Judgement & Dragons

Is the Satanic Panic back?

By Ashley Sudeta

In 2020, my high school History teacher ran for state legislature. He was amazing, beloved by students and parents alike, and received national awards for his work. Strangely, this was ignored the minute he dipped into politics. Forgetting he had taught teenagers about the Ottoman empire, parents suddenly raved on Twitter that he had turned their children into America-hating communists. The complete change was shocking. It became increasingly apparent that a new wave of moral panic and suspicion had overtaken America, creating concerns about patriotism and religiosity. People are once again fixated on threats of their own imagination, exorcising them with clutched pearls and cries to “consider the children.”

Satanic panic describes a moral panic that began in the U.S in the 1980s but continued to spread through the ‘90s. Americans became concerned about satanic ritual abuse; essentially child abuse or manipulation done for the occult. Think Pizzagate. The accused ranged from politicians to common individuals. While daycare workers were a large target, pop culture was also skimmed for symptoms of satanism – Dungeons & Dragons and heavy metal music were seen as methods of indoctrination and faced scorn for this reason.

The same narrative about children’s safety is still used to paint an image of a world brimming with evil, suspicion flying like stray bullets. Modern parallels can be seen in drag bans and school curriculum regulations. Drag story hour and reproductive education are today’s targets, seen as “indoctrination.” As cliche as it is, my high school history teacher was lucky to be a straight white man when accusations arose. It’s no secret that marginalized groups are at greater risk of being accused. Although we’ve made significant social progress, we can’t let fearmongering hold our nation back. Going forward, we must exchange fear for acceptance and pitchforks for flowers.