“North Texas taxpayers could be on the hook for a $400,000 legal bill, all because their city lost its fight, against animal sacrifice in religious ceremonies. The bill could go higher.  In July, the court ruled in Merced’s favor and ruled the City of Euless must pay his appellate attorneys’ fees. One of his attorneys, Eric Rassbach, estimates the total legal bill at around $400,000. “Quite frankly, they should be upset with their elected officials who signed off on this lawsuit,” Rassbach said.”

Rassbach is from The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and no doubt the lawyers working to achieve a “small victory for religious freedom in this country” didn’t come cheaply. Naturally, Euless’s attourney Mick McKamie is vowing to fight having to pay Mr. Merced’s legal bills, and may still be considering if they can bring this matter to the Supreme Court. It is looking like it would have been much cheaper if Euless had simply revised their animal slaughter laws to safely regulate such matters instead of banning them outright. But that horse is out of the barn, and now local law enforcement are barred from enforcing the current law.

“A federal judge has barred a North Texas suburb from enforcing a rule to prevent a Santeria priest from sacrificing animals in his home. In a final judgment this month, U.S. District Judge John McBryde of Fort Worth also ordered Euless to pay for the costs incurred by Santeria priest Jose Merced. His attorney, Eric Rassbach, said Tuesday the ruling means Merced can resume priest ordination ceremonies involving animal sacrifice.”

As Santeria, and other Afro-carribbean diasporic faiths, continue to grow in North America you can expect to see more conflicts like this in the future. Most animal slaughter laws were designed for a different time and context, and can be discriminatory when used to regulate religiously-motivated animal sacrifices. Eventually, this matter will have to come to the Supreme Court for a definitive ruling, since the previous Santeria-related SCOTUS case, Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, dealt only with laws that specifically targeted the religion. Until that happens, animal sacrifices will often happen under the legal radar, allowing for the sorts of speculation that leads to racial and religious profiling every time a dead animal turns up.

The city of Euless has had its request for a rehearing in federal appeals court over the matter of animal sacrifice rejected.

“A federal appeals court has rejected Euless’ request for a rehearing on a decision that paves the way for a Santeria priest to resume sacrificing animals in his home during religious ceremonies. Jose Merced sued Euless, saying his First Amendment religious freedoms were violated when the city banned him from slaughtering goats in 2006. The city contended that such sacrifices jeopardized public health and violated slaughterhouse and animal-cruelty ordinances.”

Short of an appeal to the Supreme Court, which Euless seems to be considering, this case is done. If it does go to the Supreme Court, and Merced wins again, it could affect animal slaughter laws across the country. Clearing the way for religions like Santeria to sacrifice animals at their rites largely free from the threat of arrest or harassment. To read all my coverage of this case, click here.

At The Nation Max Blumenthal publishes an excerpt from his forthcoming book that concerns the tragic case of Matthew Murray, a deeply disturbed young man who took a gun to a Youth With A Mission missionary training center and opened fire, killing four, then himself. Blumenthal tells how Murray grew up indoctrinated and abused by his charismatic Pentecostal parents, and how his attempts to break free of their programming led him first to the teachings of Aleister Crowley, then to drug abuse, and ultimately to a complete breakdown that led to the tragic shootings.

“Murray had been indoctrinated so thoroughly into charismatic Pentecostal culture, however, that even while he railed against his religious upbringing, he could not abandon his ingrained attraction to religiosity. So instead of fleeing hardcore Christian culture for secular humanism, a natural position for jaded skeptics like him, he traded his former faith for Crowley’s occultism. Crowley’s philosophy of sex “magick,” narcotic hallucination, and self-degradation (he allegedly ordered his followers to have oral sex with goats and drink the blood of cats) was forged in reaction to his parents’ Puritanism and, in fact, was first practiced in English boarding schools, where homosexual experimentation was practically de rigueur. Crowley became Murray’s new lodestar. Like Jesus, who was so impressed by the ardor of a pagan Roman centurion whom he met that he remarked, “I have not found such great faith, even in Israel,” Murray yearned for spiritual practice in its purest form. Now he practiced Crowley’s faux faith as fervently as his parents wished he had worshipped their neo-evangelical macho Christ. But the occult only led Murray into a confusing new world of cheap thrills.”

I find it interesting that Blumenthal, in damning extremist Christianity, feels the need to misrepresent Aleister Crowley, and by implication, to insult anyone who leaves Christianity for an occult practice instead of the “natural” choice of secular humanism. He ultimately blames an abusive Christian upbringing for Murray’s descent into madness, and rightfully criticizes attempts of Christian apologists to paint this as an “occult” or “Satanic” attack, but couldn’t avoid his own preconceived notions concerning what the O.T.O. and the philosophies of Aleister Crowley are truly about. In his failure to hide his disdain for an occult practice he doesn’t understand, to paint it as a sign of illness, he sounds more like the Christians he criticizes than he would most likely care to admit.

SF Gate’s In Marin blog profies Cerridwen Fallingstar on the publication of her new book “White as Bone Red as Blood, The Fox Sorceress”, a book that is “based” on Fallingstar’s past life in 12th century Japan.

“The first book, which was released in 1990, was based on Cerridwen’s past life as a Scottish witch in 16th-century Scotland.   It took a full fifteen years before she released her current book, White as Bone, a compelling read about a sorceress in the royal palace in Japan during the mid-1100s. Why so long? Cerridwen says it takes a long time to cultivate the memories and even longer to do the research.  She says she is able to enter a trance, summon the memories and put them to tape. After transcribing them, she’ll research them by conventional means; by reading as much as she can find on that particular time in history, and by visiting the locales.”

Will this new book find favor within the Pagan community? Are past-life accounts still popular, or have we grown more skeptical of such things in the twenty years since Fallingstar’s last book? I guess we’ll find out. In the meantime, if you want to find out more about Cerridwen Fallingstar and order a copy of the book, click here.

The Odinist group that was kicked out of a public park in Bakersfield, California say they are filing a lawsuit with the ACLU against the North of the River Parks and Recreation Department.

“Roger Perez, NOR public relations director, said, “I believe there was a claim that the religion was being disrespected, and we take those types of claims seriously. But in our internal investigation, that wasn’t believed to have been said, was not said, by our deputy. And unfortunately, I think it just got blown out of proportion.” But the Odinists were not satisfied. They began the process to file a civil lawsuit with the ACLU which is considering whether to take the case.”

So it looks like this one will most likely be going to court. The KERO 23 story also includes the two 911 calls from neighbors that brought the police to the scene, one of which sounds confused about what exactly is going on, and another that alleges they were shouting “white power” to non-white passerby. The Odinist group has denied that they are a racist organization.

In a final note, with Autumn on its way we are quickly approaching the Halloween/Samhain season, and that means reality television programs are skulking about Salem looking for a willing Witchy participant. This time the  snarky fashion show “What Not to Wear” (on the increasingly misnamed TLC network) has its sights set on Salem shop co-owner Leanne Marrama.

“TV fashion gurus Stacy London and Clinton Kelly were in Salem filming an episode of their show, in which they stage weekly style interventions on a victim of bad fashion. Leanne Marrama, a member of Salem’s witch community, was in their sights yesterday. Dressed in a black gown with wide lacy sleeves, a black corset, black combat boots and a black purse with a skull, Marrama is set for a complete fashion, hair and makeup makeover.”

Also in the program will be Marrama’s friend and business associate Christian Day. While I’m sure many Pagans in New England have at times wished the more flamboyant Salem Witches would get a makeover, I don’t think this is what they had in mind. Shows like this aren’t laughing with us, they are producing content so that people can laugh at us (not to mention imposing a more rigid idea of “normalcy” concerning dress and appearance).

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

Charles Arthur Roberts, who is serving five years in prison for aggravated assault, is suing the Texas prison system for preventing him from practicing Wicca while incarcerated.

“Roberts alleges in a pro se lawsuit that he made repeated requests practice Wicca to the chaplain and administrators at TDCJ’s Lopez Unit off El Cibolo Road in Edinburg … The 28-year-old Brownsville native claims that prison administrators allow Catholic, Protestant and Moslem services but will not allow him to practice his Wiccan faith. Roberts wrote in his lawsuit that administrators told him they needed a Wiccan volunteer to hold a service for him but that they never attempted to obtain a volunteer. The jailed Wiccan claims he even tried to contact administrators at a state level but never received a reply. “I have been dealing with the defendants for a year to get things for my religion but they have not tried to get anything started, which is a violation of my Constitutional rights,” Roberts wrote in his lawsuit.”

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice won’t comment on the case, but did reveal that three inmates and an outside volunteer are required before they will allow scheduled sessions. If Roberts could not meet the three-inmate threshold, the case could be dismissed if he can’t also prove prison officials blocked attempts to find an outside volunteer or acquire Wiccan religious materials. While many jail-house lawsuits can be frivolous, we shouldn’t forget that according to Pagan chaplain Patrick McCollum there is “endemic” discrimination against incarcerated religious minorities.

The Maine Family Policy Council, formerly known as the Christian Civic League of Maine, are back to spreading lies about Rita Moran, Chair of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee, who was one of two openly Pagan delegates at the Democratic National Convention. Not content with first outing her as a Pagan and then stalking her, they are now trying to play the victim by misquoting an interview she did with a Pagan podcast back in 2007.

“In a recently discovered podcast, Rita Moran, Chairwoman of the Kennebec County Democrats, claims she cast a spell on the Administrator of the Christian Civic League, Mike Hein, in response to her outing by the League as a practitioner of the occult … In the podcast, Moran presents herself as a practitioner of an “earth-based” religion, but states she does not wear a pentacle, for the sake of ‘plausible deniability.’ If asked, she tells people she is a practitioner of an ‘earth-based’ religion. During the interview, Moran also expresses a desire to form a national “Pagan Caucus” within the Democratic Party, so that the Democrat Party and paganism can come together in a “positive way.” When asked if Mike Hein suffered any backlash from her outing, she replied that she is certain that there was an occult backlash, based on her casting of an “earth spell” on Hein.”

I happened to have listened to the podcast in question (mp3 link), from the now-defunct Lance and Graal show, and it clearly says that she cast a “mirror” spell (not an “earth” spell, whatever that means). In other words, the only malefic thing Mike Hein may have received spiritually is what he was already dishing out against Moran. It is truly sad that some supposedly moral Christians feel the need to lie, break laws, and harass innocent people to feel superior. One has to wonder if Focus on the Family knows what sort of things this “affiliated” group gets up to in the name of Christ.

Warning! Some minor True Blood second-season spoilers follow! Do you watch the HBO vampire series True Blood? If not, you’re apparently missing out on some hot-and-heavy pagan themes in addition to all the vampire-lovin’ that’s already going on. A character introduced in the current (second) season, Maryann, was revealed to be a maenad, and some Pagans are seriously unhappy with the way things are being portrayed.

“…they could have called her a Maenad and been done with it – I wouldn’t have been thrilled with that, but I expected it. They went WAY too far with this, IMO. They have to bring in Lilith, Isis, Gaia, the Horned God AND Dionysus? To abuse the name of Isis, the favorite name of the Goddess, in that way was particularly offensive to me. The Christian devil imagery is so predictable and cliche – you may be right, the writers need to do some research.”

I’ve heard similar rumblings from other Pagans as well, but I’ll reserve personal judgement for after the season closes, and I’ve seen the episodes. However, if you aren’t spoiler-averse and want a taste of the way things are going, check out this recap of episode ten for some of the Dionysian mayhem currently on display.

Reuters covers the festival of Lurol in Tibet, a time that displays the syncretic mix between Tibetan Buddhism and the animist/shamanic Bon faith.

Dressed in special clothes, his long hair carefully cut and braided, Damtsengbon waits for his spirit, Amyesrmachen, the most sacred mountain god in the region. Other villagers call the spirit’s name while Damtsengbon, who like many Tibetans only goes by one name, enters a trance, twitching and jerking. “I am the third generation to channel this god, so it is not just about me. For three generations the god has manifested himself through us, and even living Buddhas recognize this … I think it’s a way for me to serve my people. It keeps us together and protects us, so it’s an honor to serve them.”

I recommend reading the entirety of this fascinating look into Tibetan religion and culture.

In a final note, be sure and check out presentations from friends-of-this-blog John W. Morehead and Chas Clifton at the recently-held 2009 CENSUR conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Chas Clifton’s presentation, “In the Mists of Avalon: How Contemporary Paganism Dodges the ‘Crisis of History’”, is particularly interesting for those wondering why Wicca and modern Paganism didn’t collapse with the advent of better scholarship.

“Contemplating the crisis—or crises—of history as they affect contemporary Paganism, the Wiccan journalist Margot Alder comments,  “Traditionally, religions with indefensible histories and dogmas cling to them tenaciously. The Craft avoided this through the realization, often unconscious, that its real sources lie in the mind, in art, in creative work.”[31] By relying on the fictive power of books and other creative products to provide a sort of sacred story, the contemporary Pagans described thus step out of history while retaining a modern respect for the historian’s scholarship and thus postponing a collision between historical narrative and mythic past.”

For those interested in the study of new religious movements, you should check out all the “cyberproceedings” available online.

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

“A federal appeals court reversed a lower court’s ruling on Friday that barred a Santeria priest from sacrificing goats in his Texas home, saying a city’s decision to prohibit the ritual violated the man’s religious rights … “It’s a great day for religious freedom in Texas,” said Eric Rassbach, Merced’s lawyer, in response to the three-judge panel’s ruling. Merced said by practicing his faith in the privacy of his own home, he didn’t harm anyone. “Now Santeros can practice their religion at home without being afraid of being fined, arrested or taken to court,” Merced said.”

Merced, who lost his initial challenge to the law, was backed in his appeal by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.  In a press release, Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director of The Becket Fund, had this to say about the decision.

“Religious freedom doesn’t mean much if you can’t peacefully worship in your own way in your own home. The Fifth Circuit got that right today … The Becket Fund took on this case not just to vindicate the rights of Mr. Merced, but also to protect the ability of every believer to worship in his own home as his conscience dictates, without undue government interference … Turns out that there will be religious freedom in Euless, Texas after all.”

The city of Euless is planning to file for a rehearing on the matter, but it might not get far since the Fifth Circuit remarked in their decision that claims of Santeria endangering public health were “like the report of Mark Twain’s death, greatly exaggerated”. You can read the full decision, here. It is somewhat gratifying to note that the panel of judges also noticed the hypocrisy of allowing the legal home slaughter of deer, chickens, and turkeys, but not the legal slaughter of goats. Expect this decision to get appealed to the Supreme Court, and (in my opinion) for SCOTUS to decline hearing it (they generally don’t like to revisit issues).

If this decision is ultimately allowed to stand, Merced v. City of Euless could be the case that takes the precedent initially established in Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah nationwide, clearing the way for legal animal sacrifice in religious ceremonies. Could legal sanction be the answer to ongoing freak-outs by various law enforcement and city officials over clandestine animal sacrifices in public parks? Expect to hear a lot more about this issue in the coming months.

“Sometime in July, Flowers — award-winning teacher of English and religion, expert in mythology, past director of Plan II, confidante of PBS journalist Bill Moyers, consultant to NASA and corporations around the world, author of three poetry volumes — will move away from her home in West Lake Hills to commence a personal and romantic adventure with Bill Bradley in New York City.”

In honour of her leaving, the Austin American-Statesman has reprinted a profile of Flowers from 2002, shortly after she was named as the new director of the LBJ Library. In it, Flowers recalls how the goddesses of ancient myth, specifically Demeter and Aphrodite, helped spur her forward into becoming a powerful woman, and sparked a lifelong love of myth.

“Sometime before the sixth grade, the Bookworm of Abilene happened upon the beauty of mythology. To her delight, Flowers discovered that the women in Greek myth were star players in moral drama. While not always virtuous, the Greek goddesses were spunky and brazen. They wielded power. They were the focus of stories. “The Greek myths were the only stories I could find, in fact, that involved powerful women,” says Flowers. “These goddesses: They throw their weight around! Demeter blasts the world! Zeus has to beg her to stop!” Flowers was so enthralled by the Greek myths that she carried a personal copy of Edith Hamilton’s “Mythology” back and forth to school with her throughout the sixth grade. But since this was West Texas, circa 1958, shy Betty Sue Marable covered her book of myths with aluminum foil — concealing the cover illustration of the naked Perseus, sword in hand, hoisting up the head of the slain Medusa.”

I encourage reading the entire profile, for while Flowers is no Pagan in the formal sense of the term, she lives a life that sings with the virtues of the ancient world. A powerful personal example that refutes the idea of Christianity or moral chaos. An individual who embodies some of the best qualities of the emerging post-Christian cultural reality.

We start off with the sad news that author and surgeon Dr. Leonard Shlain passed away on Monday at the age of 71. Shlain is perhaps best known within the Pagan, Goddess, and New Age communities as the author of “The Alphabet Versus The Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image”.

“In this groundbreaking book, Leonard Shlain, author of the bestselling Art & Physics, proposes that the process of learning alphabetic literacy rewired the human brain, with profound consequences for culture. Making remarkable connections across a wide range of subjects including brain function, anthropology, history, and religion, Shlain argues that literacy reinforced the brain’s linear, abstract, predominantly masculine left hemisphere at the expense of the holistic, iconic feminine right one. This shift upset the balance between men and women initiating the disappearance of goddesses, the abhorrence of images, and, in literacy’s early stages, the decline of women’s political status. Patriarchy and misogyny followed.”

You can read obituaries for Leonard Shlain at Boing Boing and on his own web site. My condolences to his friends and family, may his spirit find rest and comfort.

If a journalist “outs” your religion to the wider world in the process of an investigation and you lose revenue because of it, is the journalist liable for your losses? A judge in Quebec thinks so, and has ordered Sun Media Corp. to pay 9000.00 dollars to two members of the Raelians.

“When newspaper reporter Brigitte McCann spent nine months undercover as a member of the Raelian sect in 2003, the resulting articles caused a stir in Quebec and won her the province’s top journalism prize. Her Journal de Montréal reports revealed a darker side of a group generally dismissed as UFO-believing clowns: Its leader believes he has been targeted for assassination by the CIA, he demands generous contributions from his 55,000 followers and his entourage includes “angels” prepared to die to protect him … The plaintiffs, whose names are withheld in the published judgment, both said they had suffered embarrassment and loss of revenue after being identified as senior figures close to sect leader Claude Vorilhon, who goes by the name Raël. Their photos, taken from a pamphlet distributed at a Raelian gathering, were published.”

Naturally the Raelian Movement hails this decision, though some journalists and lawyers are saying that this chills the exercise of free speech. However, the judge ruled that these individuals’ expectation of privacy had been violated because information about the sect was freely available, making an undercover infiltration excessive and unjustified. You can read an unofficial English translation of the court’s decision, here. This decision could have wide ramifications in Canada regarding the investigation and reporting on non-mainstream and minority faiths. After all, even loony UFO cultists deserve some expectation of privacy, don’t they?

As some of you know, I like to keep track of Pagan and witchcraft-related themes in the world of high fashion design. Well, another line of clothing has come to my attention that you may want to check out. An Allure article trumpets that goth is back in fashion (again) and mentions in passing a “Witches” line of clothing by Lauren Alexander and Gabby Applegate as part of the trend. So I tracked down some photos and exposition concerning the line at NOTCOT.

“Promising… “WITCHES” the new shadowy, supernatural, and chic collection from Lauren Alexander and Gabby Applegate. An incredible editorial presentation in vignette style to showcase the occult collection. Friday, the Thirteenth of March, Seven to Ten in the evening. Chateau Marmont, Bungalow 4”… fascinating part, not even the Dietch PR folks had seen the line before this evening… the designer’s description? “”This line is a modern take on Goth, Grunge, and Victorian dressing. The entire line is comprised of black lace, velvet, silk, and spandex. The collection includes everything from floor length velvet cloaks to lace cocktail dresses with rope details. The goal has been to combine all of these style elements to create something that we feel has been missing in our closets. This collection truly embodies the idea of a “modern witch”.”

The line is very occult-goth chic, do go check out the photos if that’s your bag.

Remember how we all rushed to embrace actress Cybill Shepherd for thanking “the Goddess” at an awards ceremony years ago? Well the FoxNews “Pop Tarts” column talks with Shepherd about Prop. 8, Obama, and her rather complex personal theology.

“I’m a Christian Pagan Buddhist Goddess worshiper, but I’m also a feminist. I think the ultimate glass ceiling is God, in another words, if we think God is a man, then we make man a God, and I studied and learned that there is a whole other history of the worshiping of the great mother,” she explained. “I really think that probably God is a woman, that helped me to break through that celestial glass ceiling.”

So she is a confirmed Goddess-worshiper, but in a Christian/Pagan/Buddhist sort of way. I suppose she has all her bases covered no matter what lies beyond this life.

Earlier this week Brownsville, Texas held an election for three seats on its City Commission, and if you believe local reverend and activist Alex Resendez, no withcraft or brujeria were involved in shaping the outcome.

“During Resendez’s April 28 invocation, candidates stood ready to address the standing-room-only crowd in the Brownsville Public Library. But after Resendez’s invocation, today’s election should be free of unknown, unwarranted and unwel-come intervention after he banished evil spirits from affecting the candidates and electoral contest. Resendez, a reverend and political activist, is different in his approach to politics. He believes that evil spirits are real in the world and wants to keep them out of the electoral process. He fervently believes in the democratic process … He also believes that witchcraft, or brujeria, has no place in elections and, just prior to the forum’s start, beseeched Christ during the invocation to banish any witchcraft attempts against the candidates and the election. “Si existe (it exists),” Resendez said Thursday of brujeria, in which one casts spells for a given out-come.”

Resendez also casts out demons as part of his ministry, but not from any of the candidates (so far). Of course we have no way of knowing if the reverend’s invocations were truly effective, perhaps they can poll any local witches or brujas living in the area? Were their spells thwarted? Did their preferred candidates lose? These are the kinds of things I want some follow-up on!

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

“Fran and Danny Keller were each convicted of sexually assaulting Christina Chaviers, and each was sentenced to 48 years in prison. For the Kellers, now 58 and 68, respectively, it was effectively a life sentence. They’ve since come up for parole, but neither will acknowledge the remorse that is a requirement of release – after 17 years, the Kellers still fiercely maintain their innocence. And in fact, the Chronicle’s reinvestigation of the Fran’s Day Care case has revealed serious problems with the state’s case against the Kellers – including questions about the quality and reliability of the state’s medical evidence and forensic interviews. Moreover, the sensational nature of the charges themselves, in a period of hysterical national rumors about supposed “satanic ritual abuse” at day care centers, made it virtually impossible for the Kellers to receive a fair or even rational trial.”

In addition to examining the sad lack of real justice for the Kellers, the paper has also published companion pieces on the history of the Satanic abuse scare, and issues concerning children and testimony. People like the Kellers, and the West Memphis 3, are still wasting away in jails thanks in part to a moral panic dreamt up by Christian fundamentalists, unscrupulous “therapists”, various “cult experts”, and media-fueled folk legends (supported in the past by talk-show hosts like Donahue, Geraldo Rivera, Oprah Winfrey, and Sally Jesse Raphael). Sadder still, there remains a hard-core contingent of “survivors” and true belivers who are simply waiting for the cultural winds to shift again so they can peddle their fear and spectral evidence once more. So long as people are prosecuted or remain jailed due to rumors, unfounded beliefs, or misinformation concerning new religious movements the “Satanic Panic” era will never truly end.

“Jose Merced accused the city of Euless of violating his constitutional freedom of religious exercise, but U.S. District Judge John McBryde of Fort Worth sided with the city and dismissed the Puerto Rico native’s claims last year. Merced asks the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn McBryde’s ruling. A three-judge panel is to hear the case Wednesday in New Orleans. Euless says certain animal sacrifices pose a threat to public health and violate its slaughterhouse and animal cruelty ordinances. Merced’s lawyer say he’s sacrificed animals at his Euless home for 16 years without incident.”

The goal here is to prove that the law in Euless is arbitrary and unfairly burdens his religious practice. In 1993 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye vs. the City of Hialeah, Florida, that laws governing the slaughter of animals must be neutral and generally applicable. Since Euless already allows for the home slaughter of various (potentially) pathogen-carrying “tablefare animals” (chickens, turkeys), to single out Merced’s sacrifice of goats certainly seems arbitrary. Also questionable is the fact that only Merced has been singled out in the enforcement of these “slaughterhouse” and “animal cruelty” ordinances.

“Euless argued that applying these ordinances was justified because Merced’s rituals affect public health. However, Euless has moved to protect the public health only with respect to Merced’s actions. Euless has not targeted restaurants, veterinarians or others who pose equivalent threats to the public health.”

For more information, check out the Becket Fund’s fact sheet on the case and this video press release:

This is an important case, and a win here would greatly increase the established legal rights for the humane and sanitary home slaughter of animals for religious purposes. While it is certainly understandable that some in our communities view such practices as retrograde and unnecessary, we should not forget that animal sacrifice was a bedrock of ancient paganism, and that some Pagan groups today engage (or wish to engage) in similar rites. We should support our “cousins” in Santeria, if only because ensuring their religious freedoms also ensures ours.

“Kilroy arrived at South Padre Island on March 11 with friends Billy Huddleston, Brent Martin and Bradley Moore, joining the tens of thousands of students who each year made the trek to a warm sun, alluring beaches and unfettered nightlife on both sides of the border. Sometime during a visit to Matamoros on their third day in the Valley and into the early morning hours of March 14, Kilroy became separated from his group. They never saw him alive again … Constanzo’s followers selected Kilroy at random. Most of the other victims were competitors in the drug trade.”

Now, here’s where things get tricky. Constanzo adhered to his own twisted and distorted variant of Palo Mayombe, and ran his drug operation like a cult (complete with brainwashed followers), with numerous ritualistic human sacrifices (mostly competitors) being done to “feed” his magical power. The Mexican press dubbed Constanzo and his followers “narcosatánicos” (Satanic drug dealers), sensationalistically linking Constanzo’s warped Afro-Carribean practice with Satanism. Now, twenty years later, The Brownsville Herald’s report takes the time to unwrap the tangled story interviewing anthropologist Tony Zavaleta, an expert in African diasporic religions who advised police twenty years ago and witnessed first-hand the horrifying work of the cult. Zavaleta makes it clear that Constanzo was a madman engaging in a twisted and isolated distortion of Palo.

“…they also found evidence of “Palo Mayombe,” an imported Afro-Caribbean religion. It would be engrained into their memories. Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo, the ringleader of the drug gang, gave the religion a “bad name” in the “self-styled” manner in which he practiced it, anthropologist Tony Zavaleta said … He has met with Palo Mayombe practitioners during the past 20 years in the Rio Grande Valley, other Texas locations and Mexico City and, “They all, with no exception just lament what Constanzo did and he caused them so much harm and so much damage (to their religion).” Zavaleta said he recently talked to a “santero,” a person who practices Santería, who also is a “palero” and a “padrino.” And in talking about the 20th anniversary of the Rancho Santa Elena massacres “he went into a rant about Constanzo, about ‘ese loco,’ ” Zavaleta recounted.”

Now, compare that excellent bit of journalism by Emma Perez-Trevino with the report by local television station KVUE.

“…the work of a satanic cult, the leader, a Cuban-American who promised drug traffickers protection in exchange for human sacrifices … the satanic cult’s so-called godmother was a student at Texas Southmost College, now U.T.-Brownsville … Many still refer to it as the work of the devil, just across the border from a Spring Break paradise.”

Even though KVUE also interviews Zavaleta, they don’t include any information from him about the formation of this cult, satisfied to call it “Satanism” and move on. Now think about how many people saw that television newscast as opposed to reading the two in-depth pieces from The Brownsville Herald and you start to see how religious misinformation starts to spread. I suppose “Satanist” has a bit more “zing” than “twisted and isolated offshoot of Palo Mayombe”, but it isn’t correct and clouds the true facts of this horrible event. As horrible as this case was, and no doubt as much as ethical practitioners of Palo and related faiths wish this wasn’t in their history, the truth can ultimately benefit them. If labeled “Palo”, ethical journalists can at least find and interview modern practitioners who can explain the distorted nature of Constanzo’s insane cult. But if they are “Satanists” then people make all sorts of troubling associations, and most likely triger interviews with “Satanic Panic” peddlers who have a vested interest in inflating a largely imagined threat (or genuine modern Satanists who will have little to no knowledge about the case).

Supporters of the evangelist, prophet and apostle are hoping “a general in God’s army” and a host of prayer warriors will have more impact on ending the violence at the border than Mexican soldiers or police have had. More than 1,800 people have been killed in Juárez since 2007 in alleged drug violence. “The violence in Juárez has made news everywhere, and people are coming from all over to pray for our region,” said Moni Field, co-pastor at El Paso for Jesus. “God uses people like Ana Mendez Ferrellto mobilize believers to bring about change.” In a phone interview, Mendez Ferrell said she is looking forward to her visit to El Paso.”The (El Paso) conference is God’s appointment. Worship at a certain level can totally transform a region,” she said. “We’ve seen this happen in other parts of the world. Worship, as a weapon, can counter the evil and murdering.”

Ana Mendez Ferrell is quite proud of using prayer and worship as a weapon and brags about being a part of the infamous workings against the “Queen of Heaven” (aka the feminine divine/Mary in Catholicism) on her web site.

As a general in spiritual warfare, Ana has coordinated many of the most important prayer initiatives in the darkest places of the earth, confronting major territorial spirits.  The most difficult assault that she and her team undertook was the climbing of Mount Everest in 1997, which resulted in major spiritual breakthroughs in the 10/40 window.  Ana was also the special task coordinator for operation “Queens Palace,” the first worldwide prayer initiative, involving nearly 75 percent of the nations in the world in a war against a dominion of darkness known as the “queen of heaven.”

Participants in these workings take credit for everything from the death of Princess Diana and Mother Teresa to giving Wiccans cancer. They are willing “soldiers” in an organized network of malefic “black” magic workings that they justify and sanctify by claiming they are merely casting out demons. While the El Paso Times makes a quick note that Mendez Ferrell is “controversial”, it is couched in a way they makes her seem heroic rather than monstrous. It gives no background in what sort of “workings” these “generals”, “warriors”, and “soldiers” do. How many Christians will attend thinking it a normal prayer service to end violence only to find themselves enmeshed with a spiritual paramilitary.

While it is certainly the right of the “Third Wave” to practice their religion freely, journalists need to be a bit less credulous, do actual research on religious organizations, and understand the inherent dangers of spiritually militaristic groups that declare “war” on other faiths. It seems all too easy for these “warriors” to veer into actual physical violence should their goals not be accomplished on an acceptable time-line. As for their spiritual “targets” (ie most of the people who read this blog), we need to keep our eyes open, and not assume these extremists have faded away simply because an election didn’t go their way.