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Throughout human history, there have been stories and rumours regarding groups of evil-doers dedicated to destroying social and moral order. These rumours can sometimes lead people to do terrible things to their fellow human beings. During periods of historical turmoil, when rapid changes in society are taking place and the causes are not clear or easily apparent, those who are disturbed and disconcerted by these changes often seek scapegoats in a process of psychological projection, desperate for a concrete cause on which to pin the frightening things they see happen around them. In Hitler`s Germany, Jews and Marxists were blamed for economic chaos, social liberalism, political turmoil, and perceived decadence and moral decay. This process of scapegoating eventually led to the murder of millions of people in industrialized death camps. In America in the 1950`s and 1960`s, unsettling trends like social activism, left-wing political and economic ideology, and youth counterculture were ascribed to secret networks of Communist subversives; many were falsely accused and lost their livelihoods or were imprisoned. And during the Medieval era in Europe, during times of danger and strife, plagues or famine of outbreaks of heresy were often blamed on Jews, witches and devil worshipers. As a result of false accusations, thousands of people were tortured during the Inquisition and burned during the Witchfires. In fact, this type of behaviour is often referred to as a witch hunt.

One of the most dramatic examples of a modern witch hunt was the Satanic Panic of the 1980`s. This was a time of economic recession in which many lost their jobs, acceptable social conventions were changing rapidly, and many young people were openly repudiating societal values and Christian beliefs in an agressive and confrontational way. During this time, stories began to spread through North America, and to an extent in Europe, about a widespread, highly organized cult of devil worshipers who engaged in blood sacrifice, black magic, and the ritualistic sexual abuse of children. These rumours were deliberately propagated by largely well-meaning but misinformed people such as priests and pastors, police Satanist-hunters, psychotherapists and social workers specializing in child abuse, and concerned citizens; they were also fueled by sensationalist books and television talk shows. The rumours were most concentrated in rural small towns, where necessarily limited exposure to diversity makes that

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