From: anon-1303@twwells.com (Galileo Pan)
Newsgroups: alt.sexual.abuse.recovery
Subject: A survivor against the Satanic cult myth
Date: 12 Jan 93 20:12:42 GMT
Organization: Anonymous Posting Service at twwells.com
X-Email-Accepted: yes

I'm a survivor of at least 5 years of severe (though non-violent) sexual 
abuse by my father. I realize the importance of feeling confident about
one's own memories (I have a taped confession and apology from my perp),
so I understand the pain of those who feel assaulted by the skeptics and
the FMS. 

But I feel compelled to speak out whenever the subject of Satanic ritual
abuse is raised, because the propagation of that myth does more direct 
harm to me than any other aspect of the public discussion of sexual abuse.
More importantly, it has harmed many of my friends and their children.
I am a Wiccan, and I know of many Pagans who have lost custody of their
children partly or entirely because of their religion. The close and
erroneous association in many peoples' minds between Wicca and the
mythical Satanic conspiracy means that as the myth spreads, I and
my fellow Wiccans face more prejudice. Some "Satanic cult survivors"
publicly differentiate between Wiccans and the cults they believe 
abused them. Other groups (such as Lyndan LaRouche's) deliberately
promote the idea that Wicca and neo-Paganism are just fronts for
the great Satanic conspiracy. 

There are many people who believe they have been abducted by UFOs.
A common feature of such abduction scenarios is a physical examination
and or sexual molestation by the aliens. A therapist treating such
a person is unlikely to start by telling the patient that s/he is
delusional. The person may well have been sexually abused and surely 
needs supportive therapy. Should we on asar pretend to believe such
a person because they need our support?  Should the "UFO abudction
victim" reasonably expect unconditional belief and support in a 
public forum?

With "Satanic cult abuse" stories, the situation is somewhat different:
the stories are more immediately believable to many, but unlike the 
UFO stories, their spread harms others.

I've explained how these stories hurt Pagans, but
I believe their sensational publication in the media hurts me as an
abuse survivor too. It focuses attention on an essentially non-existent
external threat, distracting people from the fact that most sexual
abuse of children occurs in or close to home, committed by seemingly
"normal" parents or adults known to the child's parents. Telling
parents to beware their children's interest in Dungeons and Dragons
is a step backwards in preventing sexual abuse. It also contributes
to minimization on the part of survivors whose experiences are far
more typical. "I don't have any right to complain -- my dad only
fucked me for 5 years; at least I didn't have to eat my firstborn
in a black mass". This reaction was mentioned by a therapist
and survivor who attended an Ellen Bass workshop on ritual abuse. 
Focusing excessively on the sensational aspects of a tiny group's
(ritual abuse survivors) experiences, or those of a nonexistent group 
(Satanic megacult abuse survivors) does not help the vast majority 
of survivors whose experiences are very different.



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