Halferty Unrepentant: A few quick notes for you today, starting with an update on the high school industrial arts teacher in Iowa who has been put on temporary leave after telling a Wiccan student he couldn’t build an altar table in shop class. Teacher Dale Halferty of Guthrie Center High School, claims he was simply enforcing separation of Church and State, but now that he’s been informed that current local, state, and federal law allows independent religious expression by students, he’s falling back on demonizing the religious “other”.

“Personally, I think it’s offensive to worship rocks and trees,” Halferty said of Wicca, a religion based on ancient beliefs and a reverence for the Earth. “I am just trying to be moral. I don’t know how we can profess to be Christians and let this go on.”

What happens next is up to Halferty. If he refuses to obey the federal guidelines that specifically allow students to engage in projects like that altar table, he could be labeled “insubordinate” and brought before the school board for disciplinary action, turning himself into a would-be martyr for his faith. While anyone who understands law can see that Halferty is clearly in the wrong for his actions, I fear this is going to be held up as a case of “Christian persecution” by the usual suspects. I suppose we’ll find out on Monday.

The Not-So-Good News: Aseem Shukla, co-founder and board member of Hindu American Foundation, weighs in regarding On Faith’s panel question about the problem (if any) with proselytism overseas by U.S. religious groups. Shukla eloquently explains why there is a fundamental “asymmetric force of the proselytizer” due to the very different natures of pluralistic faiths (specifically referencing Dharma religions, Paganism, and Native religious traditions), and that proselytizers specifically target pluralistic traditions because they don’t offer the resistance that other Abrahamic faiths do.

“…there is the fact that the evangelical community can only “pick on” the pluralist societies. India, Nepal, Cambodia, Taiwan and much of Africa where indigenous traditions still hold sway, are among the targets today for the next “harvest.” The “Muslim world” rewards conversion away from Islam with death, and in China, Russia Burma and others, autocracy, the Orthodox Church or military junta proscribe missionary work.  And so, the very democracy and openness of pluralistic societies becomes their vulnerability–a poison pill as they face the onslaught of the proselytizers. Today, the Native Americans of the U.S. and Canada, the indigenous progeny of Latin America and Mexico, the Aborigines in Australia are silent witness to lost religions and decimated traditions that fell historically to earlier iterations of these onslaughts.”

HAF has been calling for adjustments in the language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that would explicitly protect pluralistic religions from aggressive and predatory proselytizing. I recommend reading all of Shukla’s editorial, and also checking out the response from Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, who says that “proselytizing is an ever more dangerous religious idea”.

Should UUs Respect or Reverence the Earth? In a final note, Nancy Vedder-Shults at the Tikkun Daily Blog discusses the ongoing debate over revising the language of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s seven principles (an ongoing and oft-contentious process). In this instance, whether the seventh principle, “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part”, should have “respect” changed to “reverence”. Vedder Shults, a Pagan UU, realizes that the idea of “reverence” for the earth may be uncomfortable for many of the UU Humanists and atheists, so she offers a third option.

Then our seventh principle would read: “we covenant to honor and uphold … our need to love and care for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”

Vedder Shults invites feedback at her blog, I’m sure my Pagan UU readers will want to chime in.

That’s all I have for now, have a great day!

Top Story: A high school industrial arts teacher in Iowa has been put on temporary leave in the wake of a controversy concerning a student who was told to stop building a Wiccan altar in shop class. Dale Halferty of Guthrie Center High School claims he was simply enforcing the separation of Church and State, and that he had prevented a Christian from building a cross previously, but school officials claim that neither of those actions actually line up with guidelines regarding religious expression at school.

“His viewpoint: “We as Christians don’t get to have our say during school time, so why should he?” School officials say Christians actually do get to express themselves in the same way. More than one school policy, as well as state and federal law, prohibit discrimination against students who express religious beliefs through school assignments. Superintendent Steve Smith and Principal Garold Thomas said they placed Halferty on leave while they conferred with the school’s attorney to decide what to do.”

In other words, Halferty was imposing his distorted idea of what the guidelines were on his students, and he makes his feelings about Wicca quite plain, calling it “terrible for our kids” because it will lead to a “dark and violent life”.  He also has the bizarre belief that school tax dollars are meant to “save” kids from Pagan religion. Meanwhile, thanks to this incident, a backlash against the Wiccan student has materialized, with 70 of the 185 students signing a petition saying they don’t want witchcraft practiced at their school.

“Both [Superintendent Steve] Smith and [Principal Garold] Thomas said the incident has become emotional for the high school’s 185 students: Almost 70 signed a petition late last week saying they didn’t want witchcraft practiced at the school.”I think it’s fear based on some of the old ideas people had about witchcraft,” Smith said. “It’s fear and a lack of knowledge about the unknown.” Neither Smith nor school officials identified the student at the center of the controversy, and the boy’s father declined a request made through Thomas to be interviewed. Smith acknowledged that some people have expressed fears about satanism or sacrifices.”

Locals are now engaged in hand-wringing over the school’s excessive tolerance, and the bare-bones story, without the context of Halferty’s unique views on religion at school, has hit the Associated Press wires. So expect a lot more commentary and furor over this situation in the near future. As for the high school senior, what chance does he now have for finishing out his school year without harassment and intimidation? When the student body has become a mob against him, can things truly return to normal?

Checking in With the Third Wave: AlterNet takes a broad look at the New Apostolic Reformation, aka the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit, a protestant Charismatic/Pentecostal Christian hybrid led by “Convening Apostle” C. Peter Wagner. The movement became (in)famous in recent years thanks to politician/pundit Sarah Palin’s long membership and association with the group, which places a heavy emphasis on spiritual warfare, and brags about killing and maiming Catholics and Pagans with their prayer. Now reporter Bill Berkowitz probes NAR’s deep influence with ultra-conservative politicians like Michele Bachmann (involved in anti-Pagan groups), Sam Brownback, and Jim DeMint, and their role in initiatives like California’s Proposition 8.

“In the days leading up to the historic vote on health-care reform in the Senate, Apostle Lou Engle led the Family Research Council’s “Prayercast” against health-care reform, a Webcast featuring Republican Senators Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Sam Brownback (Kans.), and Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.). Earlier in the year, Engle, who leads the group TheCall, prayed over Newt Gingrich at a Virginia event called Rediscovering God in America. In 2008, Engle, at an event he staged at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, advocated acts of Christian martyrdom to end abortion and same-sex marriage. This “apostle” claims LGBT people are possessed by demons.”

You may remember that I covered that “Rediscovering God in America” event, it’s the one where Newt Gingrich claimed America was “surrounded by paganism”. Berkowitz goes on to interview Rachel Tabachnick, who writes for Talk2Action, and who has done a remarkable amount of research into the NAR/Third Wave movement. Here’s her follow-up commentary on Berkowitz’s article/interview, and a resource directory of the NAR/Third Wave movement. As I’ve intimated here before, this movement is rabidly anti-Pagan, and would have no compunctions about using their political and fiscal muscle against us. Their rise to power is deeply troubling, because unlike the “Moral Majority” or “Religious Right” of ages past their agenda isn’t limited to enacting conservative social policy, but instead calls for the aggressive spiritual destruction of all who they see as enemies (and anyone who worships the “Queen of Heaven” is considered their enemy). So let’s keep our eyes open, and be aware  of who your elected representatives are associating themselves with.

War of Words in South Africa: The South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) has lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission against allegedly libelous statements made by Traditional Healers Organization national coordinator Phephisile Maseko.

“Maseko’s repeated allegation that muthi murderers are “witches” practicing “witchcraft” remains untrue and defamatory. This Alliance demands that the South African Human Rights Commission (1.) properly investigates repeated libelous allegations made by Phephisile Maseko against South African Witches, (2.) makes a ruling regarding the innocence of self-identified Witches with regard to allegations made by Maseko that we are responsible for the commission of muthi murders, and (3.) instructs the Traditional Healers Organization national coordinator to cease making libelous statements against South African Witches.”

However, Maseko is unmoved by SAPRA’s position concerning the use of the word “witch”, saying their complaint amounts to little more than white privilege.

“Let’s be honest here — a witch is a witch and everybody in the country knows that. Publicly calling yourself a witch in South Africa smacks of white privilege. In a village or township, you’d be dead even before completing your proclamation. Sapra must accept that we speak different languages and live in different areas”

This latest development seems to be driving a wedge between South Africa’s traditional healers and South Africa’s Pagan community. Despite my sympathies towards the Pagans in South Africa, it is rather plain that Maseko and SAPRA are using the term “witch” in very different contexts, and that the two sides are talking past each other. While I don’t agree with South African Parliament member, and out Pagan, Adrian Williams that they should abandon the term “witch” in order to foster better relations with traditional healers, there must be some sort of understanding that can be reached between the two communities regarding terminology. Let’s hope that cooler heads prevail.

How to Become the Last Great Pagan: Cristiana Sogno, Ph.D., assistant professor of classics at Fordham University explains how 4th century Roman statesman Quintus Aurelius Symmachus became known as the “last great pagan”.

“As it turns out, that dubious moniker was foisted on Symmachus by allies of his most prominent rival, St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, according to Cristiana Sogno, Ph.D., assistant professor of classics at Fordham. In her presentation on Jan. 27, “How Did Symmachus Become the Last Great Pagan?” Sogno explained that Symmachus was the victim of a classic political tactic—victors extolling the strength of their opponents to make their own accomplishments seem even greater. The seeds of the nickname were sown in a report, or relatio, issued in 384 A.D. to the 12-year-old Western emperor, Valentinian II, in which Symmachus mounted a defense of the traditional religion of Rome. “There can be little doubt that the relatio is a beautifully constructed speech, and by far the most appealing piece of writing produced by Symmachus. Its compelling plea for religious toleration—in contrast with the almost fanatical intolerance that transpires from St. Ambrose—makes the text closer to the sensibilities of 21st century readers,” she said. The problem, Sogno said, is that Symmachus never published it.”

So there you are, posthumous praise from Christians looking to make their own victories more impressive hoisted a humble statesman and man of letters into lasting prominence. Luckily we are now living in an age where the term “last great pagan” is increasingly outdated. We can argue as to who among our growing numbers are truly “great”, but we most likely won’t have to worry about there being a “last” great pagan thinker any time soon.

The Horror of Pagan Felt: Behold! The Muppet Wicker Man Comic.

Funny yet deeply disturbing at the same time.

That’s all I have for now, have a great day!

Top Story: As post-earthquake Haiti continues to make the news, mainstream media continues to explore the unique and complex religious atmosphere of the small Caribbean nation. Specifically, the relationship of Haitian Vodou with Catholic and Protestant forms of Christianity, and the growing chorus of voices that have risen up to defend this oft-misunderstood faith. At the religion-focused interview program “Speaking of Faith”, Krista Tippett re-visits her previously run program on Vodou, adding new content from interviewee Patrick Bellegarde-Smith in the wake of the earthquake.

“After the earthquake, we had a moving and illuminating exchange with Patrick Bellegarde-Smith and learned that he lost nine members of his extended family in it. We’ve updated our current program with excerpts from this correspondence.”

SOF’s programs are rich explorations of the chosen topic, and have covered minority faiths like Vodou and modern Paganism fairly and fully. I highly recommend downloading/listening to the re-aired “Living Vodou” episode. Sadly, not all ongoing discussions about Vodou are fair or open-minded. Rod “Crunchy Con” Dreher tries to spark a discussion of “comparative theology and culture” with the not-at-all leading or offensive title of: “If Haitian vodou isn’t demon worship, what is?”

“But as a Christian, I don’t believe this is merely a psychological phenomenon. I believe that the vodou entities are real — and malevolent. Despite the syncretism with Roman Catholicism vodou tries to accomplish, there is nothing authentically Christian about it, and I too would think that this religion draws spiritual darkness around its followers and their communities. That does not mean that it causes earthquakes, for goodness sake! But I think it’s a mistake to see vodou as benign or positive. Serious question: if what you see on that photo slideshow isn’t demon worship — demons defined as malign spiritual entities — from a Christian (or Muslim, or Jewish) point of view, what is?“

But don’t misunderstand him! He just wants to explore “the limits of religious tolerance”, but beware, if you are “always” against passing value judgments on faiths you don’t understand, you might be an enabler of Mormon polygamy. He’s so charming, isn’t he? But wait there’s more! He also issues a dire spiritual warning to a Christian family that is raising their adopted Haitian orphans within the Vodou religion.

“I believe these well-intentioned people are playing with fire. Real spiritual fire.”

Yes, according to Dreher, caring Christian parents should obliterate any sign of non-Christian culture from traumatized Haitian orphans. Luckily the Fitzgibbons’ don’t share his rather narrow view of things.

“[Vodou] is interwoven into every bit of a Haitian person’s life,” said Paula Fitzgibbons, a former Lutheran pastor. “I’m at least presenting them with some part of their spiritual heritage. I can offer them enough that they will be familiar with Vodou when they get to the point of making their own choices about spirituality and religion.”

I’d make a guess as to who was actually more Christ-like, but being a unrepentant Pagan, I’ll refrain. You can read more about the Fitzgibbons family at their blog, “Raising Little Spirits”.

In Other News:

Patrick McCollum v. California: Americans United, who wrote an amicus brief on behalf of Wiccan chaplain Patrick McCollum, weighs in on the controversial WallBuilders brief that alleges the Religion Clauses should only apply to monotheists.

“Based on phony history, Wallbuilders’ court filing asks the 9th Circuit not to consider Americans United’s viewpoint. It states we don’t cite “true history” but a “revisionist history” since we claim the Founders wanted to extend religious liberty for all. Needless to say, the brief is offensive, disrespectful and essentially advocates that the government should feel free to discriminate against all non-Judeo-Christian religions. But what else can we expect from Wallbuilders? The organization’s founder and president, David Barton, is a well-known Religious Right propagandist who for years has pushed a fundamentalist “Christian nation” view of American history. He claims to be a historian, but he isn’t one. He earned a bachelor’s degree in “Christian Education” from Oral Roberts University and then taught math and science at a fundamentalist Christian school founded by his father. Wallbuilders’ brief, like Barton, is a serious joke. And we hope that the 9th Circuit pays it no mind.”

This story continues to seep into the mainstream press. There is still no response from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation concerning recent developments. For all of my past coverage of this ongoing case, click here.

Religious Discrimination or Misuse of Storage Facilities? The Times-Georgian reports that the Carroll County Board of Commissioners has rejected a conditional-use permit for the owners of a Pagan retreat that would have allowed them to keep using storage buildings as temporary residences.

“Robert Crowe asked the board to approve a conditional-use permit for use of his 33-acre tract as a Dragon Hill Retreat STAR (Sacred Tribe of the Ancient Roots) Grove, allowing it to be used in activities of the Church of the Spiral Tree, an “ecumenical pagan church.” The request itself was made by James and Rita Middleton, both members of the Church of the Spiral Tree. As part of the activities of the church on the property, the permit would allow storage buildings that have been used as temporary residences on the property to remain as such. Crowe said he is Native American and he practices certain pagan rituals that by definition are rooted in an “earth and nature-based religion.” Crowe said the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Board recommended denial of the request on Jan. 26 simply because the proposed church would promote activities and beliefs to which the members of the board were opposed.”

While Crow alleges that “personal prejudices” led to the zoning board recommending against the permit, Commissioner George Chambers says that his vote against the permit appeal had nothing to do with religion.

“I don’t take issue with what anyone else’s beliefs are. The issue is a conditional-use permit on the houses,” Chambers said. “It wasn’t an issue of whether or not I agreed with their beliefs or what they do on the land as part of their church. My issue is not with that because the current zoning allows for that. My issue was with the houses.”

So, religious discrimination, or simply a zoning issue? Why were storage facilities being used as temporary housing? The retreat’s web site says that there are cabins and kitchens, so what’s going on? Is this selective enforcement because they are Pagans? Or was this appeal more a CYA maneuver?

The Pagan Circle at the Air Force Academy: While the newly installed stone circle for Pagan cadets at the Air Force Academy has garnered some anonymous “criticism” recently, it has also faced some vocal lashings from Christians who seemingly don’t believe in the equal treatment of religions within government institutions.

“What we label today as ‘pluralism,’ God called ‘idolatry,’” said Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, in a commentary in The Washington Post. “The first commandment from God was, ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’ ”To openly violate this most basic law is to invite God’s judgment upon our nation.”

Meanwhile, Bill Donahue, the self-proclaimed advocate for all things Catholic, says that Christians are the real victims in the military (all that pluralism is “chilling” to Christian expression, don’t ya know), and Fox News finds two conservative think-tanks to explain how this incident isn’t really  a big deal.

“It’d be one thing if there was a harmful act, but to have competing symbols, I’m not sure I would put that in the category of destructive behavior,” London continued. “What is being expressed here is the view of the Judeo-Christian as opposed to the pagan tradition.”

You see, it was just a friendly discussion! An exchange of symbols. I’m sure they would agree that a Pagan idol placed within a Christian facility would be equally harmless, just another round in the showcase of competing expressions. You can read all of my stories concerning the Air Force Academy, here.

Skip Having Breakfast With The Family: In a final update, I just wanted to note that while President Obama did indeed attend the Family/Fellowship-sponsored National Prayer Breakfast despite calls for him to boycott, both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used the opportunity to indirectly criticize “The Family” and their support of Uganda’s noxious “kill the gays” bill.

“We may disagree about the best way to reform our health care system, but surely we can agree that no one ought to go broke when they get sick in the richest nation on Earth. We can take different approaches to ending inequality, but surely we can agree on the need to lift our children out of ignorance; to lift our neighbors from poverty. We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are — whether it’s here in the United States or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.”

It must have made for some uncomfortable moments over pancakes. To find out more about “The Family”, and why they are so dangerous, you can read my interview with journalist Jeff Sharlet, here.

That’s all I have for now, have a great day!

Religious discrimination? Miscommunication? Persecution complex? It’s hard to tell what sort of story Chris Broom of the Portsmouth News is trying to tell. I mean, the headline, and the opening sentence, are clear enough. “Paganist protests as health visitor tells her to move items.”

“A follower of paganism claims a health visitor told her she should put her religious items away because of the effect they could be having on her son.”

So we gear up for a tale of a health official overstepping his or her authority, ready to unleash our righteous ire. Only, the more you read it, the less it seems like a story about religion. I mean, it is according to family being visited.

“But on one of these visits, Mrs Hawkins says the health visitor told her she should remove pagan images and accessories from her living room because of her concerns for her 10-year-old son David … She said: ‘The lady was commenting on my bits and bobs and she said I ought to take them down because she thought it was detrimental to my son’s wellbeing … ‘I was really angry because Wicca is a recognised religion. You wouldn’t go into a Muslim’s home and ask them to take down their religious items would you?’”

But the NHS has a very different perspective.

“Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust Jamie Stevenson said the health visitor had been referring to some collectible dolls not connected to religious beliefs, known as Living Dead dolls, which Mrs Hawkins had on display.”

So unless Living Dead Dolls are now considered Wiccan religious items, this isn’t a religious persecution story. It might have been an anti-goth sort of story, but even that falls flat when you keep reading.

“We would never give advice on parenting unless they were doing something extremely wrong, which isn’t the case here. With a mental health patient like Mrs Hawkins we are trying to build a rapport and look after her needs, not to go in and throw our weight around.”

So, the British version of child services wasn’t being threatened on them, the NHS says they have no intention of “throwing its weight around”, and they actually seem quite apologetic about the whole thing. So what, really, is the story here? An NHS mental health worker suggests moving some morbid dolls to the bedroom, and the offended family calls the press?

I suppose one could make the argument that these dolls have been imbued with religious meaning by Mrs Hawkins, but even the most enlightened NHS official would have a hard time figuring that out. This seems very much like a reporter creating a controversy where there isn’t one, spinning the Pagan angle to gather attention. Oh, and Mr. Broom? Adherents of modern Paganism are Pagans, not “Paganists”.

As we reach the close of 2009, it is time to stop for a moment and take stock of the previous year. When you look at (and for) news stories regarding modern Paganism (and related topics) every day of the year, you can sometimes lose focus on the larger picture. So it can be a helpful thing to look at the broad strokes, the bigger themes, the events and developments that will have lasting impact on the modern Pagan movement. What follows are my picks for the top ten stories from this past year involving or affecting modern Pagans.

10. Counting (and not counting) the Pagans: Just as the Pew Forum’s 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey gave us new insights into just how many Pagans there are in America, so too does the release of Trinity College’s American Religious Identification Survey data in March of this year. The ARIS survey, like the Pew Forum, showed that modern Pagan religions remain vital and growing.

“As you can see, ‘New Religious Movements and Other Religions’ packed on over a million adherents since 2001, and over 1.5 million in the last twenty years. That brings the total of “others” to nearly 3 million … Both Pew and ARIS give “other” faiths 1.2% of the (American) pie. That in turn seems to back up my earlier assertion that there are at least one million modern Pagans in America (probably more like 1.5 million), add in the over half-million UUs (around 20% of whom are “earth-based” or Pagan) close to a million practitioners of Santeria (in North America), and a few hundred thousand indigenous practitioners, and it seems clear that notions of our continued (slow and steady) growth aren’t unfounded.” in some respect),

Paganism’s healthy growth among the “others”, wasn’t the only survey or poll that was of interest. We also saw proof that America is far more religiously eclectic than some might have imagined, that quite a few Pagans are politically active, and that around half of Americans have heard of Wicca (and aren’t too impressed).

However, not all polling organizations thought Pagans (and other “others”) were worth counting.

“Why were “other” non-Christians not included? No Muslims, no Buddhists, no Pagans. Nothing. They must have that data, so why not release it with the rest? It can’t be simple numerical preferences since the recent ARIS data puts “NRMs and Other Religions” on par with religiously observant Jews and just behind the Mormons, two groups that were included in the released data. Is it down to political influence? I’ve sent a request to Gallup to release the “others” data, but haven’t received a response yet.”

Of course, if you want something done right, why not do it yourself? Pagan scholar Helen Berger, co-author of “Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States”, along with fellow researchers James R. Lewis and Henrik Bogdan, revisited the Pagan Census project this year. I very much look forward to seeing what the updated data will say about our movement.

09. Modern Paganism Goes Global: Even though the emergence of modern Paganism is a well known story in places like Britain, America, and Australia, we saw this year that the modern Pagan impulse has become a truly global phenomenon. Receiving press attention in places like India, Israel, Russia, and South Africa, where an out Pagan serves as an MP.

“Meet Adrian Williams, the only pentacle-wearing witch in parliament. But the card-carrying ANC and South African Communist Party member, 43, from Mpumalanga has renounced the terms “witch” and “witchcraft” because he maintains the issue needs to be treated with sensitivity in South Africa. Williams practises “magick”, but calls himself a pagan or eclectic wiccan.”

As we move forward, we’ll need to start considering what it means that modern forms of Paganism are now truly “world” religions, and adjust our expectations and views of global events in light of that fact. Problems “over there” do affect us, because “we” are now “over there” too. In tomorrow’s top-five, we’ll explore some of the issues that a global Paganism faces, and what that may mean for us in interfaith settings.

08. Our Media Landscape and the Shifting Sands of Religious Journalism: The whole idea of a “top ten stories” list hinges on there being enough stories about modern Pagans to read and evaluate, and 2009 certainly made some wonder if that prospect might become harder in the near future. With the combination punch of an ascendant new-media and a lousy economy, lots of newspapers eliminated their religion beats (or shuttered completely), and some religion journalists anticipated the future being rather bleak.

“Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Paulson called religion-beat reporters a “dwindling band” who have suffered a “serious reversal of fortune” compared to a decade ago. Meanwhile, veteran religion-reporter Gary Stern blogged about his paper eliminating the religion beat, and Mollie at Get Religion wondered how these shake-ups will change the way that blog analyzes religion reporting.”

What does that mean for us? It could mean a lot less attention being paid to Pagans on the ever-dwindling religion-beat. That could be a big problem for those of us who want to stay informed, because our Pagan-created sources of news have had a rough time of things this year as well.

“After the recent merger of PanGaia and newWitch into Witches & Pagans, and the announcement of Thorn magazine ceasing their print edition, I decided to take the temperature of various Pagan periodicals and the resulting picture is rather grim. Of the 32 periodicals listed at the Witches’ Voice, only a handful seem to still be active, operating on a regular publishing schedule, and dealing primarily with Pagan subject matter. Modern Witch Magazine is “out of publication” after one year and three issues, Witch Eye: A Journal of Feri Uprising promises to return in 2009, but the clock is quickly running out for that deadline, and the two best-known Pagan newspapers PagaNet and Widdershins have been out of commission for years.”

We all need to get our content from somewhere, and while the best blogs and podcasts have been doing more and more primary-source journalism, we face a major deficit of news and information if our community doesn’t pull together to pick up some of that slack.  Projects to address this issue are still in their infancy, and it will take a serious amount of collaboration and cooperation to see a robust and thriving Pagan journalism emerge from these troubled times.

07. Paganism in Pop-Culture, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: While serious news may be hurting, the past 12 months have been one of the biggest in recent memory for Pagan themes in popular media. There was the Wiccan-centric episode of “The Simpsons”, the (awful) Wiccan-centric episode of “The Mentalist”, Santeria on “CSI”, a maenad on “True Blood”, and we remained popular on a variety of reality television programs. Still, it wasn’t all awful on the little screen, Ken Burns’ “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” was a beautiful endorsement of American-grown pantheistic nature religion.

“While the bulk of the twelve hours is spent recounting various grass-roots efforts and political struggles over park creation, almost the entire first episode is devoted to the spiritual dimension of nature (called, appropriately enough, “The Scripture of Nature”). Briefly referencing the influence of works by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, Burns makes ground-breaking naturalist and preservationist John Muir the centerpiece. “National Parks” clearly illustrates how his unique brand of Christian-colored pantheism (along with a keen scientific mind) would go on to inspire many, including President Theodore Roosevelt, to preserve vast swathes of American wilderness. The early episodes also take care to mention Native American spiritual and political perspectives, and extensively interviews National Parks superintendent, and Mandan-Hidatsa Indian, Gerard Baker (who says that John Muir would have made a good Medicine Man).”

Meanwhile, on the big screen, most of the big news were about films that we won’t see until 2010. There was news of the long-awaited companion/sequel to “The Wicker Man”, entitled “The Wicker Tree”, that is now filming. The film “Agora”, about the famous Neoplatonist philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, was adrift looking for an American distributor for months despite positive box office and reviews in Europe. Many thought it was because distributors were worried it might offend Christians. In addition, two upcoming Greek-myth-drenched films “Clash of the Titans” and “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” may make 2010 the year of pop-polytheism.

2009, however, seems to be the year of rampant Hollywood pantheism according to the various conservative critics who saw the blockbuster “Avatar”.

“So I guess the conservative intelligentsia has spoken (David Brooks must not have gotten the memo). Pantheism is bad, Hollywood is bad, Americans are foolish eclectic-syncretic Eckhart Tolle-reading dupes who love pantheism, and we (and our souls) are all in big (I assume) trouble. Of course this reading of Hollywood’s output is a tad skewed, and relies on a rather scatter-shot selection of films (“Dances With Wolves”, Disney’s “Pocahontas” and “The Lion King”, “Star Wars”, and, well, “Fern Gully”, I guess) to convince us that pantheism is the with-it thing in Hollywood and beyond. But it just doesn’t seem to line up as well as they seem to think it does.”

I can only imagine that my 2010 round-up will be even more full of surprises, disappointments, and opportunities than 2009. Oh, and speaking of pagan-ish pop-culture in 2009, some guy named Dan Brown released a book about Masons, it also made some conservatives unhappy.

06. Equal Treatment at Work and School, and the Litigation that Follows: This year has seen a lot of high-profile cases of discrimination (and alleged discrimination) of Pagans in the news. You had the Witch who was fired from the University of Nebraska receive a settlement, the Bath & Body Works manager who was fired for making a pilgrimage to Salem, and a Pagan employee of Google who claims he was mocked and fired for his faith. In addition to those cases, you had the school child who was accused of threatening demon possession, though the parent was not allowed to examine the evidence.

“Denise DeSadier was not allowed to read the accusations made against her son that got him suspended, and their veracity was seemingly never questioned by the principle (who assured a reporter from the local college paper that the matter was investigated fully) . Further, Shaun was forced to undergo an evaluation of his mental stability before being allowed to return to class, and this incident was placed in his permanent record, marking him as some sort of potential safety risk. Short of pursuing a lawsuit against the school, or dropping out altogether, there is no recourse for these accusations that have marred Shaun’s record.  Wishing only to finish high-school and move on to college, Shaun has jumped through the necessary hoops, and wants to move on with his life.”

In our search for equal treatment, in our slow integration into the mainstream, there will be those who want to destroy lives simply for being different. Who will use our litigation victories as a pretext to fan the populist flames to further their own careers. But I think these cases, disturbing as some of them are, are a sign of progress. That they highlight just how far we’ve come, a place where the ACLU readily fights for us, where our standing as “real religions” are usually taken as a given. We’ll no doubt see more cases like this in 2010, but I also think we’ll see fewer than 2009, and we’ll see even more victories establishing our equal protection and equal treatment under the law. These cases are big news, but I think we’ll see a day where they are truly rare.

Tomorrow I will post the top five Pagan stories for 2009. In the meantime, I invite you to check out the top religion stories from some different perspectives. Here are the Religion Newswriters Association’s picks, the top 10 from Time, the top 10 from The Telegraph, US News and World Report, and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Freedom.

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About a year ago, I reported on a University of Nebraska employee who was allegedly fired for being a Witch. “Jane Doe”, who is a member of Reclaiming, claimed that once her superior found out about her religious beliefs she was fired and replaced by a non-Pagan. Now, the Journal Star reports that the University has settled the case, though they still won’t admit that her claims of discrimination have any validity.

“A woman who sued the University of Nebraska saying the school fired her after learning she is a witch has agreed to settle the case for $40,000. The university made the offer “solely to compromise the claim … without admitting the validity of plaintiff’s contention or any allegations of wrongdoing by the defendants,” attorney David Buntain said in an October letter.”

The University very likely settled because the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission had already ruled that Ms Doe’s rights were violated in the run-up to the lawsuit. So rather than potentially lose a lawsuit, and gain lots of unwanted attention in the press, they settle. Better a lump sum than humble pie. A trend we may well see repeated in the Bath & Body Works and Google firings.

Thanks to Religion Clause for the tip-off on this story.

Once grown up and operating in the “adult” world, we often forget how much loss of control and personal freedom children and teens are forced to endure while traveling through the public school system (and often more-so in the private schools). If anything, many of us look back at those times as some sort of necessary “hazing”, bitter-sweetly remembered through the prism of some John Hughes movie. However, the truth is that children and younger people is these school systems are often denied the same legal considerations and due process of adults, all in the name of order and control, and it only takes a “bad apple” here or someone “gaming the system” there to make the lives of children who don’t toe some (often imaginary) cultural/political line often unbearable. That seems to be the case at Purvis High School in Mississippi, where accusations of threatened “demon possession” got a Pagan student suspended.

“When 17-year-old Shaun Derusha informed his mother that he would be unable to return to Purvis High School until she met with his principal, Denise DeSadier thought he was joking.  She had received neither letter nor phone call indicating any sort of misbehavior from her son. Such would have been the “proper” procedure for any institution purveying the attainment of education, but DeSadier agreed to have a conference with the involved administrators at her son’s school in hopes of reinstating her son’s place. Her son explained to her that he had no idea what was going on, that he’d been called out of one of his classes by the administrators and a security guard to have his backpack rummaged through and personal questions about particular parts of his lifestyle fired at him.  He failed to realize how serious the situation was until he found himself suspended under the suspicion that he’d threatened the life of some of the students by way of demon possession.  “It was believed that he planned on summoning demons to attack select students at the high school,” his mother told me. DeSadier left the conference feeling her son had been severely wronged due to the fact that he and their family are practicing witches.”

Denise DeSadier was not allowed to read the accusations made against her son that got him suspended, and their veracity was seemingly never questioned by the principle (who assured a reporter from the local college paper that the matter was investigated fully) . Further, Shaun was forced to undergo an evaluation of his mental stability before being allowed to return to class, and this incident was placed in his permanent record, marking him as some sort of potential safety risk. Short of pursuing a lawsuit against the school, or dropping out altogether, there is no recourse for these accusations that have marred Shaun’s record.  Wishing only to finish high-school and move on to college, Shaun has jumped through the necessary hoops, and wants to move on with his life.

“Shaun just wants to graduate and move on in life. He won’t move because he feels that then they [discriminators, instigators, and those who are very close-minded] win. And he won’t give them that satisfaction.”

Looking from the outside it seems obvious that hostilities against the openly Pagan family in a small predominantly Christian town ended up trickling down from the adults to their children, who staged their own personal witch-trial in miniature, complete with unquestioned spectral evidence (threatened demon-attack) the accused was not allowed to rebut. Let’s just hope that the mob has been satisfied that the Witches were sufficiently chastened, after all, it wouldn’t be hard at all for students to abuse the school’s completely anonymous online reporting tool in order to cause more troubled for the young man. Normally I would call on my readers to flood principal Ace Bryant with letters of protest, but respecting the wishes of the family who just want to get on with their lives, I’ll say instead that anyone living in Mississippi who isn’t a Christian should stay far, far, away from Purvis High, lest they fall afoul of a system that privileges the majority.

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens. What? You didn’t think I was going to get caught up in one day did you? I have so much more to cover before we can settle down to a more sedate pace!

We start off today with word from Thorn Coyle that Diana’s Grove, a 102-acre Pagan-owned sanctuary in Missouri, is going to sell off the land due to hardships brought on by our current economic climate.

“While blessed with these wonderful supporters who have given so generously of their time, energy, and money, Diana’s Grove Center has nevertheless been suffering under the current economic climate. It’s founders no longer have the energy and stamina required to support their dream, in it’s current form, in these challenging times. They have decided to make major changes before major changes are forced upon them, and will be selling Diana’s Grove. It is their intention, and the intention of the residential and Mystery School staff, to make this transition with as much positive energy and integrity as we can.”

The sanctuary’s founders and care-takers, Cynthea Jones and Patricia Storm, plan to continue currently scheduled programming at the site through 2010, and then continue the Diana’s Grove Mystery School at different locations in the future. They have reassured supporters that the land will not be sold to loggers or developers, and investors will be refunded after the sale. I wish them all the best for the future, and wonder if Diana’s Grove isn’t the only Pagan-owned land that is experiencing increased hardships in our current economic climate. Will the downturn end up rolling back some of the Pagan-owned land advances made in the 1980s and 1990s?

Since I first reported on it, the story of the fired Bath & Body Works employee who claims she was let go after her newly appointed superior found out she was Wiccan has spread like wildfire through the Pagan community with many calling for a boycott of the chain until they resolve the matter favorably. Meanwhile, some have wondered if there is more to this story, or if Gina Uberti was fired (after 8 years) for some sort of negligence or performance issue. I’m not omniscient (yet), so I can’t know for sure, but the complaint does seems rather convincing, and Bath & Body Works have either refused to comment, or have released a canned statement implying that Uberti was fired justly.

“My name is Linnea, and I work for Bath & Body Works. I know there’s been a lot of discussion about accusations that one of our managers fired someone due to their religion. I can assure you that once we became aware of the allegations, we immediately conducted a thorough investigation which showed that our internal policies and the law were being followed and that no one had been discriminated against. We are confident that the court will agree with our investigation findings. Bath & Body Works is an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate against race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, sexual orientation or marital status. I don’t take this topic lightly and I hope you understand that my company doesn’t either.”

If that isn’t prose written by a lawyer I don’t know what is. So we’ll all have to wait for the trial to learn more about the firing, and make our own personal judgments in the meantime. I doubt it’ll be popping up in the news much until the trial since all parties involved are clamming up. However, an employment lawyer speaking to the Connecticut Law Tribune did say that the Bath & Body Works will either have to prove that  Uberti was fired for performance/disciplinary issues (Uberti’s complaint claims she had a stellar performance record until her firing), or that her beliefs that prompted the time off weren’t sincerely held. Since the latter is a hard thing to prove, you can bet Bath & Body Works is scouring their files for any hint of performance problems.

Speaking of Pagans fired from their jobs, Bath & Body Works isn’t the only employer with an unhappy ex-Wiccan. TechCrunch reports on the case of James Bara, a Google employee who claims he was singled out, had his faith mocked, and was ultimately fired after he came to the defense of a female transgender employee.

“Bara complained about the comments to Sohn, who Bara says turned on him and began to treat him, and the other men in the office unfairly. Bara, who is a member of the Wiccan religion, also said that Sohn made inappropriate comments directed towards him about witches and his religion that made him feel uncomfortable. For example, Sohn would sing The Wizard of Oz’s “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead.” Bara’s employment was eventually terminated by Google after long standing issues with Sohn.”

You can read Bara’s lawsuit, here. Like Bath & Body Works, Google claims the firing was just and did not involve discrimination or any kind.

“After a thorough investigation, we have no reason to believe James Bara was discriminated against or treated unfairly, and we’ll defend ourselves vigorously against these charges. Google values a diverse and respectful workforce and does not tolerate discrimination.”

If Google is liable (and if should be noted that this discrimination didn’t happen at their headquarters, but at an Atlanta-based data center) they’ll be a bit hard to boycott considering their ubiquity on the Internet, nor would such an action really harm the Internet search giant (they aren’t a retail chain dependent on holiday sales). Instead, concerned parties should read the lawsuit, decide if it seems a valid complaint, contact the company with your views, and then publicize the matter on your own site, blog, journal, or newsletter. I imagine Google would respond to an influx of traffic calling them out for this incident.

Turning to politics, last week President Obama attended the The White House Tribal Nations Conference, there he addressed issues of poverty, sovereignty, law enforcement, and education to representatives and leaders from all federally recognized tribes. During a speech he not only referenced his adoption into the Crow Nation, but told leaders that he was on their side.

“I get it. I’m on your side. I understand what it means to be an outsider. I was born to a teenage mother. My father left when I was 2 years old, leaving her — my mother, my grandparents to raise me. We didn’t have much. We moved around a lot. So — so even though our experiences are different, I — I understand what it means to be on the outside looking in. I know what it means to feel ignored and forgotten and what it means to struggle. So you will not be forgotten as long as I’m in this White House.”

Those are some pretty strong words of support, it should be interesting to see how that support develops over his term, and how Native Americans will view the president’s performance on issues important to them. White House spokesmen also stressed that this was part of his ongoing outreach to “all Americans”, does that mean we might see a meeting with religious minorities sooner rather than later?

In a final note, it seems that monotheistic faiths don’t like their forms of animal sacrifice being equated with, well, you know, animal sacrifice. Ever since press have reported that Theodism, and now-famous adherent of Theodism, New York City Councilman Dan Halloran, occasionally partake in a ritual animal sacrifice (in which the animal is then eaten) the Republican councilman has been trying to put the practice in a context people might understand. Before the election he equated it with kosher butchering, which made a Democratic Jewish supporter of his opponent all but call him a Neo-Nazi. Then, after the election, he equated it with the Greek Orthodox tradition of roasting a whole spring lamb on Easter. That got him in trouble with New York’s first Greek-American elected official, Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (a Democrat).

“If Dan Halloran feels the need to explain his religious beliefs to the public, that’s his business. In doing so, he should not mischaracterize the faith of thousands of his new constituents … Easter lamb roasts have absolutely nothing to do with the religious animal blood sacrifices practiced by Dan Halloran. Dan Halloran must immediately apologize to the Greek Orthodox community for his offensive comments as should anyone who is associated with him.”

So, for the record, when an Abrahamic tradition ritually slaughters and eats an animal it is not animal sacrifice. It is only animal sacrifice when Heathens (or possibly Santeros) do it. As for Halloran, he seems done trying to explain his faith to outsiders.

“The fact that my religious beliefs are not mainstream or are not part of what popular culture would consider the norm should have no bearing on my issues.”

Something tells me that despite Halloran’s wishes this isn’t the last I’ve heard of this issue, or the last his opponents will attempt to use his faith against him.

That’s all I have for now, have a great day!

A sales manager at a Bath & Body Works in Hartford, Connecticut was allegedly fired by her new regional manager for making a religious pilgrimage to Salem for Samhain. Gina Uberti, who had been working for the chain for eight years, and taking the pilgrimage for six, had already gotten prior approval from her former regional manager for the Samhain trip. But her new boss, Sandra Scibelli, had other ideas.

“Uberti says she explained that her vacation had already been approved and that she was celebrating a religious holiday.  Uberti says Scibelli responded, “That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Let me ask you where your priorities should have been?” Uberti says she asked what was ridiculous, and Scibelli replied: “Well, you will need a new career in your new year.” Scibelli allegedly added, “I will be damned if I have a devil-worshipper on my team.” Uberti says she was fired in November 2008. She seeks lost wages and punitive damages for religious discrimination.”

Oops! Doesn’t sound like a great PR move for Bath & Body Works during a recession and just before the Winter holidays. Maybe the Pagan community (and their allies) should contact the firm and tell them they’ll be buying their nice-smelling soaps and bubble-baths elsewhere this year. If they don’t want “devil-worshippers” on their “team”, then they certainly don’t want any of our filthy Pagan money! Perhaps Bath & Body Works should ask Sandra Scibelli where her priorities are. If you’d like to read the full complaint, click here.

Bob Smietana of the Nashville Tennessean reports on Thomas Dyer, the first-ever Buddhist Army chaplain. Dyer was able to bypass some of the strict (and Christian-clergy favoring) military chaplaincy standards due to his former life as a Baptist pastor.

“A potential chaplain must have a master’s degree in religion. But some faiths, such as Buddhism and Wicca, don’t have seminaries, so they struggle to find chaplain candidates. Dyer qualified as a chaplain because already he had earned a master’s degree as a Baptist pastor before converting to Buddhism. Chaplains also need to be endorsed by a civilian religious group. The Department of Defense has approved few non-Christian endorsement groups.”

If this all sounds somewhat familiar it is because it deeply echoes the case of Don Larsen, a former Pentecostal Army chaplain in good standing who tried to become the first Wiccan Army chaplain only to get caught in a variety of spiteful bureaucratic actions from his former endorsing body and military superiors leaving him in a procedural limbo.

“While in the process of switching faiths within the chaplaincy (normally a routine process, involving some paperwork), a senior Army chaplain disclosed to the Pentecostal Church exactly what Larsen was switching to and as a result pulled their endorsement of Larsen before Sacred Well’s endorsement could be approved … Retired Army colonel Jim Ammerman, the president and founder of Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches admits that the church went against longstanding agreements among endorsers in pulling Larsen’s papers.”

Now, in light of this new breakthrough, could we see a second chance for Larsen or renewed hope for another would-be Wiccan Army chaplain? It remains to be seen, but some have wondered if the Army’s chaplaincy program is fundamentally broken, unable to adapt to a multi-religious reality.

“…some faith groups are overrepresented among chaplains. For example, there are 54 members of the Independent Fundamental Churches of America in the military, and 22 chaplains from the denomination. That’s one chaplain for every 2.5 church members. By contrast, there’s one imam per 353.5 Muslims, and one priest for every 1,086 Catholics. And there are no chaplains to serve the 3,214 Wiccans in the military. Recruiting chaplains from diverse faiths is a challenge, in part because the recruiting system favors Christians and Jews … In the end, Bergen, the Toronto professor, wonders if creating a diverse chaplain corps is possible…”

In a chaplaincy overrun with conservative evangelicals can any other faith grouping find a place or expect fair treatment? Is the case of Thomas Dyer a fluke or the beginning of a new trend to allow more religious diversity into the Army’s chaplaincy? What we do know is that modern Paganism is quickly approaching a time when it will have its own masters-granting seminaries in conjunction with several willing sponsoring organizations. The current maze of red-tape and various organizational “catch-22s” will not last forever, and we will soon find out if the Army is equally dedicated to serving the needs of its Wiccan soldiers as its Christian ones. Until then, I wish Thomas Dyer good luck, and hope he is the beginning of a brighter future.