Satanism Expert Reacts to Anti-LGBT “Satanic” Panic

[@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic]

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[@GBody-sn5ok]

So, you're a sympathizer of Satan and his army of devils ! You all will have your place in hell, and the lake of fire!

[@chibbersthesquirrel6189]

The weirdest part of this to me is the idea that someone working at Target COULDN'T be a Satanist. They're not allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion. A person could absolutely work at Target and be a Satanist and it would be totally fine. They're there to help you find your overpriced towels, not share the gospel.

[@insinoorii]

freedom of religion only when its your religion

[@Gamer_G33k]

Exactly. They expect Target to fire people who say they're Satanist or support the Satanist Movement, not realizing that would be grounds for a lawsuit lol.

[@AxionZetaOne]

​@Gamer G33k less not realizing, more not caring. Or in the words of my mother, "freedom of religion is only for Christians".

[@martinkent333]

@@insinoorii Christian clinical paranoids rule! A simply adorable mental illness with a halo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!!!

[@martinkent333]

@@Gamer_G33k Christian clinical paranoids thrive on this crap! It validates their delusions and Hebrew myths!!!!!!!!!! Isn't that adorable?

[@scratch7971]

“My religion isn’t a fantasy role playing game, your fantasy role playing game is a religion!” Genius summary of the original panic.

[@wordforger]

...Yeah. No kidding. Maybe having a rich love of fantasy DOES make it easier to see through their silly nonsense.

[@supme7558]

To bad all religions are just that fantasy Rpg

[@Gamer_G33k]

@@washada Thats exactly the reason. In a game where Angels are depicted as Lawful Good and Demons as Chaotic Neutral, its really hard to figure how they could say D&D was demonic. It was because if you have Angels and Demons in a fantasy game, kids might realize those things are just that. Fantasy.

[@julietfischer5056]

@@Gamer_G33k- The gameplay was never 'invoke Jesus and convert everybody' so they didn't like it. And that fundie Christian fear/hatred of anything outside their backyard sandbox God.

[@okidokidraws]

My religion being able to do what I want or sleep in on Sunday morning instead of listening to advice the congregation wont fallow when they say love everyone everyone seems to forget that phrase.

[@tdsollog]

I’m 52, as of 2023, and I remember the Satanic Panic of the 80s. My “born again” stepmother at the time (she’s not anymore because she had and affair with her pastor who was convinced I was demonic for loving Metallica and Guns ‘n’ Roses) verbally tormented me. I survived and became a much kinder person than she could ever imagine.

[@petehjr1]

my catholic grandma bought me the Ad&D players hand book three years in a row for Christmas so we didnt have alot of that going on in our family. D&D was actually corrosive to my faith though, so they have some point in worrying, they've just misplaced the problem as they see it. D&D MMMMM SATAN! No it just showed me that Christianity and especially Catholicism was just stories, just like all the other old "dead" gods.

[@Artemi099]

Yooo based

[@numberpirate]

Sounds like she needs to be boiled.

[@jerrimenard3092]

We are the same age. I too lived through the first Satanic Panic. Now I get to be a target again. I am a queer Theistic Satanist and a writer. Can you imagine everything you love about living being so hated that people don't even want you on the same planet as them?

[@DiamondsRexpensive]

Religion men, zero good taste in music.

[@viri6958]

as a queer person i can confirm i in fact bursted into flames during the first clip when the man began to cast out the demons.

[@annieisokay1534]

Yeah me too. Now I am crispy, but also straight as a ruler! Edit: this is a joke btw sorry if it’s confusing :)

[@viri6958]

@@annieisokay1534 let’s be real babe. even as a ruler you’re still one of those bendy rulers kids buy at book fairs (⁰▿⁰)

[@mariaanjos9229]

Me too, im now str8

[@Bildgesmythe]

​@@annieisokay1534sad times when you have to explain it's a joke

[@Lizard_Ri]

Same, all my bisexual rainbow blew up, sadly it became so strong it made my sister bisexual too

[@luussskaa]

Imagine being an angel, but it's so lame that you have to guard a closet just because some random weirdo asked so

[@JohnSmith-mc2zz]

Dads who never grew out of being afraid of the closet

[@darlalathan6143]

@@JohnSmith-mc2zz LOL!

[@njhoepner]

It becomes very clear that you're a third-string angel at that point.

[@Naija_Ninja]

At that point I'd just ring up Lucifer, see if he has a better gig

[@Trans_Demon_Hybrid]

I would regret not going with the others when they left with that one guy who actually made sense.

[@chainsawtotheheart]

As a child in the 80s, my parents took me to lessons on how to "battle princes, principalities and the powers of dark works." Which was basically layman's exorcism. Me, at five years old, being taught how to bind and cast out demonic forces, anoint people and items with holy oil and pray over them for the covering of the holy spirit's protection. A five year old. Being trained as an exorcist. By people with no "actual" training in the sort of thing themselves. My childhood wasn't disturbing or damaging at all...nope, nope nope!

[@Its_me_Aunty]

Yeah my mum was “born again” in the 80’s🙄 she tried to make us do that too. We’re fine 😅 *pulls up weighted blanket* 😂

[@Quonzan]

I was apparently a faith healer aged 8. My dad asked me to pray someone's cancer away but I felt weirded out and refused. The guy later died of his cancer, and I felt like I had in a way killed the man myself by refusing to heal him. That was some wackdoodle to unravel.

[@chainsawtotheheart]

@@Quonzan that's awful! To put that sort of expectation on a child and that the person passed away regardless. Good on ya for refusing to pretend to heal the person, giving them false hope.

[@MrHodoAstartes]

I mean. At that age, I was also receiving special lessons dabbling in things I had no concept of. Making me speak peculiar words. Luckily, it was a speech therapist using logopedics to help me with my stutter.

[@Gamer_G33k]

If your banner is who I think it is, you definitely grew up to be based. Im sorry you had to go through that sort of thing.

[@VincentValentine33]

I lived through the Satanic Panic being born with Epilepsy to a Narcissistic Religious woman in 1980. That whole time period was pure hell for me.

[@rationallyruby]

Wow that’s sounds like a recipe for disaster I’m so sorry!

[@franambrose8667]

That sounds terrible. I hope you can/have healed from that trauma.

[@supme7558]

They were diagnosed a narcissist.. or thats just what you think

[@KatieM786]

​@@supme7558Does official diagnosis really matter? If the person had a crappy time because of that person then they had a crappy time coz of that person. No need to try to minimise it

[@VincentValentine33]

@@supme7558 I take it you have never been around a Narcissist.

[@ABugNamedAntsMcGee]

I love how the exorcist went to the closet. He heard someone say they came out of the closet and was like "thats where they are hiding the demons!"

[@erraticonteuse]

I was *dying* at that. Yes, the demons in the closet made your son gay. Exorcise them so he'll go back in there.

[@Mr.Finklebottom]

I feel bad for the kid. I was lucky to have very open-minded parents to come out to.

[@FreeStyle888.]

“There’s definitely something in here”🤦🏾‍♂️

[@MarcillaSmith]

It's true that most people try to keep their demons in the closet. He's so close, and yet...

[@curiousnerdkitteh]

That's hilarious!

[@levikane2143]

I wasn't abused as a child by a religious person exactly, but when I was 20 (an ADULT), my old children's pastor tried to make me repent and let God help me with being gay, and stop seeing my boyfriend. I refused and she outed me to the pastor from that church who gave me a choice. When these zealots get a hold of something, they will not stop. She still wants me to forgive her for what she did even though I tried to tell her to stop before it got as bad as it did. Now I'm pagan.

[@radagast25a]

Blessed be.

[@justfellicitya]

It's so sad that there are SO, so many actual examples of children being physically and sexually abused in religious environments, yet I haven't see a single example of all these drag queens and gay people "grooming" children.

[@kirstygunn9149]

Blessed be.

[@ethandollarhide7943]

A gay pagan is a Christian's worst nightmare.

[@beans3977]

Blessed be

[@Nick-hi9gx]

I took a human sexuality course in college. There was a kid in the class I knew from my work TAing in a sociology course he was also in, and he had mentioned his "gay demon story", his parents got an exorcist just like this kid. Ben had balls of steel though, so he played along...and started yelling about Diablo and the Soulstones, and Mephisto and Baal, and how he needed to release the Prime Evils onto the world, all in the deepest most "demonic" voice he could muster as the priest was "exorcising". So I had him tell the story in my human sexuality course (he was ironically the TA for that class). Everyone laughed, though of course most were too young to understand the Diablo 2 references.

[@Glory_be_to_Christ]

That’s hilarious

[@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic]

Holy shit lmao

[@darlalathan6143]

I scared two abusive Christians with my "death growls" because I've been a heavy metal fan since Catholic school LOL! The first was my ex-boyfriend and the second was my ex-roommate!

[@Glory_be_to_Christ]

@@darlalathan6143 Lord have mercy!

[@Cardboard449]

Sounds like it be real easy for an edgy teenager to get the kind of attention they want LOL

[@Allgloss312]

The satanic atheist target worker is a LEGEND 😂 “gods gonna judge you guys” “i mean he cant if i dont believe in him” shes a literal boss

[@ATLbench]

Haha. Just like the “sovereign citizens” who don’t believe in the police or courts.

[@littlebitofhope1489]

He is correct about the security person handling it better though.

[@Allgloss312]

@@littlebitofhope1489 i mean yes from an optics perspective it wasnt the best reaction to have but i dont care i still love that woman and her response lol.

[@littlebitofhope1489]

@@Allgloss312 I think it wasn't a good choice for her safety either. But I get what you are saying.

[@riynu7774]

@@littlebitofhope1489 I don't think her safety was at risk unless the guy is totally unhinged, no one would do something stupid in open there. If he is unhinged then no one is safe anyways.

[@memento206mare]

A couple problems with these "Satanic ritualist abuse" claims is that Satanism's 12 supreme laws of the universe include: "Do not harm children" and "Do not harm animals, unless necessary for food, or in defense".

[@JuniperWhiskeytart]

People don't know the difference between occultism and satanism

[@trippingthelight]

b-b-but then how do I explain that my multiple personalities are totally real!? edit: DID is very real! certain content creators, on the other hand...

[@J.X.Sanchez777]

I agree with that LaVeyan tenet though there are many sects of Satanism (long before COS) that did involve child sexual abuse even animal and child sacrifices. Aleister Crowley was known in the Abbey of Thelema for animal ritualistic sacrifices (especially that of goats). In his downtime he liked to casually go out and shoot birds, pigs and even elephants. So don't say that all Satanists didn't involve animals & children in their rituals.

[@J.X.Sanchez777]

​@@JuniperWhiskeytartSatanism was derived from occultism. Anton LaVey was a fond follower of Crowley.

[@heyfell4301]

Amazing how Satanists are better at not harming children than many actual Christian priests.

[@bchristian85]

Christians love the "guilt by association" tactic. Growing up IFB, I'm sure you heard a lot of sermons on that topic. I still remember all the sermons about how nobody should ever go to a movie theater because someone might see you there and think you are going to see an 'R' rated movie.

[@Theiron2142]

So when a leftists sees sombody that does not agree with LGBTQ politics, he's automatically a Christian, because Christians are anti gay? That sort of braindead guilt by association?

[@ChristianCatboy]

Sounds like a misapplication of 1 Corinthians 8, to me. Christians are allowed to participate in pagan revels, but should still be mindful not to "trigger" a companion who may still be dealing with repression or trauma.

[@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777]

@@Theiron2142 huh? I can tell you, I'm a Leftist and I hang around lot's of other Leftists (Not Liberals, Liberals are Center-Right at best) and we don't assume ya'll are Christians we assume ya'll are Fascists. And we're right, because ya'll are VERY Fascistic. uwu

[@Theiron2142]

@@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777 that's a very intolerant and fascistic way of thinking

[@ExkupidsMom]

Yeah, that whole "he who is without sin," thing is totally lost on them.

[@TheRogueCommand]

Really starting to reevaluate "don't take the Lord's name in vain" as less "don't say god damnit" and more "don't use Christ to justify whatever bullsh*t you use to hurt people." Straight up the exorcist at the beginning, as hilariously stupid as that was, had my skin crawling.

[@Kometheus]

That was so funny 😂

[@gabrote42]

In fact, god ain't even the name of the being, just the position. It's like calling Him The Name, or the one with the four-letter name. This is a big a mistake I see almost as much as Christians supporting "meritocracy" and capitalism by refusing to do charity work or otherwise help the poor. But yeah your comment is right

[@charginginprogresss]

That exorcist was also moaning in excitement like he was high on drugs. "Woah! Wow, yeah! This is good" The fuck brah?

[@justfellicitya]

It's scary. My parents and friend's parents when I was a small child did these "exorcisms" so that we would have a "safe" playspace.

[@ultratog1028]

I was taught that God's name in Hebrew is Yahweh or "I am". So not using his name in vain could literally mean "Do not brag" or "be humble".

[@Mallory-Malkovich]

I feel bad for these people. Imagine how screwed up your childhood must have been that you're afraid of Satan but not climate change.

[@littlebitofhope1489]

Just wait until they start blaming satan for climate change.

[@littlebitofhope1489]

@@Lucas-yf1es So they make even less sense. Why am I not surprised.

[@stevensines7026]

The truth is that Christians generally hold that this world is riddled with sin, hell is inside the earth, and will be "'passed away' in the end times, so who cares about the climate?"

[@Theiron2142]

Humans only have a negligible effect on climate change, the climate has naturally shifted throughout history and its really no different now.

[@beans3977]

Christian nationalism is a poison that is killing this country

[@tamari9966]

as someone who was raised strictly Baptist Christian I can safely say I was so excited to leave the faith and support pride month best decision I've made in my whole entire life I feel much happier and more free to express myself

[@Kholan95]

All the power to you 🙏🏼💗🖤

[@nineinchthread]

Wholesome comment

[@jessicaclakley3691]

Congratulations, happy to have ya here 🎊🎉

[@omnigex2026]

God bless you 🙏🥳

[@Godloveszaza]

I'm all for gays but I don't agree with or support some of their deeds.

[@RealBradMiller]

I love the Target Lady. And the gentleman in plain clothes was VERY calm, and handled that situation wonderfully. I feel if he caught me shoplifting (never would, because I don't) he would say he's "not mad, just disappointed", and I'd cry.

[@wolfofossory7]

As a Gen Xer, it's really relieving to see the younger generation picking up on this pattern today. Please keep exposing this. The Xtian Nat narrative is very dangerous and its gaining real traction I'm afraid.

[@radagast25a]

It's not gaining new members, their numbers are abysmal. What they are gaining is political power by manipulating secular people - often through secular right wing media.

[@Coelacanth1]

As another Gen Xer, I agree with you.

[@allmodcons2274]

Gen X here also. The same is starting to happen in the UK. It's not quite as intense yet, but those seeds of hate have been germinated for sure. Scary shit tbh.

[@bedrock30_40]

I have Gen X parents that don't agree with a lot of the messages in this video. Thank you for not being like them

[@Coelacanth1]

@@allmodcons2274 Undoubtedly there's money to be made in hate and yes it just so happens there is problem with dark money emanating out of the US for the purposes of buying politics abroad, some of which we are now seeing in Africa what with the introduction of anti -LGBT bills that carry death penalties

[@Leith_Crowther]

I get why they call it a “moral panic,” but, like the panic really isn’t moral.

[@Ironsuaba]

It's a panic that cloaks itself in concern about morality. "Moral" isn't always used to describe something ethically good, it usually means that it somehow relates to morality

[@EdwardHowton]

They call themselves the "moral majority". It's branding. It's like how a certain European group called itself the national socialist party when in reality they were just murder-happy hatemongers. It's why so many dictatorships call themselves the _People's Democratic Republic Of._ Roll enough deception checks and people will eventually all roll a natural 1, especially if you systematically eliminate anyone who doesn't have disadvantage on the roll. Or who wears glasses on the assumption that "people who wear glasses are smart." Which actually happened. Y'know how half the USA is anti-intellectual and hates "liberal college professors"? Those are the people who "wear glasses". This isn't a new strategy. We know where it ends.

[@TheDashingRogue]

ethical panic is more to the point, but then the satanist & christians would have to ask the hard questions instead of calling each other names.

[@n0etic_f0x]

Well, it is a panic about morals. A panic about losing morals the way a financial panic is about the loss of finance and a food panic is about the loss of food.

[@Theiron2142]

​@@n0etic_f0x The LGBTQ community advocates for pedophiles to be accepted in society

[@feremarthewizpotato5732]

As a practicing witch, and Norse pagan, the whole bit with the “holy oil” is really funny for me. Him blessing the bed to bring all people who sit upon it to be saved. How is this distinguishable from a hex? A “blessing” that enforces a deity’s will on somebody with free will. The hypocrisy is thick.

[@feremarthewizpotato5732]

@@Mingha0 Is witch too fanciful a term for you? Spiritual practitioner work better?🤨👹

[@kirstygunn9149]

I don't see anything wrong with someone saying they are a witch or Wiccan it's eco spiritualism and it's of the earth for the earth, and isn't any less valid than a sky god who is his own son

[@iarde3422]

Can I ask you a question, as you an expert in subject, that I want to find out about? 1) Are you Wicca or Witchcraft? 2) Often, in movies, they call witches, people, who summon spirits to do the "work". Is it the only means to do magic? Or there is some magic, that don't involve spirits/demons to do the work and the work/magic is done by your own strength of will power?

[@feremarthewizpotato5732]

@@iarde3422Wicca is a religion and witchcraft is a practice (divorced from any religion). I practice witchcraft, but my “religion” is heathenry (Norse Paganism. also im not a nazi or white supremist just in case somebody conflates the terms). Witches and spiritual people believe in energy that is found in all things. This energy is what is being manipulated in spell work in order to influence a situation. So spirits are not 100% necessary to practicing witchcraft or any other occult form of practice (it is helpful though). Having a spirit you know helping your spell work can make the eventual manifestation have a lot more “punch” if you will. Plus some spirits are genuinely kind and pleasant. In this way they’re like people. Example, I work spell work with my ancestors, but I also maintain a familial bond with them outside of my craft. Hope this helps✨❤ thank you for being curious and not hateful

[@shroom2001]

​@@feremarthewizpotato5732thank you for taking the time to write that out! I took a screenshot for reference if thats ok!

[@theace8502]

I've literally seen posts everywhere on every site demonizing the LGBTQ. Heck, even my mom posted an image on Facebook that said "What's at the heart of pride month? priDE MONth. DEMON" Like oml 💀💀. This panic is ridiculous

[@Sean20245]

Disown your mom dude 🙃

[@Quonzan]

I and many other LGBT+ folks want priDEMONth on a tshirt. Another example of appropriating a slur and transforming it into something positive.

[@theace8502]

​@@Sean20245 I mean, she may be ignorant (among other things), but I still love her (despite the ignorance) 😂

[@theace8502]

​@@Quonzan That would be awesome!

[@windigo1592]

time for the pride moth 🦋

[@cindergodofnature6807]

One thing that really rubbed me the wrong way was how the woman kept saying horrible actions were Satanic, instead of them just being murder or abuse. All of her "recovered memories" could entirely be fake, but if even some of them were real, those memories aren't Satanic in nature even by older generation standards. Killing kittens is not inherently Satanic, it's just murdering an animal to gain control over your kid. Being put in a coffin with your dead sister also isn't a "ritual," it's just a messed up action to once again make your child afraid of you and to control them. Everywhere Satanism was mentioned, it felt like it was just added in after the fact to promote the idea of it being evil or harmful.

[@rudra62]

True. I didn't see the killing of kittens as "ritual" or "Satanic", but rather the actions of an abuser to both destroy painfully something you love, while implying that the same thing could happen to you.

[@specilegg]

Satan holds a doctrine of do what thou will, Jesus said let not my will be done but the father's will.

[@infinityblablabla]

​@@specilegg the bible says absolutely nothing about child marriage, child labour or underaged, intergenerational sexual relations. For all intents and purposes, there's nothing 'ungodly' about a 59 year old man marrying a 9 year old girl and having a child with her as soon as she hits puberty (which could start as early as 12 years of age). What's your refutation?

[@rudra62]

@@infinityblablabla Oh, the Bible has a lot to say about selling your daughter into marriage, putting children to work. There are plenty of examples of an older man marrying one or several much-younger girls/women. There are rules for taking prepubescent girls as spoils of war, and waiting until they hit puberty to send them to their husbands - who they have no choice in having. Precocious puberty happens to girls as young as 5 or 6. It's "normal" puberty after about 10. But, 10 year olds should not be married, having sex, or having babies!

[@embaljac365]

While I think the satanic association is vile, I have real compassion for that lady and I just kinda hate the way they are being dismissive of all of her story just because she used that term or because hypnosis was involved. Yes, be skeptical, but you don’t have to throw out empathy as well.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

the anti-glbt backlash isn't just about us being more visible on TV, but in general as a marginalized group, we've made more progress in a shorter amount of time than most other groups throughout history. It was within my life time that we've gone from it being legal to jail someone for being gay and legal to fire us from our jobs or for landlords to kick us out of our apartments to being now considered pretty much normal members of society. So it's hardly surprising that when the backlash came, it would be extreme.

[@LordMalice6d9]

You are not a marginalized group. People like me are.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

@@LordMalice6d9 look man, I don't know you so I'm not going to argue if you are or are not part of a marginalized group. But it doesn't take much to see that right now we are still part of a marginalized group (trans people especially, but gays as well who still don't have equal rights under the law in the majority of states) You're wrong if you don't think that we're being marginalized both socially and politically.

[@h0rn3d_h1st0r1an]

@@LordMalice6d9idk if ur talking about straight people, cuz we sure as hell aren’t a minority bro

[@rosheacarrington]

@@LordMalice6d9 its ok its not a competition what minority are you apart of ?

[@patrickdixon7202]

You're not special.

[@WeezyOld]

“im gonna buy it and burn it” same energy as the Nike fiasco a few years back. The world has “ended” more time than I can count, according to these crowds, in my short 20 years of life.

[@WeezyOld]

I will agree with Dr Laycock that alot of these people aren’t necessarily trying to do good, merely they want the attention online and social media.

[@trippingthelight]

I was hoping she'd suggest other items to purchase so they could take more of his money lol

[@bogdiworksV2]

@tripping 😂 take the whole rack! I loved how their interaction emphasized how judgemental he was as opposed to her. That's exactly why some people find religion distasteful (well, aside from the unsupported truth clsims).

[@Vanq22114]

It's just so strange how we keep doing this. Every time, they insist it'll lead to the downfall of society, and it never does. Human societies have a short memory, I guess.

[@yachishairclips2250]

Wholeheartedly agree with this... 100%. It is just true to those who closed their minds and follow to the panic like sheeps are the ones buying. The 80s experienced the demonization of rock bands and the 90s experienced the demonization of games (cards, board, video) and tv shows... Including the LGBT rights, the dances, everything else worldly.. and with how they always emphasized that it will be the start of humanity's downfall.... experienced it 1st hand and things did not get worse... heck, I did not turn into a satanist.

[@aaronbredon2948]

Well, these panics will lead to the downfall of society...if the religious people win.

[@TheArtkaw]

How can they win if their whole goal is waiting for the Rapture

[@phillipstephens4522]

​@@TheArtkaw They gonna wait for a VERY long time. There is NO rapture. It was invented by some idiot preacher in the 1500s or 1600s. I forget his name, but anyone can look it up.

[@Theiron2142]

@@aaronbredon2948 I don't think religious people will be responsible for the downfall of humanity , it will be people like you who are responsible, as you allow regressive policy and ideology to be pushed out everywhere around the world, you really are no different then the Christians.

[@philyra2]

I was a kid in the 80s but I remember all the hullabaloo around DnD. My dad was/is a preacher and it was often a topic of sermons and conversations. That whole satanic panic led to a lot of things being axed from my life: Halloween, secular music, and even The Smurfs! They were all considered satanic, so we were to have no part of them. Now I'm sitting here with my Trans teen watching all this mess unfold and I'm so grateful that I am no longer part of that world. It's a very messed up and scary place!

[@LeafHuntress]

The smurfs? Was he Gargamel? "i hate, i hate smurfs!"

[@kellyschafer9476]

I wish I would have not had halloween

[@sovietdoge.7369]

​@kellyschafer9476 I loved Halloween. Dressing up and the creepy vibe, just fit me perfectly.

[@Mariwend]

I understand how serious this is, but I physically can't help but laugh. The image of a bunch of elderly to middle aged men, around a table, discussing how the smurfs are invading the children's brains is too much for me

[@leatherandtactel]

Halloween is obviously satanic and pagan. The day of the devil I call it.

[@madjock-ig5bv]

The lady who was in the flat below me growing up as a child was a teen in the 1920s. I remember her saying to me that when she got a flapper girl dress her parents thought the world was ending. The most disgusting and evil thing they had seen. She loved that they were so shocked😂. For her she said that all teens get into things to rebel in some way. The Elvis outrage, the hippy free love, the punk scene, she had seen all of them and kind of laughed at the outrage. Even my most evil metal t-shirts she laughed at. She was super cool.

[@evan_j]

That reminds me of a lady in her 90s (years ago) saying her mum freaked out when she got a bra!

[@Portablesounds]

Speaking of metal, nice profile pic Ziltoid :P

[@salyx]

That’s the old person I aim to be!

[@NickiRusin]

@@evan_j tbh I agree with that one, let them tiddies out

[@rudra62]

Plato wrote of the children of his day.

[@PrettyGhostX]

The target worker isn't a satanist its super clear she was annoyed by the question and everyone who isn't a DUMMY and who actually can think and process knows she wasn't being truthful. She was annoyed and how anyone can take that as something else is absolutely beyond me. The Expert 100% correct when he answered that question about her

[@viking-astronaut]

Girlie isn't afraid of hell, she works retail 💅🏻 Hell would be a vacation to her

[@koffz-nl2118]

Yeah she was clearly being sarcastic.

[@dr.stronk9857]

@@viking-astronaut lol

[@mattsadventureswithart5764]

How people can believe it is because they want to believe it. They're made SO afraid of the bible bad-guy that they fear anything that mentions the character. Ironically, the people who fear that character are the ones who believe in it.

[@Alpharelic]

​@@mattsadventureswithart5764funny enough, I heard that Satan killed 15 people in Bible Canon, but in comparison God has killed 2,000,065 people. And people choose to worship the latter...

[@oobooBW]

Man props to those target employees, they handled everything so calmly and made him look sillyyy

[@throwaway5656]

hmm to me - their body language suggests that this kind of fruitcakery is more common than we think

[@littlebitofhope1489]

@@throwaway5656 I'm surprised that they allowed him to film. Most stores don't. I hope corporate banned him from all stores.

[@matthewgagnon9426]

@@throwaway5656 I've worked in retail before, it doesn't take long at all to encounter loons like that.

[@ExkupidsMom]

You're not wrong at all, but let's be fair... dude did a LOT of the heavy lifting on making himself look like a complete ding-dong.

[@TheAGNOSTIC_who_YT_CENSORS]

@@ExkupidsMom It's only fair to give credit when it's due!

[@water1374]

There is something so infuriating about certain religious people, who unironically believe that their specific religion is the indisputable truth despite it being equally as unverifiable as all other religions according to everyone except them, calling me a narcissist for wanting to wear a skirt.

[@rs72098]

Except Christianity is not equally unverified. It's built up institutions and nations around the world and established laws, principles and other beneficial progress that we enjoy today. Not to mention there are millions of supernatural incidents supporting Christianity's viewpoint. Technology, economics, military, all tend to favor Christianity even over atheism.

[@switchbladejimmy7655]

Wordddd Hail yourself, friend!

[@78djinn]

​@KingJustice98 your argument is that because people believe in it and use it in politics that makes it not a fantasy. Also name a supernatural incident.

[@mikearchibald744]

@@rs72098 Military I'd give you, but the rest of that is bunk. Its by its very nature unverifiable. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that its bizarrely the only religion which espouses faith over reason, and yet at the same time adherents will proclaim its verified by evidence and reason, which negates all of its own first principles. The main difference about christianity is that as you say, it was a tool of oppression spread across the world. Thats not a plus. Its an imperial religion that seeks to destroy all other religions, so by definition any imperial religion will make a claim to objective truth.

[@miaomiaochan]

​@@rs72098 Lots of extraordinary claims you've made, there, yet no extraordinary evidence offered to back them up except "trust me, bro".

[@Aury]

If the hateful will not stop being hateful, then removal of their tools of abuse is the next best option. The medical institutions no longer abide the lies at the core of queerphobic hatred, and its past time that politicians and religious leaders stopped fueling and abiding these lies as well. Thank you for the work you both do.

[@kamikeserpentail3778]

Except for some of them their power comes entirely from it, unlike the medical institutions. So of course they're going to fuel it.

[@Arcanilumia]

As a trans woman who fits today's beauty standards today nearly perfectly, thank you so much for being so open and getting an expert to talk about this. These people who claim I'm dangerous would just as readily assault me in several ways, or even kill me, just because I exist. It's also nice to see for once the acknowledgment that yes, most of these issues are directly caused by religion. I've met so few people who actually acknowledge this, and it's so relieving to finally see.

[@PeterBornAgain]

A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this. - Deuteronomy 22:5

[@Isaac-hm6ih]

​@PeterBornAgain So if she were an ancient Israelite she wouldn't be allowed to pretend to be a man. What's your point?

[@PeterBornAgain]

@@Isaac-hm6ih Don't debate the scriptures please this is the word of God, not me.

[@Isaac-hm6ih]

@@PeterBornAgain Firstly, you'd need to convince me there's something special about that text. Secondly, I don't think I was debating the text. I only asked how the most obvious interpretation of your quote is relevant to the comment you were replying to.

[@iarde3422]

Are you a trans woman, meaning, you are woman, changed to be man or a man, changed to be a woman? I am confused.

[@normalhuman9878]

You know what’s ironic. Dungeons and dragons is what introduced me to the concept of Druidry, which I later looked more into and adopted as a basis for my (non Christian) religious beliefs. I also really decided to convert from Christianity at a church camp lmao. I had a religious experience, just not with the religion they wanted. Thank the spirits my mom is cool with it and actually practices a few pagan rituals herself

[@walterwallman3566]

One friend has tried to convert me to Christianity, and it failed. One friend has invited me to sacrifice to the norse gods this midsummer, and it calls to me for some reason. Once, when we were waiting for the bus, I saw a raven or something and jokingly called out to Odin, the bird immediately locked eyes with me. When I told that to my christian friend, along with telling him about me going to sacrifice, he just started laughing at me

[@a_little_demon]

I see you in every comment sections ! :0

[@MmatriX-]

⁠@@walterwallman3566Funny how the idea that “coincidental event = proof of religious calling” only seems to apply one way.

[@Ryan_42088]

I think what harms children is when they get older and are confused about there preference to a certain gender they feel scared and not loved because of the hate towards the LGBTQ community. I hope one day we can all be accepted for who we are and be open and find happiness in this life

[@JackieOwl94]

Kids should be supported and loved. They should be allowed to dress how they please. Just don’t let them have surgeries before they hit adulthood. Not only could they change their mind, but the surgeries aren’t even as effective to give them the appropriate look that they need to ease dysphoria if they haven’t gone through proper growth. If a male child doesn’t go through puberty, they can’t have proper length to allow fewer complications in surgery. Giving them time to know for sure what they want is also important, because kids are easily influenced by people, hence why we don’t let kids get tattoos and stuff.

[@xXRickTrolledXx]

@Jackie I’m happy to inform you that the number of children going through reassignment surgery is statistically zero.

[@gangstarock2455]

​@@xXRickTrolledXxSource?

[@gangstarock2455]

​@@xXRickTrolledXxYou can find multiple videos of de transioners who have started hormones from as young as 10 to 13 years old.

[@ethcal3195]

​@@gangstarock2455Hormones aren't surgeries, and if discontinued, most of the effects will reverse themselves.

[@MNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMN]

The main thing people have been misinformed about is that Target was selling "trans clothes" for kids. They claimed that clothes meant for things like tucking were labelled for toddlers. Zero fact checking, they buy into it immediately, and it's absurd.

[@KT-pv3kl]

last time i checked this was not the reason why ppl got up in arms. the reason was toddler clothing with slogans that MAPs and pedos use to justify their sick preferences like "love is love" and childrens clothing with clear satanic and lgbt iconorgaphy and slogans.

[@StreakyBaconMan]

Reminds me of the time that crowd was convinced schools were adding litter boxes for children identifying as cats. Zero fact checking, they just instantly believed a post they read on facebook.

[@dangerousdays2052]

They don't believe in facts

[@m2ukass]

That's their style. Manipulate and bend the reality to fit their narrative. Like the last moral panic, where a brand got cancelled because some concervative nut cropped out pictures to make literal pet supplies look like sex gear.

[@darlalathan6143]

Well, these same people also believe witches can cast spells through TV, the Earth is flat and ruled by the Illuminati, the New World Order, and Reptilians, lol!

[@dragonvliss2426]

My partner knew a young woman ( in her 20's ) who was crippled in a car accident and had to move back in with her parents, and lose all her independence. She made friends and connected with the outside world by roleplaying in Second Life online. Her mother refused to understand how important this contact with the outside world was for this young woman, considered it "escaping from reality" -- well, duh -- and refused to allow it. The young woman, now cut off from all her friends and contact with the world outside her home, finally fell into a deep depression and killed herself. Roleplaying can be a healthy outlet for people who have disabilities, and can connect them with the world outside.

[@Foogi9000]

I'm scared ngl, i want to be open about being bi and gender non-conforming but the backlash is so massive that it makes me afraid to be who i want to be. I recognize that as things change and improve that it will get better but it doesn't make living through hatred and bigotry any easier.

[@SarastistheSerpent]

I know it is bad right now, and I won’t sugar coat it and make is seem like things will get better anytime soon, but just know that there are millions of people out there who will stand up for you and fight for your rights, myself among them. I am not trans, but I won’t sit around idly while trans people are being hurt. Stay strong. In the end, love wins

[@mandappanpp6601]

I hope it gets better for you❤

[@Chillseer]

I'm sad that people have to hide who they are when they've done no wrong and aren't wrong in the slightest. Stay strong, keep your head up. Backlash might hurt but being someone you're not will hurt you more.

[@ignatzbubis3610]

You can only be male and female. there is nothing else

[@Callimo]

​@@ignatzbubis3610Shut up. Anyways OP, we got you, boo. You are the only one living your life. Find outlets to be open and yourself safely. No one deserves to rot in the closet. ❤

[@ladyfreedomrocks]

I remember The 80's Satanic Panic. I was a kid in a family of Baptist ministers. So many cartoons I wasn't allowed to watch, toys I could not have or if another kid had I could not play with, music that I was supposed to plug my ears if we started to hear it when out and about. I was even told to tell other kids about how Satan was coming to get them through the cartoons, toys and music. It was a horrible time. Hate to see it coming back so strong.

[@ebonyblack4563]

F***, remembering the music I wasn't allowed to listen to... Now I can't listen to most of the entire genre that was allowed in my house... Cause Country is so much more 'pure' than whatever was on MTV at the time.

[@Theiron2142]

People being concerned about LGBTQ ideology does not mean that there insane religious people, I think the left is trying it's best to throw people into that category to discredit them. Peoples very real concerns are being treated as if they were the concerns of some bible thumper trying to push religion on people pre 2000 , it's utterly insulting and is not realisticly applicable to the current social climate. Degeneracy and lack of morals have become prevelant in the world more then they ever have, you don't need to be a believer to have some basic morals.

[@ladyfreedomrocks]

@@ebonyblack4563 there was a few country I wasn't allowed to listen to either. Ya know, because Satan. 🙄

[@forgetfuldullahan5468]

God that hits home. I grew up in a really religious town. We had three churches, and could fit the entire town into a single church. My family is largely agnostic, myself and my brothers are more or less atheists, but growing up in that town, Jesus fucking christ, yeah I rember being told I would go to hell for listening to some rock or some shit, like that's apparently a normal thing to tell a ten year old kid.

[@ebonyblack4563]

@@ladyfreedomrocks You'd think people so hard up to believe would have some faith in their kids to have their own inner strength, but you can't have internal strength when your identity is built on fear and hate. I know no Bible thumping brimstone b***h who isn't a bloody coward at their core; it's disappointing, worse yet it's insulting to even have their petty hate because I know they're such weak hearted pawns.

[@Darkloid21]

It’s incredibly frustrating to realize that reason I have to hide and fear for my safety is because of someone’s belief in an imaginary friend.

[@frijofroisdeern3783]

Rather someone's Imaginary Enemies - thAt arE evEryWheRe!!!!

[@KT-pv3kl]

what precisely do you fear and what reason do you have to hide? are the christians infront of your house setting up a pyre?

[@Leonicles]

​@KT-pv3kl are you paying attention? Christians in power are making laws on the premise that LGBT people are pe**philes who are trying to recruit children. There's a reason it's socially acceptable to joke about ped***iles getting assaulted in prison. I get it- as a parent, there's nothing I wouldn't do to protect my children. If people correlate being queer with the most despised, then taking away rights and hurting them also becomes socially acceptable. We're seeing a slide in politics (by Christians) & in schools all over the country. I grew up in a homophobic area in the early 2000s - but several teachers had one of those little rainbow stickers saying "This is a safe place" without controversy. In 2023, something like that will get someone fired. So yeah, LGBT+ folks have a lot to fear.

[@julietfischer5056]

@@KT-pv3kl- Don't try to be clever. You know damn well what's happening in the United States right now, and you're plainly fine with forcing people to hide themselves. Must be so distressing to see LGBTQ, non-Christians, and BIPOC acting like real human beings.

[@theghostoftom]

Yep, it's forever frustrating. Literally nothing you can say to "You speak the devil's lies!" Or the every fun "Your a servant of Satan?" Just have to stay calm and hope everyone else sees the crazy. Sarcasm is good for stress relief but nothing really works when their brains are off and mouths open.

[@vikkipink1288]

I had basically the same kind of exorcism on my room to rid me of my bisexuality and to cure my undiagnosed autoimmune disease. I had also had it performed on me at my house where the preacher and his daughter put hands on my stomach and prayed and spoke in tongues. Then again at the church while the preacher put oil on my head and his hands while praying and speaking in tongues while the rest of the church members put their hands on my back and when they ran out of room they would their hands on the backs on the person in front of them. I refuse to go to any type of church now and am totally traumatized. I was a devoted Christian until that point and it completely shattered my view of the religion. I was 13 years old and I’m 30 now so this has been going for at least that long.

[@JLo83]

Damn, that kind of stuff happened all the TIME at the church I grew up in. Never realized it could be that traumatic for someone who didn't grow up with it. Thank Bob, I deconstructed years ago. Won't catch me in a church again in my life.

[@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic]

The anti-LGBT panic in the comments reflecting exactly what Dr. Laycock said in this video is just exquisite.

[@dataexpunged93N15]

They will be frowned upon as history unfolds. Ironically, I think the panic is making people who were on the fence look at the anti-queer stuff and go, "whoa, isn't this going too far?" Does anyone remember how much they seethed over CRT? They'll run this pony dead, too.

[@aloofguy184]

Thank you for creating this type of content. Without people like you constantly opening peoples minds, I honestly believe society would have gone to hell a long time ago. So again, Thank You.

[@Theiron2142]

Would you consider parents being concerned and angry about LGBTQ politics being shoved down there children's throats at schools a form of anti LGBT panic? Make no mistake that the entire LGBTQ movement is an ideology and regressive one at that, the LGBTQ community is completely intolerant to anyone that does not agree with them. Does sombody actually have to point out to you every reason why woke and LGBTQ politics are regressive and totally non scientific on every level?

[@Gearedfilm57]

GMS 1. I don't agree with harassing or threatening employees or destroying property. 2. I don't hate Trans, gays, or anyone. This is just one slice of the pie. There is an entire month dedicated to a 1% of the population for what reason other than to push us to accept it. Target is selling swim wear that are tuckables. Children are targeted if you don't see it it's because you are looking for it

[@JohnM-cd4ou]

Are you defending the castration of children?

[@HoneyBadgerLikesYou]

I think it’s important to talk about moral panics when they pop up. They seem to be an ever increasingly popular tool for evangelicals (though maybe they’re exactly as popular as they used to be, I’m not sure). These moral panics are incredibly dangerous and they need to be pushed against.

[@aazhie]

Agree with you! The good news seems to be that church attendance seems to be dropping faster every year. It's not fast enough for me, at least the churches that support men like that target harasser idiot.

[@DarkEdgePrince]

They come in cycles when social movements last more than a decade.

[@BlueRidgeBubble]

There's little difference in the function of right wing versus left wing moral panics lol

[@specilegg]

Satan holds a doctrine of do what thou will, Jesus said let not my will be done but the father's will.

[@HoneyBadgerLikesYou]

@@specilegg What?

[@meej33]

An interesting historical perspective on Satanic Panics: back on the 17th Century there was a major outbreak of witchcraft and witch trials in Navarra (Spain). There was a very important witch trial, the witches of Zumalacarregi (after the town where the trials took place. Well, the main inquisitor realized that, wait a minute, every case followed the same steps: first a traveling preacher came to a village and gave a hell and brimstone speech on the subject of witchcraft, and then a number of villagers claimed to be victims of witchcraft (or even being witches themselves). It kind of sounds like, said the inquisitor, like... people were victims of suggestion and became convinced of witchcraft! He compiled a report for the Supreme Council of the Spanish Inquisition, and because of that the Inquisition became notoriously sceptic about witchcraft. During the following century time and time again local authorities demanded inquisitorial intervention against local witches, only for inquisitors to rule it all "fantasy" and "suggestion". Which means that right now we are dealing with people more gullible and bloodthirsty than the Spanish Inquisition, which is not a low bar to clear.

[@DarkEdgePrince]

The Spanish Inquisition being reasonable? Didn't expect that.

[@julietfischer5056]

Here's another interesting thing: across Europe, the accused paid court costs back then, even the costs of their punishments. When laws were passed preventing confiscation of property, convictions went _wwwaaaayyyy_ down. In the 1980s panic, every person with 'uncovered memories' had really good insurance. When they lost their coverage, their therapists lost interest.

[@NickiRusin]

@@DarkEdgePrince matter of fact, no one did

[@meej33]

@@NickiRusin It's funny because in its age, the Inquisition was definitely not good but usually better than local authorities. Inquisitors were a bit better read and also arrived from other locations, meaning they were not so susceptible to local panics and superstitions. Of course, in many cases all that it meant was that they did not go on indiscriminate rampages like those in France, Poland or Scotland. They still tortured and killed people for religious offenses, often with very flimsy evidence (or "evidence"). In fact, people who worked for the Inquisition and their families had as a perk that any offenses they commited (including non religious offenses) could be tried at an Inquisitorial court rather than a (regular) Royal court, and most people did. Again, that does not mean they were good, only that royal courts and prisons at that age were even worse.

[@SharienGaming]

@@DarkEdgePrince NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION! XD

[@krisaaron5771]

Being elderly AND disabled has its advantages in a situation like this. I pretend to be partially deaf, and when Devil-basher gets a little too close (and loud -- loud is important) I "slip" and fall to the floor, crying and screaming that HE HIT MEEEE!! The police are called, I'm gently helped to my feet, reassure law enforcement and the store that I'm not pressing charges, and "Mr. Jeezus" is firmly escorted out the door and off the property with a "DON'T come back!!" warning. SCORE!! I love Target! These assholes are using my favorite shopping experience to promote themselves and *I'm not having it!* The Gray Panther Underground says don't mess with coffin-dodgers -- we know how to fight dirty. Fuck around and find out!

[@kirstygunn9149]

You are doing an amazing job ,keep using your "powers" for good.

[@Nirrrina]

Haa!! Play stupid games win stupid prizes.

[@mattsadventureswithart5764]

I walk with a stick, and I like this idea. Thankfully, we don't get quite these levels of extremism outside of churches.

[@bedrock30_40]

As a disabled teen I really like this idea, you're amazing

[@krisaaron5771]

@@bedrock30_40 Thank you, dear!

[@tsuritsa3105]

It's a lot to ask a random woman working at Target to know how to deftly handle these people perfectly, without either getting in trouble with the company herself, escalating the situation with the person looking for a reaction, or giving the person a moment they can film. This woman did the best anyone could really except without training on this kind of thing - she didn't him riile her up. She just responded calmly. Not getting angry at the direct provocation is not an easy thing to do. Particularly when someone has come into your place of business specifically to cause a problem. While it's easy to say the loss prevention specialist handled it better, the fact that the woman stayed chill and just asked him if he needed help despite his clear attempt to provoke her is a win imo. There's no way to placate these people. No words we can use are going to make them see reason. They aren't there to BE reasonable. We can't play the game by their rules. Brave, random Target woman. Also - is the assumption by Moms of Liberty that Target and other companies should check the religious background of every person they hire? Because that's illegal.

[@bradleydelay]

Holy shit yes, as someone who used to work retail I probably would have cussed that dude out or tried to get a manager only for him to aggressively follow me. She handled that like a *pro*, and absolutely deserves a raise. Holy crap.

[@disastermidi1990]

I work at target. The store director says we can just walk away from people like that. Problem is when they follow you and security won’t remove them 😞

[@specilegg]

Satan holds a doctrine of do what thou will, Jesus said let not my will be done but the father's will.

[@barbarianandy]

Just to clarify, it would be illegal to turn down an applicant for a job based on their religion, but deciding who to contact to form a contract based on it is either not illegal or very hard to prove.

[@eddieperez7132]

@@specilegg And I don’t know if you’ve ever actually read the Bible but SPOILER ALERT: According to his own “autobiography” (lol) Jesus’ daddy is a complete and utter a-hole. The abrahamic god character (aka Jesus’ daddy) is literally a textbook example of an awful violent mass murderous megalomaniacal authoritarian dictator who uses the human sacrifice of his “only begotten son” to perversely express his so called “everlasting love.” Christianity is a disgusting collection of ancient bloodlust stories and bloodlust rituals and moreover it is an apocalyptic death cult which (again) worships and celebrates human sacrifice. Religious people notoriously project their own disgusting beliefs and rituals upon everyone else. It’s why they can be alarmists about so called “hidden satanic human sacrifice cults who eat and drink the blood of their victims …” MEANWHILE, it is CHRISTIANITY which has a commonly accepted ritual where they gather with one another to voluntarily pretend to EAT THE FLESH and DRINK THE BLOOD of the HUMAN SACRIFICE version of the aforementioned awful abrahamic god character. …like I said it’s disgusting

[@TamAnds]

Anthony Padilla uncritically hosting that person on his show and completely validating her and presenting everything as fact, without apparently knowing or addressing the history of this sort of thing during the satanic panic and how it was all proven to be wrong seems really irresponsible and borderline dangerous given the current moral panic we're seeing. I feel like this will only feed it further. I don't actually watch him to begin with but I'm still disappointed. Obviously the woman really believes everything she's saying and she should be treated with compassion, but I don't think platforming her like that was a good idea.

[@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic]

Totally agree. Solid take

[@amberbydreamsart5467]

Absolutely, that segment honestly sickened me the most. The idea of recovering memories has so, so little science supporting it even being possible, we have so much science on memories being unreliable and easily changeable, spreading this sort of misinformation could ruin lives.

[@martinmckee5333]

​@@amberbydreamsart5467 The sad thing is it *has* ruined lives... quite recently.

[@rG1vZ]

I legitimately don't know if her stories are real or not. Anthony's comment section seem to believe her 100% with no skepticism at all

[@Saphia_]

Even if her experience was completely true without her brain fabricating anything because there are some people truly messed up in their heads, he should still have included a little segment on the satanic panic. As you said, the woman being interviewed deserves compassion but his audience also deserves to know about the satanic panic and make their own decision.

[@rach_bot]

My mum went to a Pentecostal church when I was young. They definitely held the belief that sin came from demon possession. When I was 12 the church said I was possessed with a lying spirit. Which happened because a lady said she saw demons jumping on me. Anyhow, they wanted to perform an exorcism on me. Lucky for me that's when my mum left the church because she thought that was BS. My mum still believes and is afraid of hell but will never step foot in a church again.

[@carorijkehaven5386]

I used to be pentecostal and multiple times they tried to cast the “lesbian” demon out of me. Never worked because I was never possessed. I will only get extremely mad though because they pinned me down against my will.

[@sovietdoge.7369]

This is why I'm glad my parents are atheists

[@sumtinqueso5790]

Those “exorcisms” are literally just child abuse at this point

[@mattsadventureswithart5764]

​@@sovietdoge.7369This is why I'm glad I've brought my kids up atheist.

[@tomfoolery5680]

I remember a church whose pastor started hosting a DnD game in c. 86-87. He found it to be so odd that people felt a game could turn people into devil worshippers. He basically said that the villainizing of the game and the people who play it would be far more effective at turning them away from God than some game. Pretty wise pastor, I'd say.

[@CorwinFound]

I grew up in Victoria BC in the 80's, home of "Michelle Remembers." That's the "autobiography" of a woman who recovered memories of her parent's satanic abuse and I think part of what kicked off the whole recovered memories thing. The Satanic Panic didn't really hit Victoria because anyone who knew Victoria knew the locations where these horrific rituals supposedly took place and it just isn't believable. One of the big locales, Ross Bay Cemetery is an old and awesome place but it's smack dab in the middle of an upper middle class neighbourhood. People were NOT doing anything that exciting there. The screams, people in robes, and candles would have been noticed by the neighbours. Most action Ross Bay Cemetery sees is an occasional handful of intrepid teenagers with a six pack of beer between them. And the security would chase them away. lol

[@Mallory-Malkovich]

That's true. I tried to have sex in Ross Bay Cemetery once and we were caught almost immediately 🤣🤣🤣

[@Sienisota]

It's so much easier to believe these kind of stories when you don't personally know the locations or people involved. Your imagination gets to plug the plotholes.

[@NothingXemnas]

​@@Sienisota That is likely also why the Satanic Panic against games is still prevalent. They contain names not cited in any books (let alone demonology books like Lesser Key of Solomon) and places that don't exist on Earth. "Beholder? Eberron? That must be it!", they'd think. Of course that falls short if they had any effort in reading where these come from.

[@CorwinFound]

@@Sienisota Additional important context. Michelle ended up *marrying* the psychiatrist that helped her to "recover" these memories. Huge red flag. She eventually divorced him and recanted the entire thing.

[@kittykatgoddess101]

I'm also from Victoria. I never heard of her, but now I want to read up about this :P

[@nina9565]

22:16 You can justify all sorts of horrible actions when you frame it as "protecting the children"; "Sure, I'm harassing and threatening people, but I'm doing that to protect children, so it's worth it."

[@Theiron2142]

Who's doing that? I'm getting tired of people like you saying this sort of thing without ever giving any real example of anything, wtf are you talking about?

[@supme7558]

Just like these to catch a preditor youtubers ...they all seem so sus themselves

[@RageOfBeef]

​​@@supme7558 ye, I've seen tons of those channels where the "predator" does nothing questionable for hours, and then they pressure the person their pretending to be a minor with into talking sex with them and then their like "see caught a predator me hand over evidence to police" like good job, you just committed entrapment, and revealed that your more of a predator than they were because you had to force them into the position where you could send them to prison

[@giovan483]

I think it goes deeper than “for the children” you see people use “defending trans rights” as justification for doing awful things like mutilating and castrating others.

[@nina9565]

@@giovan483 Don't start with this misinformation, people aren't defending multilation or castration for the sake of trans rights.

[@angelabecker9611]

When I was a teenager, I had an autistic meltdown in the middle of class. My teacher didn't believe autism existed so she eventually came to the conclusion that I was demonically possessed, and sent my parents the number of a local exorcist. My parents responded by removing my sister and I from the class. You know someone's crazy when even your fundamentalist, evangelical Christian homeschool friends laugh out loud learning someone thinks you're possessed. Pokemon cards weren't allowed and Harry Potter was a hotly debated topic but possession was never, ever considered anything more than metaphorical, even by them. I'm also epileptic, an ancient symptom of possession, but no one ever brought that up the entire time I was homeschooled. It's funny how much looking like an extra from the Walking Dead adds to people's acceptance of a disorder as a real issue requiring the latest scientific advances to care for.

[@LordMalice6d9]

I have autism spectrum disorder as well, and it was triggered by the mandatory vaccine scheduling via the CDC and American Medical establishment.

[@sovietdoge.7369]

@@LordMalice6d9 It was still an extremely good thing

[@amberkat8147]

@@LordMalice6d9 There is no way that's what happened.

[@Mamazephis]

​@@LordMalice6d9there is no evidence that vaccines cause autism, stop capping

[@JLo83]

I'm sorry that happened to you. People can be so mean when they've given away all sense of empathy based on their beliefs. You're very fortunate that your family wasn't as supremely ignorant as that teacher or your childhood may well have been a living nightmare. Peace and love to you, friend. ❤🙏✌️

[@NeverlandSystemPunkGirlChloe]

"Satanic Panic" was NEVER about "satan" and ALWAYS ABOUT CONTROL.

[@riverblack123]

What's stopping the push for homosexuality to be about control?

[@xXEGPXx]

@@riverblack123 Go back to third grade, learn how to construct sentences that actually mean anything and then come back and try again.

[@riverblack123]

@@xXEGPXx I'm sorry. English is not my first language, so forgive me if my grammar is incorrect.

[@andruloni]

@@riverblack123 What do you define as 'push for homosexuality'? Is it a currently occurring phenomenon? Are you willing to prove its existence? Are there people involved?

[@riverblack123]

@@andruloni Understand "push for homosexuality" as the current actions taken by governments, corporations and media to promote homosexuality, such as: legislations, corporate pandering and virtue signaling, events like pride month, lgbt classes in elementary school, etc

[@midnightstatic9437]

as an lgbt person with a religious background, that first video was so triggering oh my god

[@fluffyspark798]

I’ve also been getting into satanism and so much anti LGBT and the combo does not help my future lol

[@plantyyy]

that guy scared the shit out of me, you think he yells at his kids like that?

[@grmpEqweer]

@@plantyyy while he hits them.

[@dataexpunged93N15]

I always raise an eyebrow when people say they're an exorcist as a job, because it's not a real job... People who perform exorcisms are just priests.

[@faerie5926]

I hated it as well, it makes me glad to have accepting and not really religious parents- it also reminds me of some of the people I used to go to church with.

[@stylis666]

I do love it that the people at the Target store don't address the accusation of satanism or that the guy specifically calls pride propaganda and they just say:" Yeah, we support that!" Just amazing

[@doctorshell7118]

When I was a teenager in the late 70’s, my mother freaked out that I was playing D&D, because the religious folks were convinced that it “caused” kids to commit suicide. Same with heavy metal music. It became worse in the 80’s. Excellent interview.

[@23phoenixash]

I think there was one case on a college campus where someone into role-playing did commit suicide. It was the inspiration for the movie "Mazes and Monsters" starring Tom Hanks. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dallas_Egbert_III en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazes_and_Monsters

[@mikearchibald744]

That was just because those playing it were so nerdy they were just one step from suicide:)

[@2000sKingdomHeartzHimefujo]

A few years ago my mum told me “stop listening to nirvana it causes suicide”💀I don’t listened to them im not into grunge

[@theodorebear6714]

*I'm a Satanist.* Despite the hate I've noticed that I've gained a lot of respect from christans when they realize I'm nothing like the slander they throw at me. Happy Pride month everyone. 🌈 🏳️‍🌈 🌈 No matter if you are a christian, muslim, or Satanist, we can all celebrate love and be proud of who we are. 🌞

[@shelbyspeaks3287]

BAAL worship is pretty accurate to when societies go babylon mode...

[@nunyabusiness9307]

I’m an atheist who isn’t part of the satanic church or temple. I tip my hat to you, friend, and work with you to promote love and kindness.

[@Tobias_Klein]

the people in the church really like to make you think that satanism is worship of big red man with horns, but in reality it's a lot closer to atheism tbh

[@max_the_mantis5173]

We are a thiestic Satanist ourself, any time we say that we get accused by non Satanists of not being a "real enough satanist" do to no longer being an atheist, which is interesting considering so called "real satanists" have never argued the validity of our labels before. Anyways we are also a warlock on the left hand path of wizard philosophy, hermetic ideology. We are also autistic, and a trans, and queer man. The return of the satanic panic is really fascinating, and troubling. Anyhoot much love your way and a good day to you! From a fellow Satanist. ❤❤❤

[@nunyabusiness9307]

@@max_the_mantis5173 autistic myself, the same. I’m glad you’ve found yourself (selves? You use plural pronouns, so if you’d prefer I will to. Let me know if you reply.) in something that works for you. I’m okay with theistic satanists, as long as you’re respectful and kind. Which, clearly, you are. I’m concerned about the satanic panic as well. Not trans, but bisexual and a BDSM dom. I’m pretty sure the kind of Christian who tries to exorcise gay people will think I’m evil, despite the fact that all of my partners have been consenting adults. Which can’t be said for many priests and pastors. This panic obfuscates the actual abuse by turning the hate against people like me.

[@houseofstanley555]

Thank you, Drew. I’m a sociology graduate student with an interest in moral panics. I love this video. I took notes and added books to me reading list. I don’t see many people making connections between Satan and the LGBTQ community. Very insightful

[@dottyjyoung]

Oh my gosh it's so common. 💔 Check local groups in rural Ohio especially.

[@PongoXBongo]

Love how that bedroom exorcism involved literal blood magic. He's not a priest, he's a wizard! 🤣

[@radagast25a]

He's not a priest, he's evangelical - those are not generally trained in theology and they really really really demonstrate the Dunning Kruger effect

[@PongoXBongo]

@@radagast25a So, would he be a "vicar" then, or is that just the Church of England specifically?

[@kirstygunn9149]

The church of England doesn't really do the "demonic possession thing" the vickers and vergers are there to help their parishioners gain guidance from God ,and are far more gentle in their approach to religion and faith. The three C OF E vickers I know are gentle and welcoming and do not judge anyone or their way of life. They all know I'm not a Christian but understand that I am open to theological discussion and will be respectful ,

[@CloudsGirl7]

You're a wizard, Larry. 😆

[@dessyboon6637]

What sucks is that even non religious people get sucked into this because of the rampant blurring of lines between hyper religious morals and (what are supposed to be) secular laws. People who leave religions are still stuck in their heads about it too. My dad is like that. He was raised southern baptist and has a lot of trauma surrounding it, I only know this because he trauma dumped on me when I was 12, but he STILL touts the same talking points…just without the going to hell part.

[@FinnishArsonist]

yeah generational trauma can be something

[@robertl4824]

there is no hate like christian "love"!

[@robertl4824]

And there is no dumb like christian "logic"

[@WhaleManMan]

When did they say "love"

[@rhinocraft2594]

@@Ravenfox297 can you elaborate please ?

[@msdd7610]

@@Ravenfox297 If you tolerate intolerance then intolerance proliferates. Therefore we must not tolerate intolerance; this is known as the tolerance paradox. What is and is not considered as being "intolerant" does matter though

[@FBI--OPEN--UP---]

​@@Ravenfox297 intolarnce is people not exepting people which dont harm anyone and why is this Not a bad thing? People dont have ti live after the ruls of your Religion and if you a christen and dont love all people you dont even live after your ruls

[@queenmarika7885]

I’m so glad he pushed back against the Anthony Padilla video! I wrote a paper on “recovered memories of abuse” during my Psych Master’s and it’s horrific. Recovered memories of abuse are almost always false, and counselors are implanting memories of abuse into their clients brain, causing *real* trauma for the client who is “remembering” this abuse and putting a wedge between the client and their families. It’s so unfortunate to see these ideas propped up on such a large platform, but I’m grateful to Drew for bringing it up during this convo. Great video!

[@margaretwordnerd5210]

I haven't found any studies on memories that spontaneously erupt in someone who isn't seeing a pushy shrink with an agenda or any other factor likely to produce fictional memories? What if someone gets fragments of memory with intense feelings of fear and shame? Triggered by a scent, old photo, or one's child reaching a certain age? Asking for a friend. 😉

[@loupomega]

I had a psychiatrist trying to convince me that my dad abused me cause I'm asexual and I had just repressed the memories. The sad part is that even tho I know he didn't do anything like that and has always been a loving parent, it still made my relationship with him more complicated because of the doubt it left.

[@rouninpanda6318]

@@loupomega My ex used to tell me she thought her dad "might" have abused her after seeing a shrink for depression. She could never tell me why, she just had a "feeling" like something had happened and it strained their relationship.

[@electrowave114]

@@margaretwordnerd5210 That is likely a real case of memory repression, which does occur in cases of extreme trauma (rape victims in particular are known to experience this - they forget the event, because their brain tries to protect them from the memory, but the trauma's still very much there and so things that were in the area or tangentially related to the event [scent, or items, or dates, etc.] can cause an emotional flashback [where you're emotionally transported back in time, but don't get the visual/audio parts of a "normal" flashback]). I'd recommend the person seek a certified therapist who specializes in PTSD. I would not, however, recommend trying to actively "recover" any memories - regardless of the validity or lack thereof of the particular practice, trying to force it would likely result in worsening of the trauma. Recovery is not linear, and should be taken at the pace it comes at.

[@indiana47]

Just got to the Anthony Padilla section. WTF. I loved his episode about Satanism and he does that "repressed memory" bit? Why?

[@tomretan4491]

I had a 1x1 “exorcism” as a closeted gay evangelical in 1991…and it was very common in evangelical churches at that time. Might want to check in with former leaders of organizations like Love in Action or Exodus International if you’re not aware of this phenomena. I was in more than one “ex-gay” support group in the 90s. And it wasn’t uncommon-if someone confessed that they had “fallen” in the prior week-that we had the guy get on his knees in our circle and we prayed to cast out the demon that had entered him during his gay sexual encounter. Note…none of this stuff worked, thankfully.😁

[@June_The_Goon]

I mean, you can't just un-gay a gay person like I someone's gay they're gay

[@thebonethief]

@@June_The_Goon This is actually wrong. I can immediately make gay men straight by showing them my nudes

[@coredeadman5980]

​@@June_The_GoonUngayed thou shall be 🤣😂😂😂

[@JLo83]

"Dear Penthouse,..." 😂😂😂

[@Ericaaaaaaaaaa]

I bought the "Satan respects pronouns" t-shirt by the artist Abprallen, it's great. I feel so bad for all the creators who were screwed over by Target giving in to the bigots. Bullies at school threw Bibles at me when I was a kid. They said I would "burst into flames" if a Bible touched me. So it's only natural that I would turn to the Dark Lord for help and support, right? 😂

[@JackieOwl94]

Yeah, I don’t really care about the satanism stuff over there. I’m only concerned when kids are put under the knife because the parents want social brownie points. And, unfortunately, I know people who have done it to their young children. Just wait until they can consent to medical treatment first.

[@christie4004]

What are Satan's pronouns?

[@IronKore]

You guys expose yourselves to fantasies including people telling you, you'd burn into flames. On earth you can and will do what you want. True Christians know you can be redeemed and if you choose not to change your ways, it is God in the end that decides your fate,not us on earth

[@Darkscythez]

I'm guessing you grew up in the bible belt? I have very similar experiences

[@peggyjaeger9280]

You obviously didn't burst into flames. What did they say to that? Sorry you grew up in such a backwards place. Bible throwing bullies .Yikes. So much for Christian love.

[@coloneljo]

I’m really glad someone talked about that Anthony Padilla episode. When I watched that, it really upset me. It was very reminiscent of witch hunts of old, and the tone of the video was very sympathetic towards Mary and her claims. I usually love Padilla’s videos and his empathy and compassion always shine through, but I don’t think it was a good idea to platform her.

[@littleblueby7748]

Yeah. I do feel for her...she clearly has some sort of issue whether she experienced abuse or whether she just believes she did. But platforming her story that may or may not be at all accurate with absolutely no skepticism is dangerous.

[@Quonzan]

When I was travelling I ended staying in the house of a friend of a friend. Two days into my stay this person, who I had never met before, sat me down and spent FOUR HOURS telling me how he was abused by various prominent local politicians in extremely nasty and graphic ways. He said he'd only recovered these memories as an adult after being given anaesthetic at the dentist, and by later pursuing these memories with a therapist who used hypnosis. I won't go into the details of the story as it is a) convoluted and b) graphic, but my guess is that he was possibly abused by his own father and created an elaborate backstory as a way of coping. I think false memories of abuse are far more common than we realise.

[@julietfischer5056]

He had some sort of problem, because I don't see abuse victims telling random people about it---especially if the abusers are powerful in the community or are organized (or both).

[@turtletoad7725]

The memories are entirely fake and don't mean anything. There's a reason memories "recovered" through hypnosis are not admissable evidence in court, and people who have been hypnotized (in the timeframe of the crime and after) are not allowed to be witnesses. It's because these recovered memories are completely fake and a result of the patient being placed into a highly suggestable state. This has been proven beyond a doubt and I was under the impression that the practice stopped, I'm disgusted to find that it's still apparently so widespread and even legitimized. It's horrible that these people's relationships are being ruined and they're being implanted with trauma they never should have had. I think the therapists doing this must understand what they're doing, they have to, all the evidence against recovering memories through hypnosis is available even to highschoolers.

[@destroyraiden]

Also depending on what time period we're talking about some therapist did abuse their hypnotic abilities by programming false memories into their patients as well so he could also be a victim of that but there are real people in modern times who are part of a sex trafficking & mind alternating program for the government the few who speak on this are then gang stalked and killed. If you'd like to hear a real life case of it the podcast radio show called: Ground Zero by Cyde Lewis has a woman who was his friend & he had done years worth of now archived content with her she was one of these victims & he also goes over how she died knowing full well who was out to kill her.

[@julietfischer5056]

@@destroyraiden- There's no such group. Mind control doesn't work that way.

[@sordidknifeparty]

I try in my life, no matter how much I dislike someone's Behavior or beliefs, to not succumb to hate for them. People like the Exorcist at the beginning of this video really strain my ability to do so.

[@Visitormassacre]

Misanthropy is the only way to go friend. Individuals can be nice but history shows that massive groups of people have a history of being barbaric.

[@ic5889]

@@Visitormassacre misanthropy will get us nowhere. if humanity sucks, when what even are we fighting for? yes history is full of examples of people being awful, but it also filled with examples of people being good. during every terrible thing that happened there were people fighting against it, risking everything to do the good thing. we should never forget that. yes the world sucks sometimes, but we can choose to make at least a little part of it a little better.

[@daralic2255]

@@Visitormassacre remember your human too. You are biologically geared to focus more on bad events than positive ones.

[@supme7558]

Yeah becouse that lead to them amassing power and becoming a problem. Sadly we can rest for a sec. Or the church is back in school and on and on then we get republicans back in the white house

[@supme7558]

​@Visitormassacre History does not mean the future. Just because groups failed does not mean any group will

[@tanyaerickson612]

I'm so glad I saw this video! I'm not gay unfortunately but watching the way they're being treated is heartbreaking to me so I'm so glad to see people of logic and empathy in this world!

[@luxuryvagrant6496]

Hello. I'd like to better understand what is unfortunate about your not being gay. I found that rather quaint (or queer, if you prefer) and ak curious to understand the reasoning.

[@tanyaerickson612]

@luxuryvagrant6496 just the fact that there's way too many toxic masculine men out there treating women like crap. Not that gay relationships are infinitely better since I've never been in one I wouldn't know. I just know it can be scary being a single straight woman these days. The good guys are all taken so I'm staying single for the foreseeable future lol nit that I have much to offer anyway since I'm in a wheelchair because I flew 60ft out the passenger windshield while 4 months pregnant with my son. Father cheated on me throughout without my knowledge and was not the greatest of human beings so I'm sure that has a lot to do with my opinion on the matter plus seeing all the abusive controlling scary behavior that seems to have gotten worse these days.

[@POLARBAER-gf7zj]

Thank you so much for making this, I remember watching that Anthony Padilla video and being confused as to where the satanic part was going to come in and by the end of the video I was just left with more confusion, I felt so bad for her and her story. I didn’t disbelieve it but at the same time something seemed off about labeling it as satanic ritual abuse. This really cleared it up for me as to what it could be

[@petrify4814]

So, it's genuinely sad because it is most likely that these things didn't happen to her, but a psychiatrist used hypnotic suggestion to lead her to "recover" these memories and then wrote a book about it. Whether the psychiatrist was grifting from the beginning or just found the memories he lead her to "recover" juicy enough that he saw dollar signs. Another important detail is that he eventually married her despite having been her psychiatrist and having written a book with her about the abuse she recovered memories of.

[@xenithsanguine]

Proud Zitist/Pastafarian here. I know a lot of Lucifarian's and Satanists. They are genuinely lovely people, and none of them actually believe in a real Satan. It's satire. It's a faith that intentionally pokes at the hateful and dogmatic people of the world. Even Anton LaVey's Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth, written in 1967 is extremely loving and compassionate. Anyone that doesn't know this REALLY should look it up for themselves. For example No. 9 is "Do not harm little children". No 5 is "Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal". No 6 is "Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved". People really should do their research. Those that actually follow Satanism as described by one of the most vilified people in the world, are very likely to be MORE saintly than a lot of dogmatic ultra-religious people whom literally mutilate the genitalia of children, drown children, and force things on children they have no say in (circumcision and baptism for example). I won't even get into how a lot of ultra-religious people treat woman/pregnant people. This is against Satanism and should be against any rational and ethical faith or belief system. With that in mind, if that Target clerk genuinely is a Satanist, I would trust her around my children far more than that creepy guy spreading hate with every step. Propaganda and brainswashing goes two ways buddy.

[@--CHARLIE--]

It should be noted though that Lavey himself admitted that he took a lot of the philosophy behind Satanism from Aynn Rand, just with added ritual aspects. Sure some rules are common sense, but there a heavy undertone of Social Darwinism there, which is a huge negative.

[@xenithsanguine]

@@--CHARLIE-- Possibly. Admittedly I am not as deeply educated on this faith as many others are, as I am not a Satanist. There are reasons I am a Pastafarian instead. As far as Ayn Rand, there are a number of things that I agree with, but a few fundamental things I don't. My faith isn't tied to her either, and to my understanding neither are Satanists views innately.

[@xenithsanguine]

@@--CHARLIE-- Did some digging based on your mention, and although there is mention of Ayn Rand's work on the official CoS site, it's mostly a critique. Note this is how the writing in 1997 (not written by Anton) concludes; "Satanism drew from Objectivism as even Rand drew from others. Both are, however, unique. Both are different from the other."

[@--CHARLIE--]

@@xenithsanguine well yeah, even if it was innate to CoS (which it isn't, though its still there and still influences the organization to this day), not all Satanists are laveyan. And I also partially agree with her on some things from what I understand of it, but have some major disagreements as well, so I get what you're saying. Anyways, although I was already aware of much of this stuff, Drew made a video on the connection between the ideologies (specifically the video he did about how Ben Shapiro actually agrees with Satan or something along those lines honestly I don't recall), so you can look at that if you are interested in learning more about that.

[@xenithsanguine]

@@--CHARLIE-- Huh interesting. I would like to hear more about that. What's the name of the specific video you are referencing?

[@ravenesperanza]

I'm glad that Dr. Laycock circled back around to the fact that the woman with the possible memories may have actually been abused. Just because she had been led to some improbable memories in therapy does NOT negate the possibility of child abuse. The kitten story is far too familiar a way that abused people are controlled - destroy something the person loves in a horrific way followed by the threat of "this will happen to you."

[@joenysfraticelli9485]

As a abuse survivor with CPTSD I suffer memory problems but I always knew I was abused but chose to forget about it and even stoped using my actual name and moved from my city. When everything hit back was like a flood of memories that came randomly every time I had a trigger I knew about the stuff I just had "forgotten" the details and extend and the flashbacks come out of nowhere can't get there with meditation or anything else like that.

[@amberkat8147]

What does CPTSD stand for, please?

[@joenysfraticelli9485]

@@amberkat8147 Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder it happens and is usually know as just PTSD but PTSD is just with 1 event and related events and is more "mild" CPTSD is more like my hole life has been traumatic and I live in a constant state of anxiety where I don't trust anyone and every emotion I feel is extremely out of control. Anyways I recommend u to Google search it if you'll like to know more.

[@everythingilikerules]

​@@amberkat8147Hello! CPTSD stands for Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is similar to PTSD in that there's a significant overlap of symptoms, but CPTSD is specified as being created through trauma that occurs over prolonged periods of time such as months or years.

[@wax99]

It's scary weird. My parents got divorced and what played a significant role was that my mom started to develop memories that were "blocked" after she started going to see a psychiatrist (this was back in the late 90s). My mom then started to tell my sister that all this abuse happened and she kept saying that no, no they didn't, which only seem to reinforce my mom's belief until my sister finally caved and even started doubting herself. We haven't seen my mom for over a decade but she was adamant this happened last time we spoke.

[@helenr4300]

Sadly the victims of the therapists who feed this suggestiblity end up with memories that can feel as real as any other memories of childhood etc. So regardless if there was original trauma or not, they end up with traumatic memories.

[@bleepbloop101010101]

@@helenr4300 Seriously, the therapist should be charged with abuse.

[@rashkavar]

Very interesting interview. Thank you, Dr. Laycock, for taking the time to do this!

[@Mallory-Malkovich]

Yes! Religion is just a big cheap LARP. They give you the book for free, all you need to play is a crucifix and a willingness to follow a set of arbitrary and ever-changing rules.

[@DeadInside-ew8qb]

Only the cheap, basic version book. If you want to show that you’re a true fan,and so many of them do, they’ll pay plenty for aggrandized versions of the same book. I mean it’s not like they believe vanity is a sin or something.

[@inksword6029]

Is dressing up as the opposite gender and mutilating yourself then playing pretend not larping?

[@moviemaestro800]

​@@inksword6029 Fallcy: Loaded Question

[@crunchybones3899]

My parents met in college playing DnD. I literally would not exist if not for that game lmao. I'm also gay and they are very supportive of me and my queer friends :)

[@jurassicsmackdown6359]

That's so wholesome 😭 hope you're all doing well!

[@Julia-lk8jn]

Geek pride!

[@98Zai]

OMG They worshiped the devil and it made you gay! Congratulations, here's your cookie 🍪

[@meatman585]

​@@98Zaiyour joking right?

[@98Zai]

@@meatman585 Yes lol. But others might not and then it should illicit a serious reaction. The bit about the cookie should have tipped you off, the dark side has cookies!

[@GamerGuy1417]

7:31 I can't stop replaying this. I love how this guy made a fool of himself and the way the Target employees handled his behaviour was so cool

[@zakncheezee]

I love that he can't even pronounce Satanism 🤣

[@merissamakesstuff]

I think it's important to point out that the dsm does say that very young kids can sometimes repress some aspects of their trauma, but their body will still react to the trauma, though. I was sa'ed at 3. There was a police investigation, cps involvement and court involvement. But I was not told about all that. Growing up I would experience what I now know were flashbacks of a scary man (which my lil kid brain interpreted as a monster, kinda) doing things I didn't understand. They felt almost like non-specific things. I didn't know these were memories, either. I had all the signs of being SA'ed growing up and was even put in counseling over it, though I didn't understand what I was there for and I was too afraid to tell the counselors much, because I thought Iwould get in trouble. When I was 19, I was with two people I trusted, was triggered and for the first time, my brain could process these memories better. It was clear there was a man and what he did. For most of my adult life, I interpreted these as "repressed memories," and would put myself around the perpetrator, because I thought they were made up in my head. The rhetoric that all repressed memories are fake can be really damaging for people who were SA'ed as kids if they interpret their understanding or realization of the gravity of the memories as "repressed memories." I wish more people would discuss how very young children might react to severe trauma in their memories in these discussions. Young children do sometimes remember their trauma differently when they can't process them, and that can cause people to mistakenly think they are repressed. I just wanted to add that as I spent years putting myself in danger, because I didn't understand that the "repressed memories" I thought they were, may not be considered repressed in the same way as these people's. It is inaccurate to imply that all people with ptsd can't stop thinking of the event. Very young children may not be able to recall specifics, because your ability to store long-term memories begins to develop around 3-4(ish) years old). It does make sense (and is supported by evidence) that some traumas (especially csa) can be difficult for a child to process and they, therefore, might have memories that to them might seem confusing or non-specific well into adulthood. This does not seem to be consistent with that woman's experience, but I wanted to post this because if I struggled with this fear and confusion, I can't be the only one.

[@Alister222222]

I wonder if the reason a lot of religious or anti-gay people consider gay acceptance as 'sexualizing children' is more that if you are telling children it's OK to be gay, merely talking about sexual orientation with them counts as introducing them to the world of sex. They don't understand that at that age it's about understanding relationships (some people have 2 dads and that's cool), and not sex. These people can't separate gayness from sex in their own heads, which kind of says a lot about them.

[@prosandcons-fl2cc]

i wish sexual attraction/orientation was talked about as both romantic AND sexual attraction. young kids dont know much about sex, but they do know about romance. You can have conversations with your kids about orientation and frame it in a romantic way rather than sexual

[@realMacMadame]

I think it's because they are obsessed with sex. I mean these are the same people who buy their kids onesies that say things like "Sorry Girls I Already Have a Sexy Girlfriend and Yes. She Bought Me This Shirt" (Ew) or "Too sexy for my diaper." Because infants are sexy?!?!

[@ethandollarhide7943]

Fun Fact: Gay Sex is a Christian's favorite porn category.

[@ctrlZmylife]

Thank you for addreessing this, Drew. Things are getting genuinely concerning.

[@justadude7752]

​@@Ravenfox297 off the meds again, ay?

[@inksword6029]

​@@justadude7752 you're so cringe how do you even type that seriously

[@beans3977]

Christian nationalism has been on the rise since the MAGA movement. Which is why it's important we fight back!

[@justadude7752]

@@Ravenfox297 not in regards to the very random and quite unhinged call out of the supposed love for communism, na. That shite was very hysteric 💀

[@littlebitofhope1489]

This is why we need to be kind to each other and stick together, as silly as that my sound.

[@drattyg8099]

As a gay dude that came up in the church and has since left my faith and am still dealing with baggage and scars left by that ideology, I don't believe in Satan any more than I believe in God these days but embracing the image of Satan is comforting and cathartic. He's supposed to be the antithesis to everything the church stands for. And the church and god conjures up nothing but the deep shame and fear and guilt that haunted me for so many years. And so satan is freedom, satan is being loved for who I am, satan is just being a good person and being happy for the all too brief time we have here. Wearing satanic shit or having tattoos is like branding myself and declaring that they have no power over me anymore and I will never let anyone make me feel like that about myself again. Also black metal is sick.

[@2AlatoArtsAlot]

The repressed memories are so cartoonish-ly evil that I genuinely can't understand why she wouldn't doubt them even a bit more.

[@vylbird8014]

Because there's always a buildup. If the story starts with something outrageous, it gets rejected. "You mean the teacher's have a secret alter under the school for human sacrifices? Yeah... no." It has to build slowly. Teachers? All liberals. Don't trust them. You know they teach evolution, right? I heard from my friend's son that his teacher said there is no god. Really! Have you seen some of the stuff in the school library, about sex education? That's disgusting. There's something really off about that school. I mean, they just aren't right. I heard that the principle was caught watching porn in his office. I heard that it was on the TV in the class room! I know, my sister's friend says that her son was in the room watching it. She left the school though. What about that kid they caught in the basement? He said they had all red cloth everywhere and a big star thing. You mean a pentagram? And the red cloth is to mop up the blood! It's so much worse than we thought!

[@kellydalstok8900]

People have been wrongly convicted on the basis of “unlocking repressed memories” before the practice was revealed to be completely bogus.

[@515aleon]

I suppose they start out kind of simple and end up more or more cartoonish. First the hand is her father. Maybe? Then it's her father abused her. Okay that could happen. She's also being reinforced by the "therapist" who gradually leads her on.She's journaling and the "therapist" no doubt reads this and pays attention to things that are more bizarre. I mean I would guess. I also agree that people had thought it was a real thing to have repressed memories.

[@KT-pv3kl]

it is cartoonishly evil for sure but on the other hand if you have even the briefest knowledge of criminal history you would know that those things and far far far worse have happened and is documented in court cases.

[@23phoenixash]

@@KT-pv3kl It's true that there are cartoonishly evil figures in real life. They're called Republicans.

[@josepheisenreich4393]

My parents actually put me through an exorcism after they found out about my sexuality. They also sequestered me from my baby siblings (including snapping at my 2 year old sister for running up to hug me). Eventually, I was kicked out of the house. Don't know why I'm sharing this, exactly, but I want people to "know" at least one person who has experienced this first hand.

[@amberbydreamsart5467]

The last segment about ""recovered memory"" hypnotherapy is utterly chilling. I actually just relistened to a podcast series on Michelle Remembers, one of the books of this type of therapy that helped set off the old satanic panic, and some of her invented memories are such clear parallels of that book that I wonder if she or her therapist read it previously (so, so much kitten killing). There have been so many incredible studies on memory and how it is unreliable and easily changeable and it kills me when people are so ignorant about it. Regression Hypnotherapy like this hurts the patient and their families and can ruin lives, it chills me that it still happens beneath the surface in this day and age.

[@letsomethingshine]

Imagine if they just “regression memory” up some past-life reincarnation experiences!? Oh wait they do -_-.

[@kirstencorby8465]

I found that book in the library as a kid. It quotes Satan ostensibly chanting poetry in a fire at a Black Mass or whatever. That book convinced me that there was nothing to the "Satanic ritual abuse" phenomenon. Because I was quite sure Lucifer himself, the Great Adversary, most beloved of the angels, would compose better poetry than that wretched doggerel.

[@amberbydreamsart5467]

@@kirstencorby8465 lol the terrible satan poetry is definitely the straw that broke the camel's back of that book.. I've only listened to excerpts from it from the podcast but it's definitely... a choice.

[@kendokaaa]

Was it Conspirituality?

[@amberbydreamsart5467]

@@kendokaaa nah, it was You're Wrong About! I'm excited about all the satanic panic podcasts I'm getting recommended from this video though xD

[@Drazex]

On the topic of "was there satanic imagery in the 80's/90's?", I did want to note the "satanic" imagery that was brought up strongly in D&D. There was a lot of commentary on the fact that you could "summon demons" because, yes, Summon Monster was a thing and demons and devils were among the options, along with angels and other celestials. This was so pronounced of a critique, in fact, that the second edition of AD&D removed the terms "Demon" and "Devil" entirely, replacing them instead with "tanar'ri" and "baatezu", respectively. "Daemons" likewise became "yugoloths". It wasn't until the 2000's that this name change was reversed, with "tanar'ri" and "baatezu" instead becoming subtypes marking "true" demons and devils. (Though yugoloths retained their name, as it was way less confusing than having "demons" and "daemons" be two different things.)

[@vylbird8014]

Because it's cool imagery. Everyone knows of Dante's Inferno. Who knows of Purgatorio and Paradiso?

[@DarkEdgePrince]

​@@vylbird8014 Sadly not enough people. Wish we had more cultured souls in the world today. Intelligent people don't pull this religious bs.

[@darlalathan6143]

@@DarkEdgePrince That's because we don't believe it!

[@jefcaine]

I’ve had the thought while discussing theology with friends that it’s a little like Dungeons and Dragons. You can just make up the rules as you go.

[@EdwardHowton]

Making the rules up as you go, sure, but you're forgetting the important part: the violent conflicts when people cling mindlessly to specific rules they prefer against people who have a different idea of how to do things. Wars have been and still are being fought over which ruleset is the "correct" one. Christianity all by itself looks _nothing_ like it did two thousand years ago because the different _twisted larping clubs_ were forced to change their rules a bit slowly over time, but they ignore that and will still fight you over whether using an improvised weapon with both hands makes it a 1d8 or 2d4 of if it's still just 1 damage without the improvised weapon feat.

[@grmpEqweer]

@@EdwardHowton Just hope they don't throw a Holy Hand Grenade and roll a 20.

[@faerie5926]

Lol it really is- I'm Pagan and that's sorta what I've been doing, but I'm glad I ventured down this path because being Christian was so restrictive and honestly toxic.

[@grmpEqweer]

@lynlovesthedead Do you feel oppressed by us or something? ...I'm just wondering. See... I'm probably going to renew my passport early, and I will try to keep enough money set by in case I have to seek asylum for being openly non-binary. And I do worry about far right goons showing up at my home, too. Or getting assaulted because I needed to pee in a public bathroom. So, do you feel oppressed?

[@n0etic_f0x]

Making up faiths in TTRPGs is so fun. When you see religion as myth you can just use it as myth. Jesus is in my TTRPG and he would not be a fan of the Christianity flaunted by the GOP. Mainly he just feeds people. Kent Hovind is also in the TTRPG he did not fair quite as well as Jesus.

[@M4ttNet]

I grew up an evangelical conservative Christian with a father that for a time when I was young was a Southern Baptist Pastor. We had our own little church for a while. I remember being taught that D&D, Magic the Gathering, etc were all evil. Even more they were gateways to satanic cults. Fortunately my direct church didn't focus too much on this when I was a teenager (still very conservative but a bit more contemporary and didn't obsess about that topic fortunately) though when I went to church camps I got it full bore. That was actually my first real "ah ha" moment in my faith. I had been taught how to play Magic the Gathering by a cousin and had a lot of fun with it. Then later went to a church camp where an adult recounted the copy paste tale of a how kids started playing that card game and it was a gateway to a satanic cult and was evil itself etc etc. His sheer ignorance of the game at all really was a clicking moment and made me realize I can't trust everything said by these people just because we share the same faith and they are allegedly a respected leader/teacher etc. In a way the Satanic panic lead me to my skepticism. Which is the irony of all this. The satanic panic only re-enforces itself within their bubble. It pushes away potential converts as well as people with faith that know better. It's essentially a self defeating strategy.

[@punkrockllama]

There is something comical about praying the gay out of a closet. I thought that's where they wanted him to stay.😂

[@95mudshovel]

when the target employee said "yes to both" I got such a big grin. good for her. 😍

[@deadstones1]

"Jesus, we commision angels to be in this closet' Damn pasture's got the connections, not just banishing the demons but bringinn in angels just to flex.

[@Tamlinearthly]

I know Angel, he hasn't been in the closet in years.

[@stefvanroey8191]

In Jesus' name

[@Luigipotter]

It sounded like he was trying to pay an agency of angelic goons to stand guard at the door.

[@aninternetuser8102]

​@@Luigipotter Calling in his favor with the jesus mafia

[@fredriksundberg4624]

​@@stefvanroey8191 In Krshna. Right? Right?

[@myqueerview1987]

THANK YOU for helping and speaking out for us! we need more people speaking about anti-LGBTQ movement!

[@jessicabrauman]

In that last clip, the dad's response is completely understandable in the context of the aunt having false memories, or if the dad had any knowledge of the whole false memories phenomenon. It certainly doesn't mean he actually did anything. He just knows where this nonsense leads.

[@realMacMadame]

He was right too.

[@eljayism]

Omg I had no idea Abprallen was the artist in question here. I have a few of their pins including a really cute one of a coffin lid that says, "Don't deadname me." Their work is so cute and well done. Happy for them for getting that Target collab but hate to see they're dealing with all this backlash now. I have to think it will only boost their brand recognition though, so that can't be bad, haha!

[@gabitamiravideos]

Serious question: have this “panics” emerged around electoral cycles? (I know that in the US it’s hard to find when there are no elections, but still).

[@bobdathang3229]

I don't think the panic of the 80s was really related much to politics, since that was a lot of just alleged criminal activity related to Satanism. Especially since the panic started to develop around the time of the Manson cult, and when Lavey published 'The Satanic Bible' to name a few. But now it seems more political since a lot of the panic is the result of issues surrounding gender identity and sexual orientation, which many conservative politicians are weaponizing. And Qanon has also been a big part in contributing to the panic, for example spreading the idea that Democrats are Satan worshiping p*dos that Trump would put a stop to.

[@Where_is_Waldo]

It certainly seemed to crop up around the Alberta provincial election. For those who don't know, Alberta is the Texas of Canada.

[@robertmiller9735]

The current anti-trans wave certainly did. As, two years before, a huge anti-immigrant spasm. People never stop hating those groups (or all the others), but it's obviously deliberately stoked on a two-year cycle.

[@_allegra]

Yeah, the problem is it's *always* election season in the US - a presidential election gets done and it's already midterms. I think it's probably more that the panics swell to a peak, and as it ramps up it's more likely to be leveraged by those bad faith actors/politicians

[@julietfischer5056]

It's a larger cultural thing, a reaction to changes in the world that scare people.

[@mobunagathevoiceofresistan801]

It’s funny because I chose to play dnd instead of running the streets as a teen. Yet I was punished for it by my ultra religious parents. Meanwhile my cousins were out getting into trouble and making babies as teens. Weird

[@krypto-s-olus]

Wow, I used Laycock's book "Dangerous Games" as a source for one of my history projects this year at university. The course was called "The History of the Devil in Western Society." It was a really cool course and my project was based on the Satanic Panic, but more specifically on Dungeons & Dragons. My project was a poster entitled: The Tomb of Demonisation. It's really cool to see him on one of my favourite KZbin channels!

[@xKumei]

I don't mean to discredit the guy but some of the things he said seem incorrect. Like there absolutely was more panic around LGBT people back in the 80s. People literally thought AIDS was a punishment from God. And some of what he says about trauma seems to go against what Bessel van der Kolk has written about ptsd. Your brain can literally shut down the memory making process.

[@charisma-hornum-fries]

Those points are the same i have. It was horrific times. I lost one of my most important male role models to AIDS. The hatred towards him and his partner was on level as whats going on now. Something distorted and disturbing.

[@1005corvuscorax]

Apologies in advance, this is a long post. I was a teen/young 20's back in the 80's and I remember well the panic around AIDS and how the Reagan administration pretty much ignored this (at the time) new disease, and how so many christians were saying it was a punishment from god on "the gays". However...it wasn't in the headlines day after day after day (after day after day) for 2-3 years. It didn't (at the time) seem to be a "culture war" propagated at large by a small handful of conservatives. AIDS was an actual killer. Back then AIDS was an unknown factor and it was truly frightening. Contrast that with today, where LGBTQ is NOT an unknown factor but now same sex marriage is legal (just one example of how things have changed for the better) Back then, the terrifying specter of an unknown killing disease didn't make headlines every day (after day after day). Contrast that with today...I can't open a newsfeed without seeing some fake bs panic about "woke" or "lgbtq" or "drag" or "gay" or whatever. So yeah, I think the panic these days is writ larger by far....the only difference is back in the '80s AIDS was truly scary, for some people it was a terrifying reality. Today however, we're looking at some fake made up BS culture war garbage so that some politicians can get some votes. And it's making more headlines today, so some people are just eating up that crap.

[@xKumei]

@@1005corvuscorax That makes sense, thanks for the perspective. So it was almost like it was less talked about, but the stigma was even greater? I guess that's the slogan was "Silence equals death."

[@meej33]

I remember TV audiences clapping when Magic Johnson stated that he was HIV-positive, but not gay. The underlying notion was brought to the forefront in a Golden Girls episode where Rose is tested for HIV and she tells Blanche that it's her (Blanche) who "should" be in danger, not Rose who is a "good" woman who does not "deserve" it. I think that it may have been the first TV show to challenge mainstream attitudes towards HIV/AIDS.

[@supme7558]

​@@charisma-hornum-fries not as bad now but still bad

[@sergioarcaya7178]

As someone who lived through the satanic panic of the 80’s was dumb enough to come out an atheist I do remember the treatment I received. I was lucky to be seen as mentally challenged for my “ believe” and I have to say that opinion was repeated from 2006 to 2016 in the family courts and the danger I posed to my daughter because I could dam her soul to hell. BTW… I do remember in the 80’s that gays were homosexual because they were possessed or they rejected god and they were going to corrupt the children. BTW in Puerto Rico the kids tv show The Smurf was considered satanic and there was even news reports of Smurfs toys coming to life and attacking children. 😂 You can still find some old newspaper reports archived on the Internet.

[@manwhoismissingtwotoenails4811]

My mom legit just asked me if I was gay and said that she will support me either way and hopes I can find an accepting church. Glad I wasn't exercised.

[@tracyhue23]

My mom is in her 70s and I had to explain the satanic panic of the 80s&90s. 😐 Also memories can be unreliable. Sometimes listening to my sisters talk I wonder how we even grew up in the same house! I remember things they don’t and they remember things I don’t. The level of violence (in words and actions) and the social media we didn’t have back then frightens me now.