facts + logic = truth
As the U.S. seethes with racial tension, protestors swarm the streets of Hong Kong, and missiles gut Syria, a few intrepid journos have somehow managed to ferret out the real stories... Say, does anyone remember the absurdly disappointing mystery of those invisible flying creatures known as "rods"? No? Well, let Oklahoma City's News 9 take... Continue Reading →
This week, I'm going to labor the point that today's celebrities just can't seem to come up with anything original - even in the supernatural realm. In 2011, Lady Gaga reportedly believed she was being followed around by the ghost of a dude named Ryan. A few months later, she told Harper's Bazaar that the late... Continue Reading →
On June 23, Glenn Beck's The Blaze, the Daily Mail, several paranormal websites, and other media outlets reported on this video of a "possessed" Mexican woman. The girl seen in the clip, Alexandra Huerta, alternates between growling and laughing while restrained on a hospital stretcher. These initial reports stated that Alexandra, 22, had begun to... Continue Reading →
Literary fraud is an important topic at Swallowing the Camel. Whether it's middle-aged women pretending to be teen boys afflicted with HIV/AIDS (here and here), or James Cameron's BFF letting himself be snowjobbed by a lying WWII vet, or fake Holocaust memoirists, no one gets a free pass when it comes to literary misdeeds. So... Continue Reading →
The tradition continues.... Jeff Harshbarger Jeff Harshbarger is a South Carolina minister who claims he was a teenage victim of Satanic deception and demonic possession. In 2005 he published an autobiography about his years as a Satanist, From Darkness to Light: How to Rescue Someone You Love From the Occult. His Refuge Ministries educates others... Continue Reading →
space When Satanic panic spread to the UK, Audrey Harper become England's version of Lauren Stratford: A real, live "former Satanic witch" who could help the righteous root out other dangerous devil worshipers. Insanity in the UK In the '80s and '90s, a woman named Audrey Harper made many appearances on behalf of the Christian... Continue Reading →
God's 007 In the spring of 1983, an unassuming, middle-aged fellow by the lofty name of Derry Mainwaring Knight appeared in Newick, East Sussex, and began attending the local Anglican church, St. Mary's. He became a regular at Bible studies and prayer meetings. He offered to hand out Christian tracts. He told the late vicar,... Continue Reading →
space The two-for-one account of Dr. Rebecca Brown and "Elaine" plays out like every B movie you've ever seen. Satanic nurses out for blood...a marriage to the Devil...snoozy Midwestern towns run by witches...a hospital showdown between the forces of light and darkness... The "Elaine" hoax was wholly facilitated by our old friend Jack Chick, the... Continue Reading →
And the other morons who slew innocent children Today my brother brought to my attention a site called Fundies Say the Darndest Things, which - as you can guess - is a compendium of quotes culled from Christian fundamentalist forums, blogs, and whatnot. I normally avoid this kind of thing. I've had many fundie friends... Continue Reading →
In the world of anti-occult zealotry, Kurt Koch is something of a legend. A Lutheran pastor in Germany, he traveled the world addressing churches of nearly every denomination for over half a century, and claimed to have counseled about 20,000 people by the late '70s.I was *lucky* enough to score a copy of his most... Continue Reading →
Swallowing The Camel 