Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1991, Page 43
commitment” through which extraneous arguments are bypassed. This did not imply any
denial of facts or truth. It encouraged reliance on logically grounded assumptions and facts
“established by evident experience or evident reasoning.” The CSER report violates this
insistence on fact and reason. A few examples of their ad hominem approach will illustrate
its deficiencies.
Ad Hominem Approach of CSER
1. On page 22 of the report, the authors declare that retired police Captain Dale Griffis
“claims that nationwide 50,000 children and teens are killed annually during satanic
human sacrifice rituals.” [Emphasis theirs.] In a telephone conversation, followed by a
written confirmation, Captain Griffis acknowledged having played a taped report by
another investigator, which included this claim, during a conference in Buffalo, New
York. This conference is the one cited by CSER. Griffis pointed out, however, that his
comments about the tape strongly challenged the 50,000 figure. What he said at the
conference was that such figures require validation, and that none is available. However,
the CSER source, a Buffalo reporter, did not even attend the conference. The report also
places Griffis at a 1989 conference sponsored by the organization Bothered About
Dungeons and Dragons (B.A.D.D.), at which time he allegedly repeated his remark
about the 50,000 sacrifices. In point of fact, Griffis had cancelled his appearance at that
conference due to an injury and had remained at home on the advice of his physician.
2. Also on page 22, Patricia Pulling, founder of B.A.D.D., is quoted as having claimed that
“the number of Satanic sacrifices could be as many as 10,000 sacrifices per year -
perhaps more. We have no way of knowing.” [Emphasis theirs.] What is left out is the
tone of that interview. Pulling says that her statement was made during an exchange in
which she was emphasizing the dangers of exaggeration, and that it was with a
demeanor provoked by frustration, incredulity, and satirical defiance that she pointed
out to CSER‟s source, reporter Rex Springston, that no one could answer his pointedly
loaded questions about the number of satanic sacrifices. As Pulling recalls, her answer
was along the lines of, “How should I or anyone else know? There could be 10 or there
could be 10,000. We am dealing with a clandestine activity. We have no way of knowing
the exact numbers.” This is a far cry from claiming 10,000 or more sacrifices per year.
And, Pulling adds, no one from CSER contacted her before reprinting Springston‟s
account of the story. (Nor, to the best of our knowledge, did CSER bother to contact any
of the other individuals whom their report attacks. They did, however, see fit to send a
draft of the report to Michael Aquino, high priest of the satanist Temple of Set, and
invite his comments on their work -which were extensive and, not surprisingly,
laudatory.)
3. The reports comments on Maury Terry, author of The Ultimate Evil, combine all its
polemical tactics in one concerted attack. On page 96, the report asserts that Terry used
“strangely interpreted evidence” and egregious leaps of logic.” It also maligns Terry‟s
use of what it calls experts with dubious opinions and affiliations.” The report claims that
Terry was sued by the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) over comments he made about that
organization in his book, The Ultimate Evil, and that the case was settled out of court.
One of the alleged ten-ns of the settlement was the deletion of all references to the
O.T.O. from future editions. This is simply not true. Terry pointed out in a telephone
conversation that the paperback edition of his book, released in 1989, contains all the
original O.T.O. references. Terry also noted that the CSER report was marked by a
conspicuous absence of comment on the hard evidence presented in the book, much of
which has been borne out by recent developments in the Roy Radin murder case in Los
Angeles.

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1991, Page 44
Not being content with this factual error enclosed within an argumentum ad
hominem, the report‟s authors follow it up with the very serious charge that Terry
illegally obtained, and then withheld, evidence in the much-publicized Lisa Steinberg
murder case. The report refers to Terry‟s acknowledgement on the Geraldo Rivera
Show that he possessed Hedda Nussbaum‟s appointment diary. The authors then
state that they called the New York City District Attorney‟s Office on October 2,
1988, and “were told that, if Terry‟s claim was indeed true, he would be guilty of
withholding evidence in a murder case -a crime.” The truth, as the authors could
have learned by contacting Maury Terry themselves, is that Terry was in the
Steinberg apartment after the police released it from crime scene status. With Joel
Steinberg‟s permission, in the company of Steinberg‟s attorney, and with the
knowledge of the police, Terry took the appointment book. If this was an illegal act,
why hasn‟t Terry been arrested? Terry has also pointed out to us that documents
going back to the early 1980‟s, in Hedda Nussbaum‟s handwriting, demonstrate that
Hedda was involved in cultic activities that overlapped with child pornography. The
police are currently in possession of these documents.
These examples underscore the report‟s failure to abide by its authors‟ criteria for
responsible commentary. The examples also undercut their claim to the valid use of
Ockham‟s Razor. This leaves their intentions suspect. The selective scholarship which marks
the Introduction dominates and distorts the reports main sections as well, and we have
many questions about the bulk of the report‟s other claims and assertions. For one thing,
the authors combine their selective scholarship with a guilt-by-association maneuver. After
soundly berating several individuals who are widely considered to be charlatans, the report
then attempts to claim that their chicanery contaminates everyone who criticizes Satanism‟s
spread. But these individuals are not representative of all those who are willing to speak out
on this topic. For another, the report‟s discussion of their generic topics -Satanism,
Witchcraft, Child Abuse, and related criminal activities -is simply too disingenuous.
CSER Error Number One: Wicca and Other Occult Religions
In their section on “Wicca and Other “Occult” Religions,” the authors attempt to portray
Witchcraft and other forms of neo-pagan religion, as well as Native American Religion, and
Santeria, Voodoo, Palo Mayombe, and other African- Caribbean-American religions, as
entirely benevolent and innocent (while characterizing Evangelical Christianity as vicious,
intolerant, and superstitious). However, the authors overlook the fact that the concept of
“black magic” appears in some form in virtually all of these religions. In keeping with its
consistent use of its original straw man, the International Satan-worshipping Conspiracy,
the report flatly states that Wicca has .nothing to do with the Devil.” This assertion, because
it appears in conjunction with a blanket claim incorporating several religions, cannot go
unchallenged. Satanic religion, “devil worship,” and Wicca all rely upon a central religious
experience which, despite variations in perspective, reflects a uniform underlying impulse
and belief system. The report completely misses the point that what ties these religions
together, and sets them apart from Biblical theology, is their reliance upon theological
concepts derived from Animism. What the ancient Greeks meant by their word (entheos),
the root of our word enthusiasm, entails a necessarily passive state of mind without which
the rituals lose their power. While the individual religions do have varying applications of
this core belief, the principle is uniform. A deity, it is believed, can be drawn into the
person, or self, of an individual, or the selves of a group, and thereby redirect the
perceptions, convictions, and actions according to the wishes of the deity. The subsequent
and perceptible shifts are accepted as the palpable signs of the deity‟s presence. This is
what these people believe happens, and, via the necessary reification of their own
sensations, what they worship. In Wicca, for example, the sought-for shift largely affects
the sexual realm.