And Out Come The Wolves.

I knew when I started this site that it was only a matter of time until I began taking fire from Mr. Riggs' supporters.

The following is from an e-mail I just received from "SRA survivor":

The bolded portions are my commentary on each point.

"I noticed in your reply that you completely avoided the clearly documented evidence presented on Dr. Ellen Lacter's, as well as made no references to the work of Russ Dizdar who is a Pastor."

Dr. Ellen Lacter is a practicing psychologist who operates a website that has assembled multiple links to articles on the subject of SRA. My cursory review of the information is that it appears to be heavily biased. I have also noticed that none of them appeared to be written in peer-reviewed journals. If I am incorrect in this point, I welcome correction. I'll be going through this information in detail in further points.

This isn't the first time I've heard of Russ Dizdar. His writings are bizarre on a level comparable with Scientology. He seems to amalgamate a multitude of conspiracy theories and unite them under the banner and unifying theme of an international, intergenerational SRA conspiracy. He is like most conspiracists in that his claims exhibit a profound ignorance of both history and political science. I'll be taking aim at his writings in detail later on as well, but here's one for free:

Russ Dizdar is about as qualified as David Icke as an "expert."

"It seems clear that you have an agenda against Doug Riggs and at this point are unwilling to really look at the evidence that your are seeking to debunk."

To avoid taking things out of context, I'm waiting until I've had a chance to go through each one of these in detail before posting a concise summary of the writings and their basis in reality. From what I have read, it requires an awful lot of confirmation bias and credulity to believe, and no convincing cases have been cited, only shams like the West Memphis Three and the McMillan Preschool cases. That may change as I delve further into them, but with each example I see the same thing happening: Law enforcement officials and court-appointed therapists entering into investigations with a pre-determined conclusion propped up by self-appointed "experts." I suppose it's worth pointing out that in each of these cases there hasn't been a single shred of physical evidence presented. To the ones that buy into this worldview, that makes law enforcement complicit in the "cover-up."

In my opinion belief in the SRA conspiracy is on the same level as belief in the moon hoax, a flat earth, magnet therapy, ghosts, UFOs, New World Order hokum, and 9/11 conspiracy theories. It should come as no surprise that many who believe in a massive SRA conspiracy also believe in some, if not all, of the above.

And you are correct. I do have an agenda against Doug Riggs. I'd like him to stop tearing families apart. That doesn't seem so unreasonable.

"Below is one of the most updated resources with professionals from several disciplines. I will be watching to see if you interact and respond to this level of documented evidence to the phenomenon you are seeking to refute."

This person is referring to a book written by James Randall Noblitt, who appears to be the most notable, and educated, person advancing the idea of Satanic Ritual Abuse. He is faculty at the California School of Professional Psychology, and by its website, his book appears to be a collection of articles written by various contributors.

I cannot comment in an informed manner on the book in detail because I have not read it, but I will say this much. This is a published book, for sale - not an article or report submitted for academic peer review to a mental health journal. We have only the author's word that all of the contributing stories were fact-checked, properly vetted, and scrutinized for accuracy. This is why peer-reviewed journals are vitally important, because they separate actual research from self-aggrandizing egoists.

However, Mr. Noblitt doesn't have the best track record with reference to factual accuracy in his books. In one of his prior offerings, "Cult & Ritual Abuse:
Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America" he cited several people and ideas that have been revealed to be complete frauds: Mike Warnke, Steven Knight, Dale Griffis, Jim Shaw, and the infamous Taxil Hoax to name a few.

With that kind of pedigree, I don't expect a truthful and accurate effort from Mr. Noblitt. I rather expect to find a tome penned by someone who bought a lot of information at face value and didn't bother to verify a word of it as long as it supported his conclusion. That isn't research, and any professor worth his salt should be ashamed to have his name attached to such garbage.

"I would encourage you to look at whether this "stop Doug Riggs" motivation stems from a root of bitterness. If it indeed does, The Lord will not honor your desire, whether you are right in your desire for vindication or not. You do not have the authority to "stop Doug Riggs" only God does. Therefore you need to seriously be before Him asking if this intention of yours glorifies Him for if it does not, you are fighting a losing battle."

Bitterness? Perhaps. If I am bitter, it's that this man has continued to destroy lives through his "pseudo-therapy" and megalomaniac control of his followers. He's one jug of Kool-Aid away from being Jim Jones. Add to that disturbing allegations of sexual impropriety with his "counselees" as well as allegedly having an appetite for the very things he condemns, and you have a picture of a man that for years has bought into a patently false worldview, and forces this same worldview and his own desires onto genuinely hurting people that come to him in good faith for assistance and end up being convinced their parents abused them as children when there isn't the slightest shred of evidence to suggest it.

But you are correct. I don't have the authority to "Stop Doug Riggs." I don't have the ability to make him do anything. Doug Riggs will be stopped when people see him for what he is rather than what he claims, or the authorities in his area determine that he is acting as an unlicensed mental health professional, and censure him appropriately.

By the way - the toll-free hotline to report a person to the New York Mental Health Association for practicing without a license is 1-800-442-8106.

"P.S
In regard to your question, 2012 is simply the year I was to graduate at the time I created the email account. Nothing more, nothing less."

On a hunch, I asked this person if they also believed in the various theories surrounding the "2012 apocalypse" since the digits were a part of their e-mail address. Question asked, answer received.

-StopDougRiggs