LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jamie_miller)

I'm currently reading Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism by Gareth Medway and I just finished Lucifer Ascending by Bill Ellis.

The Ellis book is a scholarly analysis of witch tales, Satanic urban legends, and Harry Potter moral panics. Ellis is a devout Lutheran and does a good job of remaining objective, although it's clear that he views the brouhaha over Harry Potter as utterly without merit.

In his introduction, Medway declares "I am a Pagan and a priest of Themis in the Fellowship of Isis." Where Ellis' book is mainly about urban legends and their origins in folk practices and myths, Medway writes about the historical origins of various legends about Satanic conspiracies and cults. Both Medway and Ellis take pains to differentiate between witchcraft and Satanism.

Both books make for very interesting reading. Numerous examples of unfounded declarations abound -- declarations that are then used to stir up moral panics and witch hunts both literal and figurative. The similarities between ancient unverifiable assertions about incestuous orgies during witches' sabbats and modern wild claims such as "Most homosexuals eventually learn to immerse themselves in feces" are undeniable.

I think a primary characteristic of Dominionists is a "faith" so strong that reality must bend to accommodate it. In other words, it doesn't matter if a certain assertion is true or not (such as the infamous "Harry Potter Books Spark Rise in Satanism Among Children") as long as it fits in with your worldview.