The press continues to report on the shocking murder of two young girls in Iowa. The prime suspect is the step-father who says that the deaths were the result of a “spell gone wrong”, and according to the mother of the girls, claims to adhere to some form of modern Paganism.

“The mother of two girls who were killed allegedly at the hands of their stepfather said he described himself as a pagan and practiced spells to keep those around him healthy and happy” … She said Lawrence Harris told her about his religious beliefs, but that she told him to “keep it out of the house.” “What he was doing is against my religion,” Marla Harris said. “I told him, ‘You take it elsewhere.’” She said that her husband did not introduce her to anyone else who shared his beliefs and that he kept his religion to himself.”

Other than the revelation that the step-father considered himself a Pagan, no new information has surfaced, which means that journalists gets some more time to talk to “experts” on Pagan religion.

“Self-described pagan Lawrence Harris is charged in the killings and reportedly told police a ’spell went bad.’ Leslie McQuaid, of Omaha, is an expert on Wicca and says don’t blame the religion for the acts of one individual. McQuaid says, ‘It’s disappointing not only for the faith that he professed to practice but also very tragic that parenting skills have become so poor that people who are in need of assistance wait too long to get professional help.’”

I’m not sure how detecting an oncoming psychotic break is related to poor parenting skills, are parents now supposed to be able to detect clinical warning signs of psychosis in family members? Even if the mother had concerns about her husband’s mental status, what are the chances that he had health insurance through his employer, and if he did, could they have afforded the $1000 deductible? Was the step-father, who may very well be suffering from undiagnosed schizophrenia, supposed to realize he was losing touch with his own sanity?

That isn’t my only criticism of this “expert” interview. Is Leslie McQuaid herself a Wiccan? The article never specifies. What qualifies her as an expert on Wicca? How many years of experience does she have? What is her educational background (if any), how has she distinguished herself within the Pagan community as an authority on Wicca? I ask this because her commentary seems a bit odd.

“McQuaid says the suspect probably did not belong to a group because the acts he was performing are not highly-regarded in the Wiccan community. “It is so far out of the norm that he was probably practicing alone simply because pagans and Wicca who understand their faith and have been trained in the faith would have rejected his practices as being outrageous, just as probably a Catholic community would reject someone without any training in the priesthood who decided to perform an exorcism,” McQuaid says.”

I don’t want to be unfair, but we have no idea what his practices are, or what training he received. Often mental illness can run undetected, or be downplayed, even by close family. Even if he did belong to a group, that is no guarantee against a violent psychotic break, which can come on suddenly (nor do solitary practitioners live in a moral vacuum that would make actions like these any more likely). The sad truth is that some very well-trained religious people have done some pretty horrific things. Also, I would hesitate to place ritualized murder in the same moral continuum as rogue exorcists. As for the writer of this piece, saying that his practices would not be “highly-regarded”, makes it sound like he was simply uncouth and not the perpetrator of child-murder. I can’t think of a single Pagan who wouldn’t find such a thing horrific and completely beyond the pale.

The simple fact is that no amount of religious training can cure a severe mental illness. Up to the murders everyone thought he was sweet, normal, and loving towards his step-daughters. This man’s dabbling in spells and allegiance to a Pagan religion is no more responsible for this event, than Christianity is responsible for a man cutting off his own hand and subsequently microwaving it.

As for Pagan experts and the press, we have to be careful as this story develops to avoid guessing as to what really happened in this sad case (or why). The “Pagan” element should really be treated as a side-note to this man’s tragic break from reality. His alleged “Pagan-ness” has no direct bearing on this any more than if he was Christian or Jewish. Let us be careful that our eagerness to explain modern Paganism to the press doesn’t cloud what this story is really about.

Tags: Iowa, journalism, Lawrence Harris, Paganism, Wicca, Witchcraft