The Advice Columnist and The Witch

Early this week I blogged about Salon.com columnist Cary Tennis’ advice to a Wiccan mom (in a mixed religious marriage) about to send her son to Catholic school. I wondered if my readers had better advice for her than he did. It now looks like several people including some Pagan bloggers and a psychiatry professor were quite unhappy with the “grin and bear it” message of Mr. Tennis.

“Cary, I feel you gave terrible advice to the pagan with a child headed for Catholic school. There is more to life then fitting in at grade school. I cannot understand why any parent with even a limitedly open mind would subject their child to the propagandistic bullying by a kindergarten teacher as you described. As not only a pagan, but as one who never fit in, I can assure you that the damage that comes from dealing with difference isn’t nearly as harmful as allowing your child to be brainwashed. After all, it’s frequently the people who are different who make great contributions to humanity — and even if a person doesn’t, conforming mindlessly to the crowd certainly isn’t what I’d want for my child!” – Grey Cat, author of “Deepening Witchcraft”

“Mr. Tennis counsels that tolerant people can’t pick and choose who they tolerate, so the mother has no right to quibble over what her son is being taught. To this, I can only say: What? Being tolerant doesn’t equate to being incapable of making value judgments!” – Gregg Helmberger, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School

“As a neo-pagan writer (“The Pagan Man,” “Rites of Worship,” “Real Magic”) and a polytheologian, I found the letter from a pagan mother worried about sending her child to a Catholic school, and Cary Tennis’ response, both disturbing and heartbreaking. Creedism is no more acceptable than racism or sexism, and a mother’s fear that her child will be brainwashed into a creedist worldview is well founded. A famous Catholic saying is (in its modern phrasing), “Give us a child until he’s 6 and he’ll be a Catholic forever.” That’s not true, thank the Gods, but it is still the prime motivation (other than financial) behind “allowing” non-Catholic kids to attend Catholic schools.” – Isaac Bonewits

I’m surprised that there was no response from Tennis defending his position, or at least addressing the criticism. Maybe he just doesn’t want to seem intolerant.

Tags: Neopaganism