Today is Hexennacht, a solemn holiday meant to reflect on and remember the victims of superstition. This year brought us an early gift in the form of the death of Bennett Braun, whose fraudulent “psychiatry” practices were a chief influence on the Satanic Panic of the 80s and 90s. Many lives were irreparably broken, families torn apart, and lives ended due to his self-serving lies.
In the early 1990s, the FBI investigated and found no evidence of coordinated cult activity in the United States, Satanic or otherwise. A separate report by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect looked at over 12,000 claims of satanic ritual abuse, and found not a single claim held up. Braun’s actions cannot even be excused as “the wrong thing for the right reason” – there was no reason, and there is no justification for what he did.
To honor his victims both past and present – as we are still undeniably feeling the effects of the Satanic Panic he so eagerly championed – I’d like to share this Frontline documentary from 1995. In it you’ll hear two of Braun’s victims, Mary Shanley and Pat Burgus, tell the story of how they and their families suffered under his so-called “treatment.”
(Please bear with the audio quality in the beginning, it improves a few minutes in.)
Although Braun is no longer able to inflict harm upon our society, those who would follow in his footsteps are champing at the bit for their turn. From the spread of false AI-generated memes of “demonic” displays at popular stores, to accusations of celebrities engaging in satanic rituals, to using Baphomet to attempt to associate transgender people with demons, it has never been more clear that the Satanic Panic never actually ended. It was merely dormant for a while, and those who would bear false witness to it are more energized than they have been in decades.
So this Hexennacht, not only do I honor those whose lives were irreparably altered by the Satanic Panic in days past, I also want to honor the future victims who some among us seem hungry to create. The best way to do so, I believe, is to fight those who would perpetrate it on every front.
For those who feel safe doing so, I urge you to be open about your lack of faith, your atheism, your Satanism, your non-Abrahamic religious beliefs. Make visible, whenever possible, the already pluralistic nature of our society. Do not just give a pass to harmful supernaturalist beliefs, but scoff and openly mock them instead. Deny proselytizers the opportunity to force you to say grace before meals, return religiously-coded gifts that they give, refuse to allow unsupervised visits with your children to those who insist on exposing them to religious indoctrination against your wishes. Fight against school chaplain and voucher programs which steal public money for religious use. Call people idiots for believing obvious AI-generated fiction meant to demonize your fellow humans. These bad actors do not feel shame spreading lies and forcing their religion on others, so you need feel no shame putting them in their place.
If you do not feel safe or comfortable being so direct, seek out charities that do good work in this space. Donate to them if you can, join a local chapter if they have one, or just spread the word about them to others. Even the smallest act is helpful. No single drop of water is responsible for creating a flood, but together they become unstoppable. This Hexennacht, be a drop in the flood.
Some charities I find helpful are below. I encourage you to see if they align with your values, and donate to or share those which appeal to you.
- The Satanic Temple
- Freedom from Religion Foundation
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State
- Center for Inquiry
- American Atheists
- American Humanist Association
The Satanic Panic may be returning, but this time we have the benefit of past experience, and the ability to see it coming. Let’s bring the fight to them.
Hail Satan! 🤘
Photo Credit: Fool4myCanon via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)