Comedian Makes Up Story About Satanism, Becomes National Expert

5 Insane Scams That Should Have Failed (But Didn't) | Cracked.com

Any of you who were in a fundamentalist religion in the 1980s probably remember the Great Satanic Cult Scare.  This article gives some great insight into how it started--it was a complete scam from the beginning!  An interesting study into how lies can foster hysteria and orthodoxy.

One would like to believe, in this Modern Era, Salem-style hysteria would not occur.  And yet it does. 

As this article points out, human nature still contains within it the potential to continue to believe something that has been proven false.

The first thing I remember is the McMartin preschool case.  I remember absolutely nothing of the fundamentalists admitting the accuser had paranoid schizophrenia, or that the accusations were implausible.  I remember it being used as a tool to scare members into huddling closer to the cult.  One defendant spent years in jail prior to being acquitted.

The mess also had its dire consequences upon psychiatry.  “Recovered memory therapy” did damage to countless people.

Critical thinking is surely one of the most important things humanity can accomplish.