From: Brad Hicks To: All, 08-Nov-89 10:56edt Subject: AMER: Statement of Purpose Filename: AMER-SOP.TXT Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions STATEMENT OF PURPOSE 1. AMER will defend the right of every American to practice his or her own religion, insofar as that religion's practices do not directly harm anyone. In particular, AMER will actively campaign for tolerance for magical and Earth-centered religions. 2. AMER will work to promote a positive image for magical and Earth-centered religions, and to counter negative propaganda about such groups. 3. AMER will promote cooperation among the various magical and Earth-centered religious groups. 4. AMER will serve as a source of accurate information on magical and Earth-centered religions and practices. For more information: AMER 11220 West Florissant, Suite 288 Florissant, MO 63032 * Origin: WeirdBase * St. Louis, MO * 1-314-741-2231 * (1:100/523) To: All, 08-Nov-89 11:02edt Subject: AMER: The Truth About Human Sacrifice Filename: TRUTH-HS.TXT Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions presents... THE TRUTH ABOUT HUMAN SACRIFICE From Los Angeles, California, to Matamoros, Mexico, to Long Island, New York come a growing number of terrifying reports of the ultimate horror: occult human sacrifices. Experts who have been interviewed in the newspapers and on the certain talk shows warn of a rising death toll due to Satanism and the occult. One self-proclaimed expert goes as far as to allege that Satanists kill as many as 60,000 people each year in the United States alone. Others tell of children and teenagers who have been compelled or persuaded to kill for Satan's sake. But there is more to these stories than these self-proclaimed "experts" are telling you. We at the Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions thought that you really might want the rest of the facts. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Not a single one of the self-styled "experts" on "occult-related crime" actually knows anything about the magical and Earth-centered religions that they so blithely lump together as "the occult." For example, Randall Emon, Larry Jones, and Jack Roper, all self-proclaimed "experts" on the occult, warn against reading anything actually written by an occultist. Well, if they're not reading the primary source material, where do these "experts" get their vast store of knowledge? From each other. A casual search through their literature shows that they quote each other all the time, instead of consulting any legitimate sources. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv If you look into most of the alleged "occult human sacrifices," you'll see that the claims just don't hold water. For example, Satanism had nothing to do with the widely-publicized murder of Gary Lauwers by Ricky Kasso on Long Island. Gary Lauwers was no "innocent sacrifice." According to ample testimony, Kasso was a drug dealer who executed Lauwers for stealing ten bags of PCP, or "angel dust," from Kasso and then bragging about it to their mutual friends. The unpleasant events in Matamoros, Mexico have been warped to "prove" that Satanists and occultists commit murder in their rituals. But if you read the actual articles on the story, you'll discover that at least nine of the thirteen dead were members of rival drug gangs who were killed in turf wars. Further, the group was practicing a twisted form of Palo Mayumbe, which is a hybrid of Catholicism and African folk religion quite common among Hispanics. There was no resemblance to the magical, Earth-centered, or Satanic religious groups that the "experts" are trying to blame. In the case of the much-celebrated trial of Sean Sellers, the youngest man on Oklahoma's death row, it was his defense attorney who tried to convince the jury that somewhere in Tulsa there was a shadowy Satanic High Priest who had ordered Sean to kill three people. This attempt to transfer the blame away from Sellers was rejected by the jury. Presumably, this was because no evidence exists that there were any organized Satanists in Tulsa, let alone a High Priest to have given these orders, and also because Sellers' choice of victims made his selfish motives quite obvious: he killed a store clerk who refused to sell him alcohol and the parents who were trying to separate him from his girlfriend. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Those who label such crimes "occult-related" are defending the unlikely claim that sick, twisted people like Richard "The Night Stalker" Ramirez and David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz would never kill if they never discovered "the occult." Psychopaths don't kill because of the occult; they use the occult as an excuse to kill. The "occult-crime experts" blame all magical and Earth-centered religions for every crime committed by anyone who imitates them. This is absurd. Were the grisly sexual murders and cannibalism of retarded women by self-styled "Bishop" Gary Heidnick "Christ-related?" And shall we blame the Bible for the murder of his followers by ordained Christian minister Jim Jones? vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Some of the claims of some of the "occult investigators" would be funny if there weren't people who believed them. For example, many "occult investigators" repeat Dr. Al Carlisle's claim that each year two to three times more Americans are sacrificed to Satan than were killed in the entire Viet Nam war. When Dr. Carlisle was asked where he got his numbers, he admitted that he made them up, and that he knows of no actual human sacrifices. For religious reasons, the "occult-crime experts" are trying to focus police attention on less than sixty of the one million violent crimes committed in the last ten years. Law enforcement agencies should track down murderers and the courts should deal with them harshly--regardless of their religion. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv The Truth About AMER The Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions (AMER) is a St. Louis-based organization made up of representatives of several distinct Magical and/or Earth-centered religious traditions. Its members have only one thing in common: all of them feel that they have been unfairly blamed by some in the media and in law enforcement for the problems of today's society. AMER's Statement of Purpose: 1. AMER will defend the right of every American to practice his or her own religion, insofar as that religion's practices do not directly harm anyone. In particular, AMER will actively campaign for tolerance for Magical and Earth-centered religions. 2. AMER will work to promote a positive image for Magical and Earth-centered religions, and to counter negative propaganda about such groups. 3. AMER will promote cooperation among the various Magical and Earth-centered religious groups. 4. AMER will serve as a source of accurate information on Magical and Earth-centered religions and practices. For more information about AMER, send a stamped, self-addressed long envelope to AMER, 11220 West Florissant, Suite 288, Florissant, Missouri 63032. From: Brad Hicks To: All, 08-Nov-89 11:10edt Subject: AMER: The Truth About Ritualized Child Abuse Filename: TRUTH-RA.TXT Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions presents... THE TRUTH ABOUT RITUALIZED CHILD ABUSE These days the newspapers and the television are both full of reports of a heinous new crime wave. Self-proclaimed "adult survivors" and parents of alleged child victims tell stories of sexual abuse, physical torture, degradation, and of being forced to participate in the torture and slaying of animals and even human beings. The reports almost unanimously blame a vast, coordinated, world-wide conspiracy of Satanists and other occultists. Allegedly, this conspiracy has infiltrated day-care centers, schools, and churches across the nation and has as a goal the moral and spiritual destruction of this entire generation. A vast network of groups, such as Believe the Children, Child Lures, Cult Crime Impact Network, and the self-proclaimed US Citizens' Commission on Crime and Narcotics, have spent tens of thousands of dollars over the past five years to promote these stories. But there are a few facts about their accusations that these "experts" aren't telling you. We at the Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions thought that you really ought to know. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Not one of these cases has ever produced so much as one tiny piece of evidence that any of the alleged rituals ever took place. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv In case after case, children have described ritual rooms where they were molested, described robes worn and implements used by their molesters, and identified fields where bodies of animals and humans were buried. But in every single case: searches of the buildings revealed no such rooms; searches of the homes of the accused discovered no such robes or implements; fields where bodies were allegedly buried have turned out not to have been disturbed in this century and no human or animal remains have been found. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv There are exactly two kinds of accusers in cases of alleged "ritualized abuse." The most common type are child witnesses, and in every case which has made the news so far, the children made these accusations only after they had all been questioned repeatedly, and insistently, by one person or small group. A former prosecutor resigned from the infamous McMartin case, complaining that the person who lead the questioning of the children "could make a baby confess to being molested." vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv The other witnesses on whose testimony the entire ritualized child abuse scare depends are women who claim to be "adult survivors of ritual abuse." What do all of these women have in common? * They have been diagnosed as either schizophrenics or as sufferers of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). * They claim to know full well the identities of the conspirators who arranged for and participated in their abuse. * They accuse those conspirators of participating in or planning such felonies as child pornography, child prostitution, or murder. * None of these women will name a single suspect. * None of these cases has resulted in successful prosecution for as much as a single crime. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv The nation's top expert on child sexual abuse considers these accusations to be entirely false. Special Agent Ken Lanning, who heads up the FBI's center on crimes against children, has investigated over 200 allegations of ritualized abuse and has come to the conclusion that every single one of them was a false accusation. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv The most vaunted piece of evidence that these crimes exist is that so many of the "victims" are all telling the same story. This is no surprise at all. For over five years a well-financed industry has provided investigators with lists of leading questions to ask children, descriptions of alleged ritual scenes, and in fact all of the details that repeat from case to case. It was in just this fashion that the original Inquisition provided similar lists to their "investigators," to provide people with accusations to use. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv The ritualized child abuse scare diverts attention away from the realities of child sexual abuse. The Center for the Scientific Evaluation of Religion reported that even if all of the allegations of ritualized abuse were true--and as we've seen, they aren't--American children are 20 times more likely to fall into an uncovered swimming pool and drown than they are of ever being ritually molested. Each year there are approximately three or four alleged cases of ritualized abuse--and approximately 113,000 documented cases of children being sexually abused by relatives and "close family friends." And the more time we as a nation spend searching for scapegoats, the more children will be sexually and physically and mentally abused. We will not end this crisis until we are ready to face the real facts about child abuse. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv The Truth About AMER The Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions (AMER) is a St. Louis-based organization made up of representatives of several distinct Magical and/or Earth-centered religious traditions. Its members have only one thing in common: all of them feel that they have been unfairly blamed by some in the media and in law enforcement for the problems of today's society. AMER's Statement of Purpose: 1. AMER will defend the right of every American to practice his or her own religion, insofar as that religion's practices do not directly harm anyone. In particular, AMER will actively campaign for tolerance for Magical and Earth-centered religions. 2. AMER will work to promote a positive image for Magical and Earth-centered religions, and to counter negative propaganda about such groups. 3. AMER will promote cooperation among the various Magical and Earth-centered religious groups. 4. AMER will serve as a source of accurate information on Magical and Earth-centered religions and practices. For more information about AMER, send a stamped, self-addressed long envelope to AMER, 11220 West Florissant, Suite 288, Florissant, Missouri 63032.