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Ritual abuse, Satanic ritual abuse (SRA), multiple personality
disorder (MPD), recovered memory therapy (RMT), etc.

News items, from 2009-JAN to OCT


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News items:

It is now about three decades since the sudden increase in interest in allegations of SRA, MPD and RMT. Very few therapists are still promoting any of the three belief systems. However, the occasional mention does surface from time to time.

bullet 2009-JAN-27: MPD - North America: New TV comedy series with MPD theme: Steven Spielberg has created a family comedy series titled "The United States of Tara." It is broadcast on Showtime every Sunday at 10 PM ET and PT and on other days and times.

The main character of Tara is played by Toni Collette. She is described as "...a working mother of two who paints nursery room murals that totally rock and sometimes doesn't feel like herself." Her alters -- so far -- consist of:
bullet Alice who is a perfect homemaker and believes in traditional values.
bullet Buck who loves beer and motorcycles.
bullet "T" who is a wild, pot-smoking teen. 1

Dr. Richard Kluft is the show's medical consultant. The Showtime web site contains links to the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation and The Sidran Institute. Unfortunately, a lot of North Americans will base their opinions about MPD/DID upon this comedy series, and give this almost abandoned concept a massive boost in credibility. 2
 

bullet 2009-FEB: MPD - North America: "Tara" show renewed for a second season.Robert Greenblatt, who heads up Showtime's entertainment programs, said: "This is a perfect fit for our premium brand and we're thrilled that critics and audiences have responded to this groundbreaking show so well. I look forward to many more alternate personalities emerging from this unique series." 3
 
bullet 2009-APR-25: SRA - CA: Ritual Abuse seminar scheduled for Davis: Beliefs about ritual abuse live on, in spite of little or no concrete evidence of its existence. A team headed by clinical psychologist Randy Noblitt Ph.D. and Pamela Perskin Noblitt, will head a conference scheduled for Davis, CA. It is titled "Ritual Abuse in the 21st Century." "Dr. Noblitt will discuss the evidence of ritual abuse, international research data from over 1,500 survivors, efforts to discredit allegations made by survivors, and the psychological, behavioral and physical devastation left by such abuse."

In reality, present-day devastation is caused by memories of past ritual abuse. If they are memories of real events, then the perpetrators of the abuse are responsible. If they are memories of events that never happened, then the therapeutic techniques used on the client are the cause of the devastation.

This conference is co-sponsored by The Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT) at Alliant International University. IVAT is approved to sponsor up to 5.5 continuing education credits by the American Psychological Association (APA), the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC), the CA Board of Behavioral Sciences, the California Board of Registered Nurses, the State Bar of California, the California Association of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counselors. 4
bullet 2009-JUL-07: SRA - Scotland: Police officer abused children: John McFadden from Bearsden was found guilty of sexually abusing a boy between 1988 and 1992, as well as two other children between 1983 and 1990. He pretended to be a Satanist and told a boy that demons and spirits would kill him and drag him to Hell unless he submitted to sexual abuse. " He dressed in a black cloak and used a crucifix with a skull and crossbones and an onyx ring, which he claimed gave him power, to terrify the youngster into keeping the abuse a secret." Cases like this one surface from time to time in which an adult with no special knowledge of Satanism pretend to be a Satanist in order to manipulate their victims. 5
bullet 2009-AUG-19: Canada: CBC radio resurrects MPD program:The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has a weekly radio program called "And the winner is..." On AUG-19, they re-broadcasted a program titled "Voices Within: Living With Multiple Personality Disorder" The original 1991 program received a Gabriel Award from the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals. It treats multiple personality disorder as a real phenomenon:

I wrote the following Email to CBC's ombudsman:

I was stunned to hear that the "And the winner is" program rebroadcast a program on multiple personality disorder (MPD) -- now called "dissociative identity disorder" (DID)

I don't know exactly when this program was originally broadcast because the podcast is filled with intervals of dead air, including that date. But it was rebroadcast on 2009-AUG-19.

What horrified me what that the commentator who introduced the program and the program itself treated DID as a generally accepted disorder. In fact, it was never accepted by most psychologists and psychiatrists. It was a hoax that was popular during the 1980s and early 1990s and is now almost totally discredited.

It damaged and sometimes destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of individuals, mostly young adult women who trusted their therapist. It fragmented tens of thousands of families of origin.

I am not distressed that you broadcast a program about MPD/DID. I am very distressed that your program accepted the pseudo-disorder as an established fact and that it is often linked to child abuse. Unfortunately, there is no way for you to reverse the damage you have caused.

I invite you to read some of the essays on MPD/DID at our website at: www.religioustolerance.org/mpd_did.htm

We received neither an acknowledgment nor a response to this Email.


bullet 2009-OCT-08: TX: Governor dissolves Texas Forensic Science Commission: The Commission had been investigating the case of Todd Willingham who had been charged with arson in the deaths of his children in 1991. He was found guilty and executed. There are allegations that the investigation was botched, and that Willingham was innocent of arson -- in fact that no arson had ever happened. At the time, the prosecution suggested that Willingham was a Satanist. They based this conclusion on the heavy-metal rock posters. Some have suggested that the action by the governor was an effort to cover up "... a state-sanctioned murder." 7,8
 

References:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

  1. "United States of Tara's" home page is at: Showtime, at: http://www.sho.com
  2. "Q&A with Richard P. Kluft, MD," Showtime, at:  http://www.sho.com/
  3. The article containing full information on this event is at www.icelebz.com. We received a McAfee SiteAdvisor warning that "... this site attempted to make unauthorized changes to our test PC by exploiting a browser security vulnerability. This is a serious security threat which could lead to an infection of your PC."
  4. "Ritual Abuse in the 21st Century," Eassurvey's Weblog, 2009-APR-08, at: http://eassurvey.wordpress.com/
  5. " 'Black magic' child abuser jailed," BBC News, 2009-JUL-07, at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
  6. "Past episodes: And the Winner Is... August 19, 2009 - Voices Within: Living With Multiple Personality Disorder," CBC, at: http://www.cbc.ca/ The 55 minute program can be heard at: http://www.cbc.ca/
  7. Michael R. Snedeker, "State-sanctioned murder," 2009-OCT-08, at: http://www.bobchatelle.net/
  8. David Grann, "Trial by Fire: Did Texas execute an innocent man?," New Yorker, 2009-SEP-07, at: http://www.newyorker.com/ 

Copyright © 2009 to 2011 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance.
Latest update: 2011-MAR-06
Author: B.A. Robinson

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