I recently ran across this little tidbit about Gavin Frost, which will go some ways toward explaining the current controversy. It seems that at some point in time during the decade of the nineteen seventies, he became associated with a gentleman by the name of John Todd, who previously, as a Christian evangelist, claimed to be a reformed Satanist. No evidence to this day has ever been uncovered to verify this, but he made quite a name for himself, as well as quite a bit of money and, more importantly, followers.
When called to account for different controversies, including sexual contact with minor girls, he dropped out of sight, and eventually acquired a charter from Gavin Frosts “Church and School of Wicca”. Eventually, there were once again charges of sex with minor girls, and there was a resultant investigation. Frost himself looked into the matter, with help from Isaac Bonewits, which resulted in Frost revoking his charter.
Again, he dropped out of sight, but soon enough started making the rounds as, once again, a Christian evangelist warning of the dangers of the occult. However, it bears mentioning that his target was not merely the Frosts or their church, or Bonewits, but the rising Christian metal music industry. He claimed it was a Satanic influence, a way for Satan to infiltrate the church by way of rock music and influence children with that “satanic beat”.
In fact, he seems to have declared that this was just another aspect of rising Satanic world control, and infiltration of churches, through such disparate forces as Wicca, Satanism, the Masonic Order, and The Illuminati.
Indeed, he was also heavily into the Anti-Masonic conspiracy theme that runs rampant in deranged and delusional conspiracy circles. His main supporter throughout all of this was the famed and somewhat amusing Christian pamphleteer Jack Chick. Yet, through all of his various incarnations, one thing stood out perhaps even above and beyond his stellar contribution to what is termed the “Satanic Panic” industry that ran rampant throughout the eighties- constant accusations of child sexual abuse.
Before long, all of his former followers, from whom he had made quite a good living as writer and guest speaker, deserted him, with the sole exception, it seems, of Chick, who just a few years ago was still making use of some of his stories in his pamphlets, and particularly in one comic book One known as The Broken Cross.
Finally, evidence as well as eyewitness victim testimony proved he was none other than the University of South Carolina Rapist who had claimed a number of victims, mostly young girls. He was prosecuted, and ultimately convicted, and now spends his time in a maximum-security facility for the treatment of sex abusers.
According to him and the handful of defenders he still has, Gavin Frost and Isaac Bonewits, whom Chick refers to as, respectively, “The Black Pope” and his “enforcer”, set him up. Amusingly, some of Todd's defenders state that he is actually dead. According to a story told on this supporter's website, upon winning an appeal he was released from confinement. He was picked up in a helicopter immediately after his release, and murdered-by the Illuminati. The John Todd now incarcerated, they claim, is an impostor.
Evidently, at any rate, this is the reason for a lot of the controversy directed at Gavin Frost, who, remember, revoked his charter for The Church and School of Wicca as long ago as the mid-seventies. Is it possible he was drawn to the Frosts due to the ill-advised writings in their book “The Good Witches Bible”? Well, of course, anything is possible. Could there possibly have been others as well, others who have gone on to contribute to the so-called “Satanic Panic” industry? This as well would seem possibly to be the case.
What I am damned sure of is that Gavin Frost is not, in my opinion, a co-conspirator or a knowing facilitator or in any way approved of his actions. Nor do I believe that he purposely “set Todd up”. There is no proof of either of these charges whatsoever, or even anything in the way of reasonable evidence to suggest such a thing. Until such valid evidence or proof surfaces, I continue to give him and his wife the benefit of the doubt. As for their own stand on the matter, I refer you to
this interview from 2003 with the Pagan News website.
Remember, back in the seventies, there was not a national database of child sexual abusers. Back in those days, what happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas, and the same was true of Frisco, New York, Charleston, and Peoria. It really took some digging to find any evidence of such records. In this case, what would have been the point? This was a person fairly well known within evangelical Christian circles, who just evidently saw the error of his ways, and came to realize he had taken the wrong path in life. Perhaps now he wanted to make amends. Who really knows what line of shit he fed the Frosts? Who knows, for sure, if he ever talked directly to them, or for that matter if they even knew who the hell he was?
Here is another point I would like to make. I like to read Jack Chick’s pamphlets. I think they are hilarious. That does not mean I agree with the content. Similarly, I do not think one ill-advised passage by Gavin Frost in one book negates his other contributions. For that matter, it does not mean that Frost approves of the actions of a few deranged followers looking for a place to practice their perversions based on that one unfortunate passage. It is something that the Frosts will have to deal with over time, hopefully in a definite and positive way.
Then again, the Pope has his problems as well, does he not? Nevertheless, you can expect him to give the forthcoming Papal Christmas greetings from Saint Peter’s Square live, in about eighty different languages. That is the way it should be, too, regardless of what passage in the Bible he supports that a pedophile priest might purposely twist for his own perverted reasons.
Of course, it also goes without saying that the Pope's followers expect him to be an allegedly anti-homosexual monotheist, whose Bible and organization's other publications are not published by Llewellyn.
Make of that last statement what you will.
