This is one of those stories so ridiculous, I considered not posting about it. But … since this follows a common Christianist model (i.e. a Christian claiming to have converted from some profane or violent religion, thus proving the moral, spiritual and supernatural superiority of Christianity), I figured it was worth noting.
One Zachary King penned a confession on (who’d have guessed!) World Net Nut Daily, in which he claimed to have been a Satanist who magically aborted babies in clinics and elsewhere (WebCite cached article):
Zachary King remembers the day well. It was in 1982. He was young, rebellious and dabbling in the occult.
But on that day, he would make the transition from novice to the deeper things of Satan.
“I had just turned 14, and they told me there was going to be a sex party in someone’s house and all the males in the coven were going to sleep with this woman,” recalls King, now 47 and a pro-life activist living in Florida.
“And the purpose of the party was to get her pregnant, and then nine months later we were going to be doing an abortion,” he said.…
He said he performed many of the sacrificial abortion rituals at the clinics of “a large abortion provider,” but he would not identify the provider for fear of lawsuits.
Yes folks, if you can believe it, doctors working in clinics actually set aside space and time for Satanic priests to perform profane rituals that get blood all over the place. That’s what this guy is saying … !
This selection is enough to make clear how crazy this crank’s story is. I was immediately drawn back to my own days as a fundamentalist Christian, when I’d read The Satan Seller by former Satanist-turned-Christian and comedian Mike Warnke. His tale was similar, of having been lured into “the occult” and becoming a Satanic high priest who presided over any number of profane rituals, only to turn his life around once he converted to Christianity. His act was a combination of stand-up comedy and fire-&-brimstone preaching.
Warnke was well-known in evangelical circles and his autobiography a best-seller in Christian bookstores … until the (very Christian) Cornerstone magazine exposed it all as a tissue of lies (cached). But Warnke is hardly the only Christian to pull a stunt like that: I’ve blogged about others, like Ergun Caner (who, with his brother, claimed to have been a fierce Islamist before converting to Christianity) and Tony Anthony (who claimed to have been a deadly martial artist before his conversion).
Now, I’m not actually calling this Zachary King a liar. Oh no. I have no idea if he’s spinning tall tales. All I’m saying is that his story reminds me of all those other guys, and this motif is a common way for Christians to draw attention to themselves among their co-religionists.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Hat tip: Rational Wiki.