After the dreadful abomination that was the 2006 remake of “The Wicker Man” are we really ready for another treatment of this pagan musical cult-classic? Foul Play SF and The Dark Room certainly hope so as they unleash “The Wicker Man: A Rock Opera About the Ultimate Sacrifice”.

Photo by Geof Teague.

“October 2008, something wicker this way comes! We’re presenting a Foul Play, the Wicker Man: a Rock Opera About the Ultimate Sacrifice, a musical thriller, and burning sensation just in time for Halloween from the team that brought you Attack of the Killer B-Movies.”

In addition to changing the genre from folk to rock, the site refers to a new “original music score” from Jim Fourniadis with back-up from “Rock / Metal / Comedy” group Live Evil. Does this mean they are scrapping the old songs from the classic soundtrack? Will this new version be mocking camp or loving homage? The synopsis doesn’t provide many clues.

“April showers bring the sanctimonious Sergeant Howie a mysterious letter concerning a missing girl from Summerisle, the tiny pagan island commune renowned for its bountiful produce and unabashed holy day rituals. His investigation of the restless natives proves as fruitless as last year’s crops, though; and the bizarre inhabitants only serve to add fuel to the flames of his righteous indignation. Driven to save the girl’s immortal soul from this den of idolaters, he discovers the truth behind the girl’s disappearance—that come May Day, the villagers intend to sacrifice her to their gods of the field to ensure a successful harvest. Howie must infiltrate their festivities, find the girl and escape—but will his plan put him out of the frying pan and into the fire?”

Whether tribute or take-down, I suppose that fans of the original film and soundtrack will have to risk it and go find out for themselves. The play runs from October 2nd to the 25th. If you live in or around the San Francisco area, or are planning to visit in October, you can purchase tickets online now.

Thanks to Qibitum for passing this along to me.

The Washington Times reminds us that the Supreme Court’s upcoming docket (they resume hearing cases in October) will feature a case that could have far-reaching implications for minority religions.

“Religious doctrine is on the docket with Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, in which the Supreme Court is asked whether the city of Pleasant Grove, Utah, can display the Ten Commandments on a monument in a city park as a matter of free speech. The small Summum sect argues that if the city displays the Ten Commandments, it also should display their belief’s Seven Aphorisms. City officials refused, which sent the dispute to the Supreme Court. “The betting money is that Pleasant Grove will come out ahead in this,” said Tom Goldstein, a partner in the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld.”

I discussed Pleasant Grove City v. Summum in some depth back in April. The court’s ruling could ultimately decide if local government can control which (religious) monuments are erected, or if public parks should be treated more as an “open forum”.

“The outcome of this case is going to be a big deal for religious minorities. Remember the battles over Pagan inclusion in government-sponsored religious displays in Green Bay and Ohio? A SCOTUS decision here could all but force local government bodies to enact a fully-open policy concerning religious displays on government-controlled property. In other words, the local city council or mayor couldn’t pick and choose which religious displays are worthy to be placed with a Nativity Scene or Ten Commandments monument. It would be all or nothing.”

Pleasant Grove has an interesting defense of claiming that ruling against them would hamper government’s right to free speech.

“Pleasant Grove argues that its selection of privately donated monuments for display in Pioneer Park fits within this long tradition of government speech. As the speaker, the city argues, it is under no obligation to modify its message to accommodate Summum’s speech; instead, Pleasant Grove ‘is entitled to say what it wishes’ through its monuments and can ‘take legitimate and appropriate steps to ensure that its message is neither garbled nor distorted.’”

In other words, if you force them to remove the Christian monument, or force them to include other religious monuments, it would damage their rights to “free speech”. This argument is echoed in a massive number of Amicus briefs from state governments, veteran’s organizations, and conservative Christian advocacy groups. Meanwhile, Americans United, assorted Humanist groups, and several liberal religious groups have filed Amicus briefs arguing that this case shouldn’t be heard on free-speech grounds, and is instead all about the Establishment Clause.

“The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said the case raises an important conflict over the value of religious neutrality. “It’s not the government’s job to display the symbols of any faith,” Lynn said. “When government officials allow religious groups to place permanent monuments on public land, the government is accountable for the message. “Our government,” he continued, “should not — and, under our Constitution, may not — pick-and-choose among religions. This principle stands at the very heart of church-state separation.” The AU brief asserts that government cannot play favorites among religions and deny a minority religious request because of discomfort with the less-known religious views.”

In other words, concerning religion in the public square, government should just stay out of it altogether. Interestingly absent among the many briefs are Hindu, Buddhist, and Native American groups (groups that have banded together in the past to file Amicus briefs).One wonders what assorted religious minority communities think of this case. Would they welcome a win for Summum here? Or would they prefer the stance taken by Americans United?

A win for Summum seems increasingly unlikely, but would a win for Pleasant Grove City mean a win for Christian religious expression to the exclusion of other faiths? I guess we’ll have to wait and find out. Opening arguments are scheduled for November 12th.

Back in August I reported that Nepal’s new Maoist-led government seemed ready to scrap the tradition of the Kumaris (“living goddesses”), calling the practice an “inessential” and “evil” symbol of the former monarchy. A decision by the country’s highest court ordering the Kumari to attend school seemed to be a further harbinger of an outright ban on the practice. But it looks like the fears of this tradition being scrapped are somewhat premature.

Shreeya Bajracharya, the new Kumari of Bhaktapur.

“Nepal’s new Maoist-led government has appointed a 6-year-old girl as a “living goddess” in the ancient city of Bhaktapur, for the first time snapping the link between the ancient ritual and the ousted monarchy. For centuries, the head priest of the Nepali monarchy appointed the “Kumaris” in several towns in the Kathmandu valley. But with the abolition of the monarchy in May, that position has also disappeared. Instead, officials at the state-run Trust Corporation overseeing cultural affairs appointed Shreeya Bajracharya as the new Kumari of the temple-town of Bhaktapur near Kathmandu, Deepak Bahadur Pandey, a senior official of the agency said.”

So what made a government hostile to the Kumaris willing to get into the living goddess business? First off, the Nepalese people have been increasingly hostile towards Maoist attempts to curtail religious traditions, and secondly, the Kumaris are a major tourist attraction.

“The Kumaris are a major tourist attraction and are considered by many as incarnations of the goddess Kali and are revered until they menstruate, after which they return to the family and a new one is chosen.”

A tourist attraction that no doubt gained even more attention after the previous Kumari of Bhaktapur visited America to promote a documentary about their lives. So enter Shreeya Bajracharya, the new Kumari of Bhaktapur.

“Shreeya was enthroned on Sunday amid prayers by Buddhist priests and will be worshipped by devout Hindus and Buddhists until reaching puberty, the girl’s caretaker Nhuchhe Ratna Shakya said, adding: “She is pretty and nice.” Shreeya, in a golden costume with her eyelashes blackened by mascara, was sitting on a carved throne, a butterlamp burning by her side, when a Reuters team visited her on Monday. Asked what she wanted to become in future, a quiet Shreeya just said: “nurse.” She loves to eat biscuits and flattened rice, a common Nepali food, her aides said.”

Unlike previous Kumari, she will no doubt attend school and have more personal freedom than previous girls in her position. Her appointment may represent an new spirit of compromise between the Maoist urge to “modernize” Nepal by ridding it of “inessential” institutions, and the desire by Nepalese Hindus and Buddhists to keep their religious traditions intact. Perhaps, like in the case of Togo’s Vodou adepts, Nepal will decide that human rights and modernization can move forward without destroying religion and culture.

A few days ago I mentioned a story that I had some major problems with. It concerned a woman, Michelle Rene Wood, who was badly beaten and rushed to the hospital.

“Michelle Rene Wood, 42, of Palm Coast was found covered in blood with both eyes swollen shut early Monday, according to a St. Johns County sheriff’s report. A rope was tied around her right wrist and a bungee cord around her left ankle, the report states.”

Wood claimed that her injuries were from members of a “Santeria Voodoo” cult she had been affiliated with. This alleged cult, who she claims robbed and beat her, participated in Satanic rites and needed her for an important Autumn Equinox ritual.

“[Wood] said Sunday’s abduction and beating were not the first she had suffered in recent days as a result of her leaving the group last year to become a Christian … She was later taken to another home, believed to be in Flagler Estates, where her captors took drugs and performed a devil-worship ritual … Wood also told investigators the men and a petite blonde woman named “Sky” took her to an open field near a home where a bonfire was burning. They were “preparing” for the autumnal equinox, she said. “They needed me to help call the spirits,” Wood told investigators…”

A cult that mixes Santeria, Voodoo, Satanism, Paganism, drug-using, and guns? I’ve heard of syncretism, but this is ridiculous. Apparently the local police think so too, since they have closed the case.

“Flagler County sheriff’s investigators closed the case of a Palm Coast woman who claimed to be abducted and attacked by members of a voodoo group, officials said Friday … cult experts said Wood’s story didn’t line up with known voodoo practices. And sheriff’s investigators found no evidence of organized satanic worship in the county, according to Maj. David O’Brien, Criminal Investigation Unit supervisor. In fact, O’Brien said his investigators couldn’t find “credible evidence” that a crime even occurred. Plus, Wood has a history of making similar fraudulent claims to law enforcement, the Sheriff’s Office said.”

So let’s see if I get this straight. A woman with a history of lying to the police, who (indirectly) admits to taking drugs, concocts a story about a “cult” after getting beaten up and this uncritically hits the headlines of the local newspapers and television broadcasters? You would think that a few more phone-calls would have produced the more likely scenario of a woman who has been attending church in an attempt to get clean, falls off the wagon, runs afoul of a gang, and gets robbed and beaten. A story that is just as tragic, but one that avoids smearing non-Christian minority faiths.

This isn’t the first time that strange things have been incorrectly blamed on members of occult, modern Pagan, or Afro-diasporic religions, and it most likely won’t be the last so long as journalists continue to act as unthinking regurgitators of press releases and police reports. Journalism isn’t just repeating what other people say, but a process of gathering information with a set of ethical standards attached. While sensationalism sells, it also creates a fearful and jaded audience who eventually numb to the constant “bleed and it leads” ethic. It is little wonder that blogs and other new media outlets have become so popular at “mainstream” journalism’s expense.

A few days ago I mentioned a story that I had some major problems with. It concerned a woman, Michelle Rene Wood, who was badly beaten and rushed to the hospital.

“Michelle Rene Wood, 42, of Palm Coast was found covered in blood with both eyes swollen shut early Monday, according to a St. Johns County sheriff’s report. A rope was tied around her right wrist and a bungee cord around her left ankle, the report states.”

Wood claimed that her injuries were from members of a “Santeria Voodoo” cult she had been affiliated with. This alleged cult, who she claims robbed and beat her, participated in Satanic rites and needed her for an important Autumn Equinox ritual.

“[Wood] said Sunday’s abduction and beating were not the first she had suffered in recent days as a result of her leaving the group last year to become a Christian … She was later taken to another home, believed to be in Flagler Estates, where her captors took drugs and performed a devil-worship ritual … Wood also told investigators the men and a petite blonde woman named “Sky” took her to an open field near a home where a bonfire was burning. They were “preparing” for the autumnal equinox, she said. “They needed me to help call the spirits,” Wood told investigators…”

A cult that mixes Santeria, Voodoo, Satanism, Paganism, drug-using, and guns? I’ve heard of syncretism, but this is ridiculous. Apparently the local police think so too, since they have closed the case.

“Flagler County sheriff’s investigators closed the case of a Palm Coast woman who claimed to be abducted and attacked by members of a voodoo group, officials said Friday … cult experts said Wood’s story didn’t line up with known voodoo practices. And sheriff’s investigators found no evidence of organized satanic worship in the county, according to Maj. David O’Brien, Criminal Investigation Unit supervisor. In fact, O’Brien said his investigators couldn’t find “credible evidence” that a crime even occurred. Plus, Wood has a history of making similar fraudulent claims to law enforcement, the Sheriff’s Office said.”

So let’s see if I get this straight. A woman with a history of lying to the police, who (indirectly) admits to taking drugs, concocts a story about a “cult” after getting beaten up and this uncritically hits the headlines of the local newspapers and television broadcasters? You would think that a few more phone-calls would have produced the more likely scenario of a woman who has been attending church in an attempt to get clean, falls off the wagon, runs afoul of a gang, and gets robbed and beaten. A story that is just as tragic, but one that avoids smearing non-Christian minority faiths.

This isn’t the first time that strange things have been incorrectly blamed on members of occult, modern Pagan, or Afro-diasporic religions, and it most likely won’t be the last so long as journalists continue to act as unthinking regurgitators of press releases and police reports. Journalism isn’t just repeating what other people say, but a process of gathering information with a set of ethical standards attached. While sensationalism sells, it also creates a fearful and jaded audience who eventually numb to the constant “bleed and it leads” ethic. It is little wonder that blogs and other new media outlets have become so popular at “mainstream” journalism’s expense.

MTV reports on the upcoming documentary about Harry Potter fan culture “We Are Wizards”. Among the threads in this interesting-looking film is the opposition to Harry Potter by Christian conservatives, and the film features far-right conspiracy theorist Carol Matriciana as their voice.

“The fans’ fight not just with Warner Bros. but also the religious right is also included, via occult researcher Carol Matriciana, who had made an anti-Potter film called “Witchcraft Repackaged.” “Her work has inspired a lot of Christian activists,” Koury said. “If doesn’t help anyone’s case if you’re going to show someone who rants and raves on either side, so I wanted her because she can make a sound argument.””

If Matriciana is the “reasonable” voice of Christian opposition to Harry Potter, then it just shows you how far out of the mainstream these people are*. You see, her documentary “Witchcraft Repackaged” is sold by hate-literature mavens Chick Publications!

“This video explains how Scholastic Inc., the largest publisher of children’s books in the world, is supplying Harry Potter materials to millions of schoolchildren. Scholastic Inc. is using its unrivaled position in the educational system to flood classrooms and libraries with wizardry, repackaged as ‘children’s fantasy literature.’”

In addition to falsely equating fantasy depictions of magic with the religious practice of modern Pagans, Matriciana also takes time out to spread slurs about Hinduism as well and is apparently a “ex-New-Ager” turned to Jesus.

“But years ago Chuck Smith and Carol Matriciana who had been in new age for years did a video on Hinduism, and in that exposure of an ashram up in Washington or Northwest somewhere, you saw people chanting demon names, then getting possessed, and writhing on the floor as demons entered them.”

Sadly, people like Matriciana aren’t some fringe element, but merely the “dark” side of anti-Harry Potter arguments by Christians. The flip side of a coin. Even “nice” Christians seem to lose their cool when discussing the boy wizard and his successful books.

“There were a few things in the book that I found problematic – the authors start on a tirade about the Harry Potter series… and while I do hold issue with the Harry Potter series, I do not think its the singular cause of the rise in Wicca in our country. First of all, it was on the rise well before the series came out and second of …well even the book goes into more details as to the rise of Wicca, but at first the book feels like its a condemnation of all things Potter… and they never quite make a conclusion, which is bothersome…”

The fact is that, despite attempts by some elements to ban Harry Potter, it has become a cultural phenomenon that will resonate for generations to come. Not a phenomenon of occult recruitment, but one of a shared story, a unifying world of fantasy and possibility that has united people across cultural, economic, and racial lines. I think the real problem for Christians is that Harry Potter, despite being written by a Christian, espouses a secular-based harmony at odds with the “safe” Biblical allegory (or “supposals”) of C.S. Lewis. It isn’t that Harry Potter makes Pagans, its that Harry Potter doesn’t exclude or demonize Pagans, allowing them to fully insert themselves into the story alongside the Christian readers.

“We Are Wizards,” opens in New York on November 14.

* Check out “Hogwarts Professor” for a pro-Harry Christian perspective.

Some of you may remember our old friends on the Brunswick County School Board of North Carolina. Back in 2006 they tried to allow Christian groups to hand out religious literature on school campuses, a plan that was scuttled when Pagan publisher Llewellyn Worldwide told the board they would provide free books for local Pagans to hand out in schools.

Brunswick County Board of Education considering Pagan books.

“Board member Shirley Babson says she’s not afraid of potential lawsuits. She’s afraid of giving the appearance that the board approves of the literature groups would show the kids. “If I put something like this on the table, kids are going to say ‘Mrs. Babson thinks that’s alright. Mrs. Babson thinks that’s fine,’ ” Babson said.”

Then, in 2007, the Brunswick Board petulantly threatened to ban Harry Potter books from their libraries in seeming retaliation against the Witches.

“Brunswick County school officials will consider a procedure for students’ parents to challenge books available at school libraries … Board member Shirley Babson said some parents have expressed that books such as the Harry Potter series represent witchcraft and promote the practice of Wicca. Board member Jimmy Hobbs said he sees the importance of reviewing the policy. ‘The issue is a valid issue,’ Hobbs said. ‘I’m not attacking Harry Potter. When the issue of Bibles in schools came up last year, the ones that raised the most opposition was the group known as Wicca. Does this policy give them a free pass to get their materials into the schools? When distributing materials, we should be careful by not being biased. Is Wicca being allowed, in other ways, to the exclusion of Christian literature?’”

Now our old pals are back again, and this time they want to “teach the controversy” by introducing creationism into their curriculum.

“Articles in the Wilmington, North Carolina Star News on Tuesday and Wednesday report that the Brunswick County (NC) School Board is looking for a way to teach creationism in the schools. The issue was raised at Tuesday’s board meeting by parent Joel Fanti who told the board that it was unfair for evolution to be taught as a fact. Fanti said: ‘I wasn’t here 2 million years ago. If evolution is so slow, why don’t we see anything evolving now?’ School board member Jimmy Hobbs responded: ‘It’s really a disgrace for the state school board to impose evolution on our students without teaching creationism. The law says we can’t have Bibles in schools, but we can have evolution, of the atheists.’”

Sadly, while their hearts want to teach children that people were hanging out with dinosaurs, state law prevents them from teaching religious dogma in science classes.

“But neither creationism nor the related “intelligent design,” which says life forms are so complex only a higher power could have created them, may be taught as a required course of study, Edd Dunlap, science section chief for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, said Wednesday. These are considered religious teachings and may not be taught in science class or as fact, although they may be included as part of an elective, such as a course on religion or philosophy, he said.”

Looks like the Brunswick Board has been foiled again! You know, maybe they should turn their attention to actually improving the schools they oversee instead of constantly hatching plots to insert Christian religion into the school district. If they truly feel that the only good education is a Christian education, maybe they should move into the private sector.