Yesterday we looked at how the Chicago Sun-Times spun the ARIS data into a story about Wiccans, today we turn to Oregon where Nancy Haught at The Oregonian interviews Southern Oregon University sociology professor Mark A. Shibley about what the data means regarding the spiritual makeup of the Northwest.

“Established churches have been in decline, and evangelical Protestantism has been growing. Over time and generations, the mainline and Catholic churches are failing to hang on to young people, and some are being scooped up by mega-churches designed to appeal to the younger generation. New religious movements and spiritualities, neo-paganism, New Age folks have all experimented, explored and are proliferating here in the Northwest. At the same time, the hip California style of evangelicalism has flourished here. Some of those movements have spread up the coast, planted churches and taken hold. Our landscape has gotten a little bit more religious, but in particular ways.”

Shibley, who contributed to the book “Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone”, also points out that many of the increasingly large “nones” demographic found within the ARIS data may very well be exploring spirituality in “unconventional” ways (ie New Age, syncretic mixes, etc). So with “nones” (around 24% in Oregon, 25% in Washington), new religious movements (including Pagans), and evangelicals all flourishing in the Pacific Northwest, does that spell  some sort of looming religious conflict? Maybe not. While evangelicals are certainly absorbing adherents from the slowly dwindling institutional churches, some are predicting a major evangelical collapse in the next ten years.

“Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the “Protestant” 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century. This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West … Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I’m convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.”

Leaving the Northwest, perhaps, to the Pagans and “nones”? I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see, reports of the collapse of evangelical Christianity have come from a number of different sources and been wrong before. Still, if you squint in a certain direction, you can see how our post-Christian future could develop in the next twenty-thirty years.

As for the journalistic merits of the Oregonian piece, it’s a marked improvement over the Sun-Times’ look at Wiccans. While both only used one source in their respective articles, Haught wisely decided to find an academic who understood the ramifications of the ARIS data and then conducted the piece as a straightforward interview.  She also didn’t try to lead with a bad joke, for which I thank her. The end result is a far more nuanced, accurate, and detail-oreinted look at a developing trend.

The Chicago Sun-Times wins the prize for being the first mainstream paper to explore the “mini-rise of the Wiccans” indicated in the recently-released American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) data. Too bad it’s so sloppy and lazy in its execution. First there’s the rookie mistake of referring to Wicca as “Wiccanism” (I mean really, in 2009?), then religion-beat reporter Mike Thomas starts off  with the hoary and groan-inducing “real Witches aren’t fantasy witches” bit that we all love so much.

“They don’t toil over bubbling caldrons or cook lost kids. They have no use for flying monkeys. And their spice racks are more apt to contain ginger or paprika than eye of newt.”

Then there is the matter of interview subjects.

“…there’s even a Witch School. An outgrowth of the nationally popular and long-active Web site witchschool.com, the Downstate Rossville-based organization currently offers three monthly courses and returned to town earlier this month after a five-year absence. Local classrooms include the Occult Bookstore in Wicker Park and the Life Force Arts Center in Lake View. [Rev. Don] Lewis said there’s talk of expanding to St. Louis and “a number of different regions.” [like Salem?] On a recent Friday night, Witch School CEO Ed Hubbard visited the Occult Bookstore to talk on the topic of “Magick for the Masses.” Few people attended, save for a handful of employees and one drop-in, but the show went on.”

Now I’m not bagging on the Witch School folks here, they are a (relatively) high-profile organization located in Illinois, so it’s only natural a journalist would contact them. I’m just troubled that the reporter went to exactly one source for this piece. That might fly when your doing a write-up of a metaphysical store in rural Michigan, but not in Chicago where there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of potential interview subjects. Nor does Thomas interview someone with the ARIS study to get a better sense of the growth of new religious movements, or attempt to contact any academics who study Pagan religions for insight into modern Paganism’s growth.

Using the ARIS data to merely write yet another tired “meet the Witches” piece, complete with the usual patina of superciliousness, seems an utter wase of journalistic space. Franky, if the Sun-Times doesn’t feel that Wicca’s continued growth is worth more than calling one organization and a drop-in at the local occult shop (for a talk lead by the same group) then they should just not bother. There are several interesting stories to be told spinning out of this ARIS data, and I’d rather wait for them to emerge slowly than bide my time with inconsequential filler like this. Honestly, I’d rather read yet another piece on how well psychics are doing during the recession than this mad-libs-style approach to religion reporting.

I’ll be on the road today and unable to effectively blog, so in the meantime why not check out the latest episode of my podcast A Darker Shade of Pagan, and take a peek at the recent blog posts by fellow Pagan bloggers Chas Clifton, Gus diZerega, and the ever-vigilant Wren Walker of Wren’s Nest (you should also feel free to share links to articles, podcasts, and blog posts that you felt were particularly inspiring or thought-provoking this week in the comments). Cheers!

Image Comics is debuting a brand new comic series in May called “Olympus”. The series follows the adventures of the “Brothers Gemini” (who seem to be based on Castor and Pollux), twin brothers blessed by Zeus with eternal life who now act as bounty hunters for the gods.

“OLYMPUS begins with the Brothers Gemini, 3,000 years after Zeus has granted them eternal life in exchange for eternal servitude, hunting an exiled god, only to stumble upon a greater horror by accidentally releasing one of Hades’ most dangerous prisoners. The results explode as [Nathan] Edmondson and [Christian] Ward expand the mythology of classic tales in a fresh, compelling visual style in an action-adventure driven series unlike any other out there.”

You can see a short preview of the comic, here. The first issue is due to arrive at your comic shop on May 20th. As a fan of Pagan, mythological, and occult themes in comic books, I’ll definately be checking it out.

Over at Salon.com Laura Miller has written a fascinating review of two new books that explore humanity’s deep attachment to relics, ancestor worship, and “biddable magical forces”. The books: “The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist” by Matt Baglio, and “Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World’s Holy Relics” by Peter Manseau (co-author of “Killing the Buddha: A Heretic’s Bible”), seem to point to the reality that no matter how secular our culture or transcendent our faith we still find ourselves drawn to an ethically diverse world of strange powers which we engage with decisively immanent devices.

“Relics are potent, largely because the value of these objects lies not in their testimony to the ordinary lot of humanity, but in their promise of transcending it. The devout believe that holy relics can miraculously cure diseases, heal broken relationships, deliver loved ones from misfortune, straighten out misguided children, and so on and so on, ad infinitum. Their adoration is utilitarian. This isn’t about flesh and blood, but about magic. The inclination to believe in biddable magical forces capable of acting for or against us appears to be irresistible to large numbers of people in every nation on the planet.”

Miller seems quite dismissive of Manseau’s attempts to view the world’s relics through a humanistic “circle-of-life” lens, and instead favors the more face-value religious worldview that the figures in Baglio’s book about an exorcist in training inhabit. Of course exorcisms aren’t  just for driving out Christian demons, but (as I’ve pointed out before on this blog) are a part of a larger spiritual struggle against religions that appeal more directly to the desire to control those “biddable” forces.

“The deftest church officials have used the furor to extend the battle for spiritual dominance on other fronts. According to the dutiful Baglio, “occult ties” are listed as one of the primary causes of demonic possession, with “occult” defined as everything from performing satanic rituals to participating in séances, tarot card readings or other forms of divination, the use of “an amulet or talisman,” transcendental meditation, engaging in Wicca ceremonies, using crystals and other New Age paraphernalia, frequenting psychics and even reading the Harry Potter books, which were condemned by the Vatican’s official exorcist. Anything, in short, likely to compete with the church for your spiritual interest and dollars can lead to an infestation by Beelzebub or Asmodeus (names that originally belonged to Middle Eastern gods who were rivals of the famously jealous God of the Old Testament).”

To a certain extent these books seem to underline a point made by Michael York in his book “Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion”, that the “pagan” religious impulse never died out as the dominant monotheisms (and later, post-Enlightenment rationalism) took prominence around certain parts of the world. Instead, to varying degrees, the “world” religions adapted, absorbed, and tolerated just enough of these practices to remain relevant to their geographically and culturally diverse adherents. We shouldn’t be surprised that a variety of relics are still venerated across different faiths, or that the Catholic Church is ramping up the exorcisms to meet a need (and combat competition), these conditions point towards the idea that a polytheist condition is natural for humanity and can only be suppressed for so long. If it’s true that the natural instinct when reaching towards the unknown is to acknowledge a multiplicity of powers/forces, we will never truly see magic, “paganism”, or “superstition” ever really leave us.

The Telegraph reports on new religious General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) courses being introduced in the UK. What’s unique about these classes is that they strive to paint a portrait of an increasingly secular and multi-religious Britain, and include new religious movements as a key part of that education.

“In one key area, lessons will focus on the influence of minority religious movements, such as Falun Gong, the banned Chinese spiritual group, and the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, which believe in the spirituality of nature. As part of a topic on Rastafarianism, students are asked to look at the influence of Bob Marley in the 1970s.”

These courses (which are voluntary, and are available after mandatory education,  but before A-levels) also explore the rise of atheism, and discusses various “hot-button” issues like gay marriage and gender equality. While it must be refreshing for adherents of minority faiths to be taken seriously as part of Britain’s religious landscape, various Christians and members of the Church of England say the courses “snub” them, and aren’t really a “serious” religious education.

“I have no objection to the presence of disbelief in the curriculum, because it provides important context to a study of theology. But when I took A levels we did Divinity and went on to university to read Theology. The groundwork was principally the study of Christianity, though I seem to remember there was a comparative religion option that would have included the other two Abrahamic faiths.  I think OCR might find considerable take-up for such a course. It could still run its Religious Studies alternative, with all its Druidism, Rastafarianism and embarrassed avoidance of ancient scriptures, and indeed could do so more freely, while those who wanted to study serious theology could do so. But maybe that wouldn’t be sufficiently right-on. And a lot of the rising numbers of students who opt for Religious Studies might go for it, which might present a problem for ‘equality and diversity’.”

Because exploring anything but Christian (or possibly Jewish or Islamic) theology just isn’t very “serious” I suppose (maybe it’s our funny names). I also think it’s interesting how this CoE priest (and religion editor for The Telegraph) thinks the high demand for GCSE courses on religion (24,000 to 171,000 in the last two years) means they yearn to study Christianity. Hadn’t he heard about the startling news concerning 50,000 UK women leaving Christian churches every year? I doubt they left because they weren’t offered “serious” GCSE courses on Christian theology.

Thought I’d share a few quick items with you that I missed in yesterday’s “News of Note”. First off, Reclaiming co-founder Starhawk opines about the recent ARIS data suggesting that modern Paganism is growing while other faiths contract.

“Why are we growing? In a time when the very life support systems of the planet are threatened by environmental destruction and global warming, many people seek a faith rooted in love and respect for nature. Women have especially been drawn to the Goddess traditions because we offer positive images of women’s power, our tealogy and religious imagery reflect women’s lives, cycles, and name our bodies as sacred, and we offer women respect and leadership roles. But many men also are drawn to a community that does not make gender a condition of power. Gay, lesbian and transgender folks find a welcome in our circles. And many people are drawn to traditions that encourage imagination, honor intuition and respect each individual’s spiritual authority.”

Starhawk also praises the Internet as a boon to modern Paganism’s growth. For more ARIS reactions from the rest of the On Faith panelists, click here.

Will Witch School give up on building a “Salem of the Midwest” in Hoopeston, IL and instead just pick up and move to the already existing Witch-mecca of Salem, Massachusetts? That is apparantly one of the agenda items for its annual international conference in Salem from April 17th – 19th.

“The group also plans to vote on whether to relocate its headquarters to downtown Salem. The move would include the relocation of Magick TV, an Internet television station broadcast on YouTube. Hubbard said he envisions a downtown TV studio that could broadcast such programs as the Pagan Nightly News. He has already been in talks with Salem landlords, he said. “My goal is to be on Essex Street,” Hubbard said.”

Considering the reception they rcceived in Hoopeston, I can hardly blame them for wanting to move, and I suppose that since Salem is a land of big personalities and ambitious impressarios they’ll fit right in.

MN Artists (and MinnPost) run a profile of “freelance druid” Bill Watkins on the publication of his third memoir “The Once and Future Celt”.

“The Once and Future Celt documents the last leg of Bill Watkins’ winding path; this final volume of his memoir trilogy, preceded by A Celtic Childhood and Scotland Is Not for the Squeamish, traces Bill’s self-definition as a Celt and, more specifically, as a modern druid and a bearer of the old traditions. Bill was raised in England by an Irish mother and a Welsh father who were both fluent in their native Gaelic languages and passionate about their ancestral traditions. Each bestowed Bill with divergent but strongly felt religious beliefs — Irish Catholicism from his mother and, from his father, an abiding faith in the old druidic beliefs held by the Celts before their conquest by the Romans.”

“Wild” Bill Watkins resides, naturally enough, in Paganistan (Minneapolis/St Paul) and performs regularly at Merlins Rest Pub.

That’s it for now!