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{{quote|''We've got trouble, right here in River City, [[With a Capital T|with a capital T]], and that rhymes with P, and that stands for "pool!"''|[[The Music Man|Harold Hill]], on why a pool table is serious trouble.}}
Some [[Moral Guardians]] are so paranoid that they'll [[Windmill Political|attack the most ridiculous things]], or [[Demonization|will attack them in the most ridiculous ways possible]]. Essentially, they use [[Insane Troll Logic]] to prove that something is [[The New Rock and Roll]]. There are a few favorite methods used:
This type of thinking runs thus:
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All those pretty colors and shapes? Those aren't just eye candy to captivate the show's hyperactive target audience - those are ''eeeeeeevil'' occult symbols!
Another trick is to take something nasty that a villain said or did [[Quote Mine|out of context]], then insinuate that the source material [[But Not Too Evil|actually encourages that type of thing]]. This was done with the [[Harry Potter]] books, with paranoid fundamentalists citing ''[[Big Bad|Voldemort's]]'' actions and words as "values" the book supposedly endorses.
Sometimes used against superhero and fantasy stories. The argument runs that if a source of what appears to be magical power is not explicitly explained or understood, then the power must come from Satan, and therefore the story is part of the Satanic agenda. A more likely explanation is that the writers intended the character to use a type of energy or [[Phlebotinum]] that is as of yet unknown in our world, or that the power was intended to be a [[Power of Love|metaphor]].
How absurd is this argument? Picture a medieval peasant coming forward in time to your home and declaring that you must be in league with the devil because you use an ungodly power to light your home, cook your food, wash your clothes, etc. This power is electricity, but to the medieval peasant's eyes, such power could have only come from the devil.
And finally, some of them ''[[Demonization|just make crap up]]'', because their claims that such-and-such is an evil symbol of so-and-so has ''no'' historical basis whatsoever.
Expect a lot of [[Did Not Do the Research]] (especially [[You Fail Logic Forever]]), [[Dan Browned]], [[Insane Troll Logic]], [[
Some of these may be born via [[Poe's Law|parody]], which the sufficiently
See also [[Everything Is Racist]] and [[Paedo Hunt]]. Compare [[The Moral Substitute]], [[Heteronormative Crusader]], [[Windmill Crusader]] and [[Informed Obscenity]].
{{examples}}
== Non-Fictional Examples ==
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* ''[[Blade of the Immortal]]'': The main character, Manji, takes the "crux gammata" as both his name and his personal symbol. As a symbol of prosperity and good fortune, the swastika was widely used throughout the ancient world. The anti-Semitic or pro-Nazi meaning did not exist until 1910.
** The swastika is still widely used in Hinduism (and Buddhism, to a lesser extent) as it was for thousands of years all over Eurasia before the Nazis appropriated it to their own use.
*** While certainly played straight often, the anti-Swastika sentiment is actually a subversion in many cases. A lot of people who do recognize when a Swastika is used regardless of the Nazi connotations of it will still want to limit its public perception, at least in their own communities, as Holocaust survivors may be traumatized by just seeing the image too much whether it was intended in its use or not. Even striped pajamas have caused issues occasionally, without anyone thinking they were anti-Semitic.
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* This trope is basically the reason why the [[Comics Code]] was created. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published a book called ''[[wikipedia:Seduction of the Innocent|Seduction of the Innocent]]'' which argued that comics were a danger to children. It didn't help that there was a US Congressional hearing being held about comics at the same time. Before the [[Moral Guardians]] could crack down, the industry created the Comics Code itself.
* [[Godwin's Law|Hitler]] considered [[Superman]] to be an honorary Jew. (Superman's creator was Jewish, to be fair.) However, since the Nazis referred to non-Aryans as Untermenschen, or "under-men", you'll encounter people who think Superman is Nazi-related. (One of those people was Frederic Wertham, who was very disturbed by the image of a "superman" wearing an "S" ''just like the Nazi SS!'')
===
* Even [[Shirley Temple]], of all people, isn't safe from it—As if the comments on a video of "On The Good Ship Lollipop" from ''[[Bright Eyes]]'' about the perceived distastefulness of a young girl in the company of grown men wasn't upsetting enough, some on YouTube and on conspiracist forums have alleged that the scene alluded to if not promoted satanic ritual abuse.
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' contains "witches". Centuries ago, "witch" strictly meant someone who made a [[Deal with the Devil]]; therefore, even though the modern connotation of "witch" is simply "one who can do magic" and ''has nothing to do with Satanic origins'', the magic must be Satanic and encouraging kids to pursue the same! The sad thing is that even a half-close reading of the series shows many parallels with Christian doctrine and the Gospels, especially by ''[[Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows|Deathly Hallows]]'', but the [[Moral Guardians]] just don't know when to stop! One criticized Voldemort's drinking of unicorn blood, claiming that the book was teaching children that they could gain immortality by drinking the blood of something that wasn't Jesus. Of course, they didn't mention the parts where it's explained that drinking unicorn blood is an atrocious thing to do and that while it will stop you from dying, you will live a cursed half-life.<ref>John Granger's extensive research into the symbolism of ''Harry Potter'' goes a different route, pointing out that the unicorn has long been a symbol of Christ Himself... overthrowing that "something other than Christ" claim and furthermore nailing Voldy's act by calling up Paul's comments on "drinking [communion] in an unworthy manner."</ref>▼
▲* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' contains "witches". Centuries ago, "witch" strictly meant someone who made a [[Deal with the Devil]]; therefore, even though the modern connotation of "witch" is simply "one who can do magic" and ''has nothing to do with Satanic origins'', the magic must be Satanic and encouraging kids to pursue the same! The sad thing is that even a half-close reading of the series shows many parallels with Christian doctrine and the Gospels, especially by ''[[Harry Potter and
** Not to mention that {{spoiler|[[Fan Nickname|Quirrellmort]]}} (Voldemort in the movie) says "There is no good or evil; there is only power, and those too weak to seek it." Horrible philosophy? Yes. But this is ''[[Complete Monster|Voldemort]]''.
** It's probably worth noting that some of the accusations that ''Harry Potter'' was turning kids on to witchcraft came from an ''[[The Onion|Onion]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20100326045555/http://www.theonion.com/articles/harry-potter-books-spark-rise-in-satanism-among-ch,2413/ article] that someone along the line [[Poe's Law|didn't realize was a joke]], forwarded to all their friends, and it blew up from there. [[Did Not Do the Research]] indeed.
* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' has actually been banned in some Christian school libraries because it's supposedly Satanic. Never mind its obvious Christian allegories, and ''never mind'' that Aslan ''is literally Jesus.''
** It ought be noted that, as with [[Harry Potter|Mr. Potter]] above, [[The Fundamentalist|fundies]] also hated ''Narnia'' because it mentioned magic. Making it quite obvious to everyone that apparently every fundie ever skipped the day that symbolism was taught in Language Arts class.
** In the original edition of his anti-''[[Dungeons
* Jack Chick is hardly the only one to denounce Tolkien as "Satanic". Perhaps the most baffling "argument" is presented in [http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract11.html this essay]: you know how in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the good guys win in the end? [[Insane Troll Logic|Well, you know who else teaches that good always triumphs over evil? WITCHES!]] Evidently, a good Christian should look forward to the eventual triumph of Satan.
* ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' gets this treatment [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRM5ihaKWRA here.] Yep, Edward Cullen was ''obviously'' named after the kid who escaped a Satanic cult that one time, and the chessboard on ''Breaking Dawn''{{'}}s cover is ''obviously'' supposed to look like the floor of a Masonic lodge. Incidentally, Bill Schnoebelen is the guy who claims that ''[[Dungeons
* Some Internet [[Conspiracy Theorist
=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===
* ''[[The Teletubbies]]'': The purple one with the triangle and handbag is obviously proof that the evil gay liberals are forcing their godless agenda on our innocent children.
** He also wore a skirt at times that the other male refused to wear (strangely, it seems this was never brought up by either side).
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** [[Deadpool|We know that's not true]].
* Legendary ''[[Firefly]]'' hater "Allecto" picked apart just about every action and line of dialogue in the series in an effort to expose what she saw as [[Joss Whedon]]'s hatred of women. [[Hate Dumb|As far as she was concerned]], the show was Whedon's manifesto of how he thought women should be abused by men.
** What was even worse was her criticism of the episode
=== [[Music]] ===
* Parodied with the Worm Quartet's song (link hilarious but [[NSFW]])
* According to some conspiracy theorists, [[Contractual Purity|trying to grow out of your innocent child star image]] is proof that the Satanic media is using you to lure innocent children away from their own purity and innocence. For example, [[Britney Spears]]' ''entire life'' was a plot—start her out on the [[Mickey Mouse]] show so parents think she's sweet and innocent, then when she gets older put her in skanky clothes and have her kiss [[Madonna]] to lure (former) children into depravity. Ditto with [[Miley Cyrus]] whose transition from ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' to the controversial MTV Video Music Awards performance was seen with intense scrutiny.
* The [[wikipedia:Tritone#Historical uses|Tritone]]. Because it's dissonant, it must be the devil!
* A lot of metal and hard rock acts and perhaps even some pop stars had to deal with the so-called "Satanic Panic" of the 80s, where the lyrics and imagery from the likes of [[Slayer]], [[Black Sabbath]] and [[Led Zeppelin]] among others were put under intense scrutiny from [[Moral Guardians]]. Such was the scrutiny that there was even a [http://www.joesapt.net/superlink/shrg99-529/p73.html United States Senate probe] with which Dee Snider of [[Twisted Sister]] testified in to refute any accusations of promoting indecent behavior to youths. (To be fair, Dave Mustaine of [[Megadeth]] used to practice black magic and other satanic rituals in his teens, but he became uncomfortable about it when he became a born-again Christian, making it a point not to appear alongside bands perceived as black metal or satanic or play songs referring to occult rituals like "The Conjuring")
* [[Michael Jackson]] tried to pre-empt this when he made the video for "[[Thriller (song)|Thriller]]" by adding a disclaimer (ghostwritten by John Landis on Jackson's behalf) stating that the contents of the video do not in any way reflect his religious beliefs (Jackson was a devout Jehovah's Witness at the time, having written articles for their official literature). The Jehovah's Witnesses still took umbrage which eventually resulted in Jackson leaving the group.
* Some Christian groups gave their hatred towards disco a more fire-and-brimstone twist by labelling the dance trend under the backronym '''D'''ancing '''I'''n '''S'''atan's '''CO'''mpany as a way to condemn the hedonism disco supposedly glorifies. Then again, people have gone burned out by the dance craze by the end of the 70s anyway.
* The hip-hop group [[Three 6 Mafia]] was, at least for a time, the butt of controversy from religious groups and conspiracy theorists alike–the group's name itself is a [[What Do You Mean, It's Not Symbolic?|thinly-veiled reference]] to the [[Number of the Beast]] in keeping with their image as a [[Horrorcore]] group (at least until they shifted to the more mainstream [[Glam Rap|"ringtone rap"]] sound in their later albums); this bit back on them in the song "Stay Fly" where a sample from the Willie Hutch song [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1cRaYMlJmQ "Tell Me Why Has Our Love Turned Cold"] was [[Mondegreen|misinterpreted]] as "Lucifer, you're my king, you're my father" instead of "you're my pride, you're my king, you're my father", as if the Three-Six was indeed [[Rock Me, Asmodeus|singing praises to the devil]].
=== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ===
* Thousands of years of scientific advancements and cultural heritage by the Maya were [https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2019/11/maya-codices-burned-by-the-inquisition-in-1562/ destroyed] by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, under the false belief that the codices and tomes the indigenous tribes kept contained [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diego-de-Landa “nothing in which there was not to be seen superstition and lies of the devil”].
** Ditto with the subjugation the Sámi people faced from Nordic missionaries. In 1609, King Christian IV of Denmark wrote that the Sámi were heathen sorcerers skilled in magic and demonic sorcery, and as such no mercy was to be spared when it comes to such "occult" beliefs. Such persecution against Sámi religious beliefs were alluded to in ''[[Frozen II]]'', whose Northuldra tribe was used as an allegory for tribal discrimination.
* Heck, even ''[[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] himself'' was accused of practising demonic acts as told in [https://www.bibleref.com/Matthew/12/Matthew-12-24.html Matthew 12:22-37], where the Pharisees accused Jesus of performing sorcery by the power of Beelzebub (yes, [[Queen|that]] Beelzebub) as he drove demons off a blind and mute man who was also healed of his condition. Naturally, Jesus did not take kindly to such a spurious accusation and left a stern reply rebuking their claims.
===[[Sports]]===
* Former Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher was the subject of conspiracy theories in some automotive enthusiast circles as having made a [https://www.reddit.com/r/OccultConspiracy/comments/yag5zm/did_michael_schumacher_sign_a_deal_with_the_devil/ Faustian pact with the devil] which accounted for his dominant career during his heyday; an auto magazine in the Philippines discussed this in the mid-2000s and debunked said claims, dismissing whatever deal Schumi had with Satan and chalked it up to him being just good with the sport.
* ''[[Dungeons
* This has caused other game companies (like ''[[Rifts]]'' publisher Palladium Books) to place a disclaimer in all their books stating that their books are works of fiction and they don't condone the supernatural or occultism.▼
* Worth mentioning is the ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' [[Hate Dumb]]. It has been associated with everything from pagan rituals to tarot cards.▼
** Technically speaking, you can make a Tarot deck out of Magic cards. Or a normal 52 card playing deck. Or any other deck of any other kind you might ever want.▼
** For that matter, Tarot cards were originally storytelling cards, with no ties to anything remotely magical. Then some people start using them as tools of divination, and suddenly the cards are evil by association and any actual storytelling deck is suspect. Go figure.▼
* While not as common as the other examples, the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' trading card game and associated anime franchise was [https://web.archive.org/web/20030524060035/http://www.studytoanswer.net/contemporary/yugioh.html accused] by fundamentalist Christian groups for encouraging satanic practices, owing to the franchise's use of ancient Egyptian mythology and themes which are perceived by the fundie crowd as "occult". One Filipino redditor [https://www.reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/4zz9ns/lahat_nalang_demonic/ recalled] in a comment on how he recalled seeing ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' cards being burned after a flag ceremony at an elementary school he attended (likely an Evangelical or Catholic school) owing to the teachers' association of the franchise with occultism.
* ''[[Pokémon]]''—accused of being Satanic for various reasons. Two ridiculous examples that stand out is the accusation that the -mon suffix stands for "demon"<ref>It stands for "monster" in this series. This confusion is more sensible than the others, because
** Arabic countries [[Banned in China|banned the game]] due to it containing a six-pointed star—because a six-pointed star was ''obviously'' stealth Jewish/Israeli propaganda. More ridiculously, it's been claimed that "Pikachu" means "be a Jew," or worse, "stronger than God" in Latin America. (The truth is much more [[Tastes Like Diabetes|benign and cutesy]]. The name is based on a Japanese onomatopoeia, coming out to roughly "Sparklesqueak" in English. Alternatively, it's named after the small fuzzy animal known as a pika. Or it could be both; they [[Pungeon Master|do love their puns]] in Japan, after all.)▼
** Don't forget the flap over [https://web.archive.org/web/20120512035126/http://pokegym.net/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=45060 Koga's Ninja Trick], which shows a manji. What's so bad about a manji? Well, it looks an awful lot like a [[Those Wacky Nazis|swastika]]. Some people who [[Did Not Do the Research]] thought it meant ''
** A few distinct
** Some people criticized a
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20110907135919/http://shelleytherepublican.com/2006/10/01/pokemon-the-yellow-peril.aspx Either the most psychotic Moral Guardian ever, or the world's greatest satirical blogger.]▼
*** [[Critical Research Failure|Even worse]], [[All Anime Is Naughty Tentacles|she mixes up the terms]] [[Anime]] and '''[[Hentai]]'''.▼
**** ''[[Serial Escalation|Even wore than that]],'' her description of the games (and the "[[Did Not Do the Research|Poke-men]]" themselves) may make you wonder whether you and
**** Worst of all, she blames the mass epilepsy on Pikachu evolving, not blowing up some particularly nasty missiles.▼
*** [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|And she also promotes the]] [[Chick Tracts]].▼
*** Really, how could this ''not'' be a parody? There's a mistake is just about every paragraph. She calls Winnie the Pooh "all-American" when he is a ''British'' character, misspells the name ''Superman'', refers to Pikachu as a "bear" when he is not, and seems to think [[Japan Takes Over the World|anything Japanese is evil]]. More than anything else, however, it's mind-boggling that anyone who burned comic books and tried to control what people enjoyed [[People's Republic of Tyranny|would use the word
** And then there's also creationists who accuse ''
* You could call [[Poe's Law]] on this one, but check out these [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_--DPLpDEmo two] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxfXQtnHGTo videos] for the hidden meanings someone has claimed to find in ''[[Legacy of Kain]]''.▼
* There's no question that the original ''[[Doom]]'' eventually takes the player to Hell. Enemies are explicitly referred to as demons. Satanic imagery is rampant. However... the player is tasked with ''destroying'' these images and agents of evil with a combination of [[More Dakka]] and the [[Trope Namer]] [[BFG]], yet the game has been accused of ''supporting'' the forces of Hell instead of opposing them. id Software level designer Sandy Petersen, who happened to be a practising Latter-Day Saint, saw no conflict between his faith and the use of satanic imagery in the games, stating "I have no problems with the demons in the game. They're just cartoons. And, anyway, they're the bad guys." ▼
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* ''[[Care Bears]]''. One particularly ridiculous example is when the movie was accused of promoting the occult because a character used magic from a talking spellbook. You'd think the fact that ''the spellbook was the villain'' would have given them a clue, but apparently not.▼
* ''[[Rainbow Brite]]''—Accused of being Satanic by Texe Marrs. Why? Because it contained ''stars'' and ''rainbows!'' According to Marrs's logic, if someone who isn't God is throwing around rainbows, that person is definitely promoting Satanism. Surprisingly he didn't seize upon two (actually, three) connections that would have halfway made sense. The star is an ancient symbol of Islam (or, alternately, could be mistaken for the pentagram), while the rainbow is, of course, one of the most famous symbols of gay pride. So, you could say that Rainbow Brite is a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|satanic Islamist-homosexual]]!▼
** Texe Marrs really lives and dies by this trope. In ''Circle of Intrigue'', Texe quotes Hermes Trismegistus as saying "God is a circle." He then reasons that, since, of course, Hermes was obviously a Satanist, Hermes's god is Satan. Therefore, by his logic, ''anything'' that uses a circle as a symbol is Satanic. He then goes on to list examples of things that have circles in their logos, coats of arms, or general shape.▼
* ''[[The Year Without a Santa Claus]]''—pulled from TV in some places because Heat Miser was deemed "Satanic." Especially absurd because he looked much more like a clown than like a devil.▼
* Some broadcasters worry about showing the 1942 Academy Award-winning Disney cartoon ''[[Der Fuehrer's
* Parodic (if eerily realistic-looking) complaints about ''[[My Little Pony:
** Not to mention one blogger that accused the show of being racist (due to the two dark-colored pony guards at the foot of Celestia's throne), Rainbow Dash being a lesbian (simply because of her mane and her love of athletics) and saying that books won't get you anywhere in life and you need authority figures to tell you how to be happy (completely ignoring the fact that Twilight Sparkle's book knowledge more often than not gives vital information to the characters, not to mention that in the beginning of the show she was a bibliophilic shut-in that didn't like to interact with other ponies). Fortunately, Lauren found out about the blog post and fired back with one that addressed every concern and even criticized the original poster.▼
* [[Disney]]'s use of magic as a recurring plot element in their films and series prompted scrutiny from conservatives and fundamentalist groups for reasons similar to ''Harry Potter''. The company logo in particular was seen as hiding a "[[Number of the Beast|666]]" reference, never mind the fact that cursive writing in general uses looping elements which a determined conspiracist could draw up a triple-six symbol from a mile away despite cursive writing not having anything to do with occultism.
=== Other/Multiple ===
* According to [http://www.demonbuster.com this parody website], everything from candles to paisley prints contains demons waiting to pounce on you. Paisleys, you see, are evil because 1: the design was invented by those heathen Indians, 2: it looks like that heathen Pythagorean comma, and 3: it was printed on fabrics made from goat hair, and anything to do with goats is evil because goats represent Satan.
** The design originally
** From the website: "For those of you who demand to see a Scripture before you can believe something, there are NO Scriptures that say YOU do NOT have demons. That should settle it!"
*** If you need any more evidence of trolling, it also says: ''BOYCE and BOICE are two demons that interfere with any electronic equipment, i.e., phone, computer, printer, automobile. If something malfunctions, command these two demons to leave your equipment, in the name of Jesus. We get many emails saying this worked.''
* Apparently, ''every'' round or semi-round shape in a logo is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6afhiiR5AsM supposed to represent the Satanic all-seeing eye.] Also, they point to logos containing eyes in which the eye makes ''perfect sense'' even without the conspiracy angle, such as eyes incorporated into the logos of home-security products. This makes even less sense if you know the symbol is meant to represent God (because he is omni-cognisant.)
* Anything and everything that is taller than it is wide [[Freud Was Right|is a phallic symbol]]. No exceptions. And if it's wider than it's tall, it's just lying on its side.
* There is a site explaining, in all seriousness, why Santa Claus is an evil Satanic character. One reason was that "Old Nick" is a nickname for Satan. "Old Saint Nick" in fact just derives from "Saint Nicholas," a ''[[wikipedia:Saint Nicholas|historical person]]'' upon whom [[Memetic Mutation|Santa Claus was based.]]
** There's an even sillier claim that Santa is just a [[Significant Anagram]] for Satan, which fortunately, most people just take as a joke. (In reality, "santa" simply means "saint.")
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* There is one video by Muslim extremists that claim that Pepsi is pro-Israel. Why? Because Pepsi is an obvious acronym for Pay Every Penny to Save Israel.
** Ironically, Pepsi is ''less'' involved in Israel than Coca-Cola is, and neither one can be accused of conspiracy, just of doing business there or not.
* According to some fundamentalist Muslims, Coca
** Which means that some fundamentalist Christian out there believes that.
*** Fortunately, few of them can read Arabic.
* [http://vigilantcitizen.com/ Vigilant Citizen]. A website devoted to finding all of the [[The Illuminati|Illuminati]]/[[Ancient Conspiracy|Masonic]] symbolism and [[Brainwashed|brainwashing]] in the pop culture world, from ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes]]'' and [[Disney]] to [[Lady Gaga]] and [[
* The Beltway Sniper caused fear and panic through out Washington. Before he was caught, an investigation of one of his nests turned up a tarot card which had the words "I am God" written on it in marker. Despite the many theological or philosophical, or cultural possibilities given from the choice of card and words, the media declared that it was clearly a [[New Media Are Evil|crazed video gamer.]] Why? Because "I am God" is clearly a reference to "God mode" a term in video games for a cheat that makes you invincible. This leads to the obvious question—if he thought he was in "god mode", why was he hiding?
* ''[[Conservapedia]]'', although it's more like Everyone Is Liberal In Washington, DC.
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** [[Star Trek|Klingons]] are [http://www.fstdt.com/QuoteComment.aspx?QID=62380 also part of the reptilian agenda - and the "Klingon" language is really the reptilian language!]
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/gorilla199 The YouTube user gorilla1999 can connect anything to Freemasons, Satanists, and reptilians.] There's also a video where he claims that [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqf0N0Z2nps most businesses in the world are controlled by reptilians or Freemasons]. One wonders if that applies to Mom & Pop grocery stores as well.
* Christopher Lord, AKA [
* For a while, the Procter & Gamble company suffered from rumors of having links to Satanism, mostly thanks to [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c5/P%26G_logo.jpg this company logo]. It was claimed that the logo was a mockery of Revelations 12:1 ("And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 12 stars."), since it has 13 stars instead of 12. It didn't help that rival company Amway also helped in propagating the rumors (though it is unknown as to who originally started it). Besides changing the logo to a simplified moon motif to allay any fears of satanic association, P&G also [https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Amway/AUS/amvsp&g.htm filed suit] against Amway and its distributors for defamation.
* Some Protestants are convinced that the Catholic Church is secretly a Satanic cult and that the Pope is the Anti-Christ. Their "proofs" often include the "horned hand" or mano cornuto (an old Italian charm to ward off the evil eye; not Satanic), the upside-down cross (actually based on the tradition that Saint Peter, who is said to have been the first Pope, was crucified upside-down), and the hexagram (appropriated from Judaism; called the "star of creation" by some Christians and used to represent the six days of creation). You can find one of Jack Chick's [[Critical Research Failure|highly flawed]] attacks on Catholicism [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0071/0071_01.asp here].
* [[Glenn Beck]] once claimed that the artwork outside Rockefeller Center ([[NBC]]'s corporate headquarters and site of many of their TV studios) in New York was intended to glorify [[Commie Nazis|communism and/or fascism]], [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/glenn-beck-finds-communis_n_275915.html as documented here]. In reality, the only artwork that was ever on display at Rockefeller Center that can be considered communist-themed, the mural ''[[wikipedia:Man at the Crossroads|Man at the Crossroads]]'', was destroyed after an outraged Nelson Rockefeller saw the mural's depiction of [[Vladimir Lenin]] and ordered it painted over with one of [[Abraham Lincoln]].
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** There was also quite an uproar about a Nazi swastika in the background of a Zubat card illustraton... turns out, the card image was flipped when brought into America, and it's the symbol of peace they intended to put on the card. Not that most people in America would be able to tell the difference anyway.
* BSD (all types) has this problem since their logo/mascot is a little devil. It also doesn't help that background processes in *nix systems are called daemons.
* Similarly, Microsoft, specifically its founder [[Bill Gates]], has had its fair share of satanic accusations, with Gates being accused of selling his soul to the devil or the Illuminati thus accounting for his immense wealth (though as we all know, it had more to do with his company's monopolistic tendencies than anything else). A programme in the Philippine television network ABS-CBN entitled ''[[Gratuitous Latin|Verum Est]]'' [https://youtu.be/35WlpV07axg?t=789 once aired a segment] about rumours connecting Microsoft to the antichist—only to be made quite [[Irony|ironic]] when said TV network ran ads for Microsoft products years later.
** The anti-Gates sentiment saw a resurgence in the 2020s due to his vaccination advocacy in relation to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], with those who bought into the conspiracy theories blaming the former Microsoft chairman for allegedly conspiring towards a New World Order.
* There is an urban legend that the word "picnic" derives from "pick a n*****" and was originally used to refer to a lynching with food and music for white spectators. [http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/picnic.asp Snopes dealt with this one...]
▲=== Tabletop Games ===
▲* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''—Certain people have claimed that the game contains [[Critical Research Failure|"authentic"]] occult rituals and spells. The immortal [[Jack Chick]] did a whole tract, the [[Snark Bait|infamous]] "Dark Dungeons", about fantasy gaming being a gateway to [[Satan]]. This is in spite of the fact that [[Gary Gygax]] [[Offending the Creator's Own|was himself a Christian]]—you'd think portraying demons and devils as bad guys, and angels as good guys, would be an obvious enough clue of his actual stance.
▲* This has caused other game companies (like ''[[Rifts]]'' publisher Palladium Books) to place a disclaimer in all their books stating that their books are works of fiction and they don't condone the supernatural or occultism.
▲* Worth mentioning is the ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' [[Hate Dumb]]. It has been associated with everything from pagan rituals to tarot cards.
▲** Technically speaking, you can make a Tarot deck out of Magic cards. Or a normal 52 card playing deck. Or any other deck of any other kind you might ever want.
▲** For that matter, Tarot cards were originally storytelling cards, with no ties to anything remotely magical. Then some people start using them as tools of divination, and suddenly the cards are evil by association and any actual storytelling deck is suspect. Go figure.
▲=== Video Games ===
▲* ''[[Pokémon]]''—accused of being Satanic for various reasons. Two ridiculous examples that stand out is the accusation that the -mon suffix stands for "demon"<ref>It stands for "monster" in this series. This confusion is more sensible than the others, because Pokemon shares a genre with [[Shin Megami Tensei]].</ref> or that the card game is a "stepping stone" to ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' (see above). That the [http://www.theescapist.com/pokemon11.htm Pope approves of Pokémon] does not necessarily help, as many fundamentalist Protestant sects consider him to be the Anti-Christ.
▲** Arabic countries [[Banned in China|banned the game]] due to it containing a six-pointed star—because a six-pointed star was ''obviously'' stealth Jewish/Israeli propaganda. More ridiculously, it's been claimed that "Pikachu" means "be a Jew," or worse, "stronger than God" in Latin America. (The truth is much more [[Tastes Like Diabetes|benign and cutesy]]. The name is based on a Japanese onomatopoeia, coming out to roughly "Sparklesqueak" in English. Alternatively, it's named after the small fuzzy animal known as a pika. Or it could be both; they [[Pungeon Master|do love their puns]] in Japan, after all.)
▲** Don't forget the flap over [http://pokegym.net/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=45060 Koga's Ninja Trick], which shows a manji. What's so bad about a manji? Well, it looks an awful lot like a [[Those Wacky Nazis|swastika]]. Some people who [[Did Not Do the Research]] thought it meant ''Pokemon'' was encouraging Nazism, because after all, Japan and Germany are joined at the hip.
▲** A few distinct Pokemon have been subject to criticism from paranoid watchers. The Pokemon Houndoom has been accused of representing Satanism, since it is characterized as a demon dog with horns and a barbed tail.
▲** Some people criticized a Pokemon card showing a Registeel raising its arm. Apparently, it resembled a Nazi salute. To the less paranoid, it just looks like it's raising its arm.
▲** [http://shelleytherepublican.com/2006/10/01/pokemon-the-yellow-peril.aspx Either the most psychotic Moral Guardian ever, or the world's greatest satirical blogger.]
▲*** [[Critical Research Failure|Even worse]], [[All Anime Is Naughty Tentacles|she mixes up the terms]] [[Anime]] and '''[[Hentai]]'''.
▲**** ''[[Serial Escalation|Even wore than that]],'' her description of the games (and the "[[Did Not Do the Research|Poke-men]]" themselves) may make you wonder whether you and her are talking about the same game. For starters, she [[Blind Idiot Translation|terribly mistranslated Pikachu's name.]] She goes on to say that Metapod is "one of the rarest and most powerful Pokemons." Not only is it of course a [[Com Mons|Com Mon]], the only move a wild Metapod knows is Harden. Uri Geller, she says, paid for Alakazam to be added, and Jigglypuff advocates drugs, gay sex, and Liberalism.
▲**** Worst of all, she blames the mass epilepsy on Pikachu evolving, not blowing up some particularly nasty missiles.
▲*** [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|And she also promotes the]] [[Chick Tracts]].
▲*** Really, how could this ''not'' be a parody? There's a mistake is just about every paragraph. She calls Winnie the Pooh "all-American" when he is a ''British'' character, misspells the name ''Superman'', refers to Pikachu as a "bear" when he is not, and seems to think [[Japan Takes Over the World|anything Japanese is evil]]. More than anything else, however, it's mind-boggling that anyone who burned comic books and tried to control what people enjoyed [[People's Republic of Tyranny|would use the word]] ''[[People's Republic of Tyranny|freedom]]'' [[People's Republic of Tyranny|with a straight face]].
▲** And then there's also creationists who accuse ''Pokemon'' of being anti-Christian because the Pokemon "evolve". Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the franchise will immediately recognize that [[Hollywood Evolution|the "evolution" portrayed in the series]] has absolutely nothing to do with the actual theory of evolution.
▲* You could call [[Poe's Law]] on this one, but check out these [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_--DPLpDEmo two] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxfXQtnHGTo videos] for the hidden meanings someone has claimed to find in ''[[Legacy of Kain]]''.
▲* There's no question that the original ''[[Doom]]'' eventually takes the player to Hell. Enemies are explicitly referred to as demons. Satanic imagery is rampant. However... the player is tasked with ''destroying'' these images and agents of evil with a combination of [[More Dakka]] and the [[Trope Namer]] [[BFG]], yet the game has been accused of ''supporting'' the forces of Hell instead of opposing them.
▲=== Western Animation ===
▲* ''[[Care Bears]]''. One particularly ridiculous example is when the movie was accused of promoting the occult because a character used magic from a talking spellbook. You'd think the fact that ''the spellbook was the villain'' would have given them a clue, but apparently not.
▲* ''[[Rainbow Brite]]''—Accused of being Satanic by Texe Marrs. Why? Because it contained ''stars'' and ''rainbows!'' According to Marrs's logic, if someone who isn't God is throwing around rainbows, that person is definitely promoting Satanism. Surprisingly he didn't seize upon two (actually, three) connections that would have halfway made sense. The star is an ancient symbol of Islam (or, alternately, could be mistaken for the pentagram), while the rainbow is, of course, one of the most famous symbols of gay pride. So, you could say that Rainbow Brite is a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|satanic Islamist-homosexual]]!
▲** Texe Marrs really lives and dies by this trope. In ''Circle of Intrigue'', Texe quotes Hermes Trismegistus as saying "God is a circle." He then reasons that, since, of course, Hermes was obviously a Satanist, Hermes's god is Satan. Therefore, by his logic, ''anything'' that uses a circle as a symbol is Satanic. He then goes on to list examples of things that have circles in their logos, coats of arms, or general shape.
▲* ''[[The Year Without a Santa Claus]]''—pulled from TV in some places because Heat Miser was deemed "Satanic." Especially absurd because he looked much more like a clown than like a devil.
▲* Some broadcasters worry about showing the 1942 Academy Award-winning Disney cartoon ''[[Der Fuehrer's Face|Der Fuehrers Face]]'' because [[No Swastikas|it is rife with swastikas and other Nazi imagery]]. NOTE: The cartoon is ''anti-Nazi'', and has to show such things precisely so it can condemn them. But, [[Poe's Law|you know...]]
▲* Parodic (if eerily realistic-looking) complaints about ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' can be found; the usual themes are that the show is anti-Christian because it includes magic, shows animals as sapient when only humans are made in the image of God, and the fact that [[Insane Troll Logic|the name of the show's producer is]] Lauren ''[[Faust]]'', so [[Insane Troll Logic|she obviously must have a Satanic agenda]]. A good example is [http://shelleytherepublican.com/2012/01/28/my-little-pony-friendship-is-satanic.aspx here].
▲** Not to mention one blogger that accused the show of being racist (due to the two dark-colored pony guards at the foot of Celestia's throne), Rainbow Dash being a lesbian (simply because of her mane and her love of athletics) and saying that books won't get you anywhere in life and you need authority figures to tell you how to be happy (completely ignoring the fact that Twilight Sparkle's book knowledge more often than not gives vital information to the characters, not to mention that in the beginning of the show she was a bibliophilic shut-in that didn't like to interact with other ponies). Fortunately, Lauren found out about the blog post and fired back with one that addressed every concern and even criticized the original poster.
== Fictional Examples ==
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* Human Gotara-worshippers in ''[[Elf Quest]]'' are quick to blame just about anything unpleasant on "evil elf spirits", even if the elves have been suffering the same misfortunes all along (e.g. Madcoil's attacks) and even acted to stop them.
** To be fair, since the elves are deliberately hiding from those humans (and largely seem content to just ignore them as much as they can otherwise instead of putting any effort into improving relations themselves), the humans in turn don't ever get to actually ''see'' anything that might dispel their superstitions.
=== [[Film]] ===
* The Cloud Ten film ''Deceived'' seems to have been made by the type of people who made this trope. A 6.66-second long sound byte that the military claimed came from space makes people's... um, sinful natures more prominent, and eventually [[Cursed with Awesome|gives them funky]] [[Psychic Powers]]. The signal's ''true'' origin turns out not to be space, but the depths of Hell itself.
* The Mother of [[The Waterboy]], who clams everything is "The Debil". Though it is later revealed she does this to prevent her son from leaving her like her husband did. But after she sees how much the town loves him, is able to get past this.
* ''Rock: It's Your Decision'', a Christian-made film about [[The New Rock and Roll]] (reviewed brilliantly by [[The Cinema Snob|Brad Jones]]) becomes all about this. A formerly rock-loving teen starts to discover all the "horrible and evil" elements to rock music, eventually turning against it completely by the end of the movie. However, as pointed out in Jones' review, the "hero" of the film clearly [[Did Not Do the Research]] in many instances, and by the end has become so paranoid, self-righteous and horrible to everyone around him that one kind of has to wonder if the audience was really meant to side with him.
=== [[Literature]] ===
* In ''[[A Swiftly Tilting Planet]]'', a [[Magical Native American]] is depicted as giving birth in complete silence, but the white townspeople ''expect'' women to [[Screaming Birth|scream during labor]]. Said townspeople happen to be Puritans at the height of the American witchcraft scare, so it's treated by the townspeople as a sign of devilry.
** Considering the last time someone killed a "witch" in the Navajo Nation was ''1993'' (at least the last time the killer went to trial, anyway), [[Reality Is Unrealistic|many Native Americans would probably agree about the witchcraft]].
*** But the signs are different.
* Harry Dresden of
* The Imperial Order in the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' claims this about wizards and sorceresses in particular, but also in general about anyone who is better than anyone else at anything. They are not nice people. It also doesn't stop them from ''employing'' these wizards and sorceresses, either.
** A mob tries this on Zedd. He stokes their fears of him until they all run away screaming. How? By asking them to explain why they're afraid of him.
* Through a combination of a poor knowledge of history, general paranoia, and the Aes Sedai tendency to meddle in ''everything'', any people in ''[[The Wheel of Time]]''-verse believe the Aes Sedai to be evil and aligned with the Dark One. By and large, the most you could say about them is that they're incompetent.
** Slightly more justified with ''male'' channelers - the Dark One actually did taint ''Saidin'', so the devil actually does make male channelers go crazy and kill everything.
=== [[Live-Action TV
* The Whiteadders from ''[[Blackadder]]'' are devout followers of this trope, believing that everything from mashed turnips to ''[[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|sitting on chairs]]'' is the work of the devil.
** They still giggle when they find a turnip that looks like a "thingy
* Dana Carvey's Church Lady character from ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' was famous for this kind of thing.
=== [[Theatre]] ===
* In ''[[The Music Man]]'', Harold Hill convinces an entire town that a pool table is a tool of Satan to corrupt their children. He lists several "symptoms" that their children are being corrupted, which include a few things that would actually be worrisome if they happened, but also a few which were perfectly normal and harmless behaviors for teenage boys. (Like using slang words like "swell.") In the end, he boils it down to a catchy little chant that runs on circular logic: "We've got trouble with a capital T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for pool!" Just like in many real-life cases, this is a ploy to get the gullible townspeople to buy something: Hill proclaims that the way to save this town from falling into the clutches of evil is to start a boys' band... and Hill just happens to be a music professor.
** To make it even funnier, some of the things he mentions are things that had been out of production for ''years'' in 1962.
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* In ''[[The Monument Mythos]]'' [[Alternate History]]/Analog Horror hybrid series, James Dean, [[Richard Nixon the Used Car Salesman|the 37th President of the United States]], is likened to the Devil by the aptly named Anti Dean Association.
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/4zz9ns/lahat_nalang_demonic/ This webcomic] brutally roasted the "everyone/everything is Satanic" mentality by fundamentalists in the Philippines and those who bought into thieir Kool-aid.
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