Is there such a thing as ritual satanic abuse?
Debatable. Not really. Not as a regular phenomenon by organized groups, certainly. You have to understand that Satanism has a lot of branches and incarnations. In LeVayan Satanism or the Temple of Set, no. Most Theistic Satanism views Satan and Yahweh in very different ways than Christians do (and popular culture, as it is so heavily influenced by Christianity). Satan is the bringer of knowledge (serpent). Yahweh is seen as basically a tyrant against whom Satan rebelled. Satan gave humans knowledge and greatly freed us. It isn’t a belief that murder and human ritual sacrifice is good. There are also fringe lunatics that do their own thing and believe what Christians teach about Satanism. They rebel and personally follow it, or with a small group of similar minded people. http://www.religioustolerance.org/satanis1.htm
