With the recent legalizing of same-sex marriages in the state of New York there also came a lot of talk about religious exemptions. These additions to the bill’s language were seen as critical to passage, and they exempt clergy and all religious institutions from having to accommodate same-sex couples looking to get married. During this process of negotiation some wanted even greater exemptions, which would include private businesses owned by individuals who had a religious objection to same-sex marriage. Thankfully, those expanded exemptions did not make it into the final language, and the legal status quo remained in place.

Jennifer Pizer, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and an expert on sexual orientation and discrimination, says that’s par for the course in America: You can’t let religious beliefs affect commercial decisions. “People are free to hold these views – they’re not just free to hold those views, they’re protected.” But, she said, “the current legal system does not permit people engaged in business to discriminate based on the proprietors’ own religious views.” Pizer said the New York debate over exemptions hearkens back to a time when religious views were used to justify racial segregation and opposition to equal-pay-for-equal-work legislation.

Expanding religious exemptions to private businesses isn’t simply about same-sex unions. Once you open that Pandora’s box, it would quickly create areas in the United States where certain groups are “relegated to a special untouchable status,” leading to the ostracism of a variety of communities and increasing “balkanization.” If you want to see what that would look like, you only have to watch this video from Anastasia, Priestess of The Temple of the Greek Gods, a Neo-Hellenic group currently based in North Carolina.

In short, Anastasia, along with Christopher, Priest of the Temple of the Greek Gods, were getting married on the weekend of July 4th. Anastasia’s regular hair stylist was closed, and so she searched for a someone else to do her hair and makeup for the ceremony, going through a string of recommendations until she found one willing to do the job. However, that stylist discovered that they were Pagan, cancelled, and then were called again by the salon proprietor’s husband to tell them that Jesus loves them. In addition, the stylist that gave the recommendation, when told of this incident after the fact, said that she “stands with Christ too” and encouraged Christopher to leave the establishment. They also lost their booked DJ, who “dropped off the face of the earth,” seemingly after learning what religion they adhered to.

Now, if any of these incidents can be proven, they are against federal law. Specifically the Civil Rights Act. Which bans “discrimination in hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters, and all other public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce” on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex or national origin.” The only “outs” the salon in question might have is if they were operating the business illegally under-the-table (which means they’ll have a whole different set of problems) or if they were running a private salon “club” where one had to pay a membership due to participate. At least, that’s my understanding of the law. My legal expert readers can clarify/correct me if I’ve missed anything. There may also be local state laws that reinforce federal law on this subject, though I can’t find anything the specifically addresses religious discrimination by businesses.

I would advise (with the understanding that I’m not a lawyer) documenting everything that happened, save all voice mail messages, and create a timeline that you can refer to. If there are any witnesses, get them to do the same. I would then contact a Pagan civil rights organization like the Lady Liberty League, a secular organization like the ACLU of North Carolina, or a lawyer who handles civil rights cases.

The current push in several states to create conscience exemptions for individuals running private businesses, usually in a reaction to same-sex marriage, can have far-reaching consequences for any group that might run afoul of religious sensibilities. The minute we enshrine religious exemptions for businesses in defiance of civil rights laws is the minute we create whole communities where Pagan money isn’t welcome, and by extension, Pagans aren’t welcome. In the case of Anastasia and Christopher the result was inconvenience and emotional harm, but if allowed to stand it could lead to tacitly enforced “no-go” areas for non-Christians.

My thanks to C.L. Vermeers for bringing this to my attention.

There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans out there, sometimes more than I can write about in-depth in any given week. So The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up.

• I don’t know if you’ve heard, but apparently Osama bin Laden was killed. PNC-Minnesota has reactions from the local Pagan community. Zaratha “will not apologize for rejoicing in Osama bin Laden’s death, “ Lori Dake thanks the troops, Star Foster is conflicted, and Erynn Rowan Laurie wonders if that means the troops get to come home now.
• The town of Bel Air in Maryland has overturned its total ban on fortune telling. They have also removed the word “occult” from existing laws on fortune telling, no doubt to protect themselves from religiously-motivated lawsuits. Bans on fortune telling in Maryland have been dropping at a regular pace since the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that fortunetelling and other psychic services are protected speech and cannot be outlawed by local ordinances.
• Yesterday was Pagan Coming Out Day, check out some reflections on the event from P. Sufenas Virius Lupus, Sia at Full Circle, Kayleigh, Star Foster, Serenity Athenina, Diana, and GG from the Pagan Princesses. Coverage of local events no doubt coming soon from our PNC bureaus.
• A woman in Texas is filing a religious discrimination lawsuit after being fired for allegedly threatening to curse her coworkers. Victoria Vaughan says the alleged spiritual threat is a “mischaracterization of events,” and that her supervisor at Texas Health and Human Services Commission overreacted to Vaughan explaining her “deeply held religious beliefs.” I can’t find a copy of the complaint that isn’t behind a paywall, if any of my readers who practice law or have access to such things can help out it would be most appreciated.
• The American Spectator dings the “Evangelical Left” via a book review of Peter Leithhart’s “Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom”. Being something of an apologist for Constantine, Leithhart notes how the Emperor “ameliorated some of Rome’s pagan savagery.” Blame for later anti-pagan excesses are squarely on his descendants, while Constantine is praised for trying to build a harmonious society.
• Both Jeff Lilly and Cat Chapin-Bishop endorse the term “Pagan” in response to Scott Reimers’ piece at Patheos suggesting that our movement find a new collective label. For more on this topic, you may also want to check out T. Thorn Coyle‘s two-part essay discussing some questions and one possible answer to the issue of calling ourselves Pagan.
• Investigation Discovery will be airing a special on the West Memphis 3 case this Thursday. New attention has been focused on this case since the WM3 (Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley Jr.) won the right to new evidentiary hearings scheduled to begin on December 5th. In addition to new DNA evidence the defense wants to look at jury misconduct in the case.
• I09 examines the television commercial for Time-Life’s Mysteries of the Unknown book series and is convinced it is secretly some sort of subtextual New Age porno. Is this true? Read the book!
• Over at Killing the Buddha Beatrice Marovich (with illustrations by Krista Dragomer) meditates on how we use the skins of animals and how she created a secular “animal altar” to pay respects to some mink skins that were given to her.
• Lupa has a thought-provoking two-piece essay on being a (white) American Shaman. Part 1, Part 2. Do check it out, and add your thoughts and comments.
• Congrats to No Unsacred Place for being named The Druid Network’s featured site for May!

That’s it for now! Feel free to discuss any of these links in the comments, some of these I may expand into longer posts as needed.

I have a special editorial up at the Washington Post’s On Faith section about the religiously-motivated firing of Pagans, and the case of Carole A. Smith, who was seemingly fired from the TSA for her adherence to Wicca.

What happened to Carole A. Smith is, sadly, all too common a story for many pagans. Smith, a TSA agent in Albany, NY, endured bizarre claims, indifferent superiors, workplace harassment, and finally, termination.

Like many pagans, she wasn’t officially fired for being a pagan, but was subject to a “death from a thousand cuts,” where every minor slip-up is obsessively cataloged until a legally acceptable threshold for dismissal is reached. This was starkly conveyed when msnbc.com revealed an email exchange between two of Smith’s supervisors: the first read, “Hammer Time,” with the response, “Not yet – not enough.” Because Smith works at the TSA, a government agency, her story is now making headlines, and her chances of proper legal recourse are increased because of it.

I’d like to thank the Washington Post for allowing me to present a Pagan perspective on this important story, and I hope you’ll head over, read it, and share it with others.

There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans out there, sometimes more than I can write about in-depth in any given week. So The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up.

• Are feminists less religious? Feminist sociologist Kristin Aune, looking at data from a survey of British feminists she co-conducted for the book “Reclaiming the F Word: The New Feminist Movement” notes that “feminists are much less likely to be religious, but a little more likely to be interested in alternative or non-institutional kinds of spirituality.” She jokes that perhaps Pat Robertson was right, and feminism does “lead women to reject traditional religion.”
• The Discovery Fit & Health network reality show “I’m Pregnant And…” is looking for Pagans, and PNC-Minnesota gets a brief response from Associate Producer Aundrea Posey, who claims they aren’t tying to exploit Pagans, or be sensationalist. Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent for the Guardian, skeptically notes that “previous shows included I’m Pregnant and …Morbidly Obese; I’m Pregnant and … a Drug Dealer. My favourite is a future show – I’m Pregnant and … May Be Having a Dwarf.”
• Dangerous Minds points to a Daily Telegraph article about a six-day conference being held at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome. According to organizers and exorcists there’s been a “revival” of Satanism and that “the rise of Satanism has been dangerously underestimated in recent years.” You think they include Pagans in that Satanic revival? For all my exorcism-revival coverage, click here.
• Alyssa Rosenberg heaps quite a bit of scorn on the new Arthurian Starz series “Camelot,” calling it “almost completely devoid of ideas or values, much less decent acting or writing.” Perhaps, like “Spartacus,” it will get (somewhat) better as the series progresses? One can always hope.
• In last week’s round-up I noted that the Ballan Autumn Festival in Australia had banned a vendor’s wares under a clause forbidding “products or services relating to the occult, black magic or devil worship”. Now, Moorabool Weekly reports that Mayor Pat Griffin and the local council “will be looking more closely at the events to make sure council regulations [regarding diversity] are being followed.” Pagan Awareness Network president David Garland acidly wondered if “flaming torches and pitchforks formed part of the festivities.” All this comes in the wake of a recently released Australian Human Rights Commission survey on religion, which found that there is pervasive distrust of modern Pagans in that country.
• The case of former TSA employee Carole A. Smith, who alleges she was fired and harassed for being a Witch, has sparked quite a bit of comment since the MSNBC article appeared. The Get Religion blog praises the piece, saying it is “must reading for anyone who cares about religious liberty and mainstream coverage of religion in the workplace.” Ruby Sara at Pagan Godspell critiques the idea that Wiccan’s don’t cast spells. Jezebel recaps MSNBC and helpfully reminds us that “magic isn’t real.” I weigh in at the Washington Post, and the Lady Liberty League is on the case.
• The New Apostolic Reformation’s planned 2011 Social Transformation Conference, hosted by  the Harvard Extension Service & Leadership Society, has been under fire since the depths of their extremist rhetoric were revealed. Truth Wins Out placed a full-page ad in the Harvard Crimson, and is planning to protest due to the groups rampant homophobic comments. Now the Harvard Crimson reports that organizers have released a new statement promising that no “hateful comments” will be made at the conference. Wayne Besen at Truth Wins Out calls this latest PR move “outrageous and totally unacceptable,” that it would be “the equivalent of hosting David Duke on campus, but prohibiting him from talking about race.” Organizers also say they will reach out to LGBTQ and Muslim groups on campus, but there’s no confirmation that this will actually happen. More on this, here.
• Today is the 300th anniversary of the last witch trial to take place in Ireland. On this occasion University of Ulster lecturer Dr Andrew Sneddon announces he is writing a book on the history of witchcraft in Ireland entitled “Witchcraft And Magic In Ireland, 1586-1946.” The work is to be published in 2013.
• Things are getting combative in the James Arthur Ray “death lodge” trial, as the defense tries to push their “organophosphate theory,” that wood treated with insecticides were what caused the deaths, not the sweat lodge itself. Here’s a rather extensive run-down of the day’s events. More, here.
• Public schools are Satan’s tools, but you knew that, right?
• Bron Taylor thinks Stephen Colbert should try “Dark Green Religion” on for size.

That’s it for now! Feel free to discuss any of these links in the comments, some of these I may expand into longer posts as needed.

The Australian Human Rights Commission is publishing a new report today on attitudes towards religion, and the results don’t seem to be very favorable for religious minorities in that country.

“Distrust of Muslims and hostility towards homosexuals and pagans remain widespread in Australia, a new Australian Human Rights Commission report to be published today says. [...] genuine religious differences have not become any easier to manage. Pagans (nature-based religions, such as Wicca) in particular claim to face prejudice and discrimination.”

The Pagan Awareness Network in Australia has issued a press release on the matter, noting the many challenges that adherents to modern Pagan faiths still face.

“This is something we have been saying for years,” Pagan Awareness Network President David Garland said today. “Imagine going to the Family Court during a bitter custody battle and having to explain under cross-examination that you practice Wicca, or Druidism, or another pagan spirituality. Imagine the stress, fearing you will lose custody of your children simply because you follow a minority religion. Or imagine being at school, and being ordered to take off the five-pointed star you wear around your neck because it is supposedly an “occult symbol”, while your Jewish classmates can continue to wear their six-pointed stars. Not to mention the Christian kids with their crosses, Muslim girls with their headscarves and all the other religious traditions out there. It is absurd that existing anti-discrimination laws don’t protect pagans in this kind of situation.“

There were rumblings about this uneasiness towards Pagans in Australia back in September of 2010 when the commission issued a draft of the survey results and gained attention for the stark animus some Australians had towards Witches and Pagans.

Hilda Simpson argues that Christian groups should not be forced to hire ”practising homosexuals, promiscuous heterosexuals or believers in witchcraft”. Witches, pornography supporters and homosexuals dismay Glen and Joy Vonhoff, while Gail Osmak identifies ”fortune telling, sorcery, witchcraft [as] of real concern”. C. L. Miller is more trenchant: ‘‘It would be an egregious mistake to treat the malignancy of witchcraft and its occult devil-worshipping practices as if it were a benevolent, benign and misunderstood belief system … The original anti-witchcraft laws were based on authentic reasons, not whims.”

While some tried to explain away the anti-Pagan remarks as a glitch in the data due to a surplus of “elderly church leaders who happen to be male and anti-Muslim and gays and pagans and witches,” it seems the concern was real enough to make an impression in the final report.

The 2006 Australian census found that there were around 30,000 Pagans in the country, making them a significant religious minority. Or as Pagan Awareness Network puts it: “Pagans outnumber the Sikh, Jain, Quaker and Taoist communities in Australia combined.” Pagans from and in Australia recently made a major impression at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in late 2009, but have also faced a seemingly regular barrage of scorn, hostility, and prejudice from politicians, religious leaders, and media pundits. We shouldn’t forget that despite the fact that Australia currently boasts an atheist Prime Minister, the country’s two dominant political parties participated in an 2010 election-season event that was closed to non-Christians and broadcasted only to Christian churches. So there’s clearly a lot of work to do before modern Pagans, and other religious minorities, are treated with the respect and dignity they are entitled to.

It remains to be seen what recommendations the Human Rights Commission might make to the government on its findings, if any. Once a copy of “Freedom of Religion and Belief in 21st Century Australia” is posted to the Australian Human Rights Commission web site, I’ll update with more information and a link.

ADDENDUM: You can download the commission’s report, here.

Here’s a brief excerpt from their section on Paganism in Australia.

“Paganism is an umbrella term that covers a number of nature-based spiritual traditions. The consultations and submissions revealed significant areas of concern regarding paganism and pagans’ ability to practice their faith in Australia. Pagans believe that the lack of information or understanding of their faith complicates issues; many in the wider community assume that Satanism is a part of paganism, when it is separate and distinct.Recognition was raised as the biggest issue that underlies other matters. According to the Pagan Awareness Network, there are approximately 30 000 people in Australia who follow a pagan or nature-based religion, andthis is confirmed by the 2006 Census, which also shows the significant, recent growth of paganism.”

The study also notes that improving attitudes towards indigenous religions may also benefit modern Pagan faiths.

“Indigenous people’s freedom of religion and belief need to be protected in the same way as those of other groups. At one time recognised as legitimate religions and spiritualities, Indigenous religions and spiritualitiesare now swept up in the blanket-dismissal of pagan religions and beliefs, and are officially disparaged anddiscriminated against by some religious groups in Australia. Coming to appreciate Indigenous religions and spiritualities may assist these groups to re-examine the basis for and practice of their dismissal of pagan spiritualities, which include most of the earth-based, nature, and Wiccan spiritualities current in Australia.“

These quotes are just from a cursory scan, I’ll no doubt have more to say on this later.

Halferty Unrepentant: A few quick notes for you today, starting with an update on the high school industrial arts teacher in Iowa who has been put on temporary leave after telling a Wiccan student he couldn’t build an altar table in shop class. Teacher Dale Halferty of Guthrie Center High School, claims he was simply enforcing separation of Church and State, but now that he’s been informed that current local, state, and federal law allows independent religious expression by students, he’s falling back on demonizing the religious “other”.

“Personally, I think it’s offensive to worship rocks and trees,” Halferty said of Wicca, a religion based on ancient beliefs and a reverence for the Earth. “I am just trying to be moral. I don’t know how we can profess to be Christians and let this go on.”

What happens next is up to Halferty. If he refuses to obey the federal guidelines that specifically allow students to engage in projects like that altar table, he could be labeled “insubordinate” and brought before the school board for disciplinary action, turning himself into a would-be martyr for his faith. While anyone who understands law can see that Halferty is clearly in the wrong for his actions, I fear this is going to be held up as a case of “Christian persecution” by the usual suspects. I suppose we’ll find out on Monday.

The Not-So-Good News: Aseem Shukla, co-founder and board member of Hindu American Foundation, weighs in regarding On Faith’s panel question about the problem (if any) with proselytism overseas by U.S. religious groups. Shukla eloquently explains why there is a fundamental “asymmetric force of the proselytizer” due to the very different natures of pluralistic faiths (specifically referencing Dharma religions, Paganism, and Native religious traditions), and that proselytizers specifically target pluralistic traditions because they don’t offer the resistance that other Abrahamic faiths do.

“…there is the fact that the evangelical community can only “pick on” the pluralist societies. India, Nepal, Cambodia, Taiwan and much of Africa where indigenous traditions still hold sway, are among the targets today for the next “harvest.” The “Muslim world” rewards conversion away from Islam with death, and in China, Russia Burma and others, autocracy, the Orthodox Church or military junta proscribe missionary work.  And so, the very democracy and openness of pluralistic societies becomes their vulnerability–a poison pill as they face the onslaught of the proselytizers. Today, the Native Americans of the U.S. and Canada, the indigenous progeny of Latin America and Mexico, the Aborigines in Australia are silent witness to lost religions and decimated traditions that fell historically to earlier iterations of these onslaughts.”

HAF has been calling for adjustments in the language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that would explicitly protect pluralistic religions from aggressive and predatory proselytizing. I recommend reading all of Shukla’s editorial, and also checking out the response from Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, who says that “proselytizing is an ever more dangerous religious idea”.

Should UUs Respect or Reverence the Earth? In a final note, Nancy Vedder-Shults at the Tikkun Daily Blog discusses the ongoing debate over revising the language of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s seven principles (an ongoing and oft-contentious process). In this instance, whether the seventh principle, “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part”, should have “respect” changed to “reverence”. Vedder Shults, a Pagan UU, realizes that the idea of “reverence” for the earth may be uncomfortable for many of the UU Humanists and atheists, so she offers a third option.

Then our seventh principle would read: “we covenant to honor and uphold … our need to love and care for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”

Vedder Shults invites feedback at her blog, I’m sure my Pagan UU readers will want to chime in.

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

Top Story: A high school industrial arts teacher in Iowa has been put on temporary leave in the wake of a controversy concerning a student who was told to stop building a Wiccan altar in shop class. Dale Halferty of Guthrie Center High School claims he was simply enforcing the separation of Church and State, and that he had prevented a Christian from building a cross previously, but school officials claim that neither of those actions actually line up with guidelines regarding religious expression at school.

“His viewpoint: “We as Christians don’t get to have our say during school time, so why should he?” School officials say Christians actually do get to express themselves in the same way. More than one school policy, as well as state and federal law, prohibit discrimination against students who express religious beliefs through school assignments. Superintendent Steve Smith and Principal Garold Thomas said they placed Halferty on leave while they conferred with the school’s attorney to decide what to do.”

In other words, Halferty was imposing his distorted idea of what the guidelines were on his students, and he makes his feelings about Wicca quite plain, calling it “terrible for our kids” because it will lead to a “dark and violent life”.  He also has the bizarre belief that school tax dollars are meant to “save” kids from Pagan religion. Meanwhile, thanks to this incident, a backlash against the Wiccan student has materialized, with 70 of the 185 students signing a petition saying they don’t want witchcraft practiced at their school.

“Both [Superintendent Steve] Smith and [Principal Garold] Thomas said the incident has become emotional for the high school’s 185 students: Almost 70 signed a petition late last week saying they didn’t want witchcraft practiced at the school.”I think it’s fear based on some of the old ideas people had about witchcraft,” Smith said. “It’s fear and a lack of knowledge about the unknown.” Neither Smith nor school officials identified the student at the center of the controversy, and the boy’s father declined a request made through Thomas to be interviewed. Smith acknowledged that some people have expressed fears about satanism or sacrifices.”

Locals are now engaged in hand-wringing over the school’s excessive tolerance, and the bare-bones story, without the context of Halferty’s unique views on religion at school, has hit the Associated Press wires. So expect a lot more commentary and furor over this situation in the near future. As for the high school senior, what chance does he now have for finishing out his school year without harassment and intimidation? When the student body has become a mob against him, can things truly return to normal?

Checking in With the Third Wave: AlterNet takes a broad look at the New Apostolic Reformation, aka the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit, a protestant Charismatic/Pentecostal Christian hybrid led by “Convening Apostle” C. Peter Wagner. The movement became (in)famous in recent years thanks to politician/pundit Sarah Palin’s long membership and association with the group, which places a heavy emphasis on spiritual warfare, and brags about killing and maiming Catholics and Pagans with their prayer. Now reporter Bill Berkowitz probes NAR’s deep influence with ultra-conservative politicians like Michele Bachmann (involved in anti-Pagan groups), Sam Brownback, and Jim DeMint, and their role in initiatives like California’s Proposition 8.

“In the days leading up to the historic vote on health-care reform in the Senate, Apostle Lou Engle led the Family Research Council’s “Prayercast” against health-care reform, a Webcast featuring Republican Senators Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Sam Brownback (Kans.), and Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.). Earlier in the year, Engle, who leads the group TheCall, prayed over Newt Gingrich at a Virginia event called Rediscovering God in America. In 2008, Engle, at an event he staged at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, advocated acts of Christian martyrdom to end abortion and same-sex marriage. This “apostle” claims LGBT people are possessed by demons.”

You may remember that I covered that “Rediscovering God in America” event, it’s the one where Newt Gingrich claimed America was “surrounded by paganism”. Berkowitz goes on to interview Rachel Tabachnick, who writes for Talk2Action, and who has done a remarkable amount of research into the NAR/Third Wave movement. Here’s her follow-up commentary on Berkowitz’s article/interview, and a resource directory of the NAR/Third Wave movement. As I’ve intimated here before, this movement is rabidly anti-Pagan, and would have no compunctions about using their political and fiscal muscle against us. Their rise to power is deeply troubling, because unlike the “Moral Majority” or “Religious Right” of ages past their agenda isn’t limited to enacting conservative social policy, but instead calls for the aggressive spiritual destruction of all who they see as enemies (and anyone who worships the “Queen of Heaven” is considered their enemy). So let’s keep our eyes open, and be aware  of who your elected representatives are associating themselves with.

War of Words in South Africa: The South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) has lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission against allegedly libelous statements made by Traditional Healers Organization national coordinator Phephisile Maseko.

“Maseko’s repeated allegation that muthi murderers are “witches” practicing “witchcraft” remains untrue and defamatory. This Alliance demands that the South African Human Rights Commission (1.) properly investigates repeated libelous allegations made by Phephisile Maseko against South African Witches, (2.) makes a ruling regarding the innocence of self-identified Witches with regard to allegations made by Maseko that we are responsible for the commission of muthi murders, and (3.) instructs the Traditional Healers Organization national coordinator to cease making libelous statements against South African Witches.”

However, Maseko is unmoved by SAPRA’s position concerning the use of the word “witch”, saying their complaint amounts to little more than white privilege.

“Let’s be honest here — a witch is a witch and everybody in the country knows that. Publicly calling yourself a witch in South Africa smacks of white privilege. In a village or township, you’d be dead even before completing your proclamation. Sapra must accept that we speak different languages and live in different areas”

This latest development seems to be driving a wedge between South Africa’s traditional healers and South Africa’s Pagan community. Despite my sympathies towards the Pagans in South Africa, it is rather plain that Maseko and SAPRA are using the term “witch” in very different contexts, and that the two sides are talking past each other. While I don’t agree with South African Parliament member, and out Pagan, Adrian Williams that they should abandon the term “witch” in order to foster better relations with traditional healers, there must be some sort of understanding that can be reached between the two communities regarding terminology. Let’s hope that cooler heads prevail.

How to Become the Last Great Pagan: Cristiana Sogno, Ph.D., assistant professor of classics at Fordham University explains how 4th century Roman statesman Quintus Aurelius Symmachus became known as the “last great pagan”.

“As it turns out, that dubious moniker was foisted on Symmachus by allies of his most prominent rival, St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, according to Cristiana Sogno, Ph.D., assistant professor of classics at Fordham. In her presentation on Jan. 27, “How Did Symmachus Become the Last Great Pagan?” Sogno explained that Symmachus was the victim of a classic political tactic—victors extolling the strength of their opponents to make their own accomplishments seem even greater. The seeds of the nickname were sown in a report, or relatio, issued in 384 A.D. to the 12-year-old Western emperor, Valentinian II, in which Symmachus mounted a defense of the traditional religion of Rome. “There can be little doubt that the relatio is a beautifully constructed speech, and by far the most appealing piece of writing produced by Symmachus. Its compelling plea for religious toleration—in contrast with the almost fanatical intolerance that transpires from St. Ambrose—makes the text closer to the sensibilities of 21st century readers,” she said. The problem, Sogno said, is that Symmachus never published it.”

So there you are, posthumous praise from Christians looking to make their own victories more impressive hoisted a humble statesman and man of letters into lasting prominence. Luckily we are now living in an age where the term “last great pagan” is increasingly outdated. We can argue as to who among our growing numbers are truly “great”, but we most likely won’t have to worry about there being a “last” great pagan thinker any time soon.

The Horror of Pagan Felt: Behold! The Muppet Wicker Man Comic.

Funny yet deeply disturbing at the same time.

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