A Culture of Fear: Religious Panic and Modern Society

UNCP Author/Contributor (non-UNCP co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Brittney Fenick (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP )
Web Site: http://www.uncp.edu/academics/library
Advisor
David Nikkel

Abstract: Modern culture has been largely influenced by Christian influence, and notably through the event called the Satanic Panic. What could cause such a influential moral panic in the modern world? A perfect storm of events composed of the anti-cult movement of the 1960's-1990's, the rise of the New Right political party, and the enactment of the Child Abuse Protection and Treatment Act (CAPTCHA). This is not the first time the public has gone to extreme measures over concerns of Satanic influence, but the world is much more interconnected than it ever has been before. The Satanic panic and the anti-cult movement have influenced how Americans treat new religious movements and how the public treats media. Seemingly innocuous things such as genres of music and role-playing games were targeted and are still thought negatively of in religious communities. With how interconnected the modern world truly is, it might be possible to combat moral panics by spreading information and making it easier for the public to check information they are given.

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Esther G. Maynor Honors College
Language: English
Date: 2020
Keywords
Religion, Religious Panic, Modern Society, Culture of Fear, Fear, Role-playing Games, RPG, Religious Movements, Morals, Public, Music, Anti-cult, American ,

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