Satanic Panic & Happy Halloween 2025

[Pyreaux]

Satanic Panic

Technically, I'm talking about Tim Ballard still. But I thought a new post about this could be devoted to just one issue he promotes and we have not touched. It's an issue that is interesting on its own, and a bit seasonally timed. It was my first thought when it was suggested we were using our bias and his odd quirks to prejudge him, because perhaps he can prove his claims. We will all see. I do actually hate to see people's lives ruined even when it's their fault, but I'm judging what he's currently doing.

So, one of my reasons I'm finding Ballard distasteful is that there are many red flags that he is inclined toward or promotes 'Satanic Panic'. I think that is highly relevant to his overall claims, as his rhetoric mirrors many themes from that phenomenon. Also, it's virtually impossible to verify his personal extraordinary claims about satanic rituals; however, perhaps we can look at the history of such claims themselves and assess the likelihood.

Books by Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christian authors often promote a curious belief system about Satanism. To them Satanism is a secret, underground, highly organized evil group that is international in scope and under the control of Satan himself. They feel that Satanists are responsible for kidnapping, torturing, ritually killing and even eating infants and children. They look upon many diverse activities as performing a recruitment function for Satanists; these include astrology, fantasy role playing games, heavy metal rock music, even the "Care Bears" and "Smurfs" on children's TV, and other unrelated religions like Wicca is often portrayed as part of this recruitment campaign. 

In reality, none of the above is true. For instance, Satanism as a religion is unrelated to Wicca, and neither Satanists nor Wiccans recruit members. "The Occult" that Christians describe simply does not exist as an organized entity.

The LDS Church and Satanism

I feel Ballard's recent claims mostly align with classic "Satanic Panic" and new QAnon "Deep State" child abuse ring theories. Because of this, there seems to be a very unlikely chance he will be vindicated, the most plausible case would suggest his claims are a mixture of gullibility and calculated hyperbole (also called lying). It's the sweeping claims of these "satanic abuse" he's sees everywhere. It's that Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), have been accused of promoting or legitimizing elements of the QAnon conspiracy theory. As a key component of QAnon involves the belief in a global "Deep State" network of Satan-worshipping elites who torture and abuse children.

When Ballard says the LDS Church is somehow involved in "satanic child sex abuse" and there are members of the Church hierarchy that are "satanic child sacrificing losers" is very specific, inflammatory and a bit too far reaching to be saying without any evidence. For a member of the church, it all seems to be very tone-deaf. There is a noticeable parallel between the rhetoric used by Tim Ballard and the tactics of anti-Satanism and the anti-Mormon counter-cult movements, like Ed Decker during the height of the Satanic Panic in the 1980s and 90s. The God Makers alleged that the LDS Church had "ties into Satanism and the occult". Part of a vast, secret, and supernaturally-charged evil plot to take over the country.

Both rely on no evidence, rather on a lone inside perspective, claiming to reveal a hidden, terrifying "truth" that the mainstream public is either unaware of or unwilling to confront. Decker, as an ex-Mormon, claimed to know about the LDS satanic rituals with skulls, snakes and 666 in blood, while Ballard, now a former LDS member, is uncovering a vast, global conspiracy that has, just now, revealed itself in the LDS church, that he and only he is capable of exposing. How very special.

Eccentric Social Circles

Ballard has made these claims on platforms like Julie Green Ministries, which is associated with QAnon and extreme Christian prophetic circles, like the "Spiritual Warfare" movement, and the latter most likely to view the LDS Church itself as being Satanic, drawn directly from the 1980s Satanic Panic. Also, all these groups frequently propagate unproven and often fantastical conspiracy theories involving satanic elite cabals that traffic and sacrifice children. Ballard's claims of the Church housing "satanic child sacrificing losers" seems to echo the often-discredited fears of these groups.

There is no evidence for what he describes in the U.S., let alone Utah, or the Church. I'm getting the impression in the field of human trafficking, the term "satanic" is often used metaphorically or rhetorically to describe the profound depravity of the crime, not literal ritual Satanism. Ballard may have blurred the line between the rhetorical "satanic evil" of trafficking and the literal, sensational claims of organized ritual abuse that is believed among those susceptible to these narratives.

It is highly probable that Tim Ballard's literal claims of "satanic ritual abuse" was a self promotional narrative, his claims the LDS Church is covering "satanic ritual abuse" is unfounded hyperbole used as a desperate attempt to regain control of his public image. This rhetoric is a strategic employment of "Satanic Panic" tropes to sensationalize something for which there is no publicly available credible evidence to support, his claims of satanic ritual abuse within the Church leadership. Even with no evidence, the people he associates with will still believe it, they likely did before Ballard's claims.

Ballard's Other Satanic Claims Lack Verification

Ballard also claimed in 2023, without evidence, to have recently raided a West African "baby factory" where children were sold for organ harvesting and Satanic ritual abuse. Sensational elements like satanic ritual abuse that has been widely associated with the QAnon conspiracy movement, raising serious questions about his credibility and intent. There is no independent, verifiable evidence in public reports to confirm Ballard's specific, highly sensationalized accounts of busting "satanic" trafficking networks involved in organ harvesting.

However, the general crimes of ritual abuse and trafficking for organ removal do, tragically, exist in parts of Africa, but is often separate from the "satanic panic". There are so-called "witch doctors" who promise clients wealth or power, using kidnapped children, women, and particularly those with albinism, for various types of ritual abuse, but can include the removal of body parts in certain areas of Sub-Saharan Africa.

This is distinct from trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal. It's one of the least reported forms of trafficking. Usually in North and West Africa. There are organized criminal networks that profit from desperate and impoverished communities, mostly giving up a kidney. Ballard's narrative strategy appears to be taking these documented, horrific crimes in Africa and applying the sensationalized, conspiracy-laden "Satanic Panic" rhetoric to them, a narrative that resonates with certain American audiences and his conservative base.

While it is very possible he has come across those things, it is suggested these unverified claims of organize Satanism are a narrative for fundraising and self-promotion by multiple lawsuits and his history of sensationalizing claims. One plaintiff says these audio recordings below prove O.U.R. lied about 'sex slaves' to raise money. Both O.U.R. and Ballard have faced extensive media criticism and formal allegations of exaggerating, overstating, or fictionalizing their operations, often "sexing up" the accounts and portraying a dramatic "paramilitary" narrative that serves as a powerful fundraising and marketing tool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgHcg_ez_E0

LDS and Christian Fundamentalist Satanic Panic Crossover

LDS culture was highly influential in giving the Satanic Panic a hold in Utah. During the 1980s and 1990s, LDS also feared satanic groups, role-playing games, and rock music. Satanism was widely discussed in Utah media and within community and Church groups. The Saints feared sinister outsiders were directly attacking LDS values of family, innocence, and moral purity. While the non-LDS Utahans felt the same, they were also hearing about secret LDS temple rituals were occultic or Satanic. Utah became known as a hotspot for Satanic Panic claims, leading to real-world consequences.

People thought the Mark Hofmann forgeries in the mid-1980s had exposed dark secrets about the mystic origins of the LDS Church. Then the bombings created a climate of fear and conspiracy within the community that the Church was murdering people to cover it up. This general feeling of institutional and hidden evil made the Satanic Panic more credible to many.

In 1990, the Pace Memorandum was written by LDS General Authority Glenn L. Pace, described reports from 60 members who claimed to have 'recovered' memories of satanic ritual assault at the hands of family members and other church members. The memo treated the claims as a reality (it compared the alleged abusers to "secret combinations"). This high-level attention solidified the panic's reach within the Church.

In 1995, Utah conducted a 30-month investigation into SRA claims, including a review of the "Pace memorandum", that discussed claims of Satanic Ritual Abuse by Church members. The investigation concluded that there was no evidence to substantiate the testimony of alleged victims that would warrant a criminal prosecution.

In her 2005 memoir, Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith, Martha Beck wrote that she recovered memories in the 1990s (the end of the Satanic Panic era) of being sexually abused by her father. These claims have contributed to a genre of "Escaping from Mormonism" narratives, focused on ritual abuse or general trauma.

Modernly, some research suggests that overall child abuse rates may be lower in Latter-day Saint communities compared to the national average. Research analyzing abuse cases within the Boy Scouts of America settlement, for example, found that while Latter-day Saint units comprised 20-30% of troops, they accounted for only 5.16% of abuse cases, indicating a significantly lower proportion of abuse than expected.

https://publicsquaremag.org/sexuality-family/sexual-abuse/latter-day-saint-abuse-myths/

US Law Enforcement says Organized Satanic Ritual Abuse is a Myth 

Extensive, nationwide investigations by U.S. law enforcement and government agencies have repeatedly concluded that the claims of vast, organized Satanic ritual abuse rings are unsubstantiated.

In 1992, FBI agent Kenneth Lanning, a respected authority on occult crime, released an exhaustive report concluding there was no evidence of large-scale, organized Satanic ritual abuse. He dismissed the idea of multiple secret satanic murders happening undetected.

In 1994 the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect conducted a comprehensive nationwide study found that out of more than 12,000 accusations of group cult sexual abuse, not a single one could be substantiated with physical evidence or corroborating facts.

Any Systemic Satanism Today?

Authorities still investigate cases and claims of ritual abuse and murder but does not find evidence of the vast, intergenerational, global conspiracy described by proponents of the theory. They only find isolated incidents of abuse where an individual or a small, dysfunctional group (often a family or very small cult group) incorporates ritualistic, occult, or religious elements (Satan, doomsday, or otherwise) to frighten, control, or intimidate victims, but do not indicate the existence of a widespread, interconnected conspiracy.

The consensus among criminologists, sociologists, and law enforcement today is that the phenomenon, known as the "Satanic Panic" was a widespread societal fear, not a real criminal conspiracy. False memories and leading/coercive interview techniques were identified as sources of the allegations.

The main problem is not just the lack evidence, but the fabrication of evidence. Children were subjected to coercive interviewing techniques, such as the use of leading questions and questionable methods (like anatomically correct dolls) by therapists and social workers that pressured children into creating false narratives. Adult were subject to "recovered" memories in therapy, often using hypnosis, these "recovered" memories of highly implausible ritual abuse that were not independently verifiable.

There is no credible evidence of large, organized satanic rings engaged in ritual abuse, sacrifice, or widespread murder of children. So, as things stand right now, Ballard's is exploiting the faith and fears of both his LDS and Evangelical supporters and employees using a discredited conspiracy theory, using the language and targets of that old panic (the "elite," the "government," and sensational, grotesque acts) to create a narrative that serves his purposes, but which is so far unsupported by the evidence.

** I've been writing and tinkering with this for many days, I have been using free A.I. to help me find and check claims, events and dates of investigations, if the conditions changed in eras, connections. But the AI didn't put this together, the A.I. is very dumb, so I'll be asking it about "Ballard" several times, it one time it said, he's "an Apostle"... I feel like I've repeated certain things like "no evidence" way too many times. But I wanted to finish it before Halloween. 

Edited October 27, 2025 by Pyreaux

[teddyaware]

1 hour ago, Pyreaux said:

Satanic Panic

Technically, I'm talking about Tim Ballard still. But I thought a new post about this could be devoted to just one issue he promotes and we have not touched. It's an issue that is interesting on its own, and a bit seasonally timed. It was my first thought when it was suggested we were using our bias and his odd quirks to prejudge him, because perhaps he can prove his claims. We will all see. I do actually hate to see people's lives ruined even when it's their fault, but I'm judging what he's currently doing.

So, one of my reasons I'm finding Ballard distasteful is that there are many red flags that he is inclined toward or promotes 'Satanic Panic'. I think that is highly relevant to his overall claims, as his rhetoric mirrors many themes from that phenomenon. Also, it's virtually impossible to verify his personal extraordinary claims about satanic rituals; however, perhaps we can look at the history of such claims themselves and assess the likelihood.

Books by Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christian authors often promote a curious belief system about Satanism. To them Satanism is a secret, underground, highly organized evil group that is international in scope and under the control of Satan himself. They feel that Satanists are responsible for kidnapping, torturing, ritually killing and even eating infants and children. They look upon many diverse activities as performing a recruitment function for Satanists; these include astrology, fantasy role playing games, heavy metal rock music, even the "Care Bears" and "Smurfs" on children's TV, and other unrelated religions like Wicca is often portrayed as part of this recruitment campaign. 

In reality, none of the above is true. For instance, Satanism as a religion is unrelated to Wicca, and neither Satanists nor Wiccans recruit members. "The Occult" that Christians describe simply does not exist as an organized entity.

The LDS Church and Satanism

I feel Ballard's recent claims mostly align with classic "Satanic Panic" and new QAnon "Deep State" child abuse ring theories. Because of this, there seems to be a very unlikely chance he will be vindicated, the most plausible case would suggest his claims are a mixture of gullibility and calculated hyperbole (also called lying). It's the sweeping claims of these "satanic abuse" he's sees everywhere. It's that Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), have been accused of promoting or legitimizing elements of the QAnon conspiracy theory. As a key component of QAnon involves the belief in a global "Deep State" network of Satan-worshipping elites who torture and abuse children.

When Ballards says LDS Church is somehow involved in "satanic child sex abuse" and there are members of the Church hierarchy that are "satanic child sacrificing losers" is very specific, inflammatory and a bit too far reaching to be saying without any evidence. For a member of the church, it all seems to be very tune deaf. There is a noticeable parallel between the rhetoric used by Tim Ballard and the tactics of anti-Satanism and the anti-Mormon counter-cult movements, like Ed Decker during the height of the Satanic Panic in the 1980s and 90s. The God Makers alleged that the LDS Church had "ties into Satanism and the occult". Part of a vast, secret, and supernaturally-charged evil plot to take over the country.

Both rely on no evidence, rather on a lone inside perspective, claiming to reveal a hidden, terrifying "truth" that the mainstream public is either unaware of or unwilling to confront. Decker, as an ex-Mormon, claimed to know about the LDS satanic rituals with skulls, snakes and 666 in blood, while Ballard, now a former LDS member, is uncovering a vast, global conspiracy that has just now revealed in the LDS church, that he and only he is capable of exposing. How very singularly special.

Eccentric Social Circles

Ballard has made these claims on platforms like Julie Green Ministries, which is associated with QAnon and extreme Christian prophetic circles, like the "Spiritual Warfare" movement, and the latter most likely to views the LDS Church itself as being Satanic, drawn directly from the 1980s Satanic Panic. Also, all these groups frequently propagate unproven and often fantastical conspiracy theories involving satanic elite cabals that traffic and sacrifice children. Ballard's claims of the Church housing "satanic child sacrificing losers" seems to echo the often-discredited fears of these groups.

There is no evidence for what he describes in the U.S., let alone Utah, or the Church. I'm getting the impression in the field of human trafficking, the term "satanic" is often used metaphorically or rhetorically to describe the profound depravity of the crime, not literal ritual Satanism. Ballard may have blurred the line between the rhetorical "satanic evil" of trafficking and the literal, sensational claims of organized ritual abuse that is believed among those susceptible to these narratives.

It is highly probable that Tim Ballard's literal claims of "satanic ritual abuse" was a self promotional narrative, his claims the LDS Church is covering "satanic ritual abuse" is unfounded hyperbole used as a desperate attempt to regain control of his public image. This rhetoric is a strategic employment of "Satanic Panic" tropes to sensationalize something for which there is no publicly available credible evidence to support, his claims of satanic ritual abuse within the Church leadership. Even with no evidence, the people he associates with will still believe it, they likely did before Ballard's claims.

Ballard's Other Satanic Claims Lack Verification

Ballard also claimed in 2023, without evidence, to have recently raided a West African "baby factory" where children were sold for organ harvesting and Satanic ritual abuse. Sensational elements like satanic ritual abuse that has been widely associated with the QAnon conspiracy movement, raising serious questions about his credibility and intent. There is no independent, verifiable evidence in public reports to confirm Ballard's specific, highly sensationalized accounts of busting "satanic" trafficking networks involved in organ harvesting.

However, the general crimes of ritual abuse and trafficking for organ removal do, tragically, exist in parts of Africa, but is often separate from the "satanic panic". There are so-called "witch doctors" who promise clients wealth or power, using kidnapped children, women, and particularly those with albinism, for various types of ritual abuse, but can include the removal of body parts in certain areas of Sub-Saharan Africa.

This is distinct from trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal. It's one of the least reported forms of trafficking. Usually in North and West Africa. There are organized criminal networks that profit from desperate and impoverished communities, mostly giving up a kidney. Ballard's narrative strategy appears to be taking these documented, horrific crimes in Africa and applying the sensationalized, conspiracy-laden "Satanic Panic" rhetoric to them, a narrative that resonates with certain American audiences and his conservative base.

While it is very possible he has come across those things, it is suggested these unverified claims of organize Satanism are a narrative for fundraising and self-promotion by multiple lawsuits and his history of sensationalizing claims. One plaintiff says these audio recordings below prove O.U.R. lied about 'sex slaves' to raise money. Both O.U.R. and Ballard have faced extensive media criticism and formal allegations of exaggerating, overstating, or fictionalizing their operations, often "sexing up" the accounts and portraying a dramatic "paramilitary" narrative that serves as a powerful fundraising and marketing tool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgHcg_ez_E0

LDS and Christian Fundamentalist Satanic Panic Crossover

LDS culture was highly influential in giving the Satanic Panic a hold in Utah. During the 1980s and 1990s, LDS also feared satanic groups, role-playing games, and rock music. Satanism was widely discussed in Utah media and within community and Church groups. The Saints feared sinister outsiders were directly attacking LDS values of family, innocence, and moral purity. While the non-LDS Utahans felt the same, they were also hearing about secret LDS temple rituals were occultic or Satanic. Utah became known as a hotspot for Satanic Panic claims, leading to real-world consequences.

People thought the Mark Hofmann forgeries in the mid-1980s had exposed dark secrets about the mystic origins of the LDS Church. Then the bombings created a climate of fear and conspiracy within the community that the Church was murdering people to cover it up. This general feeling of institutional and hidden evil made the Satanic Panic more credible to many.

In 1990, the Pace Memorandum was written by LDS General Authority Glenn L. Pace, described reports from 60 members who claimed to have 'recovered' memories of satanic ritual assault at the hands of family members and other church members. The memo treated the claims as a reality (it compared the alleged abusers to "secret combinations"). This high-level attention solidified the panic's reach within the Church.

In 1995, Utah conducted a 30-month investigation into SRA claims, including a review of the "Pace memorandum", that discussed claims of Satanic Ritual Abuse by Church members. The investigation concluded that there was no evidence to substantiate the testimony of alleged victims that would warrant a criminal prosecution.

In her 2005 memoir, Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith, Martha Beck wrote that she recovered memories in the 1990s (the end of the Satanic Panic era) of being sexually abused by her father. These claims have contributed to a genre of "Escaping from Mormonism" narratives, focused on ritual abuse or general trauma.

Modernly, some research suggests that overall child abuse rates may be lower in Latter-day Saint communities compared to the national average. Research analyzing abuse cases within the Boy Scouts of America settlement, for example, found that while Latter-day Saint units comprised 20-30% of troops, they accounted for only 5.16% of abuse cases, indicating a significantly lower proportion of abuse than expected.

https://publicsquaremag.org/sexuality-family/sexual-abuse/latter-day-saint-abuse-myths/

US Law Enforcement says Organized Satanic Ritual Abuse is a Myth 

Extensive, nationwide investigations by U.S. law enforcement and government agencies have repeatedly concluded that the claims of vast, organized Satanic ritual abuse rings are unsubstantiated.

In 1992, FBI agent Kenneth Lanning, a respected authority on occult crime, released an exhaustive report concluding there was no evidence of large-scale, organized Satanic ritual abuse. He dismissed the idea of multiple secret satanic murders happening undetected.

In 1994 the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect conducted a comprehensive nationwide study found that out of more than 12,000 accusations of group cult sexual abuse, not a single one could be substantiated with physical evidence or corroborating facts.

Any Systemic Satanism Today?

Authorities still investigate cases and claims of ritual abuse and murder but does not find evidence of the vast, intergenerational, global conspiracy described by proponents of the theory. They only find isolated incidents of abuse where an individual or a small, dysfunctional group (often a family or very small cult group) incorporates ritualistic, occult, or religious elements (Satan, doomsday, or otherwise) to frighten, control, or intimidate victims, but do not indicate the existence of a widespread, interconnected conspiracy.

The consensus among criminologists, sociologists, and law enforcement today is that the phenomenon, known as the "Satanic Panic" was a widespread societal fear, not a real criminal conspiracy. False memories and leading/coercive interview techniques were identified as sources of the allegations.

The main problem is not just the lack evidence, but the fabrication of evidence. Children were subjected to coercive interviewing techniques, such as the use of leading questions and questionable methods (like anatomically correct dolls) by therapists and social workers that pressured children into creating false narratives. Adult were subject to "recovered" memories in therapy, often using hypnosis, these "recovered" memories of highly implausible ritual abuse that were not independently verifiable.

There is no credible evidence of large, organized satanic rings engaged in ritual abuse, sacrifice, or widespread murder of children. So, as things stand right now, Ballard's is exploiting the faith and fears of both his LDS and Evangelical supporters and employees using a discredited conspiracy theory, as indicate using the language and targets of that old panic (the "elite," the "government," and sensational, grotesque acts) to create a narrative that serves his purposes, but which is so far unsupported by the evidence.

** I've been writing and tinkering with this for many days, I have been using free A.I. to help me find and check claims, events and dates of investigations, if the conditions changed in eras, connections. But the AI didn't put this together, the A.I. is very dumb, so I'll be asking it about "Ballard" several times, it one time it said, he's "an Apostle"... I feel like I've repeated certain things like "no evidence" way too many times. But I wanted to finish it before Halloween. 

Is Ballard saying that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Saints is practicing Satanism, or that there’s some evidence of a subset of corrupt church members who are secretly practicing Satanism while using their activity in the church as an effective cover for their wickedness? And based on the following dire words of prophetic warning from the Lord himself, should we be at all surprised if it turns out that there are desperate forms of wickedness going on among some of the members of the church, and that in accordance with the adversary’s long practiced ancient design he has made some successful diabolical inroads into the church? 

23 Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.

24 Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord.

25 And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord;

26 First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord. (Doctrine and Covenants 112)

The sins of the wicked members of the church alluded to in verses 25 and 26 must be very severe if the offenders are going to die by fire. At very least, it’s safe to say it’s likely that abominations highly offensive in the eyes of the Lord are going to be committed by some members of the church. It’s always been this way…

 

Edited October 27, 2025 by teddyaware

[Calm]

2 hours ago, Pyreaux said:

I feel like I've repeated certain things like "no evidence" way too many times.

Since there is no such evidence found so far beyond personal anecdotes that have not been able to be verified even though many, many have investigated, I think there is no such thing as “too many times”.  The Satanic Panic caused a tremendous amount of harm, including distracting people from actual abuse, and it needs to be stepped on, imo.

[Calm]

19 hours ago, teddyaware said:

At very least, it’s safe to say it’s likely that abominations highly offensive in the eyes of the Lord are going to be committed by some members of the church

Given how strongly the Lord came out about taking care of the poor and needy, mourning with those who mourn, etc, I don’t think one has dig deep for exotic, devilish rituals or beliefs to find what the Lord considers as abominations.

Edited October 27, 2025 by Calm

[The Nehor]

Tale as old as time. Just keeps rhyming. The elites are practicing pedophilia and stealing the blood of children is just reworked Jewish blood libel.

The whole witch craze in the early modern period was a moral panic. It is a lot more like this satanic conspiracy than many know. The ‘elaborated theory of witchcraft’ (name some scholars use to describe the witch craze) was not just a bunch of people suspecting crones of wrecking the weather. It was believed to be an international conspiracy where witches (mostly women) were carried away to a satanic church or sometimes a synagogue (because anti-semitism just makes every crazy conspiracy better I suppose) and they would have perverse orgies with Satan and demons. Then they would go out to use their magic to fight Christendom and try to bring things down. This was seen as a sign of the end of days.

The irony is that the whole witch craze got the idea of what witches were like from the Malleus Maleficarum, a pamphlet created by a priest. That priest was basically a sex pest who made a woman’s life hell to the point that the law got involved. Then he wrote about how women were evil and their sexiness came from Satan and all that fun stuff. He would have fit right in with the “walking pornography” type stuff of our day in some Christian churches. Kramer, the writer, got thrown out of Tyrol for being a nut. He wrote the thing as a kind of revenge or self-justification about how he was wronged. Top theologians in the Inquisition said it was all wrong. Then one pope spoke of it approvingly and the whole salacious nature of it made it popular. Sex sells and all of that.

The big shift was that magic was a sin before. People tried to practice it anyways but it was like fornication or gluttony or any other sin. It is a sin but you confess and repent and move on. Kramer insisted that satanic magic was real and was actually heresy. So suddenly practicing magic wasn’t just a sin. It was a defiance of the faith itself. Then things went crazy. Before this magic was usually seen as a delusion or fraud. Now it was suddenly real and came straight from the devil! So people died in droves. Mostly women. King James (yes, that King James) bought into the witch craze and assumed many unlucky events in his life were coordinated by this cabal of witches. His underlings were glad to let him put the blame on witches because in some cases it was probably their fault.

The Q-Anon conspiracy has a similar theology. The worst sins come from secret traitors to the nation as a whole. They commit secret depraved rites. There was even a Second Coming equivalent where the anointed President chosen by God would expose all the evil “deep state” witches and kill them all en masse.

They always involve incredibly improbable conspiracies involving large numbers of people that somehow all communicate and coordinate together even when they have no reason to. They make no sense if you think about them and have a basic understanding of what actually motivates people.

Ballard is a little late to the party on this conspiracy cycle and it probably won’t catch on.

I wouldn’t worry. We will do this again in a few years with a new flavor. Communists, Satanists, Deep State….what new imaginary enemy within will we think is about to wipe us out?

[The Nehor]

8 hours ago, teddyaware said:

Is Ballard saying that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Saints is practicing Satanism, or that there’s some evidence of a subset of corrupt church members who are secretly practicing Satanism while using their activity in the church as an effective cover for their wickedness? And based on the following dire words of prophetic warning from the Lord himself, should we be at all surprised if it turns out that there are desperate forms of wickedness going on among some of the members of the church, and that in accordance with the adversary’s long practiced ancient design he has made some successful diabolical inroads into the church? 

23 Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.

24 Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord.

25 And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord;

26 First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord. (Doctrine and Covenants 112)

The sins of the wicked members of the church alluded to in verses 25 and 26 must be very severe if the offenders are going to die by fire. At very least, it’s safe to say it’s likely that abominations highly offensive in the eyes of the Lord are going to be committed by some members of the church. It’s always been this way…

So you are going to take the words of a serial liar and see his insane conspiracy theories as the fulfillment of prophecy?

The last 50 moral panics went nowhere but this one…..this could be the real deal!!!!!!

Sure……uh huh.

The reason moral panics work is people want to believe them. It gives them an enemy. Makes their life more exciting and gives meaning. It is usually the conspiracy mongers that are the devilish ones. As C.S. Lewis said:

Quote

Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one's first feeling, 'Thank God, even they aren't quite so bad as that,' or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally we shall insist on seeing everything -- God and our friends and ourselves included -- as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred.

 

[the narrator]

18 hours ago, Calm said:

The Satanic Panic caused a tremendous amount of harm, including distracting people from actual abuse, and it needs to be stepped on, imo.

My teens were a perfect time for me to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons, and that was taken from me. Now I'm too old to learn.

[Pyreaux]

22 hours ago, teddyaware said:

Is Ballard saying that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Saints is practicing Satanism, or that there’s some evidence of a subset of corrupt church members who are secretly practicing Satanism while using their activity in the church as an effective cover for their wickedness? And based on the following dire words of prophetic warning from the Lord himself, should we be at all surprised if it turns out that there are desperate forms of wickedness going on among some of the members of the church, and that in accordance with the adversary’s long practiced ancient design he has made some successful diabolical inroads into the church? 

23 Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.

24 Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord.

25 And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord;

26 First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord. (Doctrine and Covenants 112)

The sins of the wicked members of the church alluded to in verses 25 and 26 must be very severe if the offenders are going to die by fire. At very least, it’s safe to say it’s likely that abominations highly offensive in the eyes of the Lord are going to be committed by some members of the church. It’s always been this way…

Appeal to Familiarity. Unless you are claiming personal revelation, you are relying on your feelings just because how vaguely familiar Ballard's claims are to scriptures instead of appealing to actual authority (like the leaders), to undermine the Church's authority (even if only the PR department). Which seems a bit inappropriate.

Do you know the odds of a undetected criminal conspiracy involving Satanic ritual child murder, involving high-ranking LDS Church leaders, being known only to a single, recently disgraced person, who is currently gatekeeping the "world's greatest secret" is in reality? Well, they are extraordinarily low, approaching zero from an evidence-based and criminological perspective. 

Conducting something as abominable as ritual abuse and murders requires a massive logistical operation, deep cooperation and silence from dozens, if not hundreds, of participants. This is exceptionally difficult to maintain undetected for any length of time, even for very small groups, let alone public figures, and especially Church figures who are among the most publicly scrutinized figures. Their movements, finances, and associations are closely watched both internally and externally. The idea that multiple, elderly, high-profile figures could be maintaining a decades-long secret life of occult child murder is highly inconsistent with established criminal patterns and the realities of life.

But let's say the Church PR department is powerful enough to beat those imposing odds, what are the odds Ballard truly held the only evidence? In any criminal enterprise, people fall out of favor, feel remorse, get arrested for unrelated crimes and seek plea bargains. The idea that a single person has the only evidence because no one else has come forward defies the known reality of criminal leaks and the human conscience.  The notion that he is the only person who knows about the world's greatest secret murder plot and is holding that information until the "right time," is a classic feature of an unsubstantiated, not credible, conspiracy.

There is no reason on earth to delay. If an individual possessed definitive, corroborated evidence of high-ranking religious leaders committing child murder, that information is, objectively, the most powerful political and religious weapon in the world. A credible individual with this evidence would have every incentive to release it immediately for his own safety, justice, and protection of others. Everyday Ballard's information is withheld, the alleged murder cult is free to continue abusing and killing children. To the point that waiting for the "right time" makes the "knower" morally complicit in every subsequent death.

Edited October 27, 2025 by Pyreaux

[Calm]

12 minutes ago, Pyreaux said:

The idea that multiple, elderly, high-profile figures could be maintaining a decades-long secret life of occult child murder is highly inconsistent with established criminal patterns and the realities of life.

Church employees retire at the usual age, so if TB restricts the corruption to “middle management”, then the high profile decades long secret doesn’t really apply.  But I don’t see it as realistic for middle management either given the oversight that occurs.  At the very least even if one restricts the ‘pure’ corruption to a limited, but powerful number, those surrounding them would have to be at least corrupt enough to look away.

The so called secret combinations in the Book of Mormon were known to the public it seems and the identities of some individuals involved were known to faithful church leaders and they did all they could to root them out, including public denunciations.  Appealing to scripture to ‘prove’ the likely existence of current secret combinations while ignoring the response of church leaders and others seems highly inconsistent to me.

[The Nehor]

4 hours ago, the narrator said:

My teens were a perfect time for me to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons, and that was taken from me. Now I'm too old to learn.

Newest player in my group is in her 50s. Not too old.

[Pyreaux]

1 hour ago, The Nehor said:

Newest player in my group is in her 50s. Not too old.

Anyone can play. Only one person actually needs to know the rules, hopefully it's the Dungeon Master.

Edited October 28, 2025 by Pyreaux

[Calm]

22 minutes ago, Pyreaux said:

Only one person actually needs to know the rules, hopefully it's the Dungeon Master.

If I ever manage to regain my ability to sit for a long time, I am going to crash my grandson’s game sometime.  I bought a set back in 76 iirc and still have it, but never found anyone who wanted to play with me because I was too shy to actually ask, lol.

Edited October 27, 2025 by Calm

[Pyreaux]

19 hours ago, Calm said:

If I ever manage to regain my ability to sit for a long time, I am going to crash my grandson’s game sometime.  I bought a set back in 76 iirc and still have it, but never found anyone who wanted to play with me because I was too shy to actually ask, lol.

2nd Edition is best, 3rd is more complex with a ton of resources, 4th is dumbed down to appeal to World of Warcraft MMO players, the 5th is new and people are saying it's trying to appeal to LGBT people.

Campaigns

Forgotten Realms

The main section of the Realms is intended to be a generic D&D world. It has many similarities to medieval Earth. It also has enormous cities, many countries with foreign flavors, hordes of NPC's, and more room to maneuver than you'll ever need. There are also wild magic and dead magic zones, where magic can surge in power (and unpredictability) or not work at all. There are also a lot of supplements out for the core Realms. The fan favorite must be Faerûn, very Tolken-like, they have the Underdark, with popular Legacy of the Drow novels.

DragonLance

The world of Krynn is fairly well-known, through the series of novels and modules which started it. Gold has little or no value there, as the world is on a steel standard. Clerics are relatively unheard of, as well, because the main focus for the world is the ongoing battle between the deities Takhesis and Paladine; other "normal" deities have been pretty much forgotten. In addition, as the name might suggest, dragons are more active here than elsewhere, as they are strongly polarized on the Takhesis-Paladine battle. There are also several time periods to adventure in; the time of the War of the Lance is only one. 

Spelljammer

In a nutshell, Spelljammer is D&D in outer space, but in more of the swashbuckler pirate genre than a hard science fiction one. Many of the typical D&D races of characters and villains are present, but many behave very differently from any you may have met before. In addition, Spelljammer may include adventuring on many of the other published game worlds, as spelljammers visit almost all of them from time to time. 

Ravenloft

Ravenloft is a world of gothic horror. It is located in the Demiplane of Dread, and fairly reeks of evil. Many who go there are corrupted and never return. Some new mechanics are fear and horror checks. A failed fear check involves running in abject terror. A failed horror check, well, lets just not talk about that right now. The mists of Ravenloft often gather up unwary travelers and take them to the demiplane, from whence half the fun is trying to find an exit which supposedly doesn't even exist. 

Dark Sun

Athas is a metal-poor desert world, which by itself makes life quite a challenge. Add to that the fact that almost everyone on the planet has some degree of psionic ability, and you get a pretty lethal world. Also, clerics are different from usual, in that they are either templars who are granted spells by their sorcerer-kings or clerics who gain spells by worshipping the elements around them. Mages, too, are changed; all magic is powered directly by the life force of the world around them, which tends to be a detriment to the continued existence of any plants and animals in the area. 

Greyhawk

Greyhawk was the first widely-known campaign world. Flip through the guides most of the named spells and magic items originated in Greyhawk. Originally, the world was essentially a general, multi- fantasy-genre world, similar in that way to the Forgotten Realms, but with its own very distinct flavor. Latter supplements, however, have turned the world into a war-torn pile of smoking rubble, where basic survival is much more difficult than before the wars. Most Greyhawk players set their campaigns long before the wars. Since most of the modules published before the arrival of Forgotten Realms and DragonLance are actually set in Greyhawk, there is a wealth of information out there for gaming purposes. 

Planescape

This is basically the 2nd ed. revamp of the Manual of the Planes, but it is much more than that, as well. This setting is designed for entire campaigns run on the planes themselves, with all the interesting beings that may involve. Characters may belong to any of a number of factions, which interact in a similar way to secret societies in Paranoia. Adventures are typically set in Sigil, an enormous city in the neutral center of the planes, and involve visits to one or more of the other planes. It also comes with its own lingo, so if you hear the occasional "cutter" (someone in the know) or "berk" (someone not in the know) comments, you'll know where they're from. 

 

Edited October 28, 2025 by Pyreaux

[JVW]

I'm torn about this topic, not Utah LDS Satanic stuff specifically (Calm provided a lot of good material in another thread debunking it, in addition to the material in this thread), but Satanic child abuse stuff generally. Off the top of my head I can think of at least three videos that provide very good evidence but the subject matter is very intense and it's sick and not SFW so I don't think I should share any of it on this forum. I suppose I could just say that if anyone wants to judge what I think are sources that support the idea that there is a secret industry that uses children for terrible reasons and harvests organs and stuff then PM me. One of the videos that comes to my mind was so dark and disturbing I've literally never shared it with anyone else since watching it.

I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place anytime it comes to child abuse. If anything is done other than mocking people who believe in it, then the thread would get really dark really quickly. And definitely wouldn't be appropriate for most people to casually read through.

Cheers everyone, and happy Halloween. 

[sunstoned]

21 hours ago, The Nehor said:

Tale as old as time. Just keeps rhyming. The elites are practicing pedophilia and stealing the blood of children is just reworked Jewish blood libel.

The whole witch craze in the early modern period was a moral panic. It is a lot more like this satanic conspiracy than many know. The ‘elaborated theory of witchcraft’ (name some scholars use to describe the witch craze) was not just a bunch of people suspecting crones of wrecking the weather. It was believed to be an international conspiracy where witches (mostly women) were carried away to a satanic church or sometimes a synagogue (because anti-semitism just makes every crazy conspiracy better I suppose) and they would have perverse orgies with Satan and demons. Then they would go out to use their magic to fight Christendom and try to bring things down. This was seen as a sign of the end of days.

The irony is that the whole witch craze got the idea of what witches were like from the Malleus Maleficarum, a pamphlet created by a priest. That priest was basically a sex pest who made a woman’s life hell to the point that the law got involved. Then he wrote about how women were evil and their sexiness came from Satan and all that fun stuff. He would have fit right in with the “walking pornography” type stuff of our day in some Christian churches. Kramer, the writer, got thrown out of Tyrol for being a nut. He wrote the thing as a kind of revenge or self-justification about how he was wronged. Top theologians in the Inquisition said it was all wrong. Then one pope spoke of it approvingly and the whole salacious nature of it made it popular. Sex sells and all of that.

The big shift was that magic was a sin before. People tried to practice it anyways but it was like fornication or gluttony or any other sin. It is a sin but you confess and repent and move on. Kramer insisted that satanic magic was real and was actually heresy. So suddenly practicing magic wasn’t just a sin. It was a defiance of the faith itself. Then things went crazy. Before this magic was usually seen as a delusion or fraud. Now it was suddenly real and came straight from the devil! So people died in droves. Mostly women. King James (yes, that King James) bought into the witch craze and assumed many unlucky events in his life were coordinated by this cabal of witches. His underlings were glad to let him put the blame on witches because in some cases it was probably their fault.

The Q-Anon conspiracy has a similar theology. The worst sins come from secret traitors to the nation as a whole. They commit secret depraved rites. There was even a Second Coming equivalent where the anointed President chosen by God would expose all the evil “deep state” witches and kill them all en masse.

They always involve incredibly improbable conspiracies involving large numbers of people that somehow all communicate and coordinate together even when they have no reason to. They make no sense if you think about them and have a basic understanding of what actually motivates people.

Ballard is a little late to the party on this conspiracy cycle and it probably won’t catch on.

I wouldn’t worry. We will do this again in a few years with a new flavor. Communists, Satanists, Deep State….what new imaginary enemy within will we think is about to wipe us out?

Wow, talk about a conspiracy buzz kill.  I bet you don't even believe in Antifa.  

[Calm]

9 hours ago, JVW said:

feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place anytime it comes to child abuse. If anything is done other than mocking people who believe in it,

Do you mean Satanic child abuse, because one of the reasons I come down on SRA and recovered memories is because it discredits actual child abuse because at times when people find out such things are false, they stop trusting stories of real abuse as well.  Plus it diverts resources. Given all the hours and attention spent, there has been a lot of money wasted finding little to no result (it’s possible they came across some real abuse cases—not SRA, other kinds of abuse).  The McMartin case alone cost 15 million.  It was supposedly the most expensive criminal case ever because of its length (7 years) and endless charges if I understand correctly.  The insistence that there had to be substance there….

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/01/18/Theories-on-why-McMartin-trial-took-so-long/3379632638800/

I find it hard to believe anyone mocks people who believe in actual child abuse, there is a good chance most of us have loved ones or friends who have experienced it, so I am thinking you left out Satanic.

Edited October 28, 2025 by Calm

[The Nehor]

7 hours ago, JVW said:

I'm torn about this topic, not Utah LDS Satanic stuff specifically (Calm provided a lot of good material in another thread debunking it, in addition to the material in this thread), but Satanic child abuse stuff generally. Off the top of my head I can think of at least three videos that provide very good evidence but the subject matter is very intense and it's sick and not SFW so I don't think I should share any of it on this forum. I suppose I could just say that if anyone wants to judge what I think are sources that support the idea that there is a secret industry that uses children for terrible reasons and harvests organs and stuff then PM me. One of the videos that comes to my mind was so dark and disturbing I've literally never shared it with anyone else since watching it.

I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place anytime it comes to child abuse. If anything is done other than mocking people who believe in it, then the thread would get really dark really quickly. And definitely wouldn't be appropriate for most people to casually read through.

Cheers everyone, and happy Halloween. 

Child abuse is real. Satanic child abuse is almost entirely mythical.

[JVW]

4 hours ago, The Nehor said:

Child abuse is real. Satanic child abuse is almost entirely mythical.

In the spirit of Halloween I present a few news articles for your consideration. Both are hearsay and the people who made the comments can no longer be reached for further comment.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/8353587/silvio-berlusconi-obituary-scandals-sex-parties-trials/ The "chemical poisoning" was with radioactive materials.

Quote

A model who spoke out, claiming Satanic rituals and under-age sex were performed at Berlusconi’s home, Villa Acore, near Milan, died of suspected chemical poisoning.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mariah-carey-sister-alison-lawsuit-172802799.html Lawsuit filed in 2020, Alison was around 60 years old at the time.

Quote

Alison claimed that Mariah made these outrageous statements “knowing that [Alison] profoundly and permanently damaged as a result of being forced by” their mother “while a pre-teen, to attend terrifying middle-of-the-night satanic worship meetings that included ritual sacrifices.”

 

[Pyreaux]

There are many individual allegations of Ritual Abuse, a few real cases that involve satanic elements (sometimes it's not Satanism, it can be Christian) and a host of unproven allegations, it does not disprove the broader consensus. This is known as the Anecdotal Evidence fallacy.

The shame is the abuse could be real, but the ritual element makes it questionable. The individuals making the claims are often indeed victims of severe, or organized, or sadistic abuse. The "ritual" element is frequently found to be a layer added to the abuse. What could happen is certain abusers added it seeking to terrify and control victims, or it entirely in the victim's memory or therapy process.

The claims of ritual abuse in the Alison Carey case are made in the context of a civil lawsuit. She is seeking monetary damages for emotional distress, not a criminal prosecution, which has a much higher burden of proof. As of the latest public reporting, these allegations are simply assertions made.

The Silvio Berlusconi case, as publicly reported and documented through multiple court proceedings, features extensive evidence of corruption, bribery, and sexual misconduct, but it does not contain any credible, verified, or proven link to the specific allegation of "satanic sacrifices" or occult rituals. I trust there were some crazy things at those hedonistic Bunga Bunga parties with dressed up women.

 

[MiserereNobis]

16 hours ago, Pyreaux said:

2nd Edition is best, 3rd is more complex with a ton of resources, 4th is dumbed down to appeal to World of Warcraft MMO players, the 5th is new and people are saying it's trying to appeal to LGBT people.

Campaigns

Forgotten Realms

The main section of the Realms is intended to be a generic D&D world. It has many similarities to medieval Earth. It also has enormous cities, many countries with foreign flavors, hordes of NPC's, and more room to maneuver than you'll ever need. There are also wild magic and dead magic zones, where magic can surge in power (and unpredictability) or not work at all. There are also a lot of supplements out for the core Realms.

DragonLance

The world of Krynn is fairly well-known, through the series of novels and modules which started it. Gold has little or no value there, as the world is on a steel standard. Clerics are relatively unheard of, as well, because the main focus for the world is the ongoing battle between the deities Takhesis and Paladine; other "normal" deities have been pretty much forgotten. In addition, as the name might suggest, dragons are more active here than elsewhere, as they are strongly polarized on the Takhesis-Paladine battle. There are also several time periods to adventure in; the time of the War of the Lance is only one. 

Spelljammer

In a nutshell, Spelljammer is D&D in outer space, but in more of the swashbuckler pirate genre than a hard science fiction one. Many of the typical D&D races of characters and villains are present, but many behave very differently from any you may have met before. In addition, Spelljammer may include adventuring on many of the other published game worlds, as spelljammers visit almost all of them from time to time. 

Ravenloft

Ravenloft is a world of gothic horror. It is located in the Demiplane of Dread, and fairly reeks of evil. Many who go there are corrupted and never return. Some new mechanics are fear and horror checks. A failed fear check involves running in abject terror. A failed horror check, well, lets just not talk about that right now. The mists of Ravenloft often gather up unwary travelers and take them to the demiplane, from whence half the fun is trying to find an exit which supposedly doesn't even exist. 

Dark Sun

Athas is a metal-poor desert world, which by itself makes life quite a challenge. Add to that the fact that almost everyone on the planet has some degree of psionic ability, and you get a pretty lethal world. Also, clerics are different from usual, in that they are either templars who are granted spells by their sorcerer-kings or clerics who gain spells by worshipping the elements around them. Mages, too, are changed; all magic is powered directly by the life force of the world around them, which tends to be a detriment to the continued existence of any plants and animals in the area. 

Greyhawk

Greyhawk was the first widely-known campaign world. Flip through the guilds most of the named spells and magic items originated in Greyhawk. Until recently, the world was essentially a general, multi- fantasy-genre world, similar in that way to the Forgotten Realms, but with its own very distinct flavor. Latter supplements, however, have turned the world into a war-torn pile of smoking rubble, where basic survival is much more difficult than before the wars. Most Greyhawk players set their campaigns long before the wars. Since most of the modules published before the arrival of Forgotten Realms and DragonLance are actually set in Greyhawk, there is a wealth of information out there for gaming purposes. 

Planescape

This is basically the 2nd ed. revamp of the Manual of the Planes, but it is much more than that, as well. This setting is designed for entire campaigns run on the planes themselves, with all the interesting beings that may involve. Characters may belong to any of a number of factions, which interact in a similar way to secret societies in Paranoia. Adventures are typically set in Sigil, an enormous city in the neutral center of the planes, and involve visits to one or more of the other planes. It also comes with its own lingo, so if you hear the occasional "cutter" (someone in the know) or "berk" (someone not in the know) comments, you'll know where they're from. 

 

You mention Ravenloft. I used to play the original module (published 1983) back in the day. It was so fun! I found a digital scan of it a few years ago when I was in a fit of nostalgia. I'll attach it for everyone's enjoyment.

It's a single file of 5.3 MB, which is too big, so I had to zip it to make it attachable.

ravenloft.pdf.zip

[JVW]

1 hour ago, Pyreaux said:

There are many individual allegations of Ritual Abuse, a few real cases that involve satanic elements (sometimes it's not Satanism, it can be Christian) and a host of unproven allegations, it does not disprove the broader consensus. This is known as the Anecdotal Evidence fallacy.

The shame is the abuse could be real, but the ritual element makes it questionable. The individuals making the claims are often indeed victims of severe, or organized, or sadistic abuse. The "ritual" element is frequently found to be a layer added to the abuse. What could happen is certain abusers added it seeking to terrify and control victims, or it entirely in the victim's memory or therapy process.

The claims of ritual abuse in the Alison Carey case are made in the context of a civil lawsuit. She is seeking monetary damages for emotional distress, not a criminal prosecution, which has a much higher burden of proof. As of the latest public reporting, these allegations are simply assertions made.

The Silvio Berlusconi case, as publicly reported and documented through multiple court proceedings, features extensive evidence of corruption, bribery, and sexual misconduct, but it does not contain any credible, verified, or proven link to the specific allegation of "satanic sacrifices" or occult rituals. I trust there were some crazy things at those hedonistic Bunga Bunga parties with dressed up women.

 

Agreed, these specific allegations carry no proof. The videos that I'm unwilling to share here present a stronger case, or if you take time to go down the Instagram pedo rabbit hole and start seeing really deep, dark, satanic imagery paired with photos of abused children, then inferences can start being made about what's happening behind closed doors during the abuse.

Regardless of how strong or weak the circumstantial evidence may be for Satanic rituals or Satanic worship being present among certain powerful circles; I don't think there will ever be any conclusive evidence regarding this. Looking at just child abuse circles in general, like Epstein (who had a temple, but also after death his island was blocked off, stripped, and tunnels were filled with concrete), there is a great deal of care to keep the secret stuff secret, and for nobody to get in trouble even if the ring leader is caught.

I don't know if you heard of the Franklin Scandal. This 18 minute video on it is my favorite presentation of the information regarding the scandal, but you can learn about it however you want. The end result of this was that the one witness who didn't recant her testimony got sentenced to 15 years in prison, and the alleged perpetrator got sentenced to 15 years in prison for the financial crimes he had committed. Also, the guy who was investigating ended up dying in a plane explosion. And there was a whole bunch of other unrelated deaths of people associated with the perpetrator, victims, and investigation listed out at timestamp 15:37. (By the way, King Trout's video about Portobello mushrooms is insane, highly recommended.)

Funny enough, the main reason I believe it will never come to light is because of the Book of Mormon. The way that it describes how the secret oaths and combinations occur. They have their own ceremonies, their own rituals, their own signs and tokens, and their own codewords and language. And if anyone narcs they are dead (as well as probably their familes). There are some very deep, secret bonds forged when it comes to Satan's version of the temple or the priesthood, and those aren't easily broken, and if they ever are the world will assist in burying it, as id did with Epstein, and with King in the 80s/90s.

[Calm]

15 minutes ago, JVW said:

start seeing really deep, dark, satanic imagery paired with photos of abused children, then inferences can start being made about what's happening behind closed doors during the abuse.

How do you know they are not fakes?  Not mocking, but serious question. 

[Calm]

17 minutes ago, JVW said:

The way that it describes how the secret oaths and combinations occur.

But in the Book of Mormon they are exposed time and time again.

[JVW]

41 minutes ago, Calm said:

How do you know they are not fakes?  Not mocking, but serious question. 

I don't. How do you know they aren't real? We can play that game if you want.

Edited October 28, 2025 by JVW
Not going to post any because they are too creepy for Halloween

[JVW]

32 minutes ago, Calm said:

But in the Book of Mormon they are exposed time and time again.

I'm not sure how exposed the secret combinations were actually, during the time when they were among the people. I honestly don't even know how Mormon or whoever wrote the book of Ether were aware of them. How did Mormon know about the plot to poison the general by degrees? How did Nephi know about the brother who assassinated the chief judge? etc.?

Mormon was a way more hardcore conspiracy theorist than I am. I assume he, or the other authors in the book of Mormon were given visions or revelations from God about it or something. Or maybe they just paid attention to little unproveable bread crumbs like what conspiracy theorists do today, only, since they wrote the book, they could make their theories sound declarative. I don't think we actually have any evidence that the Gadianton Robbers ever existed. Or that there was a Master Mahan who started the first secret combination or whatever. But it is interesting that Mormon says that we'll be able to see evidence of secret combinations in the days before Christ comes. And he may have just meant conspiracies like what Larry Ellison is doing, or what companies do with planned obsolescence, etc. The secret combinations he describes took blood oaths, and he is implying that we'll be able to find them if we look.