“The fourth year I owned DrakNet, my husband and I got a divorce, and the following year (for a variety of reasons I won’t go into), we entered into a highly acrimonious custody battle. The suit stated outright in it’s initial filing that the basis was the fact that I was Pagan. I hired an attorney who dismissed it as a concern, stating my religion could not be used against me. While I have no doubt the attorney believed that when he told me, he was wrong and his objection was overruled. The county this lawsuit was in was extremely right-leaning, and the Judge in the case relieved me of custody temporarily while my beliefs and their affect on my ability to parent was investigated. Those I knew in the community did offer to rush to my defense, have protests on the courthouse lawn, call the press, and make the case into a circus, but I strongly felt then, as I do now, that a child cannot choose to be at the center of a public controversy. Though I was very, very careful in my answers not to establish any precedent or disclaim or lie about anything I was in the final trial, once I fought back and defended myself and won, I chose not to tempt fate a second time and I left Paganism so that it could not be used against me again.”

Lepp’s experience is in no way unique, and Pagan parents heading back into the closet for the benefit of their children has become a widely acknowledged phenomenon in our interlocking communities.  In 2008 the New York Times reported that issues concerning religion were becoming more common in custody cases, and that judges are increasingly uneasy with the ramifications of having to make value judgments regarding religions. However, a custody case in Kansas involving a Jehovah’s Witness may just offer new hope for Pagan parents worried about losing their children. The Kansas Supreme Court recently upheld a district court’s ruling that it was not qualified to make decisions regarding the mother’s faith in a custody dispute.

“Disapproval of mere belief or nonbelief cannot be a consideration in a custody determination—judges are not trained to mediate theological disputes. Yet consideration of religiously motivated behavior with an impact on a child’s welfare cannot be ignored. It is one of the many relevant factors that must be part of the holistic custody calculus required under Kansas law [...] Just as mere religious beliefs cannot be solely determinative of custody, a court may not speculate about behavior that religious beliefs may motivate in the future…. A court also may not weigh the merit of one parent’s religious belief or lack of belief against the other’s. Nothing in law school or practice in any setting qualifies a judge for this task, and any judicial effort to tackle it is far too likely to lead to the substantial impairment of the free exercise of religion… Courts must be vigilant to avoid invidious discrimination against religious beliefs or practices merely because they seem unconventional. The consideration of religiously motivated actions as a part of holistic evaluation of the best interests of the child, while excluding consideration of religious beliefs, strikes an appropriate balance among the free exercise rights of each parent; the right of each parent to the care, custody, and control of his or her child; and the welfare of the child….”

In short, unless there is obvious religiously-motivated abuse and harm that can be proven, the courts should not be in the business of deciding what religion is better for a child in custody cases. This is a welcome ruling for any parent who fears losing custody simply because the judge has a grudge, or preconceived notions as to what a “Pagan” is. What needs to happen now is for a wider precedent to be set. While I do not wish this on the parent or child in this case, who no doubt want nothing more than for this nightmare to be over, if this ruling is challenged to a higher court and upheld, it could have farther-reaching impact outside of Kansas.

In addition to hoping that rulings like this one help establish a stronger precedent for judges to stay out of making value judgments about personal belief systems, other responses to the problem of parents using the religion against each other in custody battles is increased mandatory mediation sessions, and giving greater agency to the children in these cases. A cocktail of all three could provide a good inoculation against religious discrimination in the courtroom. In the meantime, many Pagans, and other adherents to minority religions, still worry about revealing too much about their faith, lest it be used against them should a marriage fall apart. If you are a Pagan parent worried about custody, I suggest contacting the Lady Liberty League for help and advice. For those who can speak out, becoming more visible and understood is key in demolishing stereotypes about our faiths.

The Pagan-friendly Gaea Retreat Center in Kansas, host of the annual Heartland Pagan Festival, is branching out and allowing a music festival to take place on its grounds for the first time.

“…after enduring several board meetings, Yager and his staff finally convinced the proprietors to embrace the Gaea Retreat and Music Festival, which begins at noon today. “We’ve spawned into this weird festival where it’s a mesh of cultures. We have introduced education through imagery by focusing on things like the environment, free energy, energy conservation alternatives, performing arts,” he says.”

Earth Rising, Inc., the legal entity that runs Camp Gaea, is trying to move past its infamous local past (which involved a legal battle over its permit), and reputation as a haven for Pagans and nudists. Though it remains to be seen if Camp Gaea can transform a music festival into a place to “find that realm of evenness and spiritual soundness.” While I fully attest to the spiritual power of live music, I’m not sure “evenness” and “spiritual soundness” is what you aim for.

The Claremont Institute reviews “Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey: A Biography”, by Alberto Manguel, and praises it as a book written with “intelligence and curiosity”.

“Manguel’s intent is to show that, for over 2,500 years, countless members of the species have found “in these stories of war in time and travel in space…the experience of every human struggle and every human displacement.” The Iliad and Odyssey, which can be thought to represent the two great metaphors of life, a battle and a journey, are the “books which, more than any others, have fed the imagination of the Western world.” In the 8th century A.D., Byzantine schoolchildren were still expected to have much of the Iliad by heart. Six hundred years later, during the Renaissance, Homer remained the cornerstone of every ambitious library.”

According to the review, Manguel does a good job of making the argument that Homer is just as relevant today as he was in antiquity, a poet who described “every secret happiness and every hidden sin.” A paperback edition of the book is due out in March of 2009.

A quick update on the “Satanic Panic Alive and Well in North Carolina” story, a judge has lowered the bail amount for Joy Suzanne Johnson, after her public defender argued that the charges against her made “no sense” and that there is a complete lack of “corroborating evidence”.

“The woman who is accused of aiding and abetting her husband in a sexual assault case and an alleged kidnapping and cane beating persuaded a Superior Court judge Thursday to reduce bail.”

Meanwhile, things aren’t looking too good for the prosecution as more and more details about the case emerge. A state assistant distract attorney said that “some if not all of the charges may need to be modified”. To catch up on this story, here is part one, and part two of my ongoing coverage.

Expect your local spiritual supply store to have a run on frankincense, Israeli scientists are claiming that the resin can ease depression and anxiety (at least in mice).

“Pharmacologists in Israel have found that frankincense, a whitish resin tapped from the veins of a shrubby tree, relieves anxiety and depression, at least in mice. In an article to be published next month in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and elsewhere report that the active ingredient in frankincense lights up brain receptors that play a role in the perception of warmth on the skin and might help regulate emotion.”

While covering this story, the New York Times visits a local occult shop, and finds that the employees aren’t surprised in the least by this news.

“Any kind of magic you’re doing,” Ms. Cabral said, “frankincense would be great for any kind of happiness, or success, or attention, even.”

So if things are getting a little stressed at your circle, coven, or grove, be sure to light up (some frankincense)!

This weekend will see a dance festival in Miami to celebrate the survival of West African Yoruban culture and religion.

“This weekend, Coconut Grove will celebrate a culture created in Cuba during the slave trade. The Yoruban culture and the religion Santería, or Regla de Ocha, which was brought to Cuba by the Yorubans of West Africa, are the by-products of slavery, according to Ifé-Ilé’s Artistic and Executive Director Neri Torres. With dance workshops and seminars, the Ifé-Ilé Afro-Cuban Dance & Music Festival will bring context to Miami residents. “Today, [the Yoruban culture] is still the root of Cuban culture in terms of art, music and the way we talk and gesture,” said Torres, who founded Ifé-Ilé in 1996.”

For more information about this event, head over to the Ifé-Ilé web site.

In a final note, The Esoteric Book Review takes a look at the recently released “Witch School 3rd Degree” by Rev. Donald Lewis-Highcorrell, and is disturbed by some of what he finds there.

“I was disappointed to note subtle distinctions being made which imply Correllians are better than other Wiccans and should not be surprised by the bad behaviour of non-Correllians. This smacks a bit of cultish behaviour … the return to sniping at Wicca was a little tedious and unnecessary … the last part of the book becomes a bit cultish and for me loses the plot…”

Sniping at other traditions of Wicca? Superior attitudes? Cultish behavior? Doesn’t sound like a very positive or affirming way of running a religious tradition. Nor is this the first time such accusations have been made. It should be interesting to see if Witch School responds to the claims made in the review.

That is all I have for now, have a great day!
]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/07/pagan-news-of-note_18-3.html/feed 1 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/04/pagan-relics-old-and-new.html http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/04/pagan-relics-old-and-new.html#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:15:00 +0000 Jason Pitzl-Waters http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/04/pagan-relics-old-and-new.html When approaching the topic of ancient paganism, location is everything. For instance, locals in Ireland (and the UK) are often very proud of the ancient statues and landmarks from the pre-Christian era. To illustrate this point is a recent story in the Guardian concerning the Janus stone in the Caldragh graveyard on Boa Island in Ireland. Plans to possibly move the statue to a museum in Belfast is drawing an emotional response from the locals.

The Janus
Photo: Around Ireland

“The Janus, which has stood in the Caldragh graveyard on Boa Island in Co Fermanagh since it was put up by the Celts more than 2,000 years ago, inspired the Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney to write the poem, ‘January God’. Locals hold the 2ft tall figure, depicting a man on one side and a female on the other, in awe … rumours are circling that the statue may be moved to the Ulster Museum for its own protection. Opponents say it would be like moving Stonehenge to London … Looking around last week at his fellow protesters gathered inside the graveyard where the statue stands, Carrigan added: ‘These people and more like them are prepared to do the same. We will physically stand in the way of anyone trying to take the Janus away.’”

Similar responses have occurred in Ireland over plans to build a motorway through the Hill of Tara. These defenders aren’t just some small band of Pagans (though Pagans have been involved in such efforts), but patriotic Irish citizens proud of their country’s rich heritage and history. Pagan stones are a part of things, co-existing with their Christian heritage. A heritage that America doesn’t share, which explains the often hysterical reactions to even the possibility of a pagan or non-Christian landmark.

“Sedgwick County commissioners have put a planned Stonehenge-like Solar Field in Sedgwick County Park on hold after some Wichitans worried that it had cultish religious connotations … The privately funded one-acre project, which is similar to Wichita artist Steve Murillo’s Riverside solar installation but on a larger scale, does come off as vaguely New Agey — the artists call it a peaceful and “metaphysical” place of healing.”

Local clergy fear goths and gangs if such a thing were to be built!

“What these exhibits tend to attract are kids into the Gothic, people who are on the edge of living and because of that they tend not to attract enough of the city who feels comfortable enough to go there … Gangs, sometimes, will tend to be attracted there because it has a very mystical connotation. It’s not a positive thing.”

We see here the difference between a people unthreatened by their rich pagan past, and a people who have disconnected from such a history and the resulting religious insecurity that follows. Perhaps things here would have been different if the near-cultural obliteration of America’s indigenous peoples hadn’t occurred, but that is just speculation. What is clear is that as the numbers of modern Pagans grow, some places will feel keenly threatened by that growth and by any attempt to leave a permanent mark on the landscape.
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