Part 1: How widespread is
Satanic/sadistic ritual abuse (SRA)?

Ritual Abuse is also called SRA, Satanic Ritual Abuse,
Ritualistic Abuse, Sadistic Ritual Abuse, Cult Related Abuse, etc.

What some people believe about SRA:

• Some believe that a high-tech, secret, international Satanic organization engages in horrendous ritual abuse, mutilation and torture - largely of children.
• Some attribute this abuse to mind and behavior control cults or other hidden groups.
• 50,000 ritual human sacrifices are commonly estimated to occur each year in the US alone.
• Perpetrators are believed to drink the blood and eat the flesh of the victims and engage in sexual abuse.
• Generational Satanists are believed sacrifice some of their children and pass on their killing and mutilating rituals to other children.

A SRA industry composed of seminar speakers and authors sprang up in the 1980's to promote this belief system. By 2005, the "Satanic panic" had largely dissipated because of lack of hard evidence of its existence.

Does It Exist?

The simple answers are yes and no. It does not exist as an international conspiracy. It does not exist as a widespread underground inter-generational cult that passes its abusive beliefs and practices from grandparents to parents to children. There have been a few, isolated cases of activities that might be called "Sadistic Ritual Abuse", although none match the belief system described above and none are done by intergenerational secret "cults".

Investigators are divided on the existence and nature of this form of abuse. Some believe that there are an average of 50,000 ritual murders per year in North America; most believe very few or none.

That said, many adults continue to suffer from horrendous memories of having been the victim of SRA. All or essentially all are believed to have developed these memories during recovered memory therapy or in mutual support groups that delve into repressed memories. During the 1990s, when recovered memories were shown to be very unreliable but real-feeling images of events that never happened, belief in SRA also collapsed.

It is essentially impossible to prove that something does not exist. For example, who can prove that they did not beat their spouse last year on the evening of January 15th?. However, there are strong indications that SRA is not practiced at any significant level in North America.

Indicators that SRA is rare or nonexistent exist:

• 1. 1,800 YEAR HISTORY OF UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMORS:

  Rumors of an evil, underground, abusive religious group were well documented during the early history of the Christian church. W.J. Bethancourt III ₁ quotes a (presumably Pagan) Roman writer from the 1st century CE. Minicus Felix wrote the following piece of hate literature which describes how the Christians allegedly kidnapped babies, ritually killed them, dismembered them, drank their blood, ate their flesh and engaged in degenerate sexual practices:

  "As for the initiation of new members, the details are as disgusting as they are well known. The novice himself, deceived by the coating of dough (covering a sacrificial infant), thinks the stabs are harmless. Then, it's horrible! They hungrily drink the blood and compete with one another as they divide his limbs. And the fact they all share knowledge of the crime pledges them all to silence. On the feast-day they foregather with all their children, sisters, mothers, people of either sex and all ages. Now, in the dark, so favorable to shameless behavior, they twine the bonds of unnamable passion, as chance decides. Precisely the secrecy of this evil religion proves that all these things, or practically all, are true."

  This "urban folk tale," of course, never happened. It was simply an attempt to organize religious hatred against a new religion. The first century hate literature was based on:

  The practices of some Christians to seek out and save the lives of abandoned infants; the rumor implied that the babies were later murdered in rituals The communion ritual in which Christians consumed wine and bread, with the belief that it had been transmuted into the blood and body of Christ; the rumor implied that real blood and body parts were used during the ritual The practice of early Christians to have a shared meal and social gathering; the rumor implied that these were orgies

  The same basic story has continued intermittently in many variations for some 1800 years. The Church used it against the heretics, lepers, Cathars, Knights Templar and Witches during the period 1000 to 1800 AD. Hitler used it against the Jews and Gypsies during the 1930's. The USSR used it against the Jews more recently. A variety of SRA promoters are using it against Satanists, followers of minority religions, men's fraternal organizations, self help groups, etc. today. The stories are almost identical (less the coating of dough).

  Historians do not believe that these tales were true in the past; there is no reason to assume that the latest manifestation of the same rumor is true today. Promoters of SRA are simply continuing the lies of the Inquisition, of Nazi Germany, and of the USSR into the 1990's. Most are believed to do this unknowingly. Most firmly believe in the reality of SRA.

• 2. FRAUDS IN THE SRA INDUSTRY

  Much of the public's current beliefs about Satanism and SRA can be traced back to four books: Michelle Remembers, Satan Seller, Satan's Underground and He Came to Set the Captives Free. All contain what the authors claim to be personal experiences with Satanism - as victim or perpetrator. All four have been proven to be frauds by various Evangelical and Wiccan investigators. Various television exposes of SRA (20-20, Geraldo, and other talk shows) featured these authors. There are many dozens of additional books which are mainly written by Evangelical authors which appear to use combinations of these four books for source material. A study by the Wiccan Information Network has shown that there is no agreement by these authors on the Satanic seasonal days of celebration. The dates mentioned in these books appear to be guesses by their authors. If Satanic dates are simply invented, one may wonder whether the rest of the books are based on reality.

  The most important book (the one which originally triggered the SRA panic) is Michelle Remembers by Dr. Lawrence Pazder and Michelle Smith (Pocket Books 1980; ISBN 0-671-69433-2). An investigation by the Wiccan Information Network revealed that the horrendous rituals described in the book originated in Pazder's personal study of benign African native religious practices.

  Ultimately, all of the beliefs about SRA can be traced back to the above four books, to people's imagination and to the Malleus Maleficarum (the text book of the Witch burning times).

  If SRA existed, then one would logically expect that a SRA survivor somewhere who had continuously present memories would write a non-fraudulent book describing their abuse experiences, either as victim or perpetrator.

• 3. LACK OF SURVIVORS' DOCUMENTATION PRIOR TO 1980

  The term "SRA survivor" is used to describe adults who have memories of SRA which happened. Usually, they had not been aware of these experiences until recovered memories are developed during therapy. There are no records of SRA survivors having gone public in the 20th century prior to the publishing of Michelle Remembers.

  If SRA has been practiced for many generations (as the promoters of SRA believe) then someone should have come forward before 1980 to reveal their abuse.

• 4. OTHER FRAUDS IN THE SRA INDUSTRY

  Some of the SRA authors and lecturers have been investigated by both Neopagan and Evangelical Christian groups and shown to be frauds . Many lecturers in the industry say that they were once Satanists or "black Witches", rose to a position of great power, engaged in horrendous rituals, converted to Evangelical Christianity, and then became an author and seminar leader.

  If SRA exists, then one would expect most of the authors and lecturers to have left Satanism as a "plain ordinary member." Some should have converted to mainline Christianity, to liberal Christianity or to a religion other than Christianity. Yet none fitting these profiles has ever been found.

• 5. COURT CASES IN THE EARLY 1980'S

  There were dozens of court cases involving SRA in the five years following the publishing of Michelle Remembers. Typically, charges were brought by a young adult against her/his parents, accusing them of SRA which allegedly occurred during the 1960's and/or 1970's. The testimony revealed rituals identical to (or essentially duplicates of) those described in the book Michelle Remembers. But, as has been shown above, that book is fiction; those rituals only existed in the mind of the authors. One must conclude that the survivors were either lying, or were basing their testimony on false memories. (False memories feel like real memories; however they are of events that never happened. The survivor is usually unaware of these memories until they are recovered during Recovered Memory Therapy, which may use hypnotism, age regression, guided imagery and other suggestive therapies). It is very doubtful that they were lying; no known researcher in the field accuses the survivors of perjury. We conclude that they were based on false memories.

  If SRA really existed as a secret, inter-generational underground movement, we would have expected court cases to have been brought forward during at least the entire 20th Century. And the testimony given at the trials would not have been based on a fraudulent book.

• 6. THE NATURE OF RECOVERED MEMORIES OF SRA

  SRA survivors have similar memories of abuse, involving a Satanic "motif". They remember evil, robe-clad adults, candles, knives, an altar, etc. This is the sort of image that we all have of Satanists; it is derived from countless children's stories, horror movies, sermons, comic books, etc. However, survivors memories of details of Satanic ritual do not agree. Since Satanism is believed to be a rigid, authoritarian religion, details should be consistent across the country. These includes: dates of major rituals, type and color of knifes, color of robes, whether female and male clothing was differentiated; whether the Satanist's rank was identified by different colored belts, etc. Details also rarely agree with known Satanic practices.

  If a highly structured Satanic group is involved in SRA, one would expect that ritual details would be consistent among local cells, and that survivors' stories would agree. We would expect that their memories of rituals would match known Satanic practices.

• 7. THERAPISTS AND AGENCIES PROMOTING SRA

  A recent study funded by a US federal government agency among over 6,900 psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers showed that 70% had never had an SRA patient, most of the rest had handled one or two, but that 1.4% had over 100 cases. This indicates that a small percentage of therapists are detecting most of the survivors

  The same study of police departments, district attorney's offices and social service agencies revealed a similar pattern: 80% with none; most of the rest one or two, and 2.2% over 100 cases. There are counseling centers that suspect that all of their clients have been victims of incest or ritual abuse. Memories of abuse often surface after Recovered Memory Therapy, which often involves hypnotism and guided imagery, The American Medical Association, and many Psychiatric and Psychological professional organizations around the world warn that recovered memories may have no relation to real events. However, many therapists continue to believe that all memories are absolutely true and accurate, whether recovered or always present.

  If SRA were widespread, one would expect a more even distribution of cases among therapists and agencies. In reality, a very small minority of therapists and agencies are creating most SRA survivors - apparently those who personally believe in extensive SRA, and see it in most of their clients or patients.

• 8. INCONSISTENCIES IN SRA MEMORIES

  Children with memories of SRA tend to recall scary experiences; e.g. being put in a coffin and lowered into a grave. Their stories often involve urine and feces, which are typical fascinations of children. Adult survivors' stories tend to be very different. They often recall horrendous torture, mutilation, ritual murder, cannibalism, drinking of blood, etc.

  If SRA existed, one would expect that child and adult memories of the same rituals would be similar. More details.

• 9. COURT RECORDS

  Very few criminal cases in the US actually go to trial. About 90% are settled by plea-bargaining in which the accused pleads guilty to a lesser crime in order to avoid being found guilty of a more serious offense. There is only one case on record in the US of a person pleading guilty to abuse involving a Satanic ritual component. He is a special person - one who has been proven capable of entering a self-induced trance and creating his own false memories. He pleaded guilty because he believed his own false memories and wanted to spare his daughters the stress of a trial. He has since recanted and is appealing his sentence.

  If SRA were widespread, one would expect large numbers of perpetrators charged with SRA to admit their guilt and plea-bargain for lesser charges. It is believed that this has never happened.

• 10. LACK OF SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

  During the 1980's, many promoters in the SRA industry were police officers. They were concerned that thousands of Satanists (and similar groups) were literally getting away with murder. In recent years, most have realized that no hard evidence of ritual abuse or murder has ever been found. Most police are now openly skeptical of the reality of SRA. Some police officers, who are Evangelical Christians, remain; they are sometimes called "cult cops" by skeptics.

  The FBI Behavioral Sciences Laboratory is the main law enforcement group in the United States specializing in SRA. They have been called in as consultants by local police forces in hundreds of cases of suspected SRA. Although they have found many cases involved sexual and physical abuse of children, none have involved SRA. The FBI has successfully infiltrated the Mafia, KKK, Communist cells, corrupt union organizations, and are now penetrating the state militias. But they have never infiltrated the "Satanic conspiracy".

  If SRA were widespread, one would expect some hard evidence of the 50,000 ritual killings per year. One would expect the FBI to have infiltrated and exposed any criminal Satanic organization if it existed.

• 11. MISSING EVIDENCE

  As mentioned above, no hard evidence supporting SRA has ever been found. Support for the existence of SRA is in two types: the recovered memories of tens of thousands of survivors and scars allegedly caused by physical abuse. Sometimes survivors' memories contain elements that are open to verification. For example, some remember having been forced to conceive and had an abortion or delivered a live baby for sacrifice. Many children in the famous McMartin Preschool case recalled being taken down through trap doors in the floor and through underground tunnels that ran through the day care basement. Others remember rituals in which victims of human sacrifice were buried. Others recall horrendous childhood experiences involving extreme physical abuse and mutilation. Some remember being abused in a basement or attic or other specific location.

  Police investigations typically show that the survivors who remember pregnancy were never pregnant; that no human remains were discovered after excavating the locations remembered; scars or other marks that would have remained visible are missing - scars which do exist could have been made by the survivor or have logical causes unrelated to ritual abuse; no survivor's lack of school attendance for other than known medical reasons, is on record. Inspections of the McMartin pre-school building revealed that no trap doors were present or could have existed. Excavations around the day care center revealed the existence of many ancient trash dumps, but no evidence of tunnels . No shoring was found; it would have been needed in the sandy soil around the day care center. Some locations for abuse are nonexistent: the attics and basements never existed.

  If SRA occurred as survivors remember it, then certain evidence would be present. The fact that it is missing indicates that the memories are probably false. As mentioned above, this does not mean that survivors are lying; it means that their memories (which are very real to them) are of events that never happened.

Reference cited:

1. W.J. Bethancourt III, "Halloween: Myths, Monsters and Devils," at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/6696/hallows.htm

Continue with Part 2 of this list of indicators that SRA does not exist.

Copyright © 1995 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2007-JUL-21
Author: B.A. Robinson

Web ReligiousTolerance.org