Editing Satanism (section)

===Ritual abuse hysteria===
{{main|Satanic panic}}
At the end of the 20th century, a [[moral panic]] arose from claims that a Devil-worshipping cult was committing sexual abuse, murder, and cannibalism in its rituals, and including children among the victims of its rites.{{sfn|La Fontaine|2016|p=13}} Initially, the alleged perpetrators of such crimes were labeled "witches", although the term ''Satanist'' was soon adopted as a favored alternative,{{sfn|La Fontaine|2016|p=13}} and the phenomenon itself came to be called "the Satanism Scare".{{sfn|La Fontaine|2016|p=15}} Those active in the scare alleged that there was a conspiracy of organized Satanists who occupied prominent positions throughout society, from the police to politicians, and that they had been powerful enough to cover up their crimes.{{sfnm|1a1=La Fontaine|1y=2016|1p=13 |2a1=Introvigne|2y=2016|2p=381}}

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote=Preceded by some significant but isolated episodes in the 1970s, a great Satanism scare exploded in the 1980s in the United States and Canada and was subsequently exported towards England, Australia, and other countries. It was unprecedented in history. It surpassed even the results of [[Taxil]]'s propaganda, and has been compared with the most virulent periods of witch hunting. The scare started in 1980 and declined slowly between 1990... and 1994, when official British and American reports denied the real existence of ritual satanic crimes. Particularly outside the U.S. and U.K., however, its consequences are still felt today.|source=Sociologist of religion Massimo Introvigne, 2016{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=372}} }}

One of the primary sources for the scare was ''[[Michelle Remembers]]'', a 1980 book by the Canadian psychiatrist [[Lawrence Pazder]] in which he detailed what he claimed were the [[repressed memories]] of his patient (and wife) Michelle Smith. Smith had claimed that as a child she had been abused by her family in Satanic rituals in which babies were sacrificed and Satan himself appeared.{{sfnm|1a1=Medway|1y=2001|1pp=175–177 |2a1=Introvigne|2y=2016|2pp=374–376}}{{sfn|Dyrendal|Lewis|Petersen|2016|pp=115–116}} In 1983, allegations were made that the McMartin family—owners of a preschool in California—were guilty of sexually abusing the children in their care during Satanic rituals. The allegations resulted in a [[McMartin preschool trial|lengthy and expensive trial]], in which all of the accused would eventually be cleared.{{sfnm|1a1=Medway|1y=2001|1pp=178–183 |2a1=Introvigne|2y=2016|2pp=405–406}}{{sfn|Dyrendal|Lewis|Petersen|2016|pp=116–120}} The publicity generated by the case resulted in similar allegations being made in various other parts of the United States.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=183}}

A key claim by the "anti-Satanists" of the Satanic Scare was that any child's claim about Satanic ritual abuse must be true, because children do not lie.{{sfn|La Fontaine|2016|p=16}} Although some involved in the anti-Satanism movement were from Jewish and secular backgrounds,{{sfnm|1a1=Medway|1y=2001|1p=369 |2a1=La Fontaine|2y=2016|2p=15}} a central part was played by fundamentalist and evangelical  Christians, in particular [[Pentecostalist]] Christians, with Christian groups holding conferences and producing books and videotapes to promote belief in the conspiracy.{{sfn|La Fontaine|2016|p=15}} Various figures in law enforcement also came to be promoters of the conspiracy theory, with such "cult cops" holding various conferences to promote it.{{sfn|Medway|2001|pp=191–195}} The scare was later imported to the United Kingdom through visiting evangelicals and became popular among some of the country's social workers,{{sfn|Medway|2001|pp=220–221}} resulting in a range of accusations and trials across Britain.{{sfn|Medway|2001|pp=234–248}}

In the late 1980s, the Satanic Scare had lost its impetus following increasing skepticism about such allegations,{{sfn|Medway|2001|pp=210–211}} and a number of those who had been convicted of perpetrating Satanic ritual abuse saw their convictions overturned.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=213}} In 1990, an agent of the U.S. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], Ken Lanning, revealed that he had investigated 300 allegations of Satanic ritual abuse and found no evidence for Satanism or ritualistic activity in any of them.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=213}} In the UK, the [[Department of Health (United Kingdom)|Department of Health]] commissioned the anthropologist Jean La Fontaine to examine the allegations of SRA.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=249}} She noted that while approximately half did reveal evidence of genuine sexual abuse of children, none revealed any evidence that Satanist groups had been involved or that any murders had taken place.{{sfn|La Fontaine|2016|pp=13–14}} She noted three examples in which lone individuals engaged in child molestation had created a ritual performance to facilitate their sexual acts, with the intent of frightening their victims and justifying their actions, but that none of these child molesters were involved in wider Satanist groups.{{sfnm|1a1=Medway|1y=2001|1p=118 |2a1=La Fontaine|2y=2016|2p=14}}

By 1994, the Satanic ritual abuse hysteria had died down in the US and UK,{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=372}} and by the 21st century, hysteria about Satanism has waned in most Western countries, although allegations of Satanic ritual abuse continued to surface in parts of continental Europe and Latin America.{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=456}} In the United States SRA ideas persisted among much of the public even as law enforcement had grown tired of false leads. A 1994 survey for the women's magazine ''[[Redbook]]'' reported in 1994, 
*70 percent of those polled "believe that at least some people who claim that they were abused by satanic  cults as children, but repressed the memories for years, are telling the truth"<ref>Ross, A. 1994. "Blame it on the Devil". ''Redbook'' June 1994, p.88</ref><ref name=Footnote213/>
*32 percent agreed with the statement, "The FBI and the police ignore evidence because they don't want to admit the cults exist",<ref name=Footnote213/><ref>Ross, A. 1994. "Blame it on the Devil". Redbook June: 86–89. 110, 114, 1</ref> and
*22 percent agreed that cult leaders use brainwashing to ensure that the victims would not tell.<ref name=Footnote213>213 W. Kaminer, ''Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety'' (New York: Vintage Books, 1999), p. 193.</ref>