Preamble: Among the Skeptical community, there are those of us who
have had to counter contentions made by religious people that there
is a huge and well organized conspiracy; the so-called Satanic
Conspiracy. It is said by those of the religiously minded that
hundreds of thousands of babies are born quietly and then ritually
murdered while the blood and flesh of the infants is consumed as an
unholy sacrament.

Wiccans, Neo-Pagans, and 'Luciferians', just to name a few cultish
beliefs, have been the direct target of such nonsense. It has errupted
in blood-shed in many cases where typically christians are motivated by
deeply-held beliefs and indoctrinations into committing murder and
assault.

While reading through the paper, I ran accross just a bit of what the
so-called Satanic Conspiracy is supposed to be about. Take a quick look
at this, if you are interested, and you'll see another superstition
some skeptics are concerned with -- concerned because innocent people
get hurt.

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L. A. Times, March 1992,
Article: "Suspect in Robbery Alleges Conspiracy Against Him"

o Crime: James A. McGrath's 300-page tract asserts that
         banks and a chocolate maker have tried to destroy
         co-defensant Gilbert Michaels.

o By John Johnson, Times staff writer

    -   -   -   -   -

There was an interesting article in the  L. A. This this week, boys and
girls. It seems that there are  Christian factions using their bible to
make bank robbery a god-given right of the chosen.

"One of two men arrested on suspicion of a year long bank robbery spree
left behind a bizzare document that provides insight into  the thinking
processes  of  two men  who apparently  believed  that they  were being
hounded  by  a Luciferian  conspiracy  bent  on  destroying  them  and,
ultimatly, the United States."

"The 300-page document  written by James A. McGrath, 48, also justifies
bank robbery as a method of fighting back against the evil forces."

"'What if Gilbert were to hold up the Wells Fargo Bank, not  as a theif
but  an honest man?' asks the  document, refering to  Gilbert Michaels,
47, a co-defensant in the robbery spree..."

"Part  biography, part  polemic,  part  religious tract,  the  rambling
document tried to explain the life and travails of Gilbert Michaels and
outlines the belief of  the two men that a massive conspiracy involving
banks  and  a jelous  candy  maker  systematically  worked  to  destroy
Michaels' fudge-making business."

"'This case is the tip of the iceberg of corruption emerging into plain
sight for everyone  to see...  It is  my sincere  hope  and prayer that
this report will be used  by the people for the exposure and removal of
this plague of corruption from our great country,' the report says."

The article goes on at great length.

"The man  says he is  not bothered by his arrest.  'I  couldn't be more
happy' about the way  things are truning out, he said.  He has said his
and Michaels'  plan all  along was  to be  arrested so that they  could
expose the conspiracy."

"As for the possibility of spending  years in prison, he said he is not
worried about that. 'The lord has promised us we'll get out.'"

"A search of  their  luxurious, four-story  rented house  in West Hills
turned up a  cache  of 119  guns, including a Thompson machine gun, and
more  than  25,000  rounds  of  ammunition.  Under  the  house,  agents
discovered a military-style bunker complete with thick fire doors and a
shooting range."

"The  FBI and family  members  said  the  two men  were  preparing  for
Armageddon  by  stockpileing weapons  that they could  share with other
people who believe as they do."

A lengthy series of nonsense follows about the suspects.

"The  conspiracy  McGrath felt  that he had unearthed, which began with
local banks  and lawyers,  eventually broadens  to inclued  the Hershey
corporation, actress  Jane  Fonda  and communists whos ultimate goal is
the enslavement of ordinary Americans."

"'Luciferian members intend to eleminate the  middle class from America
and turn the  general population  into peasants and slaves  to do their
bidding and be their torturer-murder victims,' the document says."

It goes on again with a little history of nine bank robberies.

"McGrath  told  U.  S. Magistrate  Charles  Eick  that his  reasons for
committing some of th most  sensational bank  robberies in  Los Angeles
history were explained  in the  300-page  document, a copy of which had
been given to the court the day before by Michaels' wife."

"Sitting at the  dinner table in her house last week, Rose Ann Michaels
thanked  God  for  allowing her  to get the  document to  the judge, as
though it alone would  explain everything and  bring the evil forces to
their knees."

"The disjointed document seems unlikely to do that. But it does portray
a family that felt itself hemmed  in on  all sides by persecutors, with
only God as their solace."

"... The  relationship  that evolves between  the two men, as described
in  the  document,  is  one  of  a spiritual  guide, Michaels,  and his
chronicler,  McGrath.  McGrath  described  Gilbert as a  'Saint  of the
highest order' who heads a 'specially anointed  family consecrated unto
the lord.'"

The nonsense just goes on and on.

I'm wondering if they gave the Pope his cut.
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