spirit" while listening to it and knew it wasn't of the devil. Now I mostly listen to all forms of Rock. Even that Marilyn Manson feller. )

[Moonobserver]

On 12/29/2021 at 3:31 AM, Wertbag said:

I have read about the over the top crazy claims that were being made in the 80s and 90s,with everything from music, to movies to D&D and anything involving magic being labelled as satanic. However what I haven't found is any detail about what became of the phenomenon. Did it die out because it was too ridiculous? Did it never die out but the media stopped reporting on it? Did church leaders speak out against the idea? 

You still hear of small groups complaining and even some poorly attended protests, but no one seems to care like they used to... 

I played in a ragtag garage band during the early part of that period, stumbling and fumbling along to Ozzy Osbourne and AC/DC, and remember the hysteria well. I believe that a big part of it had to do with boosting political careers ('86 was a congressional election year) and that the cynical, opportunistic world of politics has moved on to other boogeymen.

[◊ Weezer ◊]

I remember when Elvis Presley was "of the devil". 

[Joshpantera]

I remember when they told us that Ozzy Osborne was possessed by a demon and if you looked into his eyes on the music videos, the demon would get into you. I challenged that claim when this video came out on MTV:

 

 

 

I'll say that of course nothing happened, but a few SDA's would probably beg to differ. There was rumor going around that I was possessed by the devil following an incident in the dorm with over drinking cheap vodka, running around trying to fight everyone, and then passing out in the stair well...

 

 

[freshstart]

Does anyone remember the hysteria that followed the original Exorcist movie? I was a kid, so never saw it. I remember my uncle calling my mom in a panic after seeing the movie. I'm sure she used it as a scare tactic to ensure he was saved. But she also believed that Catholics were not really "saved" (because they prayed to saints, etc.) and so the whole concept of a Catholic priest having the power to cast out demons she considered blasphemy, the work of Satan in attempt to mislead people to Catholicism. So in that sense the movie was fictional. Of course, the demon part, well that was real.

I wonder how many people became born-again believers or ran back to church after seeing that movie.

[Moonobserver]

15 hours ago, Joshpantera said:

I remember when they told us that Ozzy Osborne was possessed by a demon and if you looked into his eyes on the music videos, the demon would get into you. I challenged that claim when this video came out on MTV:

 

 

 

I'll say that of course nothing happened, but a few SDA's would probably beg to differ. There was rumor going around that I was possessed by the devil following an incident in the dorm with over drinking cheap vodka, running around trying to fight everyone, and then passing out in the stair well...

 

 

Wow---I haven't heard the Lita-Ozzy duo song in years. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.....

 

I suppose it could be said that the whole baby-killing-blood-drinking-satanic-pedophile-lizard man narrative that's been driving Qanon is kind of a reboot of the old panic. About the only thing missing is somebody going through every pop song listening for backward-masked messages.

[Joshpantera]

3 hours ago, Moonobserver said:

I suppose it could be said that the whole baby-killing-blood-drinking-satanic-pedophile-lizard man narrative that's been driving Qanon is kind of a reboot of the old panic. About the only thing missing is somebody going through every pop song listening for backward-masked messages.

 

Yes, the old satanic panic seems to have evolved into the contemporary conspiracy genre. 

[♦ Fuego ♦]

On 12/31/2021 at 6:32 AM, freshstart said:

Does anyone remember the hysteria that followed the original Exorcist movie? I was a kid, so never saw it. I remember my uncle calling my mom in a panic after seeing the movie. I'm sure she used it as a scare tactic to ensure he was saved. But she also believed that Catholics were not really "saved" (because they prayed to saints, etc.) and so the whole concept of a Catholic priest having the power to cast out demons she considered blasphemy, the work of Satan in attempt to mislead people to Catholicism. So in that sense the movie was fictional. Of course, the demon part, well that was real.

I wonder how many people became born-again believers or ran back to church after seeing that movie.

 

That movie is precisely what motivated me to 30 years of on-fire belief. And I only saw the advert for it when I was 11. Scared me to my core, I read through a lot of the Bible in one night, skipping the "begats" trying to find some kind of comfort for the fear. I feared most movie monsters back then, and my imagination ran wild with all kinds of terrors. But a monster that could take over my body was terrifying. So I self-converted and eventually went to a local church to make it official. The plus side was getting to know a bunch of really nice people, gain social skills I lacked, have friends pretty much for the first time, and start trying to adopt a moral code (even if it was seriously screwed up Bible God morality). I watched the whole movie after deconverting and found it a tiny bit exciting and a lot of it absurd. "I'm Pazuzu, a fallen angel/demon once worshiped as a Babylonian wind-god and protector of children, and now I've come to your New York home attic to move things around randomly, and turn your lights on and off WITHOUT THE SWITCH!!! MUAHAHAHAHA! Fear me mortal creature!" I also started noticing how the vast majority of that genre of movie assumes that Christianity is true (like Hellraiser, though Evil Dead only seems to have demons and no angels or god). 

 

And the conspiracy stuff is like religion, and fed by similar algorithms of belief in secret information that makes them Patriot Defenders of Truth and Good™. It plays to pride and wanting to be part of something bigger than humdrum life. A lot get pulled into the Q stuff through a simple curiosity about UFOs, listening to late night edgy podcasts about aliens and government coverups, then interviews with people that claim that Earth had vast technology in ancient times that was destroyed in a huge space battle but enough remnants exist to give us clues, then on to interviews with those that say they have been in space stations inside the moon and in other worlds and that our government and the rich are in cahoots with aliens to enslave humans and use us as drones in a time-shifted reality where we forget all that and come back to our humdrum lives. Little by little people get convinced that it is all real, and end up grabbing a rifle and barging into pizza parlors looking for secret pedophile operations run by Hillary Clinton, and it all seems true to them. 

 

This past decade has given us a lot of insight into how easily and reliably humans are manipulated. I was gullible and fearful and bought into nearly a lifetime of fervent belief in Jesus before finally seeing through the lies. I'm still peeling back the layers of fear and bullshit I believe, because there really are a lot of lies that motivate human emotion and thus behavior. 

 

 

[◊ Weezer ◊]

On 1/1/2022 at 10:48 AM, Fuego said:

 

I'm still peeling back the layers of fear and bullshit I believe, because there really are a lot of lies that motivate human emotion and thus behavior. 

 

 

Religion is the biggest hoax ever played on human beings.  After 50 years I still occasionally find another layer to peel back.  The rich and powerful have always found ways to keep the common people under their thumb. 

[mwc]

On 1/1/2022 at 8:48 AM, Fuego said:

though Evil Dead only seems to have demons and no angels or god)

 

     The Evil Dead series (even the TV show that was unfortunately cut short) is just too cool though.  Bruce Campbell is great.

 

          mwc

 

[♦ Fuego ♦]

On 1/2/2022 at 4:32 PM, Weezer said:

The rich and powerful have always found ways to keep the common people under their thumb.

 

And sometimes it seems like the traditions came from leaders that were mentally ill, like Abraham (if he even existed). They are still cutting dicks today because of this nutcase. No questioning. Some adherents today in Judaism, at least the ones I've met, are more devoted to the feeling of being part of a club and to the minutiae of laws than to "Hey, is any of this real?"

 

[☆ DarkBishop ☆]

15 minutes ago, Fuego said:

They are still cutting dicks today because of this nutcase

I thought we have discovered that their are non biblical medical benefits to circumcision?........ just saying. I don't think many people do it today because of the Bible. 

[◊ Weezer ◊]

5 minutes ago, DarkBishop said:

I thought we have discovered that their are non biblical medical benefits to circumcision?........ just saying. I don't think many people do it today because of the Bible. 

 

I heard that years ago.  It was said that it cuts down on vaginal infections in women due to the foreskin trapping "imputities".  This makes sense if you live in a society where men don't have a way to wash their penis before having sex.  Also reduces yeast infections under the foreskin.

[mwc]

4 minutes ago, DarkBishop said:

I thought we have discovered that their are non biblical medical benefits to circumcision?........ just saying. I don't think many people do it today because of the Bible. 

     We've had a long shadow cast over us due to the likes of Graham and Kellogg (yes, the Graham Crackers and cereal guys).  They said that masturbation was bad, it caused a litany of problems, and their bland foods would help.  If not then snip snip.  It was probably more Graham than Kellogg that was religiously motivated and probably more interested in little kids willies than Kellogg though.  I recall (I might be wrong on this since it's from memory) he was a minister and thought jerking off was especially bad for little kids since their bits weren't properly developed so circumcising them would help them out with these desires (and a bland diet).

 

     Anyhow, it's pretty much these sorts that put their puritanical, and weird health shit, into our culture and that's why it's not found so much outside the US.

 

          mwc

 

[☆ DarkBishop ☆]

2 minutes ago, Weezer said:

 

I heard that years ago.  It was said that it cuts down on vaginal infections in women due to the foreskin trapping "imputities".  This makes sense if you live in a society where men don't have a way to wash their penis before having sex.  Also reduces yeast infections under the foreskin.

 

In America there should be no excuses not to have good hygiene but. 

 

At my work there are men that enjoy plastering boogers on the wall at the urinals. And not washing their hands after they piss and shit. So..... yeah. .... I dont have confidence in anyone's personal hygiene. 

[☆ DarkBishop ☆]

6 minutes ago, mwc said:

They said that masturbation was bad

Now from what I've heard, frequent orgasm helps keep the prostate healthy. 

 

And circumcision is only unhealthy in adulthood. I know a guy I got in an awkward conversation with. He was circumcised as an adult and they messed him up. I didn't asked the details. I accidentally stumbled into the conversation anyway. 

 

I think in some ways the abrahamic traditions had figured out a few things. Like not eating pork and circumcision. While they incorporated those in their beliefs I think maybe at some point someone figured out that consuming lots of pork lowered people's life spans and possibly even figured out circumcision prevented infections. A urinary track infection in their time would have been deadly. 

 

So maybe there was just some smart fucker that made it a religious "law" to help the populace live longer. 

 

That's pure speculation. But it does make a little bit of sense. 

[midniterider]

On 12/29/2021 at 2:31 AM, Wertbag said:

I have read about the over the top crazy claims that were being made in the 80s and 90s,with everything from music, to movies to D&D and anything involving magic being labelled as satanic. However what I haven't found is any detail about what became of the phenomenon. Did it die out because it was too ridiculous? Did it never die out but the media stopped reporting on it? Did church leaders speak out against the idea? 

You still hear of small groups complaining and even some poorly attended protests, but no one seems to care like they used to... 

 

Ah , the good old days.

[mwc]

1 hour ago, DarkBishop said:

Now from what I've heard, frequent orgasm helps keep the prostate healthy. 

 

And circumcision is only unhealthy in adulthood. I know a guy I got in an awkward conversation with. He was circumcised as an adult and they messed him up. I didn't asked the details. I accidentally stumbled into the conversation anyway. 

 

I think in some ways the abrahamic traditions had figured out a few things. Like not eating pork and circumcision. While they incorporated those in their beliefs I think maybe at some point someone figured out that consuming lots of pork lowered people's life spans and possibly even figured out circumcision prevented infections. A urinary track infection in their time would have been deadly. 

 

So maybe there was just some smart fucker that made it a religious "law" to help the populace live longer. 

 

That's pure speculation. But it does make a little bit of sense. 

     Circumcision wasn't only practiced by Abrahamic religions.  It was found in, for example, ancient Egypt as well.  It wasn't used as any sort of health practice but more of an identification that a person might use to show they were a part of a group.  I recall reading an Egyptian text were it was a part of the initiation.  As you come down through history you come across more than one group with similar practices.  Keep in mind that adults were the ones getting circumcised in the bible with Abraham.  It wasn't just for kids.  And lots of kids suffer "oopsies" during theirs.

 

     Now, during the Roman era it was not something that they did and it was considered quite bad to show the glands in public (it was considered a sign of arousal).  So, being circumcised, it just naturally showed.  This caused many issues if you went to, say, the public baths.  Many people, including Jews, engaged in circumcision reversals.  They would re-stretch the skin which was supposedly quite painful.

 

     We don't read about many people eating pork and dying nor is there any stories of the Jews gaining anything by abstaining.  Thing is, people knew to cook their food otherwise they would have similar issues with something like chicken.  If we're saying simply eating pork is what is killing folks, like clogged arteries I guess, then there's nothing that shows that Jews were living longer than their contemporaries at any level of society and the poorer you were the less actual meat protein you'd have available to you anyhow.  Plant protein was the most likely source here just like many societies still today.  I imagine they also followed on as they could with cheap meats such such as fish and chicken and more expensive meats during festivals and special occasions.

 

     After a little educated guessing above I did a quick search (here's a snippet):

Quote

The limited information we have suggests that in the biblical period it was customary to have two daily meals. A late-morning meal, which also served as a break in the workday, would probably consist of bread dipped in olive oil or in wine vinegar, toasted wheat, olives, figs or some other fruit, and water or a little diluted wine. A picnic meal like this was eaten by Ruth the Moabite and Boaz (Ruth 2:14). The main meal was taken in the evening, before dark, and consisted of a common pot of soup or a broth of seasoned legumes into which the diners dipped slices of bread to scoop out the helping.

Here

 

     What you have is a bunch of folks trying to find justification for doing these biblical things.

 

          mwc

 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

We've gone from Satanism to pigs and dicks... god I love this website. 

[☆ DarkBishop ☆]

12 minutes ago, mwc said:

They would re-stretch the skin which was supposedly quite painful

That Mexican guy that claims to have the biggest penis in the world did this. His is all skin. That's why they don't count his as the biggest in the world. Kinda funny really. Probably can't even use the thing with all that skin in the way. 

 

I've often wondered. Whether sex is better with a circumcised penis or an uncircumcised penis. And this was actually how I got in the awkward conversation with that guy. He mentioned he had gotten a circumcision a few years back. And being the only person I had known that could possibly tell me the answer. I asked him which felt better? Before or after? And that's when it got awkward. Apparently he hadn't been able to have sex since the surgery. Before he stopped working where I worked he mentioned having a corrective surgery for the issue. I hope they got it "straightened out". Pun intended lol  

44 minutes ago, mwc said:

It was found in, for example, ancient Egypt as well

 

This is actually very interesting to me. I think that Egypt influenced ancient Semitic beliefs far more than Christians or jews will ever admit. I think they were influenced by Egypt when they became monotheistic for a short period under Pharoah Akhenaten. I believe it was during or shortly after this time period that the polytheistic beliefs started to be changed in canaan. And the Moses myth was inspired. 

 

I do know women that don't like uncircumcised men because of the sweat and smell the extra skin causes. I personally think it's a good hygienic practice to circumcise infant boys. It wasn't a religious decision when I had my boys circumcised. My sons were actually born before my salvation experience. I think for most people it's not a religious decision. That was a rule under the law of the old testament and wasn't enforced in the new testament. Just as the laws on foods weren't enforced. 

 

So the idea that kellog and Graham are still infecting the world with religious propaganda is lost on me. I see that more in politics. Not what people do with the extra skin on their kids dicks. 

 

But maybe in your time it was a big issue. I dunno. 

 

But to each their own. I don't take the stance that everything related to Biblical teachings are bad or useless. Some of it is good and has known non biblical benefits as we already discussed. 

 

Anyway. I'm sure we've talked enough about dicks, penises, tally whackers, Joy sticks, Johnsons, or twigs and berries enough lol.  

 

On another note it is interesting, weird, and makes sense all at the same time that arousal in a public bath house was offensive. For us. Bathing in public period would be offensive. But back then it was all good unless ya got hard. 

 

So did the males and females have separate bath houses or was it open to both genders? I'm guessing it was separate. 

 

In a way it kinda reminds me of the old phone systems when the whole community shared a line and it was considered rude and nosy to listen in on someone's conversation. 

[☆ DarkBishop ☆]

Just now, TheRedneckProfessor said:

We've gone from Satanism to pigs and dicks... god I love this website. 

It's all about diversity professor  

[TheRedneckProfessor]

Just now, DarkBishop said:

That Mexican guy that claims to have the biggest penis in the world did this. His is all skin. That's why they don't count his as the biggest in the world. Kinda funny really. Probably can't even use the thing with all that skin in the way. 

They got monks over in Asia somewhere that attach cinder blocks to their dicks and swing them around.  I guess it embiggens it somehow.  Seems useless for a celibate sect, though.  There are videos on YouTube about them.