Dear Preston,
Thanks for info about the Aquino broadcast. I
began writing a lengthy rebuttal of previous
postings, but a summary might be handy, as we
all have more important things to focus on.
1. Although "journalistic objectivity" has
come under attack, the empirical procedures
by which journalists gather and critically
analyze information are still vital. These
include multiple sources, avoiding _ad hominem_
("To The Man") and _Tu Quoque_ ("You also") attacks,
and making efforts to review primary documentation.
They are careful, when discerning motives, not to
"Mind Read" others (attributing knowledge to
another's internal thoughts, feelings and motives).
This is commonly called "prejudice". From Michael
Shermer's "Why People Believe Weird Things:
Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions
of Our Time" (New York: W.H. Freeman and Company,
1997): "It [these attacks] is a rhetorical device
and has no argumentative value whatsoever."
(Shermer, 56)
"Conspiracy theorists" require no such training
or credentials. The best have always been closer
to investigative journalists, while the worst
are on a "slippery slope" to Jacques Ellul's
sociological propaganda. From "Propaganda: The
Formation of Men's Attitudes" (New York: Vintage Books,
1973):
"Direct propaganda, aimed at modifying opinions and
attitudes, must be preceded by propaganda that is
sociological in character, slow, general, seeking to
create a climate, an atmosphere of favourable preliminary
attitudes." (Ellul, 15)
Shermer also quotes psychologist Barry Singer (59) on
problem-solving inadequecies:
A. Immediately form a hypothesis and look only for examples
to confirm it.
B. Do not seek evidence to disprove the hypothesis.
C. Are [sic] very slow to change the hypothesis even when
it is obviously wrong.
D. If the information is too complex, adopt overly-simple
hypotheses or strategies for solutions.
E. If there is no solution, if the problem is a trick and
"right" and "wrong" is given at random, form hypotheses
about coincidental relationships they observed.
Causality is always found.
The material in the radio report and Dan Rightmyer's research
fails all five inadequecies. Causality is found, despite
evidence to the contrary. This is "common-sense" for
the majority of people, which is why Aquino has not
been prosecuted.
Some CIA-Drugs list people have assumed a superior attitude
without critically examining their premises. From Dana
Polan's "Power and Paranoia: History, Narrative and the
American Cinema 1940-1950" (New York: Columbia University
Press, 1986):
"Propaganda assumes a certain adversarial position - vis-a-vis
the people it sets out to convince. It simultaneously suggests
that people are reasonable enough to follow the "correct" view
but unreasonable enough to have allowed falsehoods to sway
them temporarily." (Dana Polan, 56).
Aquino's critics presume this, and when challenged, turn
to _Ad Hominem_ attacks. This depends on their personal
belief system: if Christian, then "Satanism" is false; if
anti-intelligence community, then Aquino's military career
is evidence of guilt-by-association (without examining it
or how the intelligency community functions); if a pro-SRA
therapist, then the allegations are probably correct, despite
Aquino not being charged, and there being no forensic
evidence that any abuse ever occurred.
Propaganda "codifies social, political, and moral standards."
(Ellul, 163). "The aim of modern propaganda is no longer to
modify ideas, but to provoke action." (Ellul, 25).
Who controls the framing/context thereby controls the
"debate": "There is no reality that can exist outside an
ideological framing; those elements of reality that an
ideology ignores become non-realities with no force or
substance." (Dana Polan, 46).
2. Aquino's critics have a Presupposition (silent assumption,
unspoken paradigm) that because he is PSYOP-trained, he is
automatically a liar. This is also a Complex Equivalence
(that all PSYOP and propaganda is lying). PSYOP is used as
an Over/Under-defined Term, without any reference to its
history, military application, geopolitical realities or
social institutions.
In fact, PSYOP advances have been slowly adopted, and
only after much debate. Aquino's writings have stressed
the need for ethical training.
Where is the forensic evidence?
3. The narrative relies on urban legends. "Rumors begin
with "I read somewhere that . . ." or "I heard somewhere
that . . ." Before long the rumor becomes reality, as "I
know that . . ." passes from person to person. Rumors _may_
be true, of course, but usually they are not. They do make
for great tales, however." (Shermer, 51).
Sole reliance on _San Francisco Chronicle_ reports, and
Mae Brussell's consequent reporting is "overreliance on
authorities" (Shermer, 56-57).
Since Brussell quoted news reports, and did not have access to
SFPD, CID or court documentation, she could not have known
everything about the Presidio case. Therefore, any researcher
who relied on her research, and failed to examine other
sources, would: (a) present a "biased" depiction (b) totally
distort both the Temple of Set's research and *interpretation*
of historical figures (c) miss the forensic/medical evidence
required to prove that abuse occurred (d) miss the complex
debate that has occurred in the psychoanalytic community
about the treatment modalities, and Freud's Seduction Theory.
Conspiracy theorists who investigate Presidio regularly leave
out any evidence that would undermine their predetermined
conclusions. For example, SFPD investigative officer Sandi
Gallant was keeping "intelligence files" on TS, the OTO,
and other organizations, and then using this information for
"occult cop" seminars. Her unit was disbanded when this
"conflict of interest" was discovered (which I confirmed
by letter in 1994). Gallant's verbatim statements in
Larry Kahaner's book "Cults That Kill" (New York: Warner
Books, 1988) show that she does not understand contemporary
occult doctrines, and that there is a gulf between criminals
who use occult/Satanic imagery and legitimate (legally
recognized) institutions.
"Anecdotes do not make a science." (Shermer, 47). Nor do
they make solid journalism. But anecdotes is what we get.
4. Yes, the Temple of Set has investigated parapolitical
aspects of Nazism, which can be found throughout all
societies and cultures, not just Nazi Germany. If you
condemn that, then you condemn political scientists
and the Frankfurt School. Investigation to understand
does not mean validation of the Nazi belief system. As
TS is *individualistic* in outlook, this is contra
to Hitler's _volk_ which was *communal/collectivistic*.
There is also a difference between Neo-Nazis who focus
on "surface imagery" and those who understand the
"deep dynamics".
Propaganda "does no try to take possession of the
individual or dominate him by devious means, but simply
to transmit certain beliefs and ideas." (Ellul, 194).
5. Critics play to cultural stereotypes without
investigating the research conducted by the Church
of Satan or the Temple of Set. Both institutions,
since their inception, have not admitted children
as members or to Pylon/Conclave gatherings. TS
has evolved from many different philosophies, and
is not anti Judeo-Christian in emphasis:
>From the TS "General Information and Affiliation" letter:
"Initiation begins with denial and rejection of the
herd-mentality. The cultural and social values of the masses,
whether propounded by conventional religions or by mass media,
are recognized as obstacles to individual spiritual development.
Human society values predictability, stability, or stasis above
all things. The Initiate, by contrast, seeks continuous,
positive self-evolution.
"Objective understanding and evaluation of the host society's
values are necessary in order to intelligently formulate one's
own."
This has included intensive study of genetic, familial, social
and memetic influences on people (lifespan development). See
Mihaly Csikzentimhalyi's work on "Flow" psychological states.
Propaganda "proceeds by psychological manipulations, by
character modifications, by the creation of feelings or
stereotypes useful when the time comes." (Ellul, 31).
Rightmyer's research, and that of Presidio researchers,
comes close to this.
Do you accept the definition proposed by "Reefer Madness"
(1937) of marijuana addicts? The OHNDCP stereotype of heroin
users? The defense of the House on Un-American Activities by
John Wayne in "Big Jim McClain" (1952)? The depiction of
Russians by John Milius in "Red Dawn" (1983)? Effective
propaganda targets marginalized groups during times of
sociopolitical crisis. See Michael Lieb's "Children of
Ezekiel: Aliens, UFOs, the Crisis of Race and the
Advent of End Times" (Duke University Press, 1999) for
the Reagan era, and Michael Parenti's sociological
critiques (www.michaelparenti.org).
The attacks on Aquino because of his religious affiliation
are very close to the Red Scare's moral hysteria. This
similarity is strenuously denied by his attackers, because
they would have to re-examine themselves. Rather than
focus on internal fetters, they act on "external" problems.
>From Joseph Natoli's Hauntings: Popular Film and American
Culture: 1990-1992. Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1994:
"Harmony is something we know all about, and, because we
know all about it, conflicts stick out like sore thumbs.
The enemy is always clearly visible. And because we all have
a common sense of harmony,we know how to overcom
difficulties." (Natoli, 206)
6. The "Wewelsberg Working" has been erroneously described as
a "Bohemian Grove style Black Mass". Wewelsberg Castle was
built in the 15th century, thus predating Himmler and the
Nazis. A Black Magician will search for proxemic environments
and tools, whether or not mass society "approves" of this
choice.
The Wewelsburg Working was conducted on
October 19, 1982. This was a philosophical inquiry, after a
failed 1982 coup d'etat within TS, about why initiatory
institutions, from the Theosophical Society and the Hermetic
Order of the Golden Dawn, to the Church of Satan, had
suffered periodic crises. From Dr. Aquino's Working Record:
"Concepts of 'will', 'intelligence', 'self-consciousness',
'initiation', and 'magic' appeared in turn and fell aside as
well; I saw them as useful, but still, surprisingly, peripheral
to the central concept being approached. When at last all veils
had been removed and that concept was revealed, it was so simple
as to seem at first anticlimactic and almost disappointing. It
was: the phenomenon of life."
One insight from Aquino's philosophical meditation was
independently arrived at, in the same year, by philosopher Ken
Wilber (and without using the Wewelsburg Castle: the insights
are not invalidated, the only controversy is the "tools" by
which they were arrived at). Wilber's "discovery" of the
"Pre/Trans Fallacy" revolutionized the transpersonal psychology
field's study of spiritual experience. From Wilber's "Eye to
Eye: The Quest for the New Paradigm" (Expanded Edition).
Boston and Shaftesbury: Shambhala Publications Inc, 1990:
"_Since_ development moves from prepersonal to
personal to transpersonal, and _since_ both prepersonal
and transpersonal are, in their own ways, nonpersonal, _then_
prepersonal and transpersonal tend to appear similar, even
identical, to the untutored eye. In other words, people tend to
confuse prepersonal and transpersonal dimensions--and there is
the heart of the ptf. [pre/trans fallacy]" (Wilber, 219).
This "confusion" is a key reason why initiatory societies have
endured schisms and problems. Initiates may be very advanced
in some streams or lines of development, but not in other areas.
A crisis may trigger regression to more neurotic behavioral
patterns.
The "black mass" was established in the popular imagination by
J.K. Huysman's "La Bas" ("Down There"), a fictional account
of a 17th century mass, and the Hell-Fire Club, a fraternity that
exalted the Greek gods Bacchus and Apollo, and which included
several Founding Fathers. It is associated with William Friedkin's
1973 film "The Excorcist", and with the anti-Catholic iconography
of "Michelle Remembers", a book by Michelle Smith and her doctor,
Lawrence Pazder (New York: Congdon and Lattes Inc, 1980). On how
literary genres and conventions influence media and politics,
see Elaine Showalter's "Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and
Modern Media" (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996).
Showalter is an English professor at Princeton University.
Both are the product of Judeo-Christian stereotypes, not actual
practices or beliefs. The early Church of Satan did garner
publicity because of its use of a nude member (usually female)
as an altar, but Satanists and Setians aren't obsessed with
sex: it's simply a part of life. The US Army, likewise, knew of
Aquino's affiliation in 1970 (he drafted the Army Chaplain's
Handbook listing). Before SRA it wasn't a problem.
There have been Satanic paths throughout many cultures,
from the Malamati "Way of Blame" (Islam) to the Aghori
sect (Hinduism). Both are thousands of years old, and
based on the individual's conceptual distance from
mass society and institutionalized religious practices/
suppressive moral codes. Semioticians, from Ferdinand de
Saussure to Roland Barthes, understand that symbols mean
*different* things to *different* people at *different*
times. Yet Rightmyer and the Presidio theorists claim
"exclusivity" of definition, despite over 30 years of
evidence otherwise.
Anton LaVey anticipated the present respectability of
Evolutionary Psychology and Sociobiology, the re-discovery
of Film Noir and Pre-Code films, Aesthetic Existentialism, the
"Entertainment Economy" and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Dr.
Aquino wrote the Lovecraft rituals for LaVey's "Satanic
Rituals", and the scope of his research/application of
Cybernetics, NLP, Space Migration, and the Black Arts
of Ferarri Maintenance. :)
>From the Temple of Set's "General Information and Admissions"
letter:
"Regretfully there still exist some individuals whose idea of
"Satanism" is largely a simple-minded synthesis of Christian
propaganda and Hollywood horror movies. The Temple of Set enjoys
the colorful legacy of the Black Arts, and we use many forms of
historical Satanic imagery for our artistic stimulation and
pleasure. But we have not found that any interest or activity
which an enlightened, mature intellect would regard as undignified,
sadistic, criminal, or depraved is desirable, much less essential
to our work.
"The Temple of Set is an evolutionary product of human experience.
Such experience includes the magical and philosophical work of
many occult individuals and organizations which have preceded us.
Some of these were socially acceptable by contemporary or modern
standards; others were not. Some made brilliant discoveries in one
field of interest while blighting their reputations with shocking
excesses or tragic failures in others. In examining the secret and
suppressed corners of history for valuable and useful material,
the Temple insists upon ethical presentation and use of such
discoveries as it makes. Setians who are in any doubt as to the
ethics involved in any of the fields which we explore should seek
counsel from the Priesthood. All Setians are further expected to
display a high measure of maturity and common sense in this area.
"The Black Arts are dangerous in the same way that working with
volatile chemicals is dangerous. This is most emphatically not
a field for unstable, immature, or otherwise emotionally or
intellectually weak-minded people. Such are a hazard to themselves
and to others with whom they come into contact. The Temple endeavors
to not admit them to begin with. If such an individual should gain
admittance and later be exposed, he will be summarily expelled.
In cases of doubt the Temple may be expected to place the burden
of proof on the individual, for the sake of all Setians and
the Temple's integrity."
7. Regarding CIA-Drugs-Satanic Cult theories:
"Bold statements do not make claims true" (Shermer, 49).
"The theory in part _constructs_ the reality. Reality exists
independent of the observer, of course, but our perceptions
of reality are influenced by the theories framing our
examination of it." (Shermer, 46).
8. Verified child abuse cases should be prosecuted,
whatever the religious belief of the defendent (is
there "Christian, Muslim, Hindu Child Abuse" as well?).
Accusations of child abuse need to be taken with great
care, in order to avoid a witch-hunt atmosphere. Hence,
the need for investigative/objective journalism standards.
The "burden of proof" lies with the accuser.
"Modern man does not think about current problems: he feels
them." (Ellul, 47). "Propaganda is addressed to feelings
and passions - it is irrational." (Ellul, 84).
1. Judge yourself before you judge others.
2. Check your facts rigorously and pay attention to
frames-of-reference and pre-suppositions.
3. Be wary of finding simple "cause-effect" or simplicity
that does not actually exist in reality.
4. Remember that the mind distorts, deletes, generalizes
and nominalizes language.
5. Consider alternate hypotheses; don't simply collect
"facts" or "cases" to prove your theory.
Regards,
Alex
d|i|s|i|n|f|o|r|m|a|t|i|o|n
Latest Dispatch: "I, Croupier"
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