From: kadie@cs.uiuc.edu (Carl M. Kadie)
Subject: "Satanic Ritual Abuse" in the media
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 21:47:29 GMT

[A repost from dnelson@icaen.uiowa.edu (David Nelson) in
alt.sexual.abuse.recovery. I posted a note in
alt.sexual.abuse.recovery suggesting that sci.skeptic is the best
place for a debate on this topic.]
===================================================
[dnelson@icaen.uiowa.edu (David Nelson) writes:]

Jean Riseman <agape@igc.apc.org> writes:

 ...
 I am a ritual abuse survivor. I am 55 years old, and have been miserable all 
 all my life. I had these weird thoughts and reactions and no
 explanations for them. No therapist put thoughts in my head in 
 1945, I can tell you. Of course, after all thewse years, I have no "proof"
 that the atrocities were committed, exccept for my symptoms and memories.

And that may be all the proof that ever is available, but it *is*
enough to convince me.  We aren't talking about a court of law here,
we're talking about validating a fellow survivor's pain.


 [deleted]
 I think that people have a real hard time believing how disgusting humans
 can be...

This is very much a true statement!


 Anyway, whether people believe or not, this is my life, and it
 has been a hellish one to live. Please keep an open mind to
 the possibility that my suffereing was real.

 Peace and love to all.
 Jeannie

Peace and love and healing to you, Jeannie!


I believe you.  I have two friends who have told me of their ritual
abuse and their abuse happened here in the conservative Midwest.

By the way, people who are delusional are delusional about the
*present* and NOT about the past.

The PrimeTime Live TV article was done in such a way as to slant the
viewer's conclusion.  

The article did *not* disprove the survivors' claims; nor did it prove
that the therapists were abusing the power of hypnosis.  There are
*far* too many survivors who remember without hypnosis -- the
journalist was using the unreliability of hypnosis as some sort of a
red herring to try to discredit *all* ritual abuse survivors.

People are afraid to admit (1) that humans are capable of such
atrocities and (2) that it might happen in their very own hometown.
Those who are quick to disbelieve ritual abuse survivors are (a)
sweeping aside the weight of psychological principles, and (b)
filtering the evidence to support a version of reality that creates
the least discomfort.

Ritual abusers are not clumsy, lower-class criminals -- many of them
are the elite of society and fully capable of covering their tracks,
especially if even a few of their number are part of the government
and other bureaucracies.

I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories, but I *am* certainly jaded
after having witnessed account after account from friends who had been
raped by parents, other relatives, husbands, and dates.  Having seen
that quantity and intensity of pain, I no longer am capable of
disbelieving in ritual abuse and the like.  And I am keenly aware of
the human need to deny the dark side of human nature.


Infer motivations by observing behavior!  *Why* do people need to
disbelieve in ritual abuse?  And what purpose is served supposing that
the survivors *did* concoct the stories?  Think!!

-- 
Carl Kadie -- I do not represent any organization; this is just me.
 = kadie@cs.uiuc.edu =
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic