Frequently Asked Questions

The topic of ritual abuse* and extreme abuse is one that seems to be shrouded in myth, fear and unanswered questions. It is a topic that encompasses so many types of abuse and crimes that it is often difficult to answer a question without opening the door to more and more questions. This in turn tends to become overwhelming for the person asking the original question. Our hope here is to answer the many legitimate questions we have heard, while reminding the reader that this is a heavy topic and one may have to take this in sections, a little at a time. Please remember to keep yourself safe, as many of these questions/answers may be triggering. Also, please be mindful this list is far from exhaustive.

What is a ritual?

What is ritual abuse?

What is extreme abuse?

Are ritual abuse and extreme abuse the same thing?

Does the Bible talk about ritual abuse?

What does God say about ritual abuse and those who practice it?

How long has ritual abuse occurred?

Why talk about RA?

What is the purpose of RA (motivation)?

Who is involved in RA?

Are there specific days dedicated to ritual trauma?

What types of abuse occur in ritual abuse?

What are some indicators of RA?

I’ve heard this type of abuse can cause Multiple Personalities.  What is that about?

What is trauma-based mind control?

Besides being a physical and psychological issue, is RA a spiritual matter as well?

Is it possible to live a “normal” life after having been ritualistically abused?         

Are there Christian RA survivors?

Why doesn’t the church talk about this?

Isn’t this just a bunch of false or implanted memories by weak-minded people?

Where’s the evidence?  Have there been any convictions?

Are there any laws against ritual abuse?

What is a ritual?

A ritual is any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner.  A ritual typically has symbolic meaning.  It may be private, like taking a good luck charm to an exam, or public (socially shared), like saluting the flag.

According to Isaac Bonewits, a practicing Neopagan Priest and 3° Druid, the pagan definition of a ritual is: "Any ordered sequence of events, actions and/or directed thoughts, especially one that is repeated in the “same” manner each time, that is designed to produce a predictable altered state of consciousness within which certain magical or religious (or artistic or scientific?) results may be obtained," (taken from http://www.neopagan.net/Pagan_Glossary.html).

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What is ritual abuse?

Ritual abuse is a vicious, systematic, ruthless form of abuse that is carried out in a combination of tortures, imposed upon victims in the form of physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual torture.  Perpetrators’ ideology is used to justify the abuse and the abuse is used to teach/reinforce the perpetrators’ ideology.  The name Ritual Abuse or (RA) is indicative of trauma happening continuously over an unlimited period of time. 

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What is extreme abuse?

Extreme abuse covers a vast array of any type of abuse under extreme conditions. This includes physical, sexual, spiritual and emotional abuse in extreme conditions (i.e. torture, rape, human trafficking and more).

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Are ritual abuse and extreme abuse the same thing?

Although all ritual abuse falls under the extreme abuse category, not all extreme abuse is considered ritual abuse. For instance, victims of human trafficking or the sex slave trade fall under the category of extreme abuse, but not necessarily under the category of ritual abuse. In ritual abuse, there is always an element of systematic abuse performed in a ritual manner to reinforce perpetrator's ideology. We want to emphasize however, that situations of human trafficking and the sex slave trade often involve ritual abuse and it has been said that RA is the number one reason for the sex slave trade.

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Does the Bible talk about ritual abuse?

Scripture is clear that there is nothing new under Heaven that the heart of man has not explored or done before, including occult ritual practices and abuse.  Biblical and secular history is filled with the occult origins and practices of antiquity, also known as the “mystery religions” of the ancient world of Mesopotamia.  The Mesopotamian spirituality influenced the neighboring cultures as well, including the Egyptians and Canaanites.  All these kingdoms worshipped many false gods including Baal and Molech.  There are around 89 references of Baal in the Old Testament.  Worship practices of these pagan deities included spells, magical formulas, torture, dismemberment, drinking blood, cannibalism, human and animal sacrifice, and more.  These are the very same practices being committed against RA survivors today. 

God tells the Israelites to abstain from the worship of other gods and idols in the 10 commandments.  While Moses was on the mountain receiving the commandments, the Israelites pressed Aaron to create an image for them to worship.  As written in Scripture, Aaron created for them the golden calf (Exodus 32:8-10).  In Egypt, the Egyptians worshipped an image of a bull known as the Apis Bull.  Having come from Egyptian captivity, the Israelites would have known that this image Aaron created was the Apis Bull.  Another name for the Apis Bull was Molech who is named at least ten times in the Bible (Leviticus 18:21, 20:2-5, I Kings 11:5 & 7; 11:33, II Kings 23:10 & 13, Jeremiah 32:35).

While Moses was on the mountain, God said to him, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.  They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it…” (Exodus 32:7-8).

Other scriptures that talk about ritual abuse include but are not limited to:

Deuteronomy 18:9-13, 21: “…Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, witchcraft, or who consults the dead…”

2 Kings 16:3: “But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel.”

2 Kings 21:6: “He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger.”

2 Chronicles 28:3: “Moreover, he burned incense in the valley of Ben-hinnom and burned his sons in fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel.”

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What does God say about ritual abuse and those who practice it?

Scripture is very clear on how God feels about ritual abuse and those who practice it.

Jeremiah 32:35: “They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin,” [emphasis mine].

Leviticus 18:21: “You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.”

Leviticus 20:2-5: “You shall also say to the sons of Israel: 'Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.  I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and to profane My holy name.  If the people of the land, however, should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his offspring to Molech, so as not to put him to death, then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Molech.’”

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How long has ritual abuse occurred?

Ritual abuse has occurred as early back as the Mesopotamian mysterious religions.  We know from archeological studies that these ancient cultures practiced occult and ritual forms of worship by the relics left behind.  One such relic, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, dates back to circa 3500 BC.  We know that Abraham’s father, Terah, from the land of Ur, was a worshipper false gods (Joshua 24:2).  Historically we know that Ur was a Sumerian city that worshipped the moon god (Nanna/Sin) (Wilson, n.d., Moon Worship section, para. 2 & 3).  The Sumerian priests performed sacrifices to the moon gods and male and female prostitutes were used in fertility rites (Wilson, n.d., Moon Worship section, para. 4).  These rites and sacrifices involved forms of ritual abuse.  It is impossible to give an exact date of when ritual abuse first occurred, but given the fact that man’s heart has not changed since the dawn of time, it is possible that ritual abuse may have occurred as early as during the time period of Adam & Eve and their children.

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Why talk about RA?

We talk about RA because it is a prevalent issue.  Back in the 70’s, when stories of sexual abuse, incest and molestation became more prominent, people were afraid of what they heard.  Many didn’t want to believe that so many people were being sexually abused.  It took several years, but with the persistence of survivors and research, we are aware of the numbers of incest, molestation and sexual abuse.  It took a long time for society at large to accept the horrors of sexual abuse, but as a whole, we all realize it exists and because of that, more and more survivors are feeling free to come forward with the abuse they suffered.  More and more perpetrators are being convicted for their crimes.  More survivors are finding healing through therapy and support groups.  As a society, we are more aware of keeping our children safe from perpetrators.  We teach our children to not talk to strangers, we keep a closer eye on our children while they are out in society, we have sex offender lists that are easily accessible and if a high-level sex offender moves into our neighborhood, we are notified.  We have child advocacy groups and state programs to remove children that have been abused or are in danger of abuse.

All that to say that we MUST do the same for RA survivors.  In order to make changes in our society, we must understand the impact of RA.  We can’t understand the impact unless we talk about it, as dirty and messy and horrifying as it is.  When society understands, laws are passed, convictions made, survivors find healing and support.  This is why we talk about RA. 

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What is the purpose of RA (motivation)?

Ritualistic abuse destroys the whole person’s body, soul and spirit.  Their God-given sense of humanity is held captive by those who impose their occult beliefs.  It’s all about power and control: the power the perpetrator seeks from the supernatural forces of darkness, and the control the perpetrator has over the victim. 

Mat. 4: 8-9:  Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me."  The offer that Satan tempted Jesus with, though rebuked and rejected by Jesus has been offered to countless others throughout history.  The  promise of power, wealth, even divinity are the rewards to those who bow down and worship Satan (this includes the false gods and goddesses).  Worship of Satan includes blood, torture, and all forms of abuse in ritualistic patterns.  Satan has created a demonic religious legacy, linked together through the corridors of time, shrouded in mystery, violence, blood sacrifices and oaths, all to him, in order to set himself up as “god” and to bring forth his false “christ”.  This is the key motivation behind RA trauma and why the servants of darkness have done everything in their power to deny its existence. 

The other purpose of RA has to do with money.  The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil.  We know that people in general will do despicable things for money.  From prostitution, drugs, and illegal arms to the sex slave trade, the love of money turns hearts corrupt and hard as stone.  Why then should it surprise us that people would do the same for RA?  If their reward is power, control, wealth or whatever, why would it be any different for the perpetrator to go another level further into ritual abuse?

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Who is involved in RA?

Ritual abuse can happen within family of origins, government/military groups and others that work in conjunction with secretive organizations like:

• Satanism
• Nazism
• Witchcraft
• Druids
• Christian cults
• Masonic orders and fraternities
• Solitary practitioners
• and multi-generational family cults

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Are there specific days dedicated to ritual trauma?

Survivorship has a very thorough ritual holiday calendar.  Please click below to view the dedicated ritual holidays.

http://www.survivorship.org/resources/dates.html

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What types of abuse occur in ritual abuse?

RA survivors have suffered many different types of abuse ranging from verbal abuse to tortures of every kind.  The following list is not exhaustive but is here to give us an idea of what happens to ritual survivors.  If you are a survivor, please note that this may be extremely triggering.  This list is not suitable for children:

Physical abuse

• Vicious beatings, burnings, stabbing & broken bones
• The consumption of drugs, alcohol, blood, feces, urine, etc.
• Hung upright or upside down, being placed on a cross for a mock crucifixion
• Being buried alive, usually in a small box or coffin
• Placed in ovens and furnaces. 

Psychological abuse:

• Confinement for extended periods of time, severe isolation
• Public and private humiliation, intimidation tactics, being terrorized with suffocation and near death tortures like asphyxiation or threatened with drowning
• The withholding of food and water, sleep deprivation
• Barrage of lights, music, unusual tones with repetitive messages
• Verbal assault (such as a stream of vile and negative name calling, being ignored, as if they don’t exist, told they were an accident, wishing they were never born, a mistake by God, etc.) 
• Exposure to total silence and absolute darkness for extended periods

Sexual abuse:

• Sadistic ritual rapes by cult family and group members, which includes men and women perpetrators
• Penetration with foreign objects
• Animals and insects of all kinds are used to intimidate and horrify victims by placing them on the victims or within the victim’s body (including any orifice)
• Bestiality also occurs as part of the victim’s sexual torture.  Child and adult victims are also used in the criminal world of sex trade, prostitution and pornography.  Many of these pornographic movies are circulated or sold for profit.  Victims are rented or sold into the world of ritual sexual torture continually. 

Spiritual abuse

• Victims are forced to learn all kinds of arcane rituals and worship, performed in designated locations.  Perpetrators and victims alike usually dress in ceremonial robes, worshiping the group’s particular deity (Satan, Moloch, Istar, Baal, etc.)
• Victims experience rituals where they are dedicated to demonic beings (usually as an infant) in order to terrorize their human slaves into submission.
• There is only one central spiritual enemy that is hated within these criminal groups that is continuously degraded and blasphemed, Jesus Christ.  Because of their hatred of Jesus, everything that Christianity represents is used to torture victims
• Victims will be forced to blaspheme God and then be told they have committed the ‘‘unpardonable sin'' and can never be forgiven
• Victims will experience rituals in which “god” (a human or demon masquerading as the God of the Bible) stands at the “judgment seat,” condemning victims to hell. 
• Victims are often ganged raped while scriptures like John 3:16 are read 

Survivors of RA will need a loving Christ-centered spirituality based on tenderness, mercy, understanding and compassion, the polar opposite from the forced, brutal, evil spirituality the survivor has known, in order for God’s restoration and healing process to occur. 

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What are some indicators of RA?

There are a myriad of symptoms/indicators of ritual abuse.  From PTSD to dissociative disorders, the indicators are innumerous.  Following are some indicators of RA.  This list is not exhaustive and is not intended in any way to diagnose.  If you think you may have been ritualistically abused, please seek help through a therapist in your area.  If you need help finding a hospital or therapist, please check out our resources page.

• High pain tolerance
• Hormonal, digestive and other physical malfunctions or problems including skin problems, migraines, asthma, gynecological problems and more
• Unusual scars
• Exaggerated reactions to particular olfactory stimuli: such as the smell of blood, urine/feces, alcohol, formaldehyde, burning hair, smoke from fire, incense
• Panic attacks
• Chronic pain
• Missing digits (fingers, toes)
• Self-mutilation/self-destructive behavior
• Artwork/poetry contains themes of death, pain, or occultism
• Suicidal ideations
• Chemical dependency
• Eating disorders
• Fascination with the supernatural, paranormal and psychic phenomena
• Sexual dysfunctions
• Strong negative responses to certain holidays
• Fear of talking to therapist, authority figures
• Frequent diagnostic labels
• Occult obsession/revulsion
• Pervasive sense of impending doom
• Phobias of different types
• Contempt/rage at God, Jesus Christ, Christianity

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I’ve heard this type of abuse can cause Multiple Personalities.  What is that about?

Actually, the current term is Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID.  The term “Multiple Personality Disorder” was used before the term was changed for the update of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV-TR).  However, both terms are currently used among survivors with this diagnosis.  DID is a common manifestation of extreme trauma.  Similar to Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), in which one must have suffered some type of trauma to have Post-traumatic Stress, DID only occurs under extreme trauma and stress during childhood before one’s personality is established. 

For example, a child who has suffered severe sexual and physical abuse may develop DID due to the trauma inflicted.  The child has a limited understanding of the world around him/her.  Due to this limitation, as well as the physical limitations of an undeveloped brain, the child cannot comprehend what is happening to him/her.  So, in order to handle the ordeal, the child dissociates from the situation. 

We all have the ability to dissociate.  Have you ever been on road, thinking about something, when all of a sudden you realize you have missed your exit?  That is a form of dissociation.  You were in deep thought and your subconscious mind took over the wheel for you as you drove, to the point where you completely missed your exit when you “came to” and realized something was wrong.  

Dissociation can range from something as simple as missing your exit, to complete amnesia to a traumatic event such as a life threatening event.  Often survivors of sexual abuse tell how they “floated” out of their bodies during the abuse and watched from a corner of the room.  In the case of DID, when the child is being abused, the situation becomes too difficult to deal with that the child separates him/herself from the situation to survive by creating other personality states or alters (alters can also be created by perpetrators using mind control techniques during torture).  As in the case of other life-threatening events, such as terrible car accidents, the victim often becomes amnesiac to the event. 

The important thing to remember is that a person with DID is not crazy.  In fact, it is just the opposite.  They survived the crazy things that the perpetrators did to them.  In order to survive the torture, their minds were brilliant enough to separate from the pain to continue to survive.  Without the miracle of dissociation, they would not have been able to survive. 

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What is trauma-based mind control?

Survivorship.org has a very good, easy to understand, breakdown of what mind control is.  They say,

Mind control, like ritual abuse, has both a broad and narrow definition.  In a sense, all advertising is an attempt at mind control, an attempt to make people buy certain brands or objects.  Propaganda (my country is right and good and the other country is wrong and bad) is also an example of attempted mind control.

In the survivor community, however, the definition is much narrower and more sinister.  It means that part of a person's mind has been programmed (that is, trained) to obey another person without question, while other parts of the mind are unaware of this situation (used with permission by Survivorship.org retrieved from http://www.survivorship.org/faqs.html#mindcontrol).

The specific definition they give is what many RA survivors have gone through: Trauma-based mind control.  It is mind control at it’s worst.  The perpetrator (also known as a “handler”) programs (trains) the victim through torture.  The following example may be helpful, but may also be triggering or difficult to read.  Please keep yourself safe or skip to the next question.

For example, a handler is told that they must program a child victim to call the cult when the child grows up to become an adult to get instructions on attending a ritual.  In order to do this, the handler chooses a specific code to “implant” into the child’s mind to remember when he/she becomes an adult.  The handler, through some type of torture, such as sadistic rape, tells the child to remember to call the cult for instructions when he/she hears the specific code.  Then, again through torture, the handler tells the child to forget what they have just learned, causing the child to split off into another alter and creating an amnesiac barrier. 

When the child becomes an adult, he/she has no memory of the incident, but there is an alter in the system that remembers the code.  The now adult child may be grocery shopping when a cult member walks by them and says the code.  The code may be something as innocent sounding as “Hi hon.  Meet me outside.”  The tone that may be used, the spacing of the words and the person speaking the code are all part of the code.  In other words, if the victim’s partner was in the grocery store and said the same words as the code, the victim would most likely not be triggered, or in this case, accessed to follow through because the whole code was not given.  However, in the case above, if all the variables are met, the alter that has the memory of the code will be accessed and follow through with the instruction to call the cult.  Most often this will happen without any memory from the host personality. 

It can be very complicated and difficult for many to understand how, or even why, someone can be programmed.  However, this practice has been documented all over the world and those who have been through trauma-based mind control are the ones who suffer most.  Not only have they had to go through the horrific trauma, but they also have to live in a world where many people have no idea what has happened to them and, more often than not, can’t believe it when they are told by the victim.  It is a terrible cycle that must be broken through education.  When we know and understand the impact on survivors, we can help them by believing them. 

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Besides being a physical and psychological issue, is RA a spiritual matter as well?

Besides the physical and psychological abuse survivors suffer, the heart of RA trauma is a spiritual matter.  Survivors of RA trauma have made incredible strides and have achieved in many areas of success from their horrific experiences by the cult.  Since recovery is a moment-by-moment journey, many tools for recovery are needed in order to help teach and equip survivors in rebuilding their shattered selves. 

Some of these tools may include the use of art therapy (music, poetry, clay, writing, etc), individual and or group therapy, survivor’s advocacy, safe online board or chat rooms, workshops, public lectures, survivor’s conferences, outreach programs, educational seminars, 12-step groups networking within safe survivor’s groups and more.  Many survivors have used a combination of these tools throughout their recovery journey to help them throughout their healing process. 

One area that is often unaddressed, for various reasons, by survivors, support persons, therapists and such is the spiritual tortures that literally shred survivors, body, soul & spirit.  Even though survivor’s have made lots of strides in healing from RA, many are still held hostage by the cult’s spirituality and are unable to worship in a healthy and free fashion due to the cult’s false spiritual strongholds within survivors.

Due to this fact, the issues surrounding the spiritual abuse are too great to answer briefly in a “FAQ” format.  See Free to Believe: A Survivor’s Right to Choose the Christian Faith for an in-depth look at the spiritual side of RA.

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Is it possible to live a “normal” life after having been ritualistically abused?         

To answer this question to the best of our abilities, the following comes from an RA survivor herself (who would like to remain anonymous):

The simple answer to this would be “yes” and “no.”  Let me explain.  To define what “normal” is, comes from my belief in how God created order and normality in the universe.  This would include parents, children, marriage, jobs, career, as well as soundness of mind and “unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.”  As an RA survivor, the world of “normal” was made unnatural, dark, hidden and beyond human understanding.  Since Jesus of the Bible stated that He who has begun a good work in us is faithful to finish it to the end, that He makes all things new, as well as promises to give me beauty for the ashes and the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness, without question, normality is a reality through the power of Jesus Christ. 

For the “no” part.  Can a person without a loving God have normality?  To the full meaning of the word, the answer would be “no”.  For most RA survivors, our abuse dealt with natural and supernatural beings in the evil sense.  It will also take natural and a supernatural Being to set us on the right course that was so raped from us.  As narrow as this may sound, the reality is, an evil thing happened to us and only the opposite, the good, righteous and true God can restore and bring healing and in some cases, resurrection life to those who are called the living dead.

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Are there Christian RA survivors?

Survivors come from all walks of life.  So, yes, there are Christian survivors.  Much of the abuse done in RA has religious overtones.  Which makes it difficult for survivors on a spiritual level.  However, many survivors have come to believe in Jesus as their Savior despite the horrible spiritual abuse they have been through.

For more information on the spiritual aspect of RA, read the FAQ on RA is a spiritual matter. 

The important thing as fellow Christians is to embrace our brothers and sisters, believing them and their experiences, supporting them through prayer, friendship and referring them to trained therapists who can help in this area, if they do not already have a therapist.  Just as we need each other, our Christian brother and sister survivors need us.  They are just as much children of the kingdom (not the step-children of God). 

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Why doesn’t the church talk about this?

The first thing I’d like to say in answer to this question, is that there are some churches that are speaking out about ritual abuse.  They are few and far between, but they are out there and we pray their continued strength as they continue to storm the gates of hell and stand by survivors of RA.  Unfortunately, this cannot be said about much of the body of Christ, which is very sad and disheartening for those who need to hear about the hope and restoration they have in Christ.

There are many reasons why the Christian church at large does not talk about, suppress’, denies, or even refuses to acknowledge ritual abuse.  The Church is the one place every RA survivor should find the help and refuge they need from such horrors.  Instead, survivors often experience exile, unbelief, emotional, verbal, spiritual and other kinds of abuse by Church leaders and lay persons alike.  How is it these unacceptable, sinful and unbiblical behaviors occur within the Christian community against RA survivors?  

One of the primary reasons for this is fear.  It may be the fear of hearing the horror stories of survivors, or fear that harm may come into one’s life if one helps a survivor.  Perhaps it is the type of fear that one may have to be accountable to God for the information learned about the horrors of RA and the biblical mandate to follow as stated in Acts 20:35, “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  Or maybe it is the fear that one might have to get involved in some capacity in helping an RA survivor after learning about RA. 

There is also the fear of being rejected by one’s own Christian community for helping an RA survivor.  There is a huge stigma against RA survivors from Satan and his servants hovering over them since survivors started coming forward in the 1980’s speaking out and exposing these horrors.  Christians have been told by Christ Himself about Satan and his kingdom and that He (Jesus) came destroy the works of the devil as stated in 1 John 3:8, “He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

Satan and his workers of darkness have done a great job in keeping the lying spin going, convincing many within the Christian community that this type of abuse does not happen on a global and organized scale.  Despite documented Biblical and secular literature throughout time, including modern times, the enemy has convinced the Church that this hysteria, this “satanic panic” and every other lying label against ritual abuse, is completely an impossible crime to occur in the 21st century on such a large scale, if at all.  This is the cry or argument of those who deem themselves experts, realists, skeptics, intellectuals, religious, those accused of being perpetrators of RA trauma and so forth.  These are the voices crying out against the reality of ritual abuse. 

“I mean after all,” they tell us, “in our post-modern world, with all our high technology and every kind of agency (police, FBI, CIA, etc.), how can one could imagine, this kind of crime could ever happen without anyone knowing about it?”  My response is, “Oh really?”  Time and space prevents me from reminding the readers of the dark hidden abuses going on in the 21st century undetected until recently.  Here are just a few reminders of these hidden crimes going on right under our high-tech, post-modern society noses:

1. The global human sex slaves/human trafficking.
2. The sex abuse scandal within the Catholic Church. 
3. The tortures and other cruel and inhuman treatment happening globally. 
4. The need for the United Nations to created a UN convention against Transnational Organized Crime. 
5. The UN classifies rape a war tactic due to the unbelievable amounts of rapes being perpetrated against women and girls in war zone countries.  The United Nations site lists many such topics for those who would like to read up on what is going on within our world.

Other stories of interest involve the 73-year-old man arrested for holding his daughter captive in his cellar for the past two decades and had seven children with her.  There was also the story on how the authorities have uncovered a major child pornography ring in Austria involving more than 2,360 suspects from 77 countries.  What about the man from Utah, the polygamist found guilty of having five wives and 29 children. 

These reminders are just that, reminders of the many hidden, secret perverse worlds of extreme abuse and cover-ups going on all around us.  There are endless articles of such events, many involving occult crimes and ritual abuse.  All happened or are currently happening, all are a part of history, all are proven realities.  The informed reader needs to start to question those who deny, minimize, mock or verbally attack someone exposing what the United Nations, CNN, the BBC and other reliable human sources are stating is going on today.

With that said, the Christian reader should remember, first and foremost, the only true and reliable source of all truth is Jesus Christ.  Jesus stated it clearly that if a person lacks wisdom or needs direction in a matter, to go to the Lord first in prayer.  How many of our Christian leaders and lay persons alike can truthfully state that when the issue of RA came into their world, they sought the Lord’s face on this matter, waiting on His response and direction?  How many pastor’s or lay persons instead, went to a website of some sort, usually from someone claiming to be “Christian based” first?  After spending time reading what usually ends up being material that either denies, mocks, ridicules or attacks RA survivors and, due to their own ignorance, the pastors/laypersons make the choice to believe the writer of the website instead of waiting on the Lord’s leading.

These same pastor’s/laypersons often feel “enlightened” about RA who, most often or not, have never checked the websites author’s sources, credentials, affiliations, who sponsors them, etc., rely instead on the author’s “Christian claim” or “expertise” in this matter as their gauge of reliability.  So instead of waiting on the Lord, having Him lead those seeking His face in this matter, they are now carrying the torch of misinformation, lies, and deception for the Satan’s kingdom, instead of being the light and servant-warriors for RA survivors for Jesus Christ.

Even though the issue of fear is just one of the primary reasons for the negative attacks against RA survivors within the Christian community we need to look at the core reason for these outrageous and ungodly actions against survivors of RA torture.

The core reason to this question is found in Revelation 3:14-19, “And to the angel of the church of the Laodicea  write, these things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.  Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.  I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”

The church of Laodicea represented a church that was present during John the apostle’s time and it also represents a church age to come in the future.  Laodicea represents the Christian church in the 21st century.  The Easton Bible dictionary states, “It was one of the most important and flourishing cities of Asia Minor.  At a very early period it became one of the chief seats of Christianity (Col. 2:1; 4:15; Rev. 1:11, etc.).  It is now a deserted place…" Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary.

As Laodicea was a wealthy city and chief seat of Christianity at that time, the same position can be said for the Christian community today, specifically the Christian church in the United States of America.  Christianity is the largest religion in the world and one of the wealthiest as well.  There are over 1200 mega-churches in the U.S. alone. The mega-church does not include the Catholic Church and non-mega churches but they are still included within the Christian circle.  Many have good ministries involving the homeless, food kitchens, substance abuse ministries, local or global missions, worship and prayer teams, cell groups, bible studies and other kinds of community, recreational, and relief ministries.  These are all good and needed ministries without question.  So why, with all of these good and needed ministries being the gauge in how the Christian community views themselves as rich and wealthy, having need of nothing, does God see them as self-conceited and self-delusional.  Jesus calls these self-delusional Christians what they truly are, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.  How is this possible in light of all the good works the Christian churches are doing, the largest religious group in the world?  How are we missing the mark in what truly counts in the eyes of God?

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary gives us one reason for this.  “They could not see their state, or their way, or their danger, yet they thought they saw it. They had not the garment of justification, nor sanctification: they were exposed to sin and shame; their rags that would defile them…”

The Christian church today, for the most part, have left their first love as stated in Rev 2:4 and have created something a friend of mine calls “McMinistries,” something quick, safe and comes with a prize.  The Happy-feel deal, the lets give money out to other’s in the trenches for Jesus Christ while keeping our hands from getting into the dirt of things.  These McMinistries are filled with tons of Christian bake sales, pot luck dinners, sport teams, mini-vans, collecting clothing during the holidays, putting on expensive passion plays, supporting foreign missions, safe and happy ended stories of victory that gives them a nice warm feeling that God is blessing and working in their lives.  These Mcministries only see the one side of the coin of life, the heads up side but refuse to flip the coin to see the tail end of life to see what it holds on its side. 

The tail side of the coin is the rest of the picture of life, filled with the invisible holocaust of people.  Core horrors ignored, exiled, accused, blamed, attacked by pharisaic leadership, verbally beaten and battered all in the name of their safe Christianity.  The rape survivor, incest survivor, homosexuals, someone living in abandoned tunnels or houses.  The post-abortive victim, battered wife, husband or child, pornography issues, homeless persons,  and the bottom of the list of “life’s rejects” and most invisible of all, the RA survivor, a combination of the above issues and more in one person. 

Where is the church for the “least of these?”  These broken people who don’t fit into the McMinstries of cotemporary Christian churches and their safe ministries?  The Christian church of the 21st century have decided to sacrifice the hard ministries of helping the poor, wretched, blind and naked of this world by the hands of Hell itself on the altar of compromise, indifference, lukewarmness and have become what they have rejected and despised the most.  They have become spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. 

Rom 8:6 states, "To be carnally (worldly) minded is death.  This is the spiritual state of the apathetic or lukewarm Christian, all of which God hates.  The lukewarm churches have become so earthly minded they are no heavenly good.  They have become real experts in fighting against anyone who dares bring up such matters into their safe Church world.  They have become the crowd screaming at blind Bartimaeus telling him to shut up as he cried out for Jesus to help him (Luke18:35-42) or the woman the crowd was ready to stone for her sin of adultery (John 8:1-11).  Or the demon possessed man filled with Legion and the town that wanted Jesus out of their area after healing him from suffering in ways most Christians have no idea about, being torment day and night by invisible demons within his body until Jesus set him free (Luke 5:1-20).

The list of people like those mentioned above and the countless others throughout past and present history still face crowds within the churches that reject, despise or cast them out of their community because of the torment and suffering they “might” bring into their safe lives.  The bottom line here is that the lukewarm Christians are not sold out, not willing to die for someone else, not willing to suffer persecution or stand for the broken-hearted.  They have compromised with the world, looking more like the world than the world itself.  This flies right into the face of Romans 12:2, which states, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Scripture goes on to state in Hebrews 10:32-39, “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.  Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.  For you have needed of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:  For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.  Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.  But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”

For those who have fallen into the sin of lukewarm Christianity, Jesus states in Rev 3:18-19 what they need to do, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.  Therefore be zealous and repent.”
Jesus counsels us to buy for Him gold refined in the fire.  Jesus already paid the price on the cross; Jesus is the payment (John 3:16).  It is the Churches job to go out and fulfill the great commission to go into all the world and purchase the souls of mankind (Mark 16:15), a free gift given to anyone, for everyone willing to make King Jesus the God, Lord and Savior of their life.  No one is to be left behind.  Jesus stated we must go into the highways and byways and compel them to come in, that His house may be filled (Luke 14:7-23). 

The book of James clarifies hypocritical behavior that was going on between Christians and their separating out those they felt were a better quality of person over others, showing partiality.  James addresses this and reproves believers committing this sin against other Christians in James 2:1-10.  “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.  For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor.  Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

The Church must repent of their sins of lukewarmness, the separating out those they feel don’t fit into their nice, safe, comfortable, controlled Christian circles.  Jesus came to set captives free, to expose the works of darkness, to be the living example of what it is of loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.  To be servant to all, without partiality, fear, apathy, contempt or even hatred towards anyone, especially the neediest, rejected and despised of all.  For the love of the good Jesus, I pray that if you find yourself in this situation as a lukewarm believer in Jesus Christ, repent and trust that Jesus will create in you a new heart and renew a right spirit within you (Psalm 51:10) in order to be all you can be for Him and for all those He brings into your life, no matter what their hurts or horrors may be. 

I say all this in love.  We as a Church must reach out to all the lost and dying.  Countless RA survivors have endured unbelievable evils, the worse kinds of sins one can perpetrate against another human being.  RA survivors need all the Christian Church, those who call Jesus their Lord, God and Savior.  They need our prayers, love, support and friendship.  RA Christians are not stepchildren of the Kingdom of God and deserve the same love, respect and acceptance that every believer has been given by Jesus Christ.  Our brothers and sisters need us.  Our possible future brothers and sisters are dying in every way without knowing the hope of salvation and freedom in Christ they so desperately need.  It is up to each and every one of us to bring the truth and love of Jesus to those ALL the world.

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Isn’t this just a bunch of false or implanted memories by weak-minded people?

Since most people know how to drive a vehicle, it’s fair to say we have a basic understanding of an automobile.  But how many people who understand the basics of an automobile can say they understand the mechanics of how an automobile runs?  A majority of people have to bring their broken-down vehicles to a mechanic or specialist because their limited knowledge is not enough to understand the full dynamics of the engine at hand.  The same premise needs to be applied in understanding the human body.  Most people have a general understanding of the functionality of the body, but lack the training or education in understanding its make-up in the complete sense.  In order to understand the brain and how memory works, we need to look at the research done in this area. 

The following is from the “From the Inside Out” website explaining the differences between normal memory and traumatic memory and what happens in the brain:

Traumatic memories, which typically are engraved in the sensorimotor processes, are not subject to the same kinds of contamination that can affect normal memory. Traumatic amnesia, described in the DSM-IIIR as psychogenic amnesia, is a phenomenon which has been known to mental health professionals for more than 100 years [Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Harvard Medical School , as quoted by David McCulley, Satanic Ritual Abuse: A Question of Memory, 1993].  

Two disparate responses to trauma have been noted by researchers.  In some instances the memory is hyper-potentiated and the event remains unforgettably vivid.  When severe, repeated trauma occurs early in life, the stress of the experience may overload the circuitry of the brain’s limbic system, preventing the information from reaching the hippocampus.  Instead, the trauma is engraved in the sensorimotor processes and is dissociated from the victim’s conscious awareness [van der Volk as quoted by David McCulley, Satanic Ritual Abuse: A Question of Memory, 1993].

Only when a triggering circumstance breaks through the amnestic barrier does the person retrieve, often it bits and pieces, the memory of the traumatic event…When the suspended encounter is triggered, the threatening event is experienced as happening now, in full present time [Ivor Browne as quoted by David McCulley, Satanic Ritual Abuse: A Question of Memory, 1993].

There has been a lot of talk and media segments on false memory.  The False Memory Syndrome Foundation would have us believe that False Memory Syndrome is a real diagnosis.  The fact of the matter is that it is not.  First, FMS is not in the DSM-IV-TR simply because there is no ground for the supposed syndrome.  FMS proponents say that repressed memories are either not true, or are memories that have become extremely distorted.  Besides the fact that FMSF has been the primary catalyst for promoting FMS, the studies done to support this notion deal with normal, or explicit, memory.  In 1995, a journal article in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, written by van der Kolk & Fisler states,

When people receive sensory input, they generally automatically synthesize this incoming information into narrative form, without conscious awareness of the processes that translate sensory impressions into a personal story.  Our research shows that traumatic experiences initially are imprinted as sensations or feeling states that are not immediately transcribed into personal narratives, in contrast with the way people seem to process ordinary information.

In fact, in an article in the Science Daily (May 11, 2008, Why emotional memories of traumatic life events are so persistent), scientists performed an experiment regarding an isolated enzyme and its effect on how memories are stored.  It has been shown that with a decrease in the activity of the enzyme calcineurin, comes a greater association with a negative stimulus.  The negative stimulus in this research was a sugar solution paired with a chemical to produce nausea in mice.  When mice were subjected to the negative stimulus, the calcineurin decreased and caused the memory to be more strongly stored than in mice who hadn’t been associated to the negative stimulus. 

Now, we can understand how the brain, using this enzyme calcineurin, can cause a memory to be stored concretely.  “But doesn’t that just prove the theory of FMS,” one might ask.  FMS proponents often say that one cannot forget something that traumatic.  My rebuttal to that lies in the story of a friend of mine.  Sherry had just married her husband and they lived a fairy tale life together, doing ministry together and enjoying their love for one another.  Then one day Sherry’s world came crashing down.  On their way to a function, Sherry, her husband, and two other passengers were in a deadly train accident.  The train crashed into their van and sent Sherry flying through the air, landing her in the grass.  Extremely broken, with internal injuries, by the grace of God, Sherry was still alive, but her husband and another passenger were killed instantly. 

When asked about what happened, Sherry explained that they knew they were in train country and were extremely cautious as they drove.  When they came to the tracks, there was a hedge of trees blocking the view.  They weren’t able to see anything so they began to continue over the tracks.  The train wasn’t actually moving very fast, but with several thousand tons behind it, it didn’t take much to destroy the vehicle.  Sherry said she doesn’t actually remember anything that happened after that.  She doesn’t remember being found and rescued.  She doesn’t remember being brought to the hospital.  To this day, she does not remember.  She knows what happened because it was told to her, but she cannot recall any of it.  The trauma that happened to her was so great, her mind cannot remember. 

This is very similar to what happens to RA survivors.  The memories are locked deep in the subconscious, but the memories nevertheless are there.  This is why many survivors do not initially remember their trauma, but later on in life, the memories come in different forms (i.e. flashbacks, body memories, etc.).  There are many articles and experiments on recovered memory and it’s existence.  For more information on recovered memory, check out Neil Brick’s S.M.A.R.T. site page, “Recovered Memory Data.”

The truth of this subject is best stated by Dr. James Freisen,

The number of studies which have subjected false memory syndrome to scientific inquiry is zero.  There is nothing scientific about it.  There is nothing which defines it.  There is no list of symptoms which describes it, nor is there anything which helps us distinguish it from other syndromes.  No studies. No such thing.  That’s that (1995, The truth about false memory syndrome).

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Where’s the evidence?  Have there been any convictions?

I’ve heard this question asked many times.  The reality is there is quite a bit of evidence for the horror stories told by hundreds of survivors.  Unfortunately, there are several reasons why so many don’t find the answer to this very question.  One reason is that those who perform these evil acts are very careful to cover their steps and remove all evidence.  Another reason is that the media often portrays survivors as mentally disturbed, not because of the trauma inflicted upon them, but for reasons otherwise unknown rendering the survivor as a liar and unbelievable.  Yet another reason why so many do not find the answer to this question is that they are looking for the wrong type of evidence.  What I mean is that many who ask this question are looking for physical evidence such as sacrificial remains.  While there is physical evidence in some cases, many cases lack this type of evidence.  But, there are other types of evidences of these crimes such as the physical evidence on the bodies of victims, backed up by hospital reports, emotional evidences such as horrible flashbacks and memories of survivors suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the countless missing persons cases especially around the dates that the cults consider “holy”.  Though this type of evidence is much harder to quantify, it is still quality data and must be taken into consideration. 

For those of you who need quantifiable evidence and proof by convictions, please see Stats, Court Cases & Documentation on our resources page. 

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Are there any laws against ritual abuse?

Our friends at Survivorship have a very good answer to this question. The following is used with permission from Survivorship.org, taken from: http://www.survivorship.org/faq.html#laws.

In all States and Canadian provinces, there are laws against particular physical acts committed during ritual abuse. These include murder, rape, sexual contact with children, kidnapping, assault and battery, cruelty to animals, vandalism, and defilement of corpses. Other countries have laws against most, if not all, of these actions. In some States, additional penalties can be imposed if it can be proved that the criminal act was motivated by hate of a particular group.

Ritual abuse can also lead to secondary crimes, such as income tax evasion, crossing state boundaries, using the mail to commit a crime, money laundering, prostitution, pimping and pandering, creation, distribution and possession of child pornography, selling and possession of illegal drugs, and conspiracy to commit crimes.

In addition, four states have passed laws against the ritual abuse of children, specifying particular acts or simulations of acts that are common in ritual abuse. They are written in such a way that no group's freedom of religion is attacked. These states are: Illinois, Idaho, Texas, and Louisiana. Massachusetts and Florida are working on legislation against ritual child abuse. California and Utah are establishing ritual abuse task forces.

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