More Satanic Panic

“Expectin’ a miracle to make all this go away?  You know they don’t happen anymore.” William King Hale, Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

The Mayor from Jaws, became a Cop to 
institutionalize Tom Hanks in Mazes & Monsters

I don’t believe I can describe how utterly ridiculous the moral panic from Christianists over the Satanic Temple’s trolling seems to me.  Hilariously, the Satanic Temple is basically espousing a Humanist creed but, since disingenuous Republicans (including numerous past and current Supreme Court Injustices) treated an absence of religion to not being afforded 1st Amendment protections, the Satanists are a "religious" organization.

Decades ago I told my family I didn’t want to go to CCD classes or church anymore because I knew my own mind and I didn’t believe in god.  My loving grandparents didn't push it despite nominally being Polish Catholics and were totally fine with my decision.  I'd only learn many years later that my grandfather lost his faith during the war especially over the killing of your fellow man and being given special dispensation to eat meat on Fridays.

Long before I read Carl Sagan's Demon-Haunted World, I was aware of the conservative freakout over Dungeons & Dragons and so-called secret satanic cults.  Of course, these days conservatives call their latest iteration QAnon but, the falsehoods, underpinning, agitprop and people pushing it are the same ideologically with the same goal in mind; persecuting innocent people and to garner political power.

The 1st (modern) Satanic Panic in the 1980's came about from a confluence stemming from the political rise of Reagan and the rightwing moral hand-wringing over Heavy Metal lyrics, repressed memory recall, Dungeons & Dragons, and a whole bevy of false accusations of Satanic child abuse cults.  Religious fundamentalists, Congress, and law enforcement took a look at these claims and used them to blame and persecute a lot of innocent people.

What's always infuriated me about this was those who lead these moral panics, are invariably involved in the various church sex abuse scandals or abuse and misconduct.  This is the case to this day as Republicans run around with accusations which always turn out to be thinly veiled confessions.  For instance, the cryptofascist Florida Moms for Liberty couple which demonized and vilified innocent LGBTQ peoples.

In my entire life religion in America has been used to cynically excuse the crimes of rich, powerful, or well connected and shield them from accountability or as a cudgel against minority groups and those who ran counter the dominant culture.

In 2018 Illinois Attorney General began a 5-year investigation into the cover-up of child sex abuse by the Illinois Archdiocese of Chicago and the Dioceses of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford, and Springfield.  Spurred by the Pennsylvania Grand Jury findings documenting 70 years of abuse and cover-up you can access and search the report here.

Over the course of this investigation, two goals remained at its core: first, to obtain a full accounting of substantiated child sex abuse committed by Catholic clergy in Illinois and provide a complete public report of substantiated abusers; and second, to give voice to survivors in an attempt to contribute to their healing journey. To these ends, my attorneys and investigators examined thousands of diocesan files, reviewing more than 100,000 pages of documents held by the dioceses. They spent countless hours engaged in interviews and conversations with diocesan leadership and representatives. And over the course of this investigation, my office received more than 600 confidential contacts from survivors through emails, letters, voicemail messages, interviews, and phone calls. My investigation team treated each allegation with the respect it deserved and followed leads as they arose to ensure we conducted a thorough and comprehensive investigation. To build the most compelling portion of this report, my team worked closely with survivors to draft narrative accounts of their experiences as children sexually abused by clerics. Without those survivors who bravely came forward to share their experiences and perspectives, neither the investigation nor this report would feel complete. I express my sincerest gratitude to each of those survivors, and to the others who contacted my office, for their deeply personal contributions.

And this isn't just a crime and cover-up confined to the very powerful Catholic Church but is rampant amongst the Baptists, Mormon Church, and other "christian" denominations.  Yet...

You never hear this mentioned by the Republican QAnon caucus, which instead directs their duped rightwing drones to direct violence, death threats, and attacks on the LGBTQ (especially, the small Trans community) which is under direct threats by legislation and of course, mass shootings from rightwing gun nuts.

That's merely the most direct reason I find the current Satanic Panic to be trite, ridiculous, and cynical.  It's again being used to direct violence, anger and hatred at the marginalized and oppressed to shield the Powerful and keep power in the hands of those who continue to use that power to harm, oppress, and afflict the afflicted, in direct opposition to the so-called tenets of Jesus Christ.

Additional:

For years these same right wing Reactionary catholic bishops called anyone in the US who questioned their fascist interpretation of the creed a “cafeteria catholic” now are being pissy babies complaining about the infallible Pope blessing same sex marriage.

It's Atheists not Catholics or Christians who are responsible for Child Abuse and Violent Rhetoric

"No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God." - George H. W. Bush, 41st U.S. President.

Sorry atheist scum the continued and rampant exploitation and abuse of children stems not from catholic priests but from atheism. Even though, Philadelphia prosecutors have brought a case against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to determine how the Church dealt with abusive predatory priests.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official ever charged over his handling of abuse complaints. Prosecutors also allege the Church kept kept secret files dating back to 1948 showing a long-standing conspiracy to cast doubt in the minds of sex abuse victims and protect priests.

How dare the Government infringe upon the rights of the religious! Hey Obama, We have a thing called the 1st Amendment here!

From the AP story,

A Roman Catholic church official conceded that some "pretty sick individuals" were on a 1994 list he compiled of 35 priests suspected of sexually abusing children in the Philadelphia archdiocese.

Monsignor William Lynn took the stand in his own defense Wednesday in the groundbreaking child-endangerment and conspiracy case. The blistering cross-examination he endured is expected to continue Thursday.

Prosecutors blame Lynn for helping keep the priests on his list and many more in ministry, where they were had access to countless other children.

Lynn testified that the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua wouldn't let parishes announce the real reason an accused priest was being removed. Parishioners were often told their priest had health problems when he left for sex-offender treatment, according to testimony over the past nine weeks.

"The cardinal wouldn't allow us to announce in those days why someone was leaving. But mental health was health," Lynn said.

Lynn also said the head of the archdiocese forbade staff from telling accusers their alleged abuser had other victims.

Bevilacqua died Jan. 31, two months before his longtime secretary for clergy went on trial.

A Brilliant Defense! I was just following orders! I was just a cog in the gears of the Church! Lynn is a scapegoat! With the added bonus of blaming it all upon a Cardinal who is dead!

But never forget that Religious Freedom is paramount. Back when the President announced bigots and religious zealots could not restrict the freedoms of other American's Timothy Dolan speaking for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops proclaimed the President’s plan will require “careful moral analysis” and hoped "our religious freedom are not harmed by these regulations."

"Moral Analysis". What a joke. The same day the Religious Authority of the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops was frightened loose women would get contraceptives, this information was released in the Bankruptcy case of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee,

Sealed documents filed in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy identify at least 8,000 instances of child sexual abuse and 100 alleged offenders - 75 of them priests - who have not previously been named by the archdiocese, a victims' attorney said Thursday.

But Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests speculated that some are likely members of religious orders, such as Capuchins or Franciscans. Order officials do not typically make public the names of their accused members, and the archdiocese claims it is not responsible for them, though they have historically helped to staff its parishes and schools.

One would think that USCCB Cardinal Timothy Dolan would have his hands full dealing with the documented 60 years of cover-up of abuse but instead Dolan has been focused on keeping American Sluts from getting Birth Control. And in his fight to keep Women Oppressed Dolan has brought out the Mafiaoso card of, It'd be an awful shame if I had to hurt some people,

“If these mandates kick in, we’re going to find ourselves faced with a terribly difficult decision as to whether or not we can continue to operate,” Dolan said. “As part of our religion — it’s part of our faith that we feed the hungry, that we educate the kids, that we take care of the sick. We’d have to give it up, because we’re unable to fit the description and the definition of a church given by — guess who — the federal government.”

Oh dear! Do as the Church says, or we will starve children and let sick people die.

But, lest you think it's only the Catholics, two Pastors out of North Carolina, have recently justified Christians beating and killing off Homosexuals.

Pastor Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, N.C. told his congregation he found "a way out" of the gay problem.

"I figured a way out, a way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers but I couldn’t get it past the Congress: Build a great big large fence, 50 or a hundred miles long. Put all the lesbians in there, fly over and drop some food. Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals. And have that fence electrified till they can’t get out. Feed ’em. And you know what? In a few years they will die out. You know why? They can’t reproduce."

At least Pastor Worley found a use for all those Obama Stimulus FEMA-camps which are lying fallow!

Meanwhile, it's not just enough to round up the current gays and stick them in concentration camps to die, it's imperative we interdict and quash any new gays from being created. In steps North Carolina pastor Sean Harris with a plan.

“So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, “Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,” you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed.

Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male. And when your daughter starts acting to Butch you reign her in. And you say, “Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.”

You say, “Can I take charge like that as a parent?”

Yeah, you can. You are authorized. I just gave you a special dispensation this morning to do that.”

Much of this was brought on by the rhetorical stylings of Stan, the owner of Atheism-Analyzed, from whom I learned:

"In fact, the biggest hazard to gays is other gays, from their violence and their diseases, and from themselves through suicide..."

"The reason that Atheists are placed alongside rapists and child molesters in recent polls is a mystery to them. Trust requires that a fixed moral system exist and that behaviors match the moral theory, not the other way around. That Atheists do not understand this requirement makes them even more suspect to those around them."

Of Richard Dawkins Stan wrote, "Then he absolutely berates anyone who is not Atheist, wishing to eradicate them from society."

And "Theists are more easily evaluated for trustworthiness because they have a defined standard against which to compare their behaviors and to develop a predictor for future behaviors."

So, yes we know the Lion by it's Claw and we know the Christians by their deeds and actions. So, I'll just retreat to No True Scotsman Christian could be guilty of these allegations, it's probable that these priests and pastors were actually atheists.

Seems the Cathars and Christopher Hitchens had it right...

About anal sex and the Catholic Church...

"Can you understand the feeling some conservative have?" -David Gregory, Meet The Press.

Yes, I can understand. Conservative Christians are on a Totalitarian Birth Control Crusade. So, yes I understand. And the answer to these mendacious right-wing zealots is Fuck Off. Conservatives are regressive scum who espouse a totalitarian ideology designed to subjugate and oppress people.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! noted,

According to the nonpartisan Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health issues globally, in the United States, “among all women who have had sex, 99 percent have used a contraceptive method other than natural family planning. This figure is virtually the same among Catholic women (98 percent).” According to a Public Religion Research Institute poll, 58 percent of Catholics believe that employers should provide employees with health-care plans that include contraception.

Claiming this issue is about "religious liberty" is akin to claiming slavery is about "religious liberty". This is about Totalitarian Control.

What the Totalitarian Right-Wing christians want is, as Christopher Hitchens put it, "a celestial dictatorship, a kind of divine North Korea."

After the deft move by President Obama laid clear the Religious Zealots motivations, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops continued down their road of moral turpitude bemoaning, “It would still mandate that all insurers must include coverage for the objectionable services in all the policies they would write,” the bishops said. “At this point, it would appear that self-insuring religious employers, and religious insurance companies, are not exempt from this mandate.”

Timothy Dolan speaking for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops proclaimed the President’s plan will require “careful moral analysis” and hoped "our religious freedom are not harmed by these regulations."

Religious authority. "Moral Analysis". What a joke. The same day the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops was frightened loose women would get contraceptives, previously sealed documents filed in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy listed at least 8,000 new instances of child sexual abuse by 100 alleged offenders - 75 of them priests, all of them previously unidentified.

So, Dolan and the bishops can take their "careful moral analysis" and stick it in the Vatican Catacombs.

As Jill over at Brilliant at Breakfast noted,

Where these absolutists are concerned, there IS no such thing as balance. You're either going to run this country as if it were a radical Christian theocracy, or you're going to run it in a sane manner.

Jill is correct. The Christian Fascists are All In. They are never going to accept anything less than absolute power.

Contraception is about Control and Punishment

"But do you understand what the New York Times wants, and the far-left want? They want to break down the white, Christian, male power structure, which you’re a part, and so am I." - Bill O'Reilly

For Conservatives everything boils down to Control; controlling women, controlling who votes, controlling workers, controlling sex, controlling the media, controlling government. Control is so important to Conservatives because Right-Wingers are Authoritarians who can not handle freedom and hate individualism.

Once Right-Wingers have control they turn to punishment. The Conservative elections in 2010 showed Right-Wingers don't actually want to help America they want to harm people whom the hate and distrust. Matthew Vadum at The American Thinker clearly enunciated the conservative view of Control and Punishment in his article, Registering the Poor to Vote is Un-American.

Registering them [the Poor] to vote is like handing out burglary tools to criminals. It is profoundly antisocial and un-American...

Every policy decision and proposed law or amendment was designed to subjugate women, eliminate rights, punish the poor, destroy Unions, harm Americans.

The "debate" over contraception and birth control is nothing less than wanting to control women and punish those who somehow elude Right-Wing Control.

“Do you want [farming retailer] Tractor Supply to open stores or would you rather they take their capital and do what Obamacare and its 2,700 pages dictates – which is to open a lactation chamber at every single store that they have?” - Tom Stemberg Co-Founder of Staples.

Oh Blessed Authoritarian thank you for the Insightful Business Acumen about Women! You, a Supreme Member of the 1%, have such august wisdom!

Now, Republicans while being abject evil and irredeemable slime are still crafty and shrewd so they will not acknowledge their fight is for totalitarian control but, instead will engage in a propaganda war. Thus we have Right-Wing Wailing Campaign, wherein they pound their breasts, pull their hair and are reduced to blubbering, about President Obama's War on Religion.

This could be an argument about Positive Liberty and Negative Liberty but, that would require an honest debate partner and Regressive Republicans are never, ever honest. Regressives aren't actually worried about the moral implications since all Americans engage in birth control techniques and use contraceptives. Nor are they worried about Government mandating to religious affiliated institutions healthcare coverage since 28 States currently have provisions mandating religious affliated healthcare insurance providers cover contraception.

What this is about is controlling sex. Pre-occupation with sex, (i.e. the easier access for woman and the acceptance of homosexuality) has always been a prime occupation of Authoritarians. All Republicans are Authoritarians and once a society embraces human rights, Authoritarians lose power.

Once women are no longer tied to the pregnancy/birth cycle they can exercise power in society and that is something the Catholic Church and Conservative Authoritarians have always loathed/feared. Because more people involved lessens their control. More voters lessens their chances of controlling government.

So, the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Catholic Church has declared War on President Obama. Catholic ass Cardinal Francis George weighed in using his religious authority,

“We cannot — and will not — comply with this unjust law,” states the cardinal, who is vehemently opposed to the new Obama administration rule requiring religious organizations to include contraceptive health insurance coverage.

This is the same man who declared, "You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism."

It's well past the time when religious figures should be openly mocked for their false authority and the millions of wasted hours ruminating about a how many angels can dance on the head of a molested child. An individual working for a Jewish-affiliated Hospital can't be docked pay because he eats pork outside work, and a Catholic affiliated Hospital can't give less healthcare benefits to an individual who breaks one of their silly precepts.

The easiest answer is if you don't like rubbers and birth control pills then don't buy them, but that's not good enough for the Regressive Conservative Authoritarians. They don't want anyone to have access. Because, women's access to contraception is a threat.

What would solve this is a Single-Payer Plan and Medicare for all, and President Obama is shrewd enough to be setting up the battle of his second term to implement them.

This is the right thing to do but, I always wish the White House would be ahead of the message instead of letting evil Republican scum and wacky religious weirdos control the message. But, if Liberals can not get behind the President on this issue, then I'm not sure why they call themselves Liberals? Because, why call yourself Liberal if you are siding with the Regressive, the Authoritarian, the Conservative, with those who have consistently sided with rolling back hard fought rights won over the last century.