The Satanic Panic

hi friends,

I'm old enough to have lived through the 80's. Yep, all 10 years of them. There was a unique phenomenon that occurred in the 80's called "The Satanic Panic". The Tipper Gore "crackdown" on offensive music was at it's peak and Churches, religious folks, and normal joes across the country were making $$ off videos explaining how Queen played backwards was trying to get people to smoke weed, how Ozzy was totally from the devil, and that Blue Oyster Cult was demon possessed. Believe it or not, Alice Cooper was even considered straight from the pit of hell. Funny to think about now innit? Pretty harmless stuff.

The reason I'm posting this trip down insanity lane is because I'm noticing an ALARMING amount of posts that people are posting about "so and so is demon possessed", etc... - and I'm here to set the record straight.

No artist is demon possessed. It's "an act".
It's what's called an "Alter-Ego" - a personna that you create that is sort of like "acting". Almost every artist does this to some degree. Otherwise we'd see OfficeMax managers instead of freaks on stage - and we DO want to be entertained now don't we? And indeed - an alter-ego is something you give yourself into, play the character full tilt - and really go for it. Saying Beyonce is possessed is like saying Paul Reubens is possessed by Pee Wee Herman.

Let's grow up.

The 80's are done.

Why do you single out the 80s?

Evidence for this fear exists throughout the history of mankind. In fact, nearly all of our religious institutions (past and present) are largely based upon this notion.

The only thing that has changed is the internet.

Yup I agree, scared people with tiny minds or people with an agenda to discredit those artists.
I wonder what percentage of ATS users are mentally ill sometimes and It scares me that people even entertain these ideas but hey Iam on ATS

I think he went for the 80's because many religious groups spoke out about anything new being Satans work.
Ever play D&D? do you remember all the church groups saying If you play Dungeons and Dragons you are Satan worshipping.

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by DresdenCodex


I'm old enough to have lived through the 50's...yep the 50's. Back then we had Rock n' Roll...the spawn of Satan. It's nothing new today...just a different cloak to wear.

I see it as a circular path in society. What goes around, comes around.

Good thread...hope you get some responses. BTW, as a young girl...Elvis was the head of the evil empire...loved him!

Des

reply to post by Destinyone


Wow Des you are a girl? I always imagined you looking like Gary Gygax or something
Gonna have to throw the odd flirt your way now

For anyone that would like to read more on this:

altreligion.about.com...

i loved the 80's - but there was a HUGE amount of immaturity to the era - which I see repeated here. it seems as if folks are just *looking* for something to point at and say EVIL!

there's plenty to do this to - just read anything on CNN or FOX, or 99% of the stuff on this site. Totally evil.

However.

I REALLY hate to bum you all out and bust the bubble that there's no Illuminati action going down in rap, or with popular musical artists. Folks, if you're looking for something, you'll find it. The trees outside my house are arranged into what looks like a 5 pointed star. I suppose I should chop it down and burn the satanic thing now.

You know what I have on my Tumblr page? TONS of references to Alchemy, artwork from all over the world that includes pyramids, seeing eyes, blah blah - you know what I'm not?! A freemason, satan worshipper, or illuminati.

Grow up dudes.

reply to post by boymonkey74


Hell yeah Des1 is a girl, woman. I've had a crush on her for her posts for a while now.

On topic: Well we have all seen the threads on here saying "Rhianna is possessed by demons" or "Beyonce is a satanist".

It goes on and on and on.

People in the day thought certain classical composers were "evil" too.

It's all BS in the end.

Not too on topic. But I have hours and hours of recorded TV from the satanic panic era. The talk shows, the scare documentary's, news reports, the interviews, the murders and investigations all of it.

reply to post by zonetripper2065


Get them on You Tube lets have a giggle

KISS fan here,yeah it sells albums I guess they are using Alice Coopers coat tails on that one aren't they?

...Dungeons and Dragons.

OMG- Some of my friends parents actually thought I was running a "Cult" and confronted me (I was the "Dungeon master")- Even the freaking schools banned D&D books (this was in like 1991 or thereabouts.)

-It is so funny to listen to people like Bill Schebelon actually say that TSR (makers of D&D) approached him and his coven to make certain the spells in the game were authentic... He actually said this and people actually thought this- So...Why the hell cant I shoot Fireballs from my fingers? Also a typical "spell description" went like this.

Fireball (Evocation)
Range: 10 yds. + 10 yds./level
Duration: Instantaneous
Area of Effect: 20-ft. radius
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 3
Saving Throw: ½
A fireball is an explosive burst of flame, which detonates with a low roar and delivers damage proportional to the level of the wizard who cast it--1d6 points of damage for each level of experience of the spellcaster (up to a maximum of 10d6). The burst of the fireball creates little pressure and generally conforms to the shape of the area in which it occurs. The fireball fills an area equal to its normal spherical volume (roughly 33,000 cubic feet--thirty-three 10-foot × 10-foot × 10-foot cubes). Besides causing damage to creatures, the fireball ignites all combustible materials within its burst radius, and the heat of the fireball melts soft metals such as gold, copper, silver, etc. Exposed items require saving throws vs. magical fire to determine if they are affected, but items in the possession of a creature that rolls a successful saving throw are unaffected by the fireball.
The wizard points his finger and speaks the range (distance and height) at which the fireball is to burst. A streak flashes from the pointing digit and, unless it impacts upon a material body or solid barrier prior to attaining the prescribed range, blossoms into the fireball (an early impact results in an early detonation). Creatures failing their saving throws each suffer full damage from the blast. Those who roll successful saving throws manage to dodge, fall flat, or roll aside, each receiving half damage (the DM rolls the damage and each affected creature suffers either full damage or half damage [round fractions down], depending on whether the creature saved or not).
The material component of this spell is a tiny ball of bat guano and sulphur. [2E PHB, Appendix 3]

deltasdnd.blogspot.com...

-Which has NO words, chants, symbols or other... If these people had taken the time to actually crack the book and not just take the word of so called experts (people who claim they were top level "satanist's and now are "christians") MUCH of this could have been avoided.

-Not even going to get started on Iron maiden. LOLOLOLOL =)

-Anyhow, us Nerds who survived roleplaying in the 1980s for the most part avoided trouble with the law and hard drugs unlike many whos parents tripped out about a game which required intellect and imagination-

reply to post by DarKPenguiN


I had an after school D&D session until one of our pal's Mum complained that we were into Satan, I remember arguing with the headmaster because he fell for it all.
Pentagrams appeared on the school walls over night, I dunno who used that 99p spray paint I bought from the car shop down the road

You are right If you look at people who did roleplay in their early lives are better people for it. I have a Teacher pal and we both came up with a D&D light game for 7-10 year olds, she runs a game every week and the ones who were shy etc have really come out of their shell.
I wish more kids took up the game.

Just a question please, what are the "daemons" in the Greek classical mythology ??

Daemons are good or benevolent nature spirits, beings of the same nature as both mortals and gods, similar to ghosts, chthonic heroes, spirit guides, forces of nature or the gods themselves (see Plato's Symposium).

WIKI

reply to post by DresdenCodex
I think that the recent rehashing of "Satanic Ritual Abuse" deserves an honorable mention in this thread. Not only is there a resurgence of "demon possessed" musicians lately but fairly recently there was also a resurgence of "ritual abuse". They seem to go hand in hand. In the 80s both subjects were all over the talk show circuits, and in the past year they have both come up frequently on the boards as well. History repeats itself, and the more things change the more they stay the same. You'd think after a while people would find something new to sensationalize!

Its all a big act, the managers of the music industry tell the musicians or pop stars to say they are possessed or worship the devil, they use this tacit to generate sales.

remember the stories of how if you played the records backwards you could hear satanic messages in the music?

There is a good quote out there about nothing being more scary than mob mentality. I tend to agree. People actually want to do terrible things. Our construct of society keeps it in check. But when society itself is perpetuating it then that is a different story isn't it.

When a group of people call someone a witch it is then somehow okay to murder that person. When your team wins it is okay to destroy your town bus. Racial riots. Lynchings. Etc. In most cases these are all done by normal people caught up in the moment.

So mob mentality is very very powerful stuff. Freud figured that out and birthed the age of propaganda. Hitler showed us what can happen when mob mentality is allowed to foster.

Back to the point. This is propaganda hoping to infuriate enough people so that it catches on to the rest. Someone wants to start a modern day witch hunt. But for what purpose? Circle back to the beginning. Some people just want to watch the world burn.

I'm just chiming in to say I remember those days so clearly. Loved the title to your thread. It seems satanic panic hits anytime we have a natural disaster or political upheaval. Satanic Panic.....LOL! That's a great term.

reply to post by DresdenCodex


Yep and look at Ozzy now with his coloured pencils
and colouring books........... truly evil...