Reply #28: In the context of needing to feel better :^) [View All]

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http://www.newcomicreviews.com/albums/caution/

At some point in time everybody is delusional, hysteria in mas comes in many forms

Burn The Witch! (If We're Wrong, We'll Apologize)
Terry L. Kern*

ABSTRACT: The belief in the existence of widespread satanic ritual abuse and the search for those who are practicing such rituals parallels the witch hunts in the 17th century. The basic assumptions, indicators, and types of evidence of the earlier witch hunts and the current concerns with satanic ritual abuse are examined and found to have much in common.

The Value of History

We live in an age in which debate represents as much an exchange of labels as it does ideas. In this atmosphere, the term "witch hunt," overused as it is, serves as such a label. The term is normally used in a pejorative sense to connote an indiscriminate search for those accused of some malice, real or imagined, often in support of an agenda. For most Americans, "witch hunt" brings to mind the hearings conducted by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Witch hunting is more than a label, however, or an image of misapplied power. It is, rather, a process by which the hunter creates the prey and defines the means by which it will be hunted.

I posit that there exists within this country today a new witch hunt under the guise of satanic ritual abuse (SRA). Several different definitions of SRA have been given, but all have in common the alleged performance of acts of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse upon children while performing some act of worship to Satan usually involving a group. The search for those who allegedly practice such rituals in Satan's service today parallels the hunts conducted for witches believed to act in his service in Europe and America in the 17th century. Witch hunting is as much a matter of mindset as method. For a search for the devil's disciples to be prosecuted, certain assumptions and beliefs must be held as valid. Furthermore, they must be held as valid in the face of persuasive evidence, which unless dismissed out of hand, would invalidate those beliefs.

I will limit my examinations of witch hunting to what passed for evidence and the use of that evidence by public officials in two specific instances. The examples are meant to be illustrative and should not be considered as universal to witch hunting.
(snip)
http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume7/j7_4_3.htm