Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas are two basketball legends who tore up the court with their incredible skills. They formed a dynamic duo that led the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons to multiple championships in the 1980s. **Magic Johnson**, whose real name is Earvin Johnson Jr., was known for his showtime style of play. He was a point guard who had exceptional court vision and passing abilities. Magic could make the impossible seem possible with his no-look passes and pinpoint accuracy.

Parents, Don’t Be Fooled: Demonic Atmosphere Brought the ‘Hellish Result’ at Astroworld Concert

On Nov. 5, pandemonium erupted at a Houston concert by rapper Travis Scott. After the crush of the crowd subsided, more than 300 concertgoers were treated for injuries, 25 were hospitalized, and 10 people (including a 9-year-old boy) were dead.

My objective here is not to analyze the details of that terrible night, but rather, to focus on what many reporters have refused to address: Scott’s music is vile, violent and despairing. Sadly, he is not alone in that. Such nihilistic music has become mainstream, and it is crucial that parents understand that fact.

While I would normally illustrate such a claim by quoting a few lyrics, I cannot possibly reproduce them here to a Catholic audience. Those interested can find online that Scott’s lyrics are chock full of explicit sex, sadism, racism, violence, brutality, misogyny, the celebration of drug use and pornography, blasphemy — all with heavy doses of despair.

Whatever else happened that fateful night in Houston, this is what Scott was singing about as this tragedy unfolded. Even amid the death and mayhem in the crowd—even as people were trampled to death in an inescapable frenzy — Scott just kept singing and rapping. Scott’s set list began, ironically, with a song called “Escape Plan.”

Scott took the stage at 9 p.m. By 9:38, authorities had deemed it a ‘mass casualty’ situation. Instead of stopping the performance … Scott continued performing for another 37 minutes. An ambulance entered the throng. The crowd chanted ‘STOP THE SHOW!’ Two concertgoers climbed on stage screaming ‘People are dead!’ at a camera crew. Despite all this, Scott claims he wasn’t aware of how bad things had gotten.

In addition to the loss of life, many aspects of this tragedy are revolting, including the response of some entertainment media who have been quick to defend Scott. For instance, when some Christians saw images of the concert stage and noted that the concert’s Satanic themes may have played some role in the tragedy, they were quickly rebuffed as “conspiracy” theorists by the reliably unreliable Snopes.com.

Snopes’ exculpatory evidence against claims of demonic influence is that similar images “have been used during live performances at various concerts with some regularity, and those concerts did not devolve into mass casualty events.” Of course, no one is claiming that all demonic-themed events result in mass casualty; they are simply observing that one did.

Note the point that Snopes accidentally conceded: satanic imagery has become common at concerts. Quay notes that the concert’s “stage took the shape of an inverted cross” and that Scott’s “shirt showed demonic figures walking through some sort of portal.” Quay observes that “Hellish imagery, hellish motives, and hellish energy yielded a hellish result.” Snopes was correct about one thing: this imagery is not unique to Scott. As Quay writes, “Satanic imagery is common in Scott’s subgenre.”

I repeat: parents must be aware of what has become common in popular music. As a father of nine children, I offer a few quick suggestions.

First, pray the Rosary as a family. If our battle is against the devil — as Ephesians 6:12 assures us that it is — then we must be on Mary’s side. As Padre Pio taught us, “The Rosary is THE weapon.”

Second, in addition to monitoring what they listen to, try to listen to good music with your children. Growing up, I was blessed in this regard because my father was a semi-professional pianist. If he weren’t working that night, he was home playing and composing music for us. But even if no one in your home plays an instrument, simply listen to great music.

Third, incorporate music appreciation in your children’s lives. Children should understand that music can be good and uplifting. My children know that when I’m playing music in the car, I’m listening to happy music. As part of our homeschooling curriculum, we recently hired a voice teacher for our younger children. We bought a keyboard for them and, together, are taking an online piano teaching program.

Music should not simply be a matter of what to avoid; it should be a matter of what we should be listening to. Even some modern music is beautiful, and it is unfair to dismiss modern music on the charge of novelty. Music was created by God to uplift the soul and bring us happiness. As Aristotle observed, “Music has a power of forming the character, and should therefore be introduced into the education of the young.” That’s an excellent message for us parents.

John Clark John Clark is a course developer for Seton Home Study School and a political speechwriter. He has written two books and hundreds of articles about Catholic family life and apologetics. His newest book is titled Betrayed Without a Kiss: Defending Marriage After Years of Failed Leadership in the Church. John and his wife Lisa have nine children and live in central Florida.

The Bizarre Travis Scott Claims Show That Conspiracies Are Just How We Process Things

Magic could make the impossible seem possible with his no-look passes and pinpoint accuracy. His ability to control the tempo of the game and create opportunities for his teammates was unparalleled. Magic's leadership on the court and his infectious smile made him a fan favorite wherever he played.

Satanism had nothing to do with the concert deaths, but the belief that it did reveals a dark truth.

Ali Breland

Travis Scott performing at his Astroworld festival. Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty

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“Look what just happened at a Travis Scott concert!” yelled Greg Locke, a Pennsylvania pastor, as he paced on stage to appreciative murmurs from his congregation . “If you think that was an accident, you are not paying attention. If you look at the stage setup, if you listen to the lyrics, this was not a mishap in a field in Houston. This was a satanic ritual, 100 percent,” he continued to escalating applause and cheers.

Almost every moment of even middling upheaval now inspires a conspiratorial response.

You might already be aware of what Locke is pedaling. After hundreds of people were injured and eight died at Travis Scott’s seemingly severely mismanaged Astroworld music festival in Houston, conspiracy theories about how the deaths were somehow part of a sacrifice ritual abounded on social media. People on Twitter started posting QAnon-esque numerology about Scott. On Tik-Tok, where the Locke video received over 100,000 views, others kept calling Scott’s set-design a “portal to hell” and dredging up supposed Illuminati references in his lyrics.

Journalists and disinformation analysts, justifiably, lamented the vortex—a mini-redux of the 1980s Satanic Panic, blended with QAnon residue. But it also was reminiscent of something else: almost every other moment of major, or even middling, social and political upheaval and change in recent years.

The election, the January 6 Capitol riot, the coronavirus vaccine, the coronavirus generally, vaccines generally, fireworks being distributed in cities as a government plot, saving the children, etcetera, etcetera. Each, just like Scott’s concert, has inspired a conspiratorial response. Most of that is just from the past 12 months. If you want to think back just a tiny bit further, there are loony claims about laser beams starting fires in California, 5G technology, George Soros funding a migrant caravan, and false flag attacks.

Conspiratorial theories aren’t necessarily incited by a specific incident. Someone can just post something weird online and people will run with it, like the false accusation that Wayfair trafficked children in armoires. Many such theories have layered and bleed together in what Anna Merlan described in Vice as a “conspiracy singularity: the place where many conspiracy communities are suddenly meeting and merging, a melting pot of unimaginable density.” Merlan wrote those words to make sense of what was happening early on the in the pandemic, but since then the trend has both persisted and worsened.

The woman who shared the video of Pastor Locke on Tik-Tok also maintains an Instagram page, stuffed with posts about other conspiracies: QAnon-adjacent claims about missing children, chemtrails, flat-earth talk, and the like. While that might sound like behavior coming from the antisocial fringe, beyond a preoccupation with conservative politics , the rest of her recent feed shows a normal mix of kids, hobbies, and a life beyond the internet.

But if you scroll years back, you can see that at the outset of the pandemic she pretty much exclusively posted on her family and exercising and nutrition hobbies. It was more recent that she began to slide into posting more right-wing political—and often conspiratorial—claims.

That tracks with wider trends, as the coronavirus and its societal fallout not only helped rekindle QAnon, which had been briefly fading, but also served as an accelerant for conspiratorial thinking more broadly. This phenomenon was explained neatly by artist and internet researcher Josh Citarella in a recent episode of his podcast: “The pandemic was an incubation period for people who are already on the borderline stuff. And then content consumption goes way up. Social atomization goes was up. Economic precarity spikes…and well, people who are on the borderline are now radicalized.”

As conspiracy theories have become a lingua franca among certain sets, allowing them make order out of disorder–particularly the chaos and economic disruption of the pandemic, more and more conspiracists look like the woman who posted the video of Pastor Locke—relatively normal people moving through the world and then going online and posting surreal things. Conspiracy theories are just now the logic that many default to—and for the time being, the rest of us have to deal with it.

Pushing back won’t always make a difference. “They meant for those people to die and they ain’t the least bit sorry about it. I don’t care what they say on Twitter,” Locke said at the end of the video about Scott, perhaps anticipating criticism of his beliefs from that site’s younger, left-leaning users. The congregation applauded.

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Travis Scott's Astroworld tragedy is inspiring rampant 'satanic ritual' conspiracy theories online

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Baseless conspiracy theories calling Travis Scott's Astroworld show a "Satanic ritual" are going viral online. Amy Harris/Invision/AP

• Conspiracy theories calling Travis Scott's concert a "satanic ritual" are spreading online.
• Videos have amassed millions of views across TikTok and YouTube.
• The baseless claims follow a similar uproar over Lil Nas X's "Satan Shoes."

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Baseless conspiracy theories claiming that Travis Scott's Astroworld concert was a "satanic ritual" are spreading online.

8 people died on Friday night amid an intense crowd surge during the rapper's set at the musical festival. Houston officials declared the incident a "mass casualty event," with an additional 300 people injured, Insider reported.

Some videos propagating false conspiracy theories in the wake of the event have amassed millions of views on social media platforms. Claims of satanic rituals have become so widespread that there are even popular compilation videos stitching together clips of TikToks purporting that the festival was a "ritual to sacrifice souls."

Nearly all results of a search for "Astroworld" on TikTok on Wednesday morning were related to the conspiracy theories: "conspiricy," [sic] "portal to hell," "denomic," [sic] "conspiricy hell," [sic] "symbolism." When typing in "Travis Scott," the results were similar: "Travis Scott concert devil," "Travis Scott concert portal to hell," "Travis Scott Illuminati." Searching for "Astroworld conspiracy" also brings up a batch of videos promoting the conspiracy theories. On YouTube, videos spreading those false claims have amassed hundreds of thousands of views.

The claims are spreading as platforms have sought to curb misinformation over the last year, particularly related to the pandemic.

Conspiracy theories about satanic rituals — or rituals that use imagery or themes related to Satan — follow the history of the "Satanic Panic" in the US when people began circulating false claims about children being abused in mass satanic rituals. Many people were convicted of crimes related to the panic, but some of them were later released, The New York Times reported.

Earlier this year, Lil Nas X ignited a similar uproar from religious folks and conservative politicians when he released a music video that depicted him giving a lap dance to Satan.

Travis Scott performs on day one of the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston. Amy Harris/Invision/AP

One of the most popular conspiracy theory clips spreading online shows someone purporting to be an Astroworld attendee claiming that Scott was doing "some demonic shit" after "he just kept going" and performing despite people "screaming help."

"I've been so heavily influenced by Travis, but after tonight, God really showed me, stay away from that shit," the person said in the clip. "He sacrificed so many peoples' lives tonight. It was a living hell."

It is unclear who originally posted the video, but another person reshared the footage on TikTok and amassed over 8 million views and 1.3 million likes. Someone else reshared the same video on YouTube and received over 390,000 views.

The drama account Rich Lux, who has over 470,000 subscribers on YouTube, posted a video on Sunday titled "TRAVIS SCOTT DEMON CONSPIRACY THEORY ASTRO WORLD" that has garnered over 164,000 views. In the video, the influencer said that while they don't believe Scott "is a demon," they think he was "being used by demons to put out a message."

The creator offered several baseless theories to explain the Astroworld deaths, including that the 8 people were "sacrificed" in honor of Kris Jenner, the mother of Scott's partner, Kylie Jenner, because Kris' birthday was Friday, the same night as the show. When reached for comment, Lux told Insider that he believed Scott was "possessed by a demon that night."

NiTris Tv, a drama and hip-hop account with almost 600,000 subscribers on YouTube, posted a clip that featured him analyzing an Astroworld festival flyer and alleging that its details indicated a "satanic demonic ritual." The YouTuber did not respond to a request for comment.

The video, posted Sunday, has gained over 140,000 views.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the conspiracy theory videos are still available to view and there are no "misinformation" labels attached to them.

Social media platforms have sought to curb misinformation over the last year, particularly related to COVID-19 and vaccines.

When asked about the two videos, a YouTube spokesperson told Insider they don't violate the platform's policies, but that the company was monitoring the situation and adding fact-check articles to appear at the top of certain search queries.

There were also many popular tweets spreading the same conspiracy theories. One user insinuated that Astroworld was "a sacrifice" because the entrance to the festival grounds — a giant structure designed to look like Scott's face — looked similar to Hieronymous Bosch's "Christ in Limbo" painting. The post has over 4,000 likes and 1,000 retweets. Another user tweeted that Scott's recent music cover art, which depicted him as an evil-looking gremlin, is proof that Astroworld was a "sacrifice ritual and no one will change my mind about that."

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

The conspiracy theories were also spreading on fringe social media platforms. One post with over 200 likes on Monday on a far-right forum suggested that the concert was a "ritual sacrifice" because Scott posted a statement about the incident on his Twitter at 11:16 p.m. on Saturday, November 6, which would symbolize "666," the post's creator wrote.

The phrase "Astroworld sacrifice" was trending on Facebook on Monday, with over 39,000 people talking about it on the platform, according to a screenshot shared by the BBC disinformation researcher Shayan Sardarizadeh.

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.

No Utopia in Dystopia: The Crazy Story Behind Egypt Canceling the Travis Scott Concert

**Isiah Thomas**, on the other hand, was a fearless and tenacious competitor. He played as a point guard for the Detroit Pistons and was known for his ability to score in clutch situations. Isiah was not only a scoring threat but also an excellent playmaker. He had exceptional ball-handling skills that allowed him to navigate through tight defenses and find open teammates. Isiah's determination and grit made him the heart and soul of the Pistons' team. The rivalry between Magic and Isiah was not just limited to their battles on the court. The two players represented different styles of play and different cities. The Lakers and the Pistons had intense matchups, with each team trying to outdo the other. The rivalry reached its peak in the late 1980s when the Lakers and the Pistons faced off in the NBA Finals for two consecutive years. Despite the intense rivalry, it was evident that Magic and Isiah had a deep respect for each other's skills. They acknowledged each other's greatness and even formed a close friendship off the court. Isiah once described their relationship as a "brotherhood" and mentioned how Magic was always there for him during tough times. On the court, they pushed each other to new heights and brought out the best in one another. The magic of Magic and Isiah tearing up the court was not just due to their individual talents, but also because of their ability to work as a team. They understood each other's strengths and weaknesses and complemented each other perfectly. Magic's playmaking skills combined with Isiah's scoring ability created a deadly combination that opponents found hard to stop. They knew how to make the right pass at the right time and create opportunities for their teammates. Their impact on the game went beyond their playing careers. Magic and Isiah paved the way for future generations of players, influencing the way point guards are perceived and the style of play in the NBA. They showed that a great point guard is not just a scorer or a passer, but a leader who can elevate the play of their entire team. In conclusion, the magic created by Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas tearing up the court was a result of their incredible skills, intense rivalry, and deep respect for each other. They formed a dynamic duo that brought success to their respective teams and left a lasting legacy in the world of basketball..

Reviews for "Tearing Up the Record Books: Magic and Isiah's Stats"

1. John Doe - 2 stars - I had high hopes for "Magic and Isiah Tearing Up" because I am a big fan of both Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas. However, I was disappointed with the content of the book. It felt like a rushed compilation of interviews and quotes, lacking in-depth analysis and personal anecdotes. The book failed to provide any new insights into their legendary rivalry and felt more like a cash grab than a well-researched piece. Overall, I found it unengaging and lacking in substance.

2. Jane Smith - 1 star - As an avid basketball fan, I was excited to delve into the supposed drama-filled story of "Magic and Isiah Tearing Up." Unfortunately, this book did not live up to its promises. The writing was disjointed, and the narrative lacked depth and coherence. It felt like a missed opportunity to explore the complexities of their relationship and the impact it had on their careers. I would not recommend this book to anyone seeking a captivating and insightful read about Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas.

3. Michael Brown - 2 stars - "Magic and Isiah Tearing Up" turned out to be a major disappointment for me. The book seemed more interested in presenting a superficial and sensational version of events rather than providing any meaningful analysis or reflection. The author failed to capture the essence of their rivalry and the cultural significance it embodied. Furthermore, the writing style was clunky, making it difficult to fully grasp the narrative. Overall, this book fell short of my expectations and left me wanting more substance and depth.

Dynamic Duo: Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas Tear Up the NBA