Satanic Panic of the late 80's

[Richards]

Also, it was either that or try to explain what sort of music I make (dark ambient).

Make in what way? Sorry for the side track, but I'm intrigued.

As for the topic at hand, the Satanic Panic caused me to not volunteer the information I was a gamer for a few years. Later, when it had mostly blown over I overcame my reticence, but occasionally had to explain to someone who had only heard D&D was Satanic but never really followed up on it what it was all about. And sadly, that once included my pastor who included a warning of "Don't let your children play D&D" into one of his Sunday sermons. I also had a fellow cadet ask me "Isn't that...evil?" in ROTC when I mentioned I played D&D; he was willing to believe I played but couldn't mentally fit me into the Satanic mold he believed all D&Ders to be in.

Johnathan

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I lived through the Satanic Panic- for RPGs AND heavy metal. It was an odd time.

 

[aco175]

My father got us into playing back in this time, so my mother did not say anything. Although she still dragged us kids to church every week. More catholic mumbling than some churches I visited in Georgia.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I lived through the Satanic Panic- for RPGs AND heavy metal. It was an odd time.

Same. I wasn't allowed to play D&D for a number of years (and my metal tapes were taken away). That was pretty tame though (in my case, my parents were just trying to be good parents and were concerned by things they were hearing---and they were very religious....eventually my mom came around). But people forget the Satanic panic was a much wider moral panic that resulted in lots of peoples lives being ruined (some even went to jail). It wasn't just about D&D it was also about hysteria over satanic ritual abuse (if I recall often discovered through 'repressed memories' and leading questions by therapists). Pretty sure some folks whose guilt is very questionable are still in prison. And there was the whole obsession with subliminal messages, and Judas Priest getting blamed (even facing civil trial) for a double suicide by fans who the parents claimed were influenced by Better by you Better than Me (a cover of all things too).

 

[Bedrockgames]

Relevant to the thread:

 

[Gradine]

FWIW I prefer tanar'ri and baatezu to demons and devils. Much more interesting and flavorful naming scheme.

 

[Nytmare]

After introducing me to the game, and encouraging me to start playing it as a summer program in elementary school, my parents (full on because of the local PTA) fell prey to the Satanic Panic and confiscated all of my D&D stuff in middle school.

Throughout high school I was more worried about my parents finding my stash of hidden D&D stuff than my porn.

 

[zarionofarabel]

I had a friend that wasn't allowed to come over and play D&D with the group. However, he was allowed to come over to play the D6 Star Wars RPG with us, so we just always told his mom that we only played Star Wars.

 

[Nytmare]

"You think it's crazy and can't grasp how our society had a Satanic Panic in the 80s? Well, look at some of the crazy stuff people believe right now that I would never think possible..."

Yeah, it didn't start with D&D and it's never really gone away, it just changes its target every couple of years.

Anton Lavey begat modern Satanism whose rise tangentially begat The Exorcist. Throughout the same period several cults and death cults and suicide cults flourished and ended tragically. The term Serial Killer became a household word and every day fear. That undercurrent of "this is real life" fear, instilled by both Hollywood and actual real life events, travelled to Ouija boards and Tarot cards and anything too New Age and trippy that dabbled in the occult.

Evangelists picked up the thread and started spinning tales of escaping Satanic Sex Cults and reforming themselves. Completely unconfirmable, but enthusiastically reformed high priests and arch dukes and head muckety mucks appeared almost overnight to explain how God saved them and told them to spread the word and collect donations.

The Satanic Panic started to settle its sights on daycare and assisted living facilities. Anything different or scary or that shared even a brief glance towards the occult took a turn at the wheel: D&D, heavy metal, martial arts, homsexuality, new and different cultures, video games, CLOWNS.

The year that I was born, one person poisoned their own son with cyanide dosed Halloween candy to collect on an insurance policy. His attempted excuse was that Satanists did it and now, 46 years later, after absolutely no known cases anywhere have ever surfaced, we STILL get yearly warnings to look out because some mysterious faceless killer is going to murder your kids with a razor blade hidden in a candy bar. Zero people have ever passed out tampered Halloween candy. Hundreds if not thousands have tampered with their own or their children's Halloween candy in an attempt to cash in on the limelight.

"Real" exorcisms were broadcast on TV, talk show hosts had blockbuster specials where they talked about Satanism and interviewed people who had sex with demons. Books were being sold, movies were being made, hypnotists were discovering that absolutely anyone who walked through the door could be regressed and convinced to remember lurid details of ritualized sexual abuse from a nationwide, underground network of pedophile, demon summoning, devil worshippers.

This was an undercurrent that DOMINATED the 80s in both the US and England. It was a full on witch trial, and dozens of people went to jail and spent decades behind bars till the truth came out. AND it made it that much harder to deal with actual sexual abuse cases in its aftermath.

It waxes and wanes, but it was here during the Red Scare, it was here during the Salem Witch Trials, and it's here today.

 

[Gradine]

I mean, not to get overtly political, but a lot of the Satanic Panic seems pretty centered with the Q-ANON thing, with the whole "satanic child traffickers operating out pizza joints" thing they tend to get obsessed with. Kinda weird how they kind of missed out on the whole NXIVM thing.

Meanwhile most of the actual Satanists I know are pretty chill.