Satanic/sadistic ritual abuse (SRA)
2: More indicators of its non-existence
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Ritual Abuse is also called SRA, Satanic Ritual Abuse,
Ritualistic Abuse, Sadistic Ritual Abuse, Cult Related Abuse, etc.
Indicator 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.
Indicator 3: Lack of documentation prior to 1980:
The term "SRA survivor" is used to describe adults who have memories of SRA.
Most survivors had not been aware of these experiences until recovered
memories were developed during their 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.
Indicator 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.
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Indicator 5: Court cases in the early 1980s:
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.
Copyright © 1995 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2009-AUG-16
Author: B.A. Robinson
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