Do not become such a zealot that you believe
it all nor such a cynic that you believe nothing.
—Kenneth Lanning
Kenneth V. Lanning, Supervisory Special Agent Behavioral Science Unit National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, authored the 1992 AD FBI report “Satanic Ritual Abuse” having “been assigned to the Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and have specialized in studying all aspects of the sexual victimization of children” since 1981 AD as part of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit which “attempts to develop practical applications of the behavioral sciences to the criminal justice system.”
The report is important for various reasons such contextualizing the manner in which such issues are handled within various contexts. He makes so very good and important point and also, or so it seems to me, he comes to some major conclusions based on logic which is surface level sound but not when critically examined.
From the 1981-1992 timespan some will discern that this is just about at the height of the so called “Satanic panic.” Kenneth V. Lanning notes that he get it from both sides as “Some have even blamed me for helping to create the hysteria that has led to these bizarre allegations” and there were also “accusations by a few that I am a ‘satanist’ who has infiltrated the FBI to facilitate cover-up.”
Now, as noted on my Satanic Crime section:
When considering the general topic commonly termed “Satanic crime” there are two equal and opposite errors: 1) Concluding that if a crime was committed by someone who listens to heavy metal and wears black and a pentagram, it must therefore have been a Satanic crime—that is, specifically inspired and/or justified by Satanism of whatever sort. 2) Concluding that no Satanist ever commits crimes specifically inspired and/or justified by Satanism of whatever sort.
Within the USA the term “Satanic crime” seems to have been censored out of the media due to the “Satanic panic” of the 1990s AD and due to politicizing by Satanists and social reformers of various sorts who seek to separate a person’s beliefs from the actions which they take (unless the person is a Christian in which case the media and pop-occulture besmirch the God, the Bible, Christianity, etc.).
Kenneth Lanning notes that he would “prefer not to use the term” “ritual child abuse” as it offers “no significant value to the criminal investigator” and that the “newer term ‘satanic ritual abuse’ (abbreviated ‘SRA’) is even worse.” He prefers his own term “multidimensional” such as in “multidimensional child sex rings” which is not in reference to physics but to multilayered, multiple players often in multiple locations, etc.
The subsections below will be Contextualizing, Major Conspiracy, Therapists, Religion and Satanism.
CONTEXTUALIZING
As an example of contextualizing, “Parents may choose to believe simply because their children make the claims…Therapists may choose to believe simply because their professional assessment is that their patient believes the victimization and describes it so vividly…A social worker must have more real, tangible evidence…The law enforcement officer deals with the criminal justice system. The levels of proof necessary are reasonable suspicion, probable cause, and beyond a reasonable doubt because the consequences (criminal investigation, search and seizure, arrest, incarceration) are so great.”
Indicative of the issue of contextualizing is the following:
Dr. Lawrence Pazder, coauthor of “Michelle Remembers”, defines “ritualized abuse of children” as “repeated physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual assaults combined with a systematic use of symbols and secret ceremonies designed to turn a child against itself, family, society, and God” (presentation, Richmond, Va., May 7,1987.) He also states that “the sexual assault has ritualistic meaning and is not for sexual gratification.”
The issue is, as Kenneth Lanning puts it, “This definition may have value for academics, sociologists, and therapists, but it creates potential problems for law enforcement.”
“Many of the aspects of these cases varied, but there were also some commonalties…one particularly difficult and potentially significant issue began to emerge” which break down into “four dynamics in common: (1) multiple young victims, (2) multiple offenders, (3) fear as the controlling tactic, and (4) bizarre or ritualistic activity.”
Furthermore, “Multidimensional child sex rings typically emerge from one of four scenarios: (1) adult survivors, (2) day care cases, (3) family/isolated neighborhood cases, and (4) custody/visitation disputes.”
MAJOR CONSPIRACY
Now, this is the major selling point, as it were, for this FBI report since people will claim that it discredits conspiracy theories about major Satanic ritual abuse networks. Kenneth Lanning notes, “The idea that there are a few cunning, secretive individuals in positions of power somewhere in this country regularly killing a few people as part of some satanic ritual or ceremony and getting away with it is certainly within the realm of possibility.”
Moreover, “We now have hundreds of victims alleging that thousands of offenders are abusing and even murdering tens of thousands of people as part of organized satanic cults, and there is little or no corroborative evidence. The very reason many ‘experts’ cite for believing these allegations (i.e. many victims, who never met each other, reporting the same events,) is the primary reason I began to question at least some aspects of these allegations.”
He also notes:
The large number of people telling the same story is, in fact, the biggest reason to doubt these stories. It is simply too difficult for that many people to commit so many horrendous crimes as part of an organized conspiracy. Two or three people murder a couple of children in a few communities as part of a ritual, and nobody finds out? Possible. Thousands of people do the same thing to tens of thousands of victims over many years? Not likely. Hundreds of communities all over America are run by mayors, police departments, and community leaders who are practicing satanists and who regularly murder and eat people? Not likely. In addition, these community leaders and high-ranking officials also supposedly commit these complex crimes leaving no evidence, and at the same time function as leaders and managers while heavily involved in using illegal drugs.
A key counter-mass conspiracy is as follows:
Many people do not understand how difficult it is to commit a conspiracy crime involving numerous co-conspirators. One clever and cunning individual has a good chance of getting away with a well- planned interpersonal crime. Bring one partner into the crime and the odds of getting away with it drop considerably. The more people involved in the crime, the harder it is to get away with it. Why? Human nature is the answer. People get angry and jealous. They come to resent the fact that another conspirator is getting “more” than they. They get in trouble and want to make a deal for themselves by informing on others.
He also explains that “The appeal of the satanic conspiracy theory…is a simple explanation for a complex problem…These conspiracy theories and allegations of ritual abuse have the following in common: (1) self-proclaimed experts, (2) tabloid media interest, (3) belief the government is involved in a coverup, and (4) emotionally involved direct and indirect victim/witnesses” some of which are good points.
Another issue is “The amount of ‘ritual’ child abuse going on in this country depends on how you define the term. One documented example of what I might call ‘ritual’ child abuse was the horror chronicled in the book ‘A Death in White Bear Lake’ (Siegal, 1990.) The abuse in this case, however, had little to do with anyone’s spiritual belief system.”
Ultimately, Lanning notes, “a satanic murder should be defined as one committed by two or more individuals who rationally plan the crime and whose primary motivation is to fulfill a prescribed satanic ritual calling for the murder. By this definition I have been unable to identify even one documented satanic murder in the United States. Although such murders may have and can occur.”
I will state it simply and there is a reason that I placed the following quotation from the report up front, “Do not become such a zealot that you believe it all” mostly because you can then begin to take any counterarguments against your conspiracy as merely being part of a larger and larger conspiracy. Then there is the “nor such a cynic that you believe nothing” at which point I will point out that the simple fact is that we know very well that it is a fact that such very large conspiracies involving very many people.
We know of drug cartels, we know of human trafficking as well as weapons trafficking, etc., etc., etc. and these include “horrendous crimes as part of an organized conspiracy” occurring within “Hundreds of communities all over” the world.
THERAPISTS
Regarding “sexual victimization of children” Kenneth Lanning notes that “Some professionals, however, in their zeal to make American society more aware of this victimization, tend to exaggerate the problem” and yet, “The problem is bad enough; it is not necessary to exaggerate it…Professionals should cite reputable and scientific studies and note the sources of information. If they do not, when the exaggerations and distortions are discovered, their credibility and the credibility of the issue are lost.”
Moreover, “The information presented” within “law enforcement seminars and conferences have dealt with satanic and ritualistic crime…is a mixture of fact, theory, opinion, fantasy, and paranoia, and because some of it can be proven or corroborated (symbols on rock albums, graffiti on walls, desecration of cemeteries, vandalism, etc.,) the implication is that it is all true and documented.” These seminars and conferences go under titles such as “Occult in Crime,” “Satanic Cults,” ‘Ritualistic Crime Seminar,” “Satanic Influences in Homicide,” “Occult Crimes, Satanism and Teen Suicide,” and “Ritualistic Abuse of Children.”
RELIGION
Kenneth Lanning spends some time, rightly by the way, noting that just because someone is into religion (or worldview) X does not necessarily mean that X motivated them to commit the crime or that they appeal to X in order to do so.
He notes, “Because of the highly emotional and religious nature of this topic, there is a greater possibility that the spreading of information will result in a kind of self-fulfilling prophesy.”
He points out, “For those who know anything about criminology, one of the oldest theories of crime is demonology: The devil makes you do it…This explanation has tremendous appeal because, like ‘stranger danger,’ it presents the clear-cut, black-and-white struggle between good and evil as the explanation for child abduction, exploitation, and abuse.” Yet, of course, “Some psychotic people are preoccupied with religious delusions and hear the voice of God or Satan telling them to do things of a religious nature.”
He notes, “Since 1972 I have lectured about sexual ritual, which is nothing more than repeatedly engaging in an act or series of acts in a certain manner because of a sexual need. In order to become aroused and/or gratified, a person must engage in the act in a certain way.” As an example, he refers to “Deviant acts” which “are far more likely to be the result of sexual ritual than religious or ‘satanic’ ritual…Ritual can also stem from psychotic hallucinations and delusions…Compulsive ritualism (e.g., excessive cleanliness or fear of disease) can be introduced into sexual behavior.”
With this in mind, “Ritual crime may fulfill the cultural, spiritual, sexual, and psychological needs of an offender. Crimes may be ritualistically motivated or may have ritualistic elements” also, “The leaders of a group may want to play upon the beliefs and superstitions of those around them and try to convince accomplices and enemies that they, the leaders, have special or ‘supernatural’ powers.” Indeed, it has been reported that some Vampire cult leaders will mix hallucinogens into blood so that the members drinking it will conclude that something paranormal has occurred.
In fact, Kenneth Lanning notes, “some clever offenders may deliberately introduce elements of satanism and the occult into the sexual exploitation simply to confuse or intimidate the victims. Simple magic and other techniques may be used to trick the children. Drugs may also be deliberately used to confuse the victims and distort their perceptions.”
He also points out, “Some people would argue that…Christians who committed…crimes misunderstood and distorted their religion while satanists who commit crimes are following theirs. But who decides what constitutes a misinterpretation of a religious belief system? The individuals who committed the above-described crimes, however misguided, believed that they were following their religion as they understood it. Religion was and is used to justify such social behavior as the Crusades, the Inquisition, Apartheid, segregation, and recent violence in Northern Ireland, India, Lebanon and Nigeria.”
Also, “Some police officers may even feel that all crime is caused by evil, all evil is caused by Satan, and therefore, all crime is satanic crime” and hearkening back to contextualizing, “This may be a valid religious perspective, but it is of no relevance to the investigation of crime for purposes of prosecution.”
Before commenting on the relationship between beliefs and actions let us cover the next issue.
SATANISM
It is noted that “Many admitted ‘satanists’ claim they do not even believe in God, the devil, or any supreme deity.” This is true well, at least it is true that such is what they “claim” but unless these sorts of Satanists can demonstrate that they follows some sort of absolute ethics against lying then we can only tentatively take their word for it. Moreover, I we know of at least one group of “admitted ‘satanists’” who “claim they do not even believe in God, the devil, or any supreme deity” and yet, acted otherwise. When Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey’s girlfriend’s son was mauled by a lion LaVey and his co-Satanists gathered in order to petition their “brother Satan” as a personal being for healing.
Now, “defining a crime as satanic, occult, or ritualistic would probably involve a combination of the criteria set forth above, I have been unable to clearly define such a crime. Each potential definition presents a different set of problems when measured against an objective, rational, and constitutional perspective. In a crime with multiple subjects, each offender may have a different motivation for the same crime. Whose motivation determines the label for the crime? It is difficult to count or track something you cannot even define.”
He also points out, “I have discovered, however, that the facts of so-called ‘satanic crimes’ are often significantly different from what is described at training conferences or in the media. The actual involvement of satanism or the occult in these cases usually turns out to be secondary, insignificant, or nonexistent.”
He also notes, “The facts are: Some individuals believe in and are involved in something commonly called satanism and the occult. Some of these individuals commit crime. Some groups of individuals share these beliefs and involvement in this satanism and the occult. Some members of these groups commit crime together. The unanswered questions are: What is the connection between the belief system and the crimes committed? Is there an organized conspiracy of satanic and occult believers responsible for interrelated serious crime (e.g., molestation, murder)?”
Furthermore, “Washington Post editor Walt Harrington reported in a 1986 story on Anton LaVey and his Church of Satan that ‘sociologists who have studied LaVey’s church say that its members often had serious childhood problems like alcoholic parents or broken homes, or that they were traumatized by guilt-ridden fundamentalist upbringings, turning to Satanism as a dramatic way to purge their debilitating guilt.’ (p. 14.)”
Before closing off the subsection on Satanism, I wanted to mention the report’s reference to what some term false memories, “Noted forensic psychiatrist Park E. Dietz (personal communication, Nov. 1991) states: ‘Pseudomemories have been acquired through dreams…substance-induced altered states of consciousness…group influence…reading vivid accounts of events occurring to others with whom one identifies emotionally, watching such accounts in films or on television, and hypnosis. The most efficient means of inducing pseudomemories is hypnosis.’”
This seems like another case of Do not become such a zealot that you believe that there is any such thing as pseudomemories and also nor such a cynic that you believe that this explains any and all such memories.
At least one relation to Satanism is that the main organization promulgating the concept of pseudomemories is the False Memory Foundation. Now, as noted in my The Satanic Temple’s Lucien Greaves aka Doug Mesner unmasked if you go to the False Memory Foundation’s website and search for Doug Mesner you will find him being referenced therein and he, under his aka Lucien Greaves, is the co-founder of The Satanic Temple.
It is also noted that “an elaborate defense mechanism of the mind called ‘splitting’ – The victims create a clear-cut good-and-evil manifestation of their complex victimization that is then psychologically more manageable.” Yet, “splitting” can also refer to that which results in multiple personality disorder which is now known as dissociative personality disorder whereby a mental mechanism to deal with severe trauma is to build amnesia walls around the trauma so that it is not remembered. Well, some claim that experiments such as the CIA’s, et al.’s, MK-Ultra hid personalities within these walls which could then be called forward via hypnotically suggestive key word commands, sounds, etc.
Thus, we are told that “Blaming satanism for a teenager’s vandalism, theft, suicide, or even act of murder is like blaming a criminal’s offenses on his tattoos: Both are often signs of the same rebelliousness and lack of self- esteem that contribute to the commission of crimes.” However, of course, when, for example, Anton LaVey’s Satanic Bible claims that ritual murder in the name of Satan is perfectly acceptable then “Blaming satanism for a teenager’s” crimes when they are truly motivated by such Satanism is perfectly valid.
He offer the following categories:
YOUTH SUBCULTURE…Some rebellious teenagers will do whatever will most shock and outrage society in order to flaunt their rejection of adult norms… DABBLERS (SELF-STYLED)…
TRADITIONAL (ORTHODOX)…the so-called true believers.
Kenneth Lanning further notes, “The law enforcement investigator must objectively evaluate the legal significance of any criminal’s spiritual beliefs. In most cases, including those involving satanists, it will have little or no legal significance. If a crime is committed as part of a spiritual belief system, it should make no difference which belief system it is. The crime is the same whether a child is abused or murdered as part of a Christian, Hare Krishna, Moslem, or any other belief system. We generally don’t label crimes with the name of the perpetrator’s religion. Why then are the crimes of child molesters, rapists, sadists, and murderers who happen to be involved in satanism and the occult labeled as satanic or occult crimes? If criminals use a spiritual belief system to rationalize and justify or to facilitate and enhance their criminal activity, should the focus of law enforcement be on the belief system or on the criminal activity?”
This is the same issue and what one believes can actually factor into, for example, the litigious concept of premeditation. Satanism is not illegal and so the issue is exactly that: what motivated the criminal actions? In the case of LaVeyan Satanism, for example, beliefs and criminal actions can certainly be correlated. Yet, in the case of biblically based Christianity then they cannot.
Along these lines, consider that most Atheists are evolutionists and so they believe that humans are merely temporarily and accidentally existing hairless apes. This lead to Atheists becoming the worst mass murders in history during a merely few years within the early 1900s AD. It may be for similar reasons that Atheist countries lead the world in the production of child pornography—something which required a massive conspiracy to produce and distribute, by the way. You also have Atheist celebrity Richard Dawkins complaining that often much too much is made of pedophilia and referring to “gentle pedophiles.” In fact, I had concluded that something as outrageous as bestiality and pedophilia may be the next civil right and that this could occur by simply more lessening of the Judeo-Christian ethic. Well, I then ran across a video by an Atheist who essentially stated the very same thing.
Lastly, Kenneth Lanning also notes, “There are those who claim that one of the major reasons more of these cases have not been successfully prosecuted is that the satanic/occult aspect has not been aggressively pursued.” And I have found that unless news reports are aware of the Satanic elements in a crime and moreover, reports it as such then we will hardly if ever even hear about it.
Books mentioned within the report, as recommended as good or bad examples, are as follows:
John Charles Cooper, The Black Mask: Satanism in America Today
Robert D. Hicks, In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the Occult
James T. Richardson, Joel Best and David G. Bromley, eds., The Satanism Scare
Lenore Terr, Too Scared to Cry: Psychic Trauma in Childhood
Barry Siegel, A Death in White Bear Lake
Lawrence Pazder and Michelle Smith, Michelle Remembers
Lauren Stratford, Satan’s Underground
Robert Mayer, Satan’s Children
Florence Rush, The Best Kept Secret: Sexual Abuse of Children
Sander J. Breiner, Slaughter of the Innocents
Kenneth Lanning, Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis (this is a PDF).
Kenneth Lanning, Child Sex Rings: A Behavioral Analysis (this is a PDF).
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