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A Warning On Halloween From Christine O'Donnell

9
Michael Orion Powell10/31/2010 2:40:18 pm PDT

re: #5 negativ

Reminds me of the Satanic Panic of the 80s. Church groups (usually spearheaded by creepy “youth ministers”) went on tours all across the country speaking to schools, law enforcement, city councils, etc. informing them of the wide-spread incidences of Satanic human sacrifice and so forth. They would make up the most bizarre things imaginable and present them as fact, and people ate it up. Including, most ominously, law enforcement agencies, who in some cases actually established “Satanism units” that set out to look for evidence of Satanic cults.

If you were a teenaged fan of heavy metal, you were probably “deeply involved” in Satanism. If you were not a fan of heavy metal, you were probably COVERTLY “deeply involved” in Satanism. And god help you if anyone found out you read something by Alister Crowley, Anton LaVey, or H.P. Lovecraft. Perilous times to be an introverted geek with insatiable curiosity.

When is being an introverted geek not perilous? I only lived in the 1980s for about four years so I have to ask if there was a connection between that whole crusade and Tipper Gore’s war against free expression in music.