From: logical23x@gmail.com   
      
   LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSPECTIVE   
   OF CHILDHOOD RITUAL ABUSE   
      
   LANNING'S GUIDE TO ALLEGATIONS OF CHILDHOOD RITUAL ABUSE, PART 8   
      
      
   LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSPECTIVE   
   The perspective with which one looks at satanic, occult, or ritualistic crime   
   is extremely important. As stated, sociologists, therapists, religious   
   leaders, parents, and just plain citizens each have their own valid concerns   
   and views about this issue.    
   This discussion, however, deals primarily with the law enforcement or criminal   
   justice perspective.   
   When you combine an emotional issue such as the sexual abuse of children with   
   an even more emotional issue such as people's religious beliefs, it is   
   difficult to maintain objectivity and remember the law enforcement   
   perspective. Some police officers may    
   even feel that all crime is caused by evil, all evil is caused by Satan, and   
   therefore, all crime is satanic crime. This may be a valid religious   
   perspective, but it is of no relevance to the investigation of crime for   
   purposes of prosecution.   
   Many of the police officers who lecture on satanic or occult crime do not even   
   investigate such cases. Their presentations are more a reflection of their   
   personal religious beliefs than documented investigative information. They are   
   absolutely entitled    
   to their beliefs, but introducing themselves as current or former police   
   officers and then speaking as religious advocates causes confusion. As   
   difficult as it might be, police officers must separate the religious and law   
   enforcement perspectives when    
   they are lecturing or investigating in their official capacities as law   
   enforcement officers. Many law enforcement officers begin their presentations   
   by stating that they are not addressing or judging anyone's religious beliefs,   
   and then proceed to do    
   exactly that.   
   Some police officers have resigned rather than curtail or limit their   
   involvement in this issue as ordered by their departments. Perhaps such   
   officers deserve credit for recognizing that they could no longer keep the   
   perspectives separate.   
   Law enforcement officers and all professionals in this field should avoid the   
   "paranoia" that has crept into this issue and into some of the training   
   conferences. Paranoid type belief systems are characterized by the gradual   
   development of intricate,    
   complex, and elaborate systems of thinking based on and often proceeding   
   logically from misinterpretation of actual events. Paranoia typically involves   
   hypervigilance over the perceived threat, the belief that danger is around   
   every corner, and the    
   willingness to take up the challenge and do something about it. Another very   
   important aspect of this paranoia is the belief that those who do not   
   recognize the threat are evil and corrupt. In this extreme view, you are   
   either with them or against them.    
   You are either part of the solution or part of the problem.   
   Overzealousness and exaggeration motivated by the true religious fervor of   
   those involved is more acceptable than that motivated by ego or profit. There   
   are those who are deliberately distorting and hyping this issue for personal   
   notoriety and profit.    
   Satanic and occult crime and ritual abuse of children has become a growth   
   industry. Speaking fees, books, video and audio tapes, prevention material,   
   television and radio appearances all bring egoistic and financial rewards.   
   Bizarre crime and evil can occur without organized satanic activity. The   
   professional perspective requires that we distinguish between what we know and   
   what we're not sure of.   
   The facts are:   
   bullet	a. Some individuals believe in and are involved in something commonly   
   called satanism and the occult.   
   bullet	b. Some of these individuals commit crime.   
   bullet	c. Some groups of individuals share these beliefs and involvement in   
   this satanism and the occult.   
   bullet	d. Some members of these groups commit crime together.   
   The unanswered questions are:   
   bullet	a. What is the connection between the belief system and the crimes   
   committed?   
   bullet	b. Is there an organized conspiracy of satanic and occult believers   
   responsible for interrelated serious crime (e.g., molestation, murder)?   
   After all the hype and hysteria are put aside, the realization sets in that   
   most satanic/occult activity involves the commission of no crimes, and that   
   which does usually involves the commission of relatively minor crimes such as   
   trespassing, vandalism,    
   cruelty to animals, or petty thievery.   
      
   The law enforcement problems most often linked to satanic or occult activity   
   are:   
   bullet	a. Vandalism.   
   bullet	b. Desecration of churches and cemeteries.   
   bullet	c. Thefts from churches and cemeteries.   
   bullet	d. Teenage gangs   
   bullet	e. Animal mutilations.   
   bullet	f. Teenage suicide.   
   bullet	g. Child abuse.   
   bullet	h. Kidnapping.   
   bullet	i. Murder and human sacrifice   
   Valid evidence shows some "connection" between satanism (Note 1) and the (Note   
   2) occult and the first six problems (#a-f) set forth above. The "connection"   
   to the last three problems (#g-i) is far more uncertain.   
      
   Even where there seems to be a "connection", the nature of the connection   
   needs to be explored. It is easy to blame involvement in satanism and the   
   occult for behaviors that have complex motivations. A teenager's excessive   
   involvement in satanism and the    
   occult is usually a symptom of a problem and not the cause of a problem.   
   Blaming satanism for a teenager's vandalism, theft, suicide, or even act of   
   murder is like blaming a criminal's offenses on his tattoos: Both are often   
   signs of the same    
   rebelliousness and lack of self- esteem that contribute to the commission of   
   crimes.   
      
   The rock band Judas Priest was recently sued for allegedly inciting two   
   teenagers to suicide through subliminal messages in their recordings. In 1991   
   Anthony Pratkanis of the University of California at Santa Cruz, who served as   
   an expert witness for the    
   defense, stated the boys in question   
      
   "lived troubled lives, lives of drug and alcohol abuse, run-ins with the law   
   ... family violence, and chronic unemployment. What issues did the trial and   
   the subsequent mass media coverage emphasize? Certainly not the need for drug   
   treatment centers;    
   there was no evaluation of the pros and cons of America's juvenile justice   
   system, no investigation of the schools, no inquiry into how to prevent family   
   violence, no discussion of the effects of unemployment on a family. Instead   
   our attention was    
   mesmerized by an attempt to count the number of subliminal demons that can   
   dance on the end of a record needle"(p.1).   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)