Ah the 80s.

satonic cults

Man, I totally remember seeing this when it aired. I was five. This, combined with the little grey alien pics on "In Search Of..." scarred me for YEARS.

And then when I was 15, I realized Lavey was just a carnie with a brilliant gimmick, and I learned a valuable lesson in self-aggrandization.

The Satanic Panic was a great time, especially for heavy metal. Never before was lame angsty teenage outburst given so much attention. Thanks for the memories, Satan.

Ahh, the wonders of Fox News-style journalism.
The reason Anton LaVey declined to participate in this is that he knew that this segment would be talking to the man who wrote Michelle Remembers, a book that had already been thoroughly discredited by the time this report aired. Part of that discrediting had been a libel suit from the Church of Satan about the book's claims that the Church was part of a child sexual abuse ring and that they were directly linked to the abuse of the children in the book (protip: they weren't). That part of the book had been changed in the early 80s.

before the Jon Lovitz perspective?

Rosemary's Baby was a documentary and the events happened in real time.

As a pre-teen in 1990 in private school, we were all brought solemnly into the auditorium, one or two grades at a time, and made to watch this horrifying cautionary tale.

Seriously, did ANY of this shit ever happen?
Seems to me like the kids they got to "confess" were generally untraumatized by it all.
"Did you just touch the baby with the knife, or did you stick it in deep?"
"I stuck it in deep!" *sips orange Crush*

"Listen man, don't believe all of the "propaganda" about how Satanic Ritual Abuse never happened, man, it's all a cover-up, y'see, cause, man it goes all the way to the top of the military-industrial-occult-fascist complex that really runs this country!"
- some incredibly credulous conspiracy theorist douchebag I encountered a couple of times in college

"satanism" exists only because kids see shows like this and realize its a perfect way to piss off their parents.

"Preaching Christianity in the form of humor..."

Do I really need to say anything more?

True "Satanism" is just service to self, and those who "want to feel special" are drawn to it because it nurtures a concrete sociopathic hierarchy, accessible through a fantasy window. It's ironic that this sort of "news" is exactly what an attention-seeking Satanist would want.

I feel bad for those who got swept up and eaten alive by Satanic Panic. For example the West Memphis 3. That's a true horror story. They're STILL not free.

Umm yeah, they painted those churches with 666 for the same reason people paint synagogues with swastikas. It's called trolling.

The 80s was so wacky.

the third way out of Satanism is that THERE'S NO WAY OUT

also, are there any good books or documentaries looking back on and examining all this nonsense?