In the public imagination, Satanism is associated with bizarre rituals, perverse hedonistic lifestyles, heavy metal music, immature adolescents acting out, horror movies, and rumours of ritual abuse. But what are the facts behind the urban legends and the 'moral panics' that periodically sweep the country regarding this countercultural phenomenon? This authoritative reference work gathers together scholarly studies of Satanism and original source material, focusing on two major aspects - organised religious Satanism and the Satanic Ritual Abuse hoax that was prevalent in the 1980s and early 1990s. The contributors first examine modern Satanism, a decentralised movement whose only coherence is based on certain themes that date back to the writings of Anton Szandor Lavey, especially his Satanic Bible. Among other factors, the authors discuss how the emergence of the Internet as a form of communication has created some coherence among disparate groups through cross-reference. Many articles are devoted to the Satanic Ritual Abuse scare, an erroneous belief in a vast underground network of Satanists who were abusing children. For years members of the law enforcement community and numerous therapists, encouraged by the hype of mass media, bought into this panic. Other topics include the role of the media in the perceptions of Satanism and Satanic Ritual Abuse, juvenile delinquency and Satanism, and police pursuit of satanic crime. The volume concludes with primary source material, including a report from the Ritual Abuse Task Force and selections from current Satanism groups. This objective reference work will be useful for professionals in many fields and members of the public interested in sorting out the facts from the myths surrounding this controversial subculture.
James R. Lewis (Stevens Point, WI), a world-recognized authority on nontraditional religions, is a lecturer in religious studies at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, and an adjunct assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He is the author or editor of more than 20 books, including The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of New Age Religions; The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions; Odd Gods; Doomsday Prophecies; and The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Jesper Aagaard Petersen (Copenhagen, Denmark) is a lecturer at Rodovre Gymnasium and the University of Copenhagen and the editor (with James R. Lewis) of Controversial New Religions.
Part I: Satanic Ritual Abuse as a Modern Panic -- Giving the Devil More than His Due; The Satanic Ritual Abuse Panic as Religious-Studies Data; When the Devil Came to Christchurch; Satanism: Myth and Reality in a Contemporary Moral Panic; Satanism, Ritual Abuse, and Multiple Personality Disorder -- A Sociohistorical Perspective; The Social Construction of Satanism: Understanding an International Social Problem; The Social and Cultural Context of Satanic Ritual Abuse Allegations; Police Pursuit of Satanic Crime. Part II: Satanic Ritual Abuse as a Demonology -- Demonologies in Contemporary Legends and Panics: Satanism and Babyparts Stories; The Devil Worshipers at the Prom: Rumour-Panic as Therapeutic Magic; Multigenerational Satanism and the Anticult Movement: The Eternal Conspiracy; Universal Cultural Elements in the Satanic Demonology; Moral Panics and the Social Construction of Deviant Behaviour: A Theory and Application to the Case of Ritual Child Abuse. Part III: Satanism & the Media -- Newspapers and the Antisatanism Movement: A Content Analysis; Satanism as a News Item in Norway and Denmark: A Brief History; Driven by the Devil: Popular Constructions of Youth Satanist Careers; Construction of Satanism as a Social Problem in Canada; Speak of the Devil: Talk Shows and the Social Construction of Satanism. Part IV: Modern Satanism -- Magical Therapy: An Anthropological Investigation; The Church of Satan; Teenage Satanism as Oppositional Youth Subculture; Who Serves Satan? A Demographic and Ideological Profile; Rationalistic Satanism: The Individual as a Member of a Counter-cultural Tribe; Binary Satanism: The Construction of Community in a Digital World; Satanism: Performing Alterity and Othering. Part V: Primary Material -- Report of the Ritual Abuse Task Force; Investigator's Guide to Allegations of "Ritual" Child Abuse; Epistemology; Satanic Patriotism: United We Stand?; The Nine Satanic Postulates: Statements of Satano-COMMUNE-ist Reality, Satanic Comm-UNITY. Index.
"[It] is an excellent resource within its very highly specialized area of coverage. In summary, this book would be useful for academic libraries supporting programs in psychology, anthropology, folklore, and media." -- American Reference Books Annual, Vol. 40, 2009
