The Devil You Know

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⭐ 9/10

A rare podcast review! This is a series that covers the satanic panic of the 80s and 90s, with some stories I was completely fascinated by. I have always been interested in this moral panic, and a couple of these stories I had read about before, but many were completely new and startling. In all cases these sensationalized stories that scared a generation of parents into overprotecting their kids and ostracizing people different from themselves were complete fabrications. The result of racism, homophobia, fear of D&D or heavy metal music. There are instances of past trauma, and in a bunch of instances awful murders or abuse did occur, but in every case they look at devil worship and "ritual sacrifice" were no where to be found. The ones where people do die are scariest, because in all these cases someone innocent was convicted and the actual culprit never found!

There is coverage of a book called "Michelle Remembers" that I had never heard of, a Canadian story of a woman whose therapist uncovers deep trauma that she only remembers after working with him, of her being involved in ritual torture. Her and the therapist both cheat on their spouses with each other, and go on a years long media tour. Interesting! Another one about a group of 4 lesbians raising a young boy being accused or ritual abuse by a family member, and going to jail for over a decade! I won't spoil the ending, but I was furiously googling trying to ensure the actual guilty party was punished. They touch on the Jonestown Massacre.

In all of these stories the public has a witch hunt over people that scare them, holding up their moral views as a shield against evil that can only come from Satan, when really its a panic induced by fear of the unknown and having no where to turn other than conspiracy. Good thing that could never happen today! I can totally understand how one could be a sucker for a good conspiracy, especially a person of faith. When I see what Trump and his administration are doing I would love if I could just blame Satan. Funny enough, Q-Anon does the same thing! Turns out there is just plain evil people in this world, and when unexplainable tragedy occurs we have to reckon with that. But those aren't the stories that get me angry, its the panic that arises from nothing and always ends up accusing someone from a minority group because don't abide by our Christian norms. Queer people must be child predators, since I don't understand that lifestyle they must just be attracted to every person they see right? That was the thinking that basically convicted those four women, along with some doctors that straight up lied! Eerily similar to the right wing talking points around trans people today, or people in drag shows.

The host was a little overly earnest at times, but overall delivered some incredible stories, trying to understand more than judge. I think this panic is totally relevant to today, and I burned through this series in like two days. 

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