Hoaxtead Research: Who are we really?

We were amused yesterday while reading the comments under one of McKenzies Devils’ excellent videos, to read a post from the presumed owner of the “anti-Hoaxtead” blog, “HoaxteadSatanistsExposed“. They were earnestly explaining to a fake “Robyn Hamme” account that if she wanted to come and see the REAL TRUTH about the evil Satanists who run Hoaxtead Research, she should visit them. The part we liked best was this: “They are all self confessed Satanists, and paid government trolls”.

We are?

We don’t recall “confessing” to being Satanists, with the obvious exception of James Hind, who comments here as Satanic Views, and who is currently on hiatus. And he doesn’t “confess” to being a Satanist; he announces it, loudly and proudly.

Not that there would be anything wrong if more of us were, in fact, Satanists—it’s a valid religious choice, and the last time we checked we lived in a society where people are free to decide for themselves which religious path they wish to follow.

But apart from James, no one here is a Satanist so far as we’re aware.

We don’t ask anyone here to disclose their religious beliefs, as it would be wrong to do so, but over the past two years many of our commenters have disclosed that they come from a variety of religious standpoints. We have several atheists, a number of Anglicans, someone who attends a Spiritualist church, a couple of Unitarian Universalists, several Jews, some Catholics, a few Presbyterians…and we’re quite certain there are many more denominations and belief systems represented.

Ultimately, we’re not at all concerned with the church, synagogue, temple, or mosque one chooses to attend, or chooses not to attend. Religious belief simply isn’t relevant here, except inasmuch as it informs people’s behaviour toward one another.

What unites those of us who spend time on this blog, whether as commenters, readers, researchers, or writers, is this: we have all made the choice to speak out against those who bully and terrorise innocent people. We all dislike witch-hunts, and are willing to stand up to those who conduct them.

Each of us, in his or her own way, was drawn into responding to the Hampstead SRA hoax via different routes. Some started by reading about it in the mainstream media; others saw references to it on various troofer sites. Some just stumbled across the explosion of videos, blogs, and social media posts which occurred shortly after the initial videos went viral. Some made innocent comments suggesting that the thing might not be true, and were immediately attacked and called “paedo supporters”, “shills”, or “abusers”.

All of us, in some way and at some time, decided that it wasn’t okay to target a community of families, teachers, clergy, and businesses, based on videos of children who’d so clearly been forced to recite the lurid details of abuse that had never occurred. All of us knew that online vigilantism is wrong. All of us understood from the outset that any of us could just as easily have been named as “cult members” by people like Abe, Ella, and their promoters and supporters.

Ultimately, choosing to oppose this hoax is a moral decision, firmly rooted in the belief that no person should ever have to face a baying mob of false accusers, out for blood. No matter what religion or lack thereof any of us espouse, we think it’s fair to say that we try to abide by the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller, who spoke out against Nazism in Germany, and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.