The Story of the Satanic Panic

[@PresbyterianPaladin]

As a Christian who loves to play Dungeons and Dragons the actions of these people and the stain it brought to my first love, Christ and his church, and one of my favorite pastimes, just makes me so angry. Also it's a lesser known fact that Gygax was himself a Christian and took inspiration from people like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis to make D&D.

[@Magnulus76]

Yeah, Gygax was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He was low-key about his religion, however, which is the case for most ELCA Lutherans. Another well-known ELCA Lutheran is Rick Steeves, BTW, the travel journalist who does travel documentaries occasionally on PBS.

[@puberis]

Nothing says satanism like die rolls.

[@johnhayes9767]

Dr. Cooper, you are the first teacher who talks about the demonic but does not claim to be charismatic. Thank You 🙏

[@SunwardTerror]

My childhood was absurdly affected by this. I had to give up Pokémon, Lord of the Rings, and anything remotely eastern because Satan would steal my soul over it. It was a strange time and I was estranged from even other Christian kids over my inability to connect with their interests.

[@randomango2789]

Lord of the Rings is eastern? Were your parents not aware that it was written by a Catholic?

[@chrisapitz6089]

Same here! All we could watch on TV when I was a kid were National Geographic documentaries because everything else had the devil in it. My grandmother had to talk my dad into letting us watch a BBC made for TV movie of Narnia because there were mythical creatures in it which of course were from the devil…

[@MrJeb123]

@@randomango2789 Pokemon was banned for me too, but exceptions where made for Lord of the Rings and Narnia. It went so far in our house that we couldn't eve watch dragon tales when I was younger.

[@puberis]

@@randomango2789 to some Protestants, Catholicism is equatable to satanism. Such an experience wouldn't surprise me if his family was of some sort of fundamentalist group.

[@SunwardTerror]

@@randomango2789 I didn’t mean to say it was eastern, it was just in the banned list. I’m well aware it was written by one of CS Lewis’ best friends! It’s crazy that it got banned by so many Christian families.

[@bornforburning777]

One thing that I can't stress enough (and this might make some people VERY upset) is that a lot of mainstream 80s music (glam metal, thrash etc) was absolutely permeated with explicit satanic themes. Whether the artists were taking said themes seriously is an entirely different question; regardless, they WERE there and they were intentional. Obviously the idea that Pokémon cards are demonic is ridiculous. But 80s moms can hardly be blamed for being upset when W.A.S.P. were singing about sadomasochism, Motley Crue were glorifying sex drugs and rock 'n roll, and Slayer were worshipping the Devil in everything but intent.

[@SonOfTheLion]

I think you would have to stretch to construe the lyrics of a Slayer song to be worship.

[@vngelicath1580]

This video is a showcase in how being right-wing is not inherently a guarantee of orthodoxy, folks.

[@IMSpangler]

You got it

[@TitusCastiglione1503]

Given some of the wacky conspiracy theory fundamentalist stuff coming out of some right wing evangelicals these days, I’d say you’re spot in.

[@georgwilliamfriedrichhegel5744]

"There really is not a lot of discernment in those circles"..."Is not exactly consistent with Biblical morality"...Dr. Cooper be throwing some low-key shade here. Love it.

[@mwilkins1644]

Whewwww boy! As a boy in the early 90s here in Australian Pentecostal churches, this stuff hits home hard. Had to repent for collecting Dragonball Z stuff, could not watch LOTR and had to throw away hundreds of dollars of heavy metal CDSs (bands like Mortification, Living Sacrifice etc). So much psychological scarring because of this crap. So much distrust of the Bible and God that (God be praised!) that He has brought me out of. Cheers Jordo for this fantastic video!

[@brendonlake1522]

The Christian band Petra had some blatant 'back masking' at the start of one of their songs and it says "why are you looking for the devil when you outta looking for the Lord." Which I think is the issue at heart for those actively involved in the panic. Christians fed the outrageous antics of rock stars and the 'Satanic Church' I believe was a great deal hyped up by Christians making the movement alot more attractive than if it were payed less attention. Being born in the early 80s I had a childhood adversely affected by the satanic panic, at the age of 12 I was traumatized by videos about the evils of rock music. The result of this material seems to me to separate Christians from the lost, to demonize those who actually need Jesus and to my mind in it's fruit often more evil than the evils it claims to expose!

[@seanlukearagornseaquist9944]

Definitely! 😁

[@eversosleight]

Newcomer to the channel Dr Cooper and I have to say, it's really great to see such a wide range of discussions. Watching this video, I think it'd be great to see how Aleister Crowley influenced modern occultism.

[@sliceofbryce]

An interesting thing I discovered when reading an Oxford history of psychology was how inextricably linked early psychology was with the occult movements of the late 19th century before the psychoanalytic generation came on the scene and cleaned up the field's image a bit.

[@puberis]

Yes, do more videos on this topic. Interesting stuff. I like the videos you do on social/cultural/religious movements. This was fun, your QAnon video was great, and... there was one or two more I don't remember because they're so rare. But I really enjoy them.

[@jgiaq]

Dude, I give you a like just for that Hot fuzz reference. But other than that, this episode is awesome! Thank you for your hard work and researching.

[@dannytunz6993]

Except the satanic panic was not mass hysteria it was real and propaganda covered it up

[@ddelucia94]

Thank you for getting me interested in Lutheranism. Still one of the “spiritual but not religious” types but I’ve been perusing through Spirituality of The Cross by Gene Veith

[@HenryLeslieGraham]

ironically the panic itself was likely satanic (in origin at least)

[@horrorhabit8421]

Amazing! I've researched this topic fairly thoroughly, but there's a lot of information here that I didn't know. Really great stuff.

[@RyanOlander]

Ah yes, the satanic panic, the reason my parents had me get rid of all my Gen one pokemon cards...

[@noahfletcher3019]

Watching the latest season of Stranger Things reminded me to watch this video. The 80s satanic panic was a big plot driver for this season.

[@mrs.teilborg649]

Wow, this was fascinating! I would love to hear more!!

[@nothingelse1520]

One person you didn't mention was Patricia Pulling. Her son liked D&D and he killed himself. She was convinced it was because of D&D. She started BADD (Bothered about Dungeons and Dragons) and spent the rest of her life fighting D&D all over the country. A fantasy author who loved D&D did a takedown of her calling the Pulling Report and showed she couldn't even explain the basics about D&D. Turns out the reason her son killed himself is because he was gay and he knew his highly religious mother in the 1980s would disown him if she knew hence the suicide. Her own homophobia killed her son NOT D&D, as anyone who liked D&D could tell you.

[@joshsabbagh9271]

I’m always learning something new. Thank you, Dr. Cooper! Blessings!

[@PolishBigfootCircle11]

Satanic Panic is a great song by Christian metal band Impending Doom! Edit: I wonder, is he wearing pants?

[@FalconOfStorms]

It's a bop, as the kids say.

[@brendonlake1522]

Impending Doom are back with that song and as awesome as ever!

[@KayleySexton]

I lived in Switzerland for a year. There are many secular people and those who are into the Anthroposophy ideology which is like Theosophy. It is what inspired the Waldorf schools. Those schools are pagan and worship the goddesses and seasons. I like Waldorf except the spiritual aspect

[@KayleySexton]

The Steiner Philosophy

[@adsserabude5267]

It's ironic that Gary Gygax and Dungeons and Dragons was attacked during this period because Gary Gygax was a Christian lol 😂 It's also ironic because I understood the Gospel from a Chick Tract and was saved through Jack Chick's ministry loool

[@TitusCastiglione1503]

Then at least Jack Chick did one good thing in his life…

[@nathanwhalen6075]

This has been really helpful for me leaving the 'word of faith' and being in Chruches that have been highly effected by these individuals and their conspiracy claims

[@calebneff5777]

Haha I grew up in an Assembly of God church, and John Todd (or one of his acolytes) spoke at my church when I was a kid and got rebuked HARD.

[@EstebanHerp]

Haha remember me, here in latin america in the 90s the preacher Josue Yrion "los nintendos, pokemon and Disney son del diablo"

[@CornCod1]

Cooper and I have something in common! Edith Wharton is my favorite novelist too. He is a man of taste.

[@Speakingintothevoid700]

Dr. Cooper, please do a video on the Salem witch stuff. Thanks

[@Beerfornothing]

This is super interesting and I for one would like to hear more about it

[@newreformationapologetics4953]

Hi Dr. Jordan B Cooper could you do a response to Bart Ehrman's view of the book of Revelation? He claims the book is about the past and Caesar Niro is the Beast. Thank you and God bless.

[@ReformedGibberish5881]

That’s my view too however I don’t think the entire book of revelation is fulfilled

[@amikkelsen]

David Chilton has some good books. It seems pretty clear it was about the time just after Jesus ascension and leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70.

[@amikkelsen]

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants-things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Things which must shortly take place.

[@Portler88]

If you doubt that there is organized SRA, then you need to read Blood Ritual by Philip de Vier

[@IMSpangler]

Ya

[@Steve-wg3cr]

I must be out of the loop. Never heard the term "Satanic panic."

[@Steve-wg3cr]

@Zee Aye Thanks for the info. During my time in the military in the 1980s, I worked with two guys who claimed to be Satanists and were pretty open about. Once brought his Satanic Bible to work a few times.

[@mroxannevh]

thank you so much for explaining the Jesus freak culture and how it rebounded from hippie days. this explains so much from our childhood (the scorned millennials lol). perhaps you could speak more on raising the next generation? facing today's culture of nhilism and hedosim is overwhelming at times as a mother of many small children. The cowo lackadaisical churches aren't much help. Thank you again!

[@briannolder716]

One of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels has a funny seance scene. I think it's the first one, _Strong Poison_.

[@dannytunz6993]

Satanic ritual abuse is not a joke

[@mblaskie52]

No -- it's a myth. The worst is done by teen posers with serious issues. Mankind doesn't need Satan to make them do evil. Lucifer was a kind of "prosecutor" in God's court. Lucifer fell when He disagreed with God -- rebellion. But Lucifer is the Light bearer. He tells truth and punishes evil .

[@arthurbrugge2457]

Sometimes one can forget that people perform evil acts without being a satanist or possessed by satan. These sort of crazy movements/trends seem to be created by a combination of grifters, media and naive, unchurched Christians.

[@dennischapman7968]

Thank you.

[@sliceofbryce]

Delve more!

[@Nicolas-fd4wy]

That these people made stuff up is disgrading real satanic stuff which happens. For example the Marc Detroux case in Belgium and stuff like that. Also to say that there is zero satanism in the music industry is absolutely wrong. Look at music videos of Lil Nas X and others...

[@lorenzomurrone2430]

This video gave me early 2010s nostalgia, when I was an early teen. Lol

[@mugglesarecooltoo]

My comment keeps disappearing.

[@DrJordanBCooper]

I don't know why

[@vngelicath1580]

Spooky

[@randomango2789]

Are you posting links in your comments?

[@mugglesarecooltoo]

@@randomango2789 I was.

[@randomango2789]

@@mugglesarecooltoo Yeah that’s the reason why. Because there’s so many spammers on KZbin posting fake links, KZbin is trying to cut down on that by removing comments with links to other websites.