h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A661439

You have no idea how tricky it was to not use any smileys...

*AHEM*

I am not very satisfied with this entry. To me it is more a rough draft, and it slanted towards the Christian view of the problem.

There is a more correct description of the inquisition written by myself under the following link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A585452

I'll gather more thoughts in the near future.

HELL (the one)

Well, I wanted to focus on the modern view of Satanic cults, rather than the historical one - only mentioning the history as kind of background. But this information on the inquisition will be very useful - mind if I use some of it and credit you?

I like the entry.

Frankly, I don't think I would add any more on the Inquisition -- historical satanism and "modern" satanism are 2 very different topics -- you wouldn't be able to do justice to both in one entry.

As far as other useful references go....

I thought the book "Satan's Children: Case Studies In Multiple Personality" was pretty interesting and relatively useful. The author did a good job of trying not to bias the reader towards either direction (i.e., believing that it's all real, and believing that it's all False Memory). Most of the other books out there are extremist in one direction or another.

I've also found some good websites -- I'll post them on my links page. http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A520705

later

mikey

Take what you want. The entry is not yet finished though.

I'll give the entry another closer look later. I have some suggestions in my mind at this moment.

But you'll have to wait.

HELL (you know who)

'In this text hordes of monks would torture prisoners rape their daughters and worship satan.' Put in some/a comma/s
'of Satanism became less and les influential, though most Christian sects' less
It looks like a good entry to me.

I think its a good entry. I wouldn't be too worried about being slanted towards "the Christian view" of the problem. I'm not Christian, and I thought it was excellent. But what do I know?

-Strider

Yes well, on a second thought the concept of 'Satan' is a major Christian (am minor Jewish / Muslim) thing, it's different from other 'evil' dark cults such as voodoo, black magic and indigenous evil sourcery. There are also 'bad' entities in Buddhism, Shintoism and Hinduism... But then again that is not Satanism, right?

Hang on... I'll be back soon.

HELL

Hmm. Interesting stuff. I don't know much about modern Satanism, although I have read some stuff on the history of Christianity.


First, just a couple of typos for you:

>>translated to all Euopean languages - European

>>less and les influential

>>Lauren Stratford in 1988 write one of the - wrote


I don't tend to agree that it is 'slanted' towards Christianity. It seems only natural that 'Satan' should be directly related to Christianity. There may be 'evil' entities in other religions but 'Satan' is *specific* to Christianity. Do Satanists take an interest in the conflict or 'war' between Good and Evil (God and Satan) as I believe the Manicheans, for instance, did?

Personally, I wonder whether you could concentrate more specifically on Satanism in the 20th (and praps 19th) Century. I think it is somewhat misleading to associate the modern phenomenon with the Inquisition. The title could be slightly adjusted to reflect this change of focus.

This is partly because I think that the focus already *is* on 'modern' Satanism - the intro and History section just seem to provide background. It seems as though it is this 'modern' Satanism that you have most thoroughly researched.

Anyway, a dark piece in this cheery place. I love it. I don't know whether it will be picked as is, to be honest. Have to wait and see, I suppose. Good luck!

Spiff

Yes, yes... OK, OK... I have already changed my mind... OK it's not slanted. I agree...

It's just that the same ol' christian Satan (Lucifer, the fallen angel etc.) is the same for Jews and Muslims, too. However, this 'worshipping' of the devil doesn't play a big role in Judaism and Islamism. (There are many occult rituals in Judaism and Islamism, that were taken as Satan's worshipping by religious fanatic catholics... But that's another story)

Christianity indeed has attached the vision of an Anti-Christ to Satan, and they have been very creative... So I guess it's right to say that 'Satanism' is a by-product of Christianity.

On the other hand, the Christian church has been persecuting heretics (and other freaks) for a long time (mass baptisms, slaughter of indigenous population, pogroms, slavery, crusades...) alleging 'Devil's worship' (among other reasons, especially when they didn't understand what the others were doing - and that particularly in Africa...) So, in a certain way, 'Satanism' is connected to Voodoo, Black magic and suchlike from the Christian perspective. And this was my original thought.

Anyways...

HELL

Of course it's xtian-focused. It's a myth created by xtians, concerning an xtian anti-deity, propogated by xtians, and believed only in the xtian world. What do you expect?

Typos will be corrected - thanks all!

It's not a myth created by xtians... As I said.

The legend of the fallen angel Lucifer, and the concept of sinning, and being punished for sins is also present in Judaism. Xtianism is a by-product of Judaism...

Anyways.

HELL

I changed the title...

I'll see if I can find any info on xtian missionaries and explorers and the description of indigenous beliefs as devil-worshipping and suchlike...

So under this new title everything looks better.

You could even drop the inquisition part (and possibly the credit to me <whine&gt and the research for indigenous reference... But it's up to you.

Bye,

Hell

Hi

I definitely think the changes you have made have improved the piece. It is looking good.

Spiff

This is an interesting topic, the conclusion of which appears to be 'who knows where the truth lies'.

In Britain several years ago, there were at least two largescale investigations into ritual abuse of children (one in Cleveland and one on a Scottish island, I think) and children were taken away from their parents by Social Services only for the whole thing to collapse. Unfortunately, I can't remember the details very well. Someone else might.

I'll be interested to see the more finished version when you have the links, etc.

Digression: I had a Sociology of Religion class in which the prof showed various videos every class session for a month straight. One of them was a skeptical story about Satanic Ritual Abuse. One of the "researchers" of Satanic Ritual Abuse claimed that hundreds of babies were known to have been sacrificed by cultists. When asked for proof, the researcher claimed she would bring some physical evidence in the form of "baby wax." "What's baby wax?" the skeptical interviewer asked.

Apparently this is the "residue" left over after you sacrifice a baby by burning it. Although the researcher claimed to have found "baby wax" at various Satanic Ritual sites, she was not able to produce any of this physical evidence for the camera.

As if there were not enough verifiable evil in the world, some people feel compelled to make stuff up...

A couple of structural details:

'The rise of the religious right in North America has co-incided with either the reinvigoration of the Satanic conspiracy...'

Seems a bit clumsy, but I'm too tired right now to offer an alternative phrasing.

'The age of her father's death...'

It may be more accurate to say, 'The year of her father's death...'

Good article. Nasty subject matter.

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Congratulations!

Shouldn't this be marked as recc'd by now?
-myre