Perry's 'Dark Horse', Evangelicals, and Pop Culture Demonic

 

Update: One reader pointed out that the previous edition for this essay mistakenly attributed one of the sources to Christianity Today online in the US, but should have listed this as Christian Today in the UK. This post has been revised to correct the error.

At the recent Grammy Awards Katy Perry performed her song "Dark Horse" which has fueled a controversy in some circles. For them all hell has broken loose (literally). On Glenn Beck's radio program today he labeled the performance demonic, and a writer for Christian Today online agreed. Jennifer Jones' views are summed up in the title of her piece on the event: "Katy Perry Grammy Awards 'Dark Horse' performance had witchcraft and satanic symbolism; Show's singer's rejection of childhood Christian values." Jones' opening sentence reinforces the title as she describes Perry's performance that is said to have "shocked some fans as it displayed dark satanic imagery, including witchcraft and demons."

These interpretations were echoed in reactions shared in social media. Christian gospel singer Natalie Grant walked out of the performance and sent two tweets expressing her concerns. Even E! News raised the possibility of sinister activities with the tweet, "Um, did we just witness actual witchcraft during Katy Perry's #Grammys performance?"

Others characterized Perry's performance as a Satanic ritual. Thegailygrind.com makes this claim and references several tweets by those who share the viewpoint, including one that states "I'm like 99% sure Katy Perry just summoned satan during her performance."

For those who missed the performance Sunday night, or for those who want to revisit it for the purposes of discussion, in the video Perry begins singing inside a sphere reminiscent of a crystal ball. The stage is dark with trappings and symbolism familiar from horror films. As she performs the song dancers move about her dressed in dark costumes, some have horns, and broomsticks are featured as props. The performance ends as flames seemingly consume Perry, perhaps as a witch and reminiscent of witch burnings in times past.

But are the negative interpretations accurate? Was Perry incorporating the symbolism of witchcraft and satanism as real Pagans and esoteric practitioners understand and practice their spiritual pathways and philosophies? My answer is "No." Instead, this performance is better understood as drawing upon the concepts and symbols of witchcraft as expressed in horror films that have informed the collective cultural imagination (particularly the trope of the satanic witch said to be devoted to the service of the devil), and this is then combined with Judeo-Christian ideas about Satan and the demonic. This use of horror symbolism from popular occulture is not new. Recall the fears in previous decades when Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne and other rock stars and groups were said to be drawing upon Satanism in order to spiritually enslave a generation of teenagers. (See my article "Devil's Music: Rock N' Roll, Heavy Metal, and the Danger of Satanic Panics" from Diabolique magazine on this issue.)

In light of the strong and negative reactions to Perry's performance several thoughts come to mind by way of critical reflection.

First, many Christians in America must grapple with religious illiteracy and privilege in regards to some forms of esotericism. Horror film symbolism appropriated by a musician for sensationalism, attention, and music sales is mistakenly assumed to be either witchcraft or satanic ritual, demonstrating that many Christians know little to nothing about witchcraft or satanism, and our fears of such things fuel our stereotypes even further. And even if this were the incorporation and expression of these, the assumption on the part of some conservative religious people is that this apparently has no legitimate place in popular culture. Suppose Perry were a witch or a satanist (in interviews she has expressed her spirituality in terms that sounds like the growing religiously-unaffiliated "Nones" from the Pew Survey), and incorporated that into a public performance. Is that out of bounds in American popular culture? Doesn't the support of religious freedoms for all mean that we must extend such opportunities to everyone, including those who practice and believe things Evangelicals find distasteful?

Second, satanic and demonic fear has a large footprint in American culture at the present time. From horror films on demonic pregnancies such as Devi's Due, to Bob Larson performing an exorcism via Skype, to an alleged possession of the Ammons family in Indiana described in ways that are reminiscent of The Amityville Horror, Americans have Satan on their minds. This is particularly the case for Evangelicals. In the opinion of Scott Poole, author of Satan in America: The Devil We Know (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), the influence of Evangelical demonology has helped the country become "a kind of demonic echo chamber of rumor, panic, conspiracy theories, and deep cultural unease." Are we really witnessing an increase in demonic activity, as many Evangelicals may believe, or is there some other social and cultural dynamic going on that causes us to look to Satan and the demonic as a way of expressing our fears?

Third and finally, I fear that in relation to many Evangelicals, as J.B. Phillips put it in the title of his book, Your God Is Too Small. Conversely, our Devil is too big. When Evangelicals fear that demons are seemingly everywhere in popular culture I think we need a larger concept of God, a balanced understanding of principalities and powers, and a reminder that evil is already defeated through the work of Christ. He calls us to join him through sacrifice and service to others in the divine work of reconciliation. As N.T. Wright has summarized it:

"We celebrate the victory of Jesus Christ in a way which, by the power of its symbolic action, resonates out, into the city, into the country, into the world . . . that God is God, that Jesus is his visible image, and that this God has defeated the powers of evil that still enslave and crush human beings today."

Readers who want to explore some of these ideas in greater depth can do so at my other blog in these posts.

Scott Poole: Satan in America

Satanism, Exorcism and Social Horror Trends

Satanic Cinema

Carrol L. Fry - Cinema of the Occult: New Age, Satanism, Wicca, and Spiritualism in Film

Metaphysical Media and a Typology of Media Portraits of the Witch

"Satanism, The Acid Test" available online at The Alternative Religions Forum

I was approached a while back by Octarine Valur in South Africa about reviewing a document in production titled "Satanism: The Acid Test (STAT)." I was pleased to do so, and also contributed some content and editorial suggestions. The document is now finalized and has been endorsed by a number of individuals, including myself. The website for The Alternative Religions Forum describes this project as follows:

This project comprises many hours of work by volunteers dedicated to the protection of constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of religion, identity, dignity, and freedom of association in South Africa.  

What is this project?

 It’s aim is to explain what Satanic Ritual Abuse really is – the dictionary definition, as well as the devastating reality of its potential effects on innocent people.

The project will take the form of documentation and a website which will:

* define and explain what various alternative religions and subcultures which are conflated with SRA and Satanism really are and are about,

* explain what real Satanist religion really is and

* clarify the differences between real religious Satanism and the mythical “Satanism” which is created and perpetuated by SRA hysteria and irresponsible support for SRA hysteria and the religion-based industry behind it.

In its completed form, it will consist of:

* A full-length academic research paper which has been contributed to, verified, critiqued, peer-reviewed and endorsed by various local and international bodies both in and outside of the alternate religious and subculture groups demystified within the document, which will have been distributed internationally to a multitude of human rights and religious bodies and authority figures.

* A shortened or summarized version of the academic document which can be more easily understood and referenced quicker than the full length version.

A brief 20 minute powerpoint presentation with notes carrying the gist of the message of the entire document.

* A website which provides the information contained in the full-length academic paper, broken down into more web-friendly sections and presentation. Downloadable versions of all these documents will be provided on the website for free. 

"Satanism, The Acid Test 1.0" can be downloaded here.

Don Rimer: Occult Expert or Merchant of Fear?

Update 1/22/12: Don Rimer passed away on Saturday, 1/21/12.

As I keep in touch with various aspects of my research interests at times I find a few surprises. In this case it came not from my direct research, but in something related to it.

I was researching the vampire subculture and checking in with a few websites related to this, as well as on Pagan websites I frequent, and found mention of a gentleman claiming to be an expert in "the occult", and using this "expertise" to lead seminars and provide consulting on "occult ritual crimes" for law enforcement, as well as the media and various civic groups. The individual is Don Rimer, and I found him mentioned on both vampire and Pagan websites as someone who keeps quite busy presenting his views on the dangers of everything from Afro-Caribbean religions to the vampire culture to various fantasy-role playing games. Given these claims I thought it was worth exploring.

My research led to me learn that Don Rimer is a retired police officer, who now presents seminars through the Oklahoma Gang Investigators Unit. His views on "ritual crime and the occult" can be found in a document on the OGIU website titled "Ritual Crime and the Occult (the New Youth Subculture)" from 2009. This document casts quite a wide net of concern, and in so doing, I detected several problematic areas, troubling in that it comes from a self-described expert, and someone providing guidance to law enforcement and thereby impacting lives in significant fashion.

Due to my concerns, yet perplexed as to why someone would present misinformation in the name of expertise and be sought out for thousands of presentations, I thought I would share some bibliographical suggestions with Mr. Rimer via email in terms of good scholarly literature that might help shape his understanding of the issue. In response, Mr. Rimer stated that he gained his accurate knowledge of the groups in question through study with Wiccans, Vampires "and those who worship Satan." He also claimed that the document at the OGIU site was an "old edition" and that he had sent them a new one to be uploaded. As of the date of this post the document I originally reviewed is still there, and the same misinformation is presented by Mr. Rimer in the name of "occultic expertise."

After my exchanges with Mr. Rimer I thought I would solicit feedback from academic colleagues of mine who specialize in these areas, as well as representatives from the religious communities and identity subcultures who are knowledgeable about the issues, and Rimer's views on the matter. Without exception, everyone confirmed my suspicions. In fact, while Rimer has had some contact with those in the Pagan community, I could not track down anyone willing to agree that he accurately describes Paganism, and his claims about learning from vampires may be limited to magazine articles and random conversations at vampire clubs as well as newspaper articles on alleged "vampire killings," hardly the stuff of good ethnographic research and scholarly study.

My colleagues did point me toward additional resources that discuss Rimer and his problematic views on the "occult." These include a lengthy consideration of Rimer at Witchvox (http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_article.html?a=cabc&id=8939. In addition, I benefited greatly from those associated with the Atlanta Vampire Alliance and their research materials through Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC (http://www.suscitatio.com). These sources are worth interacting with, not only for accurate understandings of Paganism, Wicca, and the vampire subculture, but also for correctives to Rimer's misinformation on these and other subjects.

It is not necessary to repeat the critiques of Rimer offered in the sources mentioned above, and others that can be found online, but I would like the reader to come away with the following:

Problematic terminology and definitions
Rimer uses the term "occult" not only in a pejorative manner for various expressions of Western esotericism, but also as a blanket term for a diverse group of unrelated religions, spiritualities, and identity subcultures.

Imagined connections
Rimer makes inappropriate connections between various elements to alleged "ritual crime." Of course there are crimes, sometimes very grisly, but isolated cases of crime are not necessarily connected appropriately, nor do they flow out of, the groups he describes as dangerous.

Unfamiliarity with scholarship
Rimer is unfamiliar with the good body of academic materials on this subject matter, as well as the related to topic of satanic panics. In fact, in comments made to me he seems to hold academics at a distance and privileges his lay approach at "expertise." He doesn't have to be a scholar, but he should be familiar with the academic material related to the subjects he's instructing others on.

Counter-cult influences
Rimer also appears to be influenced by Protestant evangelical counter-cult approaches to the subjects he lectures on, which tends to lump diverse phenomena together with a primary concern that whatever religion or spirituality that is non-Christian is somehow connected to the demonic.

Despite the serious flaws in his approach, and the misinformation contained in his presentations, Rimer continues to be sought after and provides input to law enforcement, including training on how to identity alleged occult ritual crime. One of his most recent cases took place in Chesapeake, Virginia, where a woman was arrested for killing pigs and burglarizing a church. Thankfully in this Wavy.com story Rimer is quoted as (rightly) saying that there is nothing to link the woman with satanic worship. But Rimer's strange understanding of the things he labels as "occultic" will eventually lead him to mislead law enforcement, perhaps hampering the arrest of real criminals, or leading to the arrest of innocent people in the fervor of satanic panics.

My advice to law enforcement and other civic groups is to seek out responsible sources of information for their knowledge of religious and spiritual groups, as well as identity subcultures. Mr. Rimer seems more like a merchant of fear than an occult expert.

Academic Conference on Religion Satanism

From the sociology of religion email list:

Satanism is a subject that has always drawn a lot of media attention as well as interest from the general public. Scholarly studies of the subject, however, have more often focused on socially constructed "Satanic Panics" than on Satanism as a religious alternative in itself. Recently, this has begun to change, and anthologies such as Contemporary Religious Satanism (Ed. Jesper A Petersen, Ashgate, 2009) have started to fill the gaps in scholarly knowledge concerning Satanism. A further attempt to remedy the situation was made when the first ever international scholarly conference on Satanism was organized in Trondheim, Norway, in 2009. The conference was a great success, and resulted in an anthology that will be published by Oxford University Press later this year. In September 2011, we welcome you to Stockholm, Sweden for the follow-up to 2009's gathering of specialists.

Keynote speaker: Marco Pasi

Deadline for abstracts: May 22, 2011.
Submit your abstract to: per.faxneld@rel.su.se and
kennet.granholm@rel.su.se
(remember to submit abstracts to both organisers).

Papers dealing with most aspects of Satanism are welcome (including Satanism in literature, cinema, etc). However, we discourage papers treating "the Satanic panic", "Satanic ritual abuse", etc, as these themes have received sufficient scholarly attention. Conference fee will be announced later.

http://www.erg.su.se/pub/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=16068

Christians and Satanists Clash in Oklahoma City

Recently a controversy has brewed between satanists and Christians in Oklahoma City where the satanists performed a ritual mocking Christian exorcism at the Oklahoma City civic center. A strange example of the clash of religions in the public square described in several news clips from local television stations. A number of video clips at YouTube show additional Christian reaction to the ritual but do not include an embed feature. Search YouTube under "Oklahoma satanist ritual" for news reports on how this controversy developed:

Group to Have Satanic Ritual at Oklahoma City's Civic Center - Watch the top videos of the week here

Skepticism Over O'Donnell's Witchcraft "Dabbling"

See my essay on this topic in Religion Dispatches.

Satan and America

I recently connected with W. Scott Poole, an associate professor of history at the College of Charleston. He has written a book titled Satan in America: The Devil We Know (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and the following essay is adapted from that book. It originally appeared in The Post and Courier.

Is the president of the United States the Antichrist? Is there a powerful supernatural, and sinister supernatural, being who fights by the side of America's enemies? Will thousands of agents of Satan be active this Halloween, prowling the autumn night in search of victims?

While some might think ideas such as these belong in 15th-century Europe, they have played a significant role in the political rhetoric and cultural anxieties of contemporary America.

A September poll taken among New Jersey Republicans found that 35 percent believed either that Barack Obama was the Antichrist or were "not sure." In the Iraq War, during the assault on Fallujah in November 2004, Lt. Col. Gareth Brandl told the BBC that, "The enemy has got a face. He is called Satan and we are going to destroy him." And since the 1970s, rumors about "satanic covens" operating on All Hallows Eve have changed the nature of Halloween celebrations.

Americans have long held this fascination with the devil, so much so that understanding this shadow side to American history helps us understand much about American identity.

The Salem Witch Trials are perhaps the best known, though often misunderstood, examples of belief in Satan influencing public life. What is not generally known is that Salem was not the only outbreak of witch hunting in Colonial America. In the first 100 years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, close to 400 settlers faced accusations as witches. Witch hunts occurred in Virginia in 1706 and as late as 1779 in the newly opened Illinois territory.

Morality movements

In both 18th- and 19th-century America, successive religious revivals swept the nation under the guidance of leaders such as George Whitfield, Charles G. Finney and D.L. Moody. Preaching the central importance of a powerful conversion experience, these leaders also emphasized the dangers of the devil's snare.

By the 1830s and 1840s, the energy from these revivals helped generate numerous movements for reform. These movements, from temperance to abolition, used imagery associated with Satan to rally their troops in a moral crusade.

The Civil War itself became a moment when both sides saw the devil in the shape of their enemies. A pamphlet published by the Ladies Christian Commission, a Northern organization that helped provide support for the Union armies, described how the Union was "working for the downfall of the Antichrist." A writer in Upstate South Carolina called Satan "the first abolitionist."

In the 20th century, the birth and growth of new styles of the Christian faith placed the devil and his doings at the center of their faith and practice. Pentecostalism emerged in the early 20th century as a faith of the downtrodden, a belief that miraculous powers of healing and the language of angels could be alive and active in the modern Christian Church.

This belief in miracles, combined with a sense that these very miracles were signs of the end, also opened the door to the possibility that spiritual evil was alive and well in the world. By the 1970s, entire Pentecostal organizations were devoted to what became known as "deliverance ministries" that promised freedom from demonic powers.

Horror and fear

After America's tumultuous '60s, the popularity of the devil at the movies mirrored the growing religious fascination with his work.

Films such as "Rosemary's Baby," "The Exorcist" and "The Omen" signaled a new kind of scary flick, the "religious horror movie" in which dark spiritual forces became the monster. The films often proved to be fascinating and unsettling to Americans in the unsettled times of the late '60s and early '70s. "The Exorcist" in particular triggered strong reactions, with theater patrons not only screaming but also vomiting, passing out and reporting weeks of sleepless nights.

The combination of religious anxiety and pop culture fascination had some frightening results in the real world. In the 1980s, what scholars are now calling "the satanic panic" seized portions of the population.

Evangelical leaders accused heavy metal musicians of including coded messages in their music that would lead teenagers toward Satan worship. Rumors of active satanic cults kidnapping children became so common that, in 1985, the popular television news magazine "20/20" did an "expose" by Geraldo Rivera called "The Devil Worshippers."

Although deeply flawed in its reporting, network television's willingness to make use of urban legends and rumors brought worries about "Satan worship" to a peak.

A wave of panic and fear mongering ruined the reputations of innocent people. In some cases, law enforcement took these claims seriously, sometimes even making use of so-called "repressed memories" as their primary evidence. So-called "rumor panics" became common at schools and day-care centers.

The "satanic panic" of the 1980s grew out of the nation's long fascination with the devil, the fear and anxiety many Americans had felt since the late '60s, and the era's political conservatism.

The devil inside?

By the mid-1990s, fascination with the devil in popular culture, and popular theology, had reached fever pitch. Horror films such as "Stigmata" and "Devil's Advocate" regularly borrowed religious imagery. The wildly popular "Left Behind" series, authored by Tim Lahaye and Paul Jenkins, portrayed Satan as masterminding a takeover of the world's religions and its political structure at the end of time.

Making sense of the role played by the devil in American history helps make sense of the nation's self-understanding, its sense of identity. At every moment in American history, the devil has been the nation's secret self, the inspiration for witch hunts from Salem to the McCarthy era, a rumor and a panic running through the culture.

The devil we know has been, too often, the devil we have found in our political and cultural enemies.

West Memphis Three: Interview with Defense Attorney Dan Stidham

In previous posts I have mentioned the case of the West Memphis Three, the three teens (now adults) who were convicted in 1994 for the murder of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas as an alleged ritual murder perpetrated by members of a satanic cult. Despite the sensationalism surrounding the trial, and that two documentaries and several books have been written as a result of this case, it has received little national mainstream media coverage, and next to none in the Christian community. Dan Stidham was the defense attorney for one of the accused, Jessie Misskelley, and he graciously agreed to answer a few questions related to this fascinating and troubling case.

Morehead's Musings: Judge Stidham, thank you for making time in a busy legal schedule to share a few thoughts related to this case. For readers who may not be familiar with it, can you summarize the case for them beyond what I've mentioned in my introduction?

Dan Stidham: John, it would be an almost impossible task to try and briefly summarize a case that is so complicated and fascinating as this one. When I am invited to speak about the case on college campuses, my basic presentation generally lasts anywhere from 4-6 hours. I usually will turn down any requests for a speaking engagement that won’t allow me at least 4 hours as my powerpoint presentation alone takes at least 4 hours divided into two segments, this just to get through most of the slides and answer a few questions.

The only “one-stop,” if you will, reliable and accurate account of the entire case is Mara Leveritt’s brilliantly written book, Devil’s Knot, and it certainly is not a short read. Once you pick it up, however, you can’t put it down.

The only way I can describe the case in just a few short words is to say that the WM3 case has become an icon for “Injustice in America.” It is a chilling account of just about everything that can go wrong within our criminal justice system if we don’t have the proper safeguards in place.

Morehead's Musings: For those interested in learning more about the case I recommend two HBO documentaries, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, as well as the book that you have already mentioned by Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West The West Memphis Three (Atria Books, 2002). But there are a a few aspects of this case that I would like to focus on in our interview if we could. First, I am struck by the lack of any significant emphasis on forensics in either the investigation or the trial, and this in a case of triple murder that should have been filled with forensic evidence. Why was this evidence lacking, and why didn't either the Prosecution or the Defense pursue this area in more depth?

Dan Stidham: John, that is an outstanding question. The lack of any physical evidence in this case, a fact that has always been quite candidly admitted to by the Prosecution, is utterly amazing. The convictions are based entirely upon the ridiculous and confusing confession of a mentally challenged teenager with an I.Q. of a five year old child which was corroborated by no real physical evidence in the case at all. The confession itself is just so plainly and patently lacking of any real substance every person that I have ever talked to who actually bothers to read it in it’s entirety is left scratching their heads wondering how this alone could result in anyone’s conviction in our modern day criminal justice system.

I was asked to prepared a synopsis of the evidence in this case after the trials, and it was later updated after I was finally able to consult with some forensics experts on the case post trial after the airing of the initial HBO film. This synopsis appears on the wm3.org website and the link to that page is:

http://wm3.org/live/caseintroduction/synopsis_dan.php

Justice is supposed to be “blind,” but the reality of the situation in Arkansas in 1993 was that is was not. There was no State funded Public Defender system yet in place at the time of the slayings and no Death Penalty Resource Center or Capital Defense system in place at the time of the trials in 1994. In fact, the County and the State fought a rather protracted legal battle over who would be responsible for the legal costs associated with the trials. The County prevailed, and two years later my law partner and I, Greg Crow, finally received $19.00 per hour for the 2000 plus hours that we had expended on the case in defending our client. We had been told that we would receive an average of $50.00 per hour for our work on the case. In addition, we had no money whatsoever other than what Mr. Crow and I could pay out of our own pockets to retain experts which resulted in my having to beg experts to assist us. Two of the best, Dr. Richard Ofshe and Warren Holmes, answered the call for help because they were so convinced after reviewing the case file that my client, and the other two Defendants, were absolutely innocent of these crimes. Ironically, it took two HBO documentaries on the case before other “Freedom Fighters” started showing up to help. I find it less than amusing that some of the same “experts” who refused to even talk to me back in 1993, because I didn’t have $15,000 to retain them, have now rushed to volunteer to work on the case. What a difference a few movies makes!

The State of Arkansas, obviously understanding the shortcomings of the Arkansas Crime Lab and the quality of the Medical Examiner’s office, consulted with experts and laboratories from outside the State. We did not have that luxury. They had unlimited funds and legions of investigators. We had one volunteer investigator, and all our experts were volunteers. Simply stated, we had no funds with which to defend our client.

At trial, Misskelley’s confession with all it’s impossibilities and factual inconsistencies, coupled with the “Satanic Panic” and hundreds of autopsy and crime scene photographs of the victims that were paraded in front of the juries prevailed over the tremendous lack of any real physical evidence and all the examples of “reasonable doubt” that we were able to demonstrate including evidence of alibi. The crimes were so brutal that someone “had to pay.” It is clear that the juries wanted to punish someone really bad. They did. The three Defendants were poor and expendable, and Damien Echols was the perfect “patsy” with all of his pre-trial and Courtroom antics with the media, and displayed in front of the jury.

Morehead's Musings: There have been forensic developments in this case since the trials. Can you touch on some of this?

Dan Stidham: There are some astounding recent developments in the case. There are some things that I can’t discuss because of confidentiality, and there are others that I simply don’t know about yet because we are waiting for more test results to come in. I can confirm what has been published in recent Court filings which are public record and other things that have been reported in the media. First, there has been some DNA recovered from some items of evidence in the case that does not match any of the three convicted men. Secondly, a hair recovered from a ligature that was used to tie up one of the victims has been linked by DNA to one of the victim’s stepfathers.

This is significant for a couple of reasons. First, the hair from the stepfather was not found on a victim that was not his own stepson. This is important in and of itself, but even more important when you think about where the hair was recovered from. It was lodged in the knot of the ligature itself, making the inevitable explanation by the State that it was merely a normal stepfather to stepson “secondary transfer” so ridiculous that one wonders if they will even have the courage to argue it. I can’t go into any more detail, but there are other significant forensic and evidentiary discoveries as well that will shed significant light on this case and make it even more obvious than it already is that the WM3 are innocent of these crimes. And speaking of “courage,” that’s all this case really needs. A little “courage” to do the right thing would go along way right now. I pray each day for someone to simply accept the challenge.

Morehead's Musings: Another area that intrigues me is the prosecution's claim that the three teens allegedly perpetrated this crime as part of an occult ritual which they did as members of a cult. This would seem a foundational part of their case, and yet as the first documentary reveals, the prosecution's "expert" on the occult and Wicca did not possess the necessary education or credentials to discuss let alone substantiate the prosecution's claim, and there is a wealth of good scholarly material available that debunks the existence of satanic cults and occult ritual crime. Why weren't competent scholars brought in to counter this foundational aspect of the prosecution's case?

Dan Stidham: First of all, as you point out, there is no such thing as “Satanic Ritualistic Homicide (SRH)” This is a mere invention by the so-called experts of the day back in 1993. According to the FBI and other research done in the U.K., there has never been a single case of SRH ever documented on the planet.

I know what you are thinking, “What about David Berkowitz and other Serial Killers who have proudly professed that they killed in the name of “Satan.” The difference is that these killings were the work of one deranged individual who suffered from some rather serious and profound psychological disorders, not the work of an organized group of Satanists who are sacrificing children, or even adults for that matter, as part of an organized Satanic Ritual. The “Devil” told me to do it, or the “Devil” in the form of the neighbor’s dog as in the Berkowitz case, are not the same thing as SRH.

Are there Satanists in the world? Sure there are. Do teenagers dabble in the occult? Sure they do. However, there is no evidence that any known group of Satanists have ever engaged in cult style ritualistic slayings. If you buy into the Prosecution’s theory, as set forth by the now “famous for lack of credentials,” Dale Griffis, then you would have to be compelled into believing that the West Memphis Case is the first ever case of SRH ever documented any where in the world.

I remember years ago watching Geraldo Rivera devote an entire episode of his show to the topic. He even had a Catholic Priest on the show as an “expert.” They told millions of viewers that there was a large group of Satanists in this Country that were kidnapping thousands of our children and killing them in “Satanic Rituals” all around the Country. There was a time when every missing kid was generally believed to have been the victim of SRH. These Satanists must be real good at hiding the bodies! Maybe they know where Jimmy Hoffa is?

I do know this, the three teenagers convicted of these horrible crimes, one of which who is on Death Row, are not sophisticated enough to pull off the robbery of a Seven-Eleven, much less a triple homicide. If anyone does believe that they were even remotely this capable, then I suppose that they would also have to believe that:

1. The kids were so sophisticated that they were able to kill all three victims, and sexually mutilate one victim which resulted in a tremendous amount of blood loss by that particular victim, while not leaving any of their own DNA behind at the scene; and

2. They were so sophisticated that they also managed to put a hair from one of the step-fathers inside a ligature binding one of the victims so that they could frame him for the crime 15 years later.

Morehead's Musings: Some of the unfortunate chapters in history include the American witch trials and the satanic panics of the 1980s and 1990s. There is a good scholarly body of literature on these topics that might have provided background considerations for the prosecution's argument for motive. Why weren't these considerations brought into the defense case, and in retrospect, do you feel like the socio-cultural context of Arkansas with its fundamentalist Christian population might have produced conditions that led to a contemporary witch hunt with the conviction of the West Memphis Three?

Dan Stidham: In order to answer this question, you really have to put this case into historical perspective. In 1993, the Satanic Bandwagon Folks like Dr. Griffis were mainstream and largely supported by both the media and established religion. We now know better, just like we now know that there are such things as “coerced confessions.” In 1993, virtually everybody believed that the phenomena of Satanic Ritualistic Homicide was very real, and perhaps even more regrettably, that no one, not even a mentally handicapped person, or a child, would confess to a crime that they did not commit. Thankfully, due in large part to pioneers with real credentials like Dr. Gisli Gudjohnson, Dr. Richard Ofshe, and Dr. Richard Leo, we now understand the dynamics of false confessions. By the way, not many people remember that Dr. Ofshe won a Pulitzer Prize for his work studying religious "cults." He had a dual expertise.

The conditions were quite obviously very ripe for this kind of thing to happen in Arkansas in 1993 because it did happen here in Arkansas. But I do not believe for an instant that this type of situation is unique to Arkansas. The atmosphere that allowed this type of phenomena to occur can, and does, happen anywhere and everywhere. Perhaps I am naïve, but I think that this type of thing happens more as a result of simple unadulterated intolerance to anyone different than that held by the mainstream in society, rather than due to any particular set of religious mores, or beliefs. It’s a matter of being “different,” outside the mainstream of society, wherever that happens to be. Is Arkansas different than New York City or L.A.? You bet it is. When you are in L.A., you see a thousand “Damien Echols” walking down the street and no one seems to think anything about it, or even care. People wearing Black clothing and listening to Heavy Metal Music are the norm in some places around the Country, but not in Arkansas in 1993.

Intolerance can raise it’s ugly head in many other contexts besides religion, i.e. race, age, gender, sexual preference, etc., etc. We see examples of this throughout history, both ancient and recent. Also, it is worth pointing out that the similarities between this case and what happened during the Salem Witch Trials almost exactly 300 years ago is absolutely stunning.

Remember, the first “Witch Trial” occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, not West Memphis, Arkansas! Will history repeat itself again, I hope it won’t, but unfortuneatley, I bet it will.

Morehead's Musings: As I have researched the witch trials and satanic panics, and then looked at the situation surrounding this case, it seems to me as if Christian sociophobics and the creation of an evil social other played a large role in arrests and outcome of this case. And yet curiously, while various Neo-Pagans, celebrities, musicians, and people from the general population have rallied around this case to raise awareness and raise funds for appeals, I have not been able to track down much if any concern for social injustice from Christians on this issue. Has your experience been different? Might the concerns about an alleged satanic cult involving a Wiccan confirm the worst fears and stereotypes of Christians and this then turns away any consideration of speaking out on this issue?

Dan Stidham: My experience has been quite different from the inside looking out as opposed to only being exposed to the case based on what I saw in the media. I get a lot more letters, emails, phone calls and other outpourings of support from people all over the World that you would identify more as “Christians,” than I do from people whom you would describe as “Pagans, celebrities and musicians.” The difference is, simply put, that the media shows up when “celebrities and musicians” take a stand on social issues. When John Doe Citizen starts a “WM3 Awareness Group” in Russellville, Arkansas; Lincoln, Nebraska; Ft. Meyers, Florida; or Fort Hays, Kansas, the media just doesn’t seem to care. But these are the folks who fight the fight in the trenches every day. Out there organizing fund raisers and raising awareness in their communities about this case.

Having said that, the “celebrities and musicians” who do get the media attention are an integral part of the fight for justice in this case. These are folks who have figured out that they have a unique power to change things in the World, and they are not afraid to step up and fight for what’s right. For this, I admire them greatly. They also have more resources to assist than most other folks. While I have not met them all, many of the “celebrities and musicians” that I have encountered while working on this case have left me in awe of them when I consider the magnitude of their impact and contributions to the case. I am not in awe of them because they are famous, but instead because they are famously compassionate about social justice, and the plights of others less fortunate. The more I got to know them, the more I realized that they don’t fit the stereotypes of “celebrities and musicians” and are really no different than anybody else and are truly wonderful human beings.

Morehead's Musings: Do these three young men have any hope of appeals left?

Dan Stidham: Yes, tremendous hope is still out there. While this fight is far from over, I am more hopeful today than at any other time during the past almost 15 years that I have been working on the case. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of the people I described above, in response to your last question, we have finally put together a team of lawyers, investigators and forensic experts that are second to none. I can tell you without hesitation that they are the best I have ever seen.

Morehead's Musings: How can interested readers get involved in helping with this case?

Dan Stidham: By just remembering that everyone counts and everyone can make a difference. There are support groups all over the World who are dedicated to this fight. The best place to start is the http://www.wm3.org/ website. It is filled with information on how everyone can help. Also, please continue to pray for Justice, not just for the WM3, but for Justice for the victims’ families who deserved so much better than what they got in terms of an investigation and closure for the death of their loved ones. We can also never forget that a killer is still out there, and this killer needs to be brought to justice.

Morehead's Musings: Judge Stidham, once again, I think you for making time for this interview, and thanks as well for being the only attorney from the original trials who has continued to be involved in working for justice for these young men.

Dan Stidham: I sincerely appreciate your kind and generous words and the opportunity to talk about this very unique case. I hope that you will allow me to thank some very special folks who have inspired me to keep moving forward in this case, even in it’s darkest days, and on the days when it seemed no one cared, and I was all alone in the fight. There were only two days that I wanted to quit. Not just quit the fight, but quit the legal profession as well. This was the two days after the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed Misskelley’s confession in a 7-0 decision. After licking my wounds for a couple of days, I emerged with an even stronger resolve to keep fighting, thanks to the support and encouragement from my family who never complained about all the time I was gone from home working on this case.

Also, I cannot thank enough the people from whom I got all the emails, letters and prayers from. They may have been complete strangers at the time, but a phone call or a letter of encouragement, out of the blue, would sustain me for weeks and even months. Sometimes these strangers became friends, good friends. “Good friends” are like my own family to me, and I have made many good friends from all over the world. Regrettably, I have lost touch with some of these folks over the years, but all of them have become my heroes in this case. My “heroes” have names like Bruce, Mike, Joe, Mara, Lanette, Grove, Burk, Pam, Mark, Richard, Warren, Kathy, Lisa, Eddie, Kevin, Winona, Laura, John, Mandy, Michael, Ron, and a very wonderful and special person whom I have never even actually met, at least not in person, because she lives all the way on the other side of the planet, way “down under.” She inspires me on an almost daily basis, and I must say, Jill, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

John, I thank you, for your interest in Justice, and your interest in this case.

Interview with John Smulo

Over the last few years I have been privileged to develop relationships and work with some talented and gifted people. One of those is John Smulo who was living, studying, and ministering in Australia when we first met. He has since returned to the United States. We have collaborated with other contributors on various projects, including a book on new religions, and we are both participants in the Lausanne issue group on postmodern and alternative spiritualities.

Morehead's Musings: John, thanks for making time to answer a few questions.

To begin, can you share some of your background, where you grew up, your studies in Australia, and what brought you back to the States?

John Smulo: I grew up California in a largely nominal Jewish family. After becoming a Jesus-follower at twenty, it was only a few years before I found myself in Australia. I was supposed to be there for a six-month trip, but it turned into nine years. During this time I studied at Morling College primarily for pastoral ministry. However, I did an honour's year where my thesis focused on an incarnational apologetic to Satanism. After I graduated I was invited to found the School of Apologetics at the Centre For Evangelism and Global Mission at Morling College, and subsequently was invited to be on faculty part-time. I moved back to California to plant a church, though am currently teaching at Capital Bible College.

MM: You have the "distinction" of being one of the few evangelicals to engage in academic study and writing on Satanism. You have also done the same on Wicca and Witchcraft. What is it that drew you to these alternative forms of spirituality?

John Smulo: When I was studying at Morling College I took an Alternative Religious Movements class that was taught by Ross Clifford and Philip Johnson. The main assignment was an essay covering an alternative religious movement. About this time I noticed that there were a number of television shows, books, and other media related to Witchcraft that appeared to be everywhere. Though Witchcraft wasn't covered in the class I asked special permission to do my essay on this topic.

While researching for this essay I discovered, by comparison with primary source literature and interviews with Witches, that the overwhelming amount of Christian literature on this subject was grossly inaccurate and sensational. I decided at this time to invest more time in building relationships with witches, getting to know what they believed and why, and also to write more in this area.

I subsequently had churches invite me to speak in different settings on what witches believed, and what I thought about things like Harry Potter. One of the questions that would always come up was something along the lines of, "Isn't Witchcraft and Satanism the same thing?" or "Don't witches worship Satan?" I knew that the answer, contrary to Christian misperception, was "no". However, I didn't know much about Satanism. This led naturally to me choosing to study Satanism during my honour's year.

MM: Did anything suprise you as you engaged in your research?

John Smulo: There were lots of things that surprised me. I was surprised at how "normal" witches and Satanists appeared. I was surprised at how many Christians had been proven liars in regard to their claims about being Satanists and Witches, and how many Christians still read their books anyway. I was surprised at my own fears that were based on personal biases and stereotypes.

MM: What types of reactions have you gotten from your perspectives on and interactions with adherents of these spiritual pathways, from Christians as well as from Satanists, and Wiccans?

John Smulo: When it comes to Satanists and Wiccans, they've often responded cautiously to me at first. They are all too familiar with Christians who have written slanderous misinformation about them; others who join their online forums to give them a quick "you're going to burn in hell!" only to unsubscribe to their forums as quickly as they joined; and so on. But I've equally found that when I've demonstrated that I wanted to tell the truth about them, even if I disagreed with most of it, that they welcomed me. I've also had many of my best "spiritual" conversations with Satanists in particular. I've spent countless hours online and off talking with adherents of both groups about heaven and hell, and everything in between. Because the majority of Satanists and a large segment of Wiccans come from Christian backgrounds, they've often experienced hurt or disillusionment with Christianity. I've found many of them who have desired to interact with a Christian who will respectfully dialog about their struggles and questions.

When it comes to reactions from Christians I've had positive and negative responses. Because many Christians use an unspoken hierarchy of "most tame to most evil religions", with occult religions being at the top of their "most evil" list, I've had many Christians who have greatly struggled with my research and relationships. On the positive side, I've had Christians thank me for helping them get over their fear of adherents of other religions. On the negative side, I've had Christians who've tried to get me fired from the church I was pastoring; fired from the college I taught at; my ordination revoked, and more.

MM: You have been involved as a contributor to the book Encountering New Religious Movements (Kregel Academic and Professional, 2004) and a member of the Lausanne issue group on postmodern and alternative spiritualities. How have you found these experiences, and what draws you to the missional approach rather than a traditional counter-cult approach?

John Smulo: I have found these experiences encouraging. The missional approach followed in these settings is still a minority in the wider church, so it's important to be around other like-minded people.

What draws me to the missional approach rather than a traditional counter-cult approach is primarily my experience. For a number of years I employed a counter-cult approach and found that it alienated people from me; created more heat than light; and created boundaries instead of bridges to the gospel. However, I think it's important that those who take a missional approach don't get lazy, and continue to question, "How can we most effectively communicate the gospel in a pluralistic world?" I also should note that there are aspects of other apologetic methodologies, such as evidential and classical apologetics, that I find helpful as one part of a missional apologetic.

MM: Do you have any projects and activities in the works that we can look forward to?

John Smulo: I'm developing an online Missional Apologetics course that will be hosted at the Missional Apologetics (http://missionalapologetics.com/) website.