The Top (Pagan) Religion Stories
The Religion Newswriters Association has posted their top ten religious stories of the year (though they actually list the top 20). Since Pagans didn’t even make the top twenty I present a few stories that I felt should have popped up on more religious journalist’s radars. Not surprisingly, they are all legal struggles.
The Cynthia Simpson case. Cynthia Simpson sued Chesterfield County after she was excluded from a list of religious leaders allowed to pray at Board of Supervisors meetings. The case which was initially won by Simpson, was then won by Chesterfield County on appeal (after they changed their prayer policy). The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court and was rejected by the court despite support from several religious groups backing Simpson.
Cutter v. Wilkinson. Cutter v. Wilkinson was a case brought by incarcerated minority religious practitioners (a Satanist and an Asatruar among others) who were denied reasonable access to religious materials under the RLUIPA act. The case was not only won, but earned wide mainstream religious support by groups from all along the political spectrum.
The Thomas E. Jones Jr. and Tammie U. Bristol case. Many were shocked when they heard about the case of a divorced couple (both Pagan) who were barred from teaching their son “non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals.” by a Marion County judge. The blogosphere and mainstream press gave the story a lot of coverage, which culminated in the the decree being overturned by the appeals court, and a bit of crow-eating by the judge.
Heck, you could even combine them all into one long story regarding the fight for acceptance and equal rights for minority religions. If so you could also add in the pending Ayahuasca tea case recently argued before the Supreme Court and the San Francisco Peaks ski resort case. This has been a key year in the fight for the rights of all faiths to practice, be respected, and be included in mainstream society.
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