Date:  11-08-89  11:02
From:  Brad Hicks
To:    All
Subj:  AMER: The Truth About Human Sacrifice

Filename: TRUTH-HS.TXT
Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions
presents...
THE TRUTH ABOUT HUMAN SACRIFICE
From Los Angeles, California, to Matamoros, Mexico, to Long Island, New York
come a growing number of terrifying reports of the ultimate horror: occult
human sacrifices.  Experts who have been interviewed in the newspapers and on
the certain talk shows warn of a rising death toll due to Satanism and the
occult.  One self-proclaimed expert goes as far as to allege that Satanists
kill as many as 60,000 people each year in the United States alone.  Others
tell of children and teenagers who have been compelled or persuaded to kill
for Satan's sake.
But there is more to these stories than these self-proclaimed "experts" are
telling you.  We at the Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions thought that
you really might want the rest of the facts.
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Not a single one of the self-styled "experts" on "occult-related crime"
actually knows anything about the magical and Earth-centered religions that
they so blithely lump together as "the occult."  For example, Randall Emon,
Larry Jones, and Jack Roper, all self-proclaimed "experts" on the occult,
warn against reading anything actually written by an occultist.
Well, if they're not reading the primary source material, where do these
"experts" get their vast store of knowledge?  From each other.  A casual
search through their literature shows that they quote each other all the
time, instead of consulting any legitimate sources.
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If you look into most of the alleged "occult human sacrifices," you'll see
that the claims just don't hold water.  For example, Satanism had nothing to
do with the widely-publicized murder of Gary Lauwers by Ricky Kasso on Long
Island.  Gary Lauwers was no "innocent sacrifice."  According to ample
testimony, Kasso was a drug dealer who executed Lauwers for stealing ten bags
of PCP, or "angel dust," from Kasso and then bragging about it to their
mutual friends.
The unpleasant events in Matamoros, Mexico have been warped to "prove" that
Satanists and occultists commit murder in their rituals.  But if you read the
actual articles on the story, you'll discover that at least nine of the
thirteen dead were members of rival drug gangs who were killed in turf wars. 
Further, the group was practicing a twisted form of Palo Mayumbe, which is a
hybrid of Catholicism and African folk religion quite common among Hispanics.
 There was no resemblance to the magical, Earth-centered, or Satanic
religious groups that the "experts" are trying to blame.
In the case of the much-celebrated trial of Sean Sellers, the youngest man on
Oklahoma's death row, it was his defense attorney who tried to convince the
jury that somewhere in Tulsa there was a shadowy Satanic High Priest who had
ordered Sean to kill three people.  This attempt to transfer the blame away
from Sellers was rejected by the jury.  Presumably, this was because no
evidence exists that there were any organized Satanists in Tulsa, let alone a
High Priest to have given these orders, and also because Sellers' choice of
victims made his selfish motives quite obvious: he killed a store clerk who
refused to sell him alcohol and the parents who were trying to separate him
from his girlfriend.
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Those who label such crimes "occult-related" are defending the unlikely claim
that sick, twisted people like Richard "The Night Stalker" Ramirez and David
"Son of Sam" Berkowitz would never kill if they never discovered "the
occult."   Psychopaths don't kill because of the occult; they use the occult
as an excuse to kill.
The "occult-crime experts" blame all magical and Earth-centered religions for
every crime committed by anyone who imitates them.  This is absurd.  Were the
grisly sexual murders and cannibalism of retarded women by self-styled
"Bishop" Gary Heidnick "Christ-related?"  And shall we blame the Bible for
the murder of his followers by ordained Christian minister Jim Jones?
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Some of  the claims of some of the "occult investigators" would be funny if
there weren't people who believed them.  For example, many "occult
investigators" repeat Dr. Al Carlisle's claim that each year two to three
times more Americans are sacrificed to Satan than were killed in the entire
Viet Nam war.  When Dr. Carlisle was asked where he got his numbers, he
admitted that he made them up, and that he knows of no actual human
sacrifices.
For religious reasons, the "occult-crime experts"  are trying to focus police
attention on less than sixty of the one million violent crimes committed in
the last ten years.  Law enforcement agencies should track down murderers and
the courts should deal with them harshly--regardless of their religion.
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The Truth About AMER
The Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions (AMER) is a St. Louis-based
organization made up of representatives of several distinct Magical and/or
Earth-centered religious traditions.  Its members have only one thing in
common: all of them feel that they have been unfairly blamed by some in the
media and in law enforcement for the problems of today's  society.
AMER's Statement of Purpose:
1.  AMER will defend the right of every American to practice his or her own
religion, insofar as that religion's practices do not directly harm anyone.
In particular, AMER will actively campaign for tolerance for Magical and
Earth-centered religions.
2.  AMER will work to promote a positive image for Magical and Earth-centered
religions, and to counter negative propaganda about such groups.
3.  AMER will promote cooperation among the various Magical and
Earth-centered religious groups.
4.  AMER will serve as a source of accurate information on Magical and
Earth-centered religions and practices.
For more information about AMER, send a stamped, self-addressed long envelope
to AMER, 11220 West Florissant, Suite 288, Florissant, Missouri 63032.
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