American society is causing people to turn to Satanism for unanswered questions which might be causing a modern day Salem witch hunt, according to some NIU professors.

Four panelists, including three NIU faculty members, spoke Friday at the last day of a three day Satanism seminar to a crowd of about 100 people in the Holmes Student Center.

NIU Sociology Professor Roger Quinney said there are many parallels between the Salem witch hunts and the modern cult scare.

“I’m not trying to draw a direct parallel between Salem in 1692 and modern America, but there are a number of similar elements,” Quinney said.

Quinney said the persecutions in Salem in 1692 were economically motivated and the current cult scare in our country focuses on people who already suffer in society.

“It’s blue-collar types who tend to be outsiders in school turning to cult-like behavior,” he said.

If a religion cannot explain why bad things happen to good people, then people begin looking for outside sources for answers, Quinney said.

NIU Political Science Associate Professor Gary Glenn said Satanism is increasing in America because religion is no longer needed to satisfy spiritual needs. He said no human can live without distinguishing between good and evil.

“Religion serves to distinguish between good and evil. When a society approaches its religion with disrespect, that opens the door for other forms of belief,” Glenn said.

NIU Philosophy Professor Sherman Stanage said all men are neurotic and society’s failure to pacify these neuroses is causing people to turn to Satanism.

Stanage also said children are drawn into Satanism because society is setup to persecute youth. “We are at war with our children.”

“We rape the planet we bring them (children) into and violence, terror and war are the cultural metaphors of our society,” he said.

“The exclusion of religion from public life allows superstition in the form of Satanism to take hold,” Glenn said. “But Satanism is like spiritual junk food which will not satisfy the spiritual hunger we all feel.”

Eric Barr, an associate pastor at the Newman Catholic Student Center, said Satanism would not exist without Christianity and an understanding of the story of Satan is needed to combat the problem, he said.

“People believe in Satanism because it’s a way of expressing alienation from society,” Barr said.

“However, to divorce Satanism from its religious aspect is a serious mistake,” he said.

Barr said the main purpose of Satanism is “power domination and control.” Any religion that does not seek the greater good of mankind becomes a cult and “disfunctional in society,” he said.

The tolerance of religious desecration in society contributes to the spiritual decay of America, Glenn said.

The controversial work of author Salman Rushdie, photographer Robert Maplethorpe and films such as “The Last Temptation of Christ” are examples of religious desecration, Glenn said.

Quinney said a major revision in religion is being made in America to better answer the question, and this has lead to fears about Satanism.

“Perhaps we are reviving the witch hunt in revising our religion,” he said.