“How ironic to criticize spiritually-minded people for indulging themselves, when what’s really indulgent is to coddle the fear of anything that might disturb the status quo, might actually attack the neurosis and doubt that make a successful reporter tick. Don’t lose your edge, that’s the important part. Don’t ever give in to—dare I say it—opening your heart.”

Michaelson goes on to equate this rationalist prejudice with “the fears of a Santorum or a Bachmann.” Which brings me to Clark’s post, which links to pieces discussing Public Policy Polling’s 3rd annual TV news trust poll. It found, as it did in previous polls, that while liberals and independents trust a wide variety of television news sources, conservatives tend to trust just one: Fox News. While this study says interesting things about political polarization and epistemic closure, I think it also says interesting things about religion and spirituality in the United States. For Fox News also plays on the anxiety concerning the shifting sands of spirituality, but does so in a manner quite different from the snobbish ridicule of a New York Times, for them its about a culture war between Christianity and the forces of secularism. See, for example, their coverage of Buncombe County Board of Education’s policy on distributing religious materials. While most outlets focused on Ginger Strivelli, a local Witch who challenged the distribution of Bibles, the Fox News piece emphasizes cultural change and upheaval.

“Traditionally, that “grand experiment” has involved Judaism and a handful of Christian denominations. But as non-traditional faiths spread into new communities, longstanding customs such as prayer, Christmas plays and Bibles that once went unquestioned in public schools are finding themselves under increased scrutiny. “Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, not on Wiccan principles,” Bobby Honeycutt, who attended public schools in Weaverville during the 1970s, said. “Our children have access to more non-Christian print material in the libraries and online than they really do Christian stuff,” he said.”

For someone who believes a move away from Christian principles is a vital threat to America’s power and stability, passages like that must only reinforce their worry. So in different ways, these mainstream media outlets from across the political spectrum continue to feed this anxiety, one that is then exploited by canny politicians.  So many stories involving non-Christian faiths or practices, when analyzed, just feed into this larger meme.

• The issue of “occult” Internet filters in public libraries, which stems directly from Christian attempts to block out any mention of non-mainstream religious practices.
• A school student in Minnesota being told to hide her pentacle necklace by a substitute teacher, a request not made to any other student wearing religious jewelry (luckily this particular story had a happy ending).
• The Roman Catholic Pope telling United States Bishops to beware “powerful new cultural currents” that run counter to “Judeo-Christian tradition” and are “increasingly hostile to Christianity as such.”
• The banning of more than 80 books by the Tucson Unified School District, including works by prominent Native American authors.
• Isolated horse murders in Cornwall are sensationally linked to “Satanism” and the growth of “Paganism” in the UK.

And on, and on, and on. As religious minorities continue to press for equal treatment, as more and more Americans engage with practices perceived to be outside the accepted cultural boundaries of normalcy, so the anxiety ratchets up. How Pagan is Halloween? How Hindu will Yoga make you? Should you even vote for a non-Christian? Who does this anxiety serve, and why is it being peddled so fiercely by so many? It all comes down to fear of a post-Christian planet, a world where the West is no longer dominated by one religious or cultural context.

Pagans dance in "nonreligious" Estonia. Photo: BBC.

Back in August of 2011, I wrote about statistical models and studies concerning the slow decline of Christian dominance, and how as the population of religiously non-affiliated individuals grow, their preferences start to become attractive to more and more people. While this shift will hardly see Christianity’s statistical dominance toppled any time soon, it does mean a future where compromise and coexistence will be emphasized over top-down hegemony.

“The future isn’t about dominance, but about coexistence. Many faiths and philosophies sitting at the table, instead of one (or two) faith groups telling everyone else what the agenda is. The numbers are shifting, generational plate tectonics slowly changing the old religious order. The near future will continue to be numerically dominated by Christian adherents, but they’ll soon lose their unified monopoly on social and political agendas. Alongside the accepted Christians-Catholics-Jews tri-faith understanding that emerged in the early 20th century will be the Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans, atheists, practitioners of indigenous religions, and yes, Muslims.”

What can we do? While there’s little that can be done to stop the anxieties that come from slow and massive demographic changes, we can demand accountability and balance from our media outlets, engage in outreach and interfaith dialog where it is appropriate, and work to ensure that the boundaries between Church and State hold firm. At the end of the day, we have to understand that this anxiety is really a testament to how influential religious minorities in the United States, and in the West, have become. As trade unionist Nicholas Klein said in 1918: “First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you.” We are no longer being ignored, the time of ridicule and attack is at hand, but as visionaries we know that the time of monuments will come.

• Back in October I wrote about Christian talk-radio host Janet Mefferd’s “Gay Pagan Hysteria,” criticizing her for comments about “pagans” wanting to “wipe out Christianity.” It seems my criticisms actually caught the eye of Ms. Mefferd herself, as she dedicated some time in November to discuss modern Paganism and the “ideology” of “paganism” with Peter Jones, editor of “On Global Wizardry: Techniques of Pagan Spirituality and a Christian Response”. How can I tell that she was reading The Wild Hunt? Because she directly quotes a guest-post by T. Thorn Coyle in the program, to which Thorn replied that “working with Jason Pitzl-Waters always brings gifts of some sort or another!” Always nice to know that some Christians are expanding their horizons by reading this blog, feel free to drop by anytime Janet!
• Anne Elizabeth Wynn at the Austin American Statesman concludes a year of visiting and experiencing various religious traditions with Unitarian Universalism and modern Paganism. Puzzled by the “confusing research” into the differences between Wicca and Paganism, Wynn enlists the help of local Pagans Jax and GG (aka The Pagan Princesses). On Paganism, GG says that it “is not focused on life after death or on salvation or fear of damnation. Accountability is now, with your friends and family.” You can find out more about Wynn’s spiritual journey, here.
• The Deccan Herald looks at the traditional Mata ni Pachedi, a hand-painted cloth that honors the mother goddess. You can see some examples of Mata ni Pachedi, here and here.
• At Religion Dispatches Louis A.Ruprecht follows up his recent essay on Saturnalia with one on the differences (and conflations) between Cronus (Saturn) and Chronus (Time).  Quote: “The Roman poet Horace famously quipped that “Captive Greece had conquered her conqueror,” as a way to describe the newfound Roman fascination with Greek mythology in the last century before the Common Era. But the conqueror was still a conqueror, so the later Romans felt free to make Greek myths over in Latin dress.”
• The SexIs blog looks at  sacred intimacy, prostitution, and Tantra in the wake of the Phoenix Goddess Temple arrests (link can be somewhat NSFW, depending on where you work). Quote: “Were their ministrations quid pro quo sex for hire, or were these ‘sacred priestesses’ engaged in the re-creation of an ancient practice of ritualized sex for spiritual healing? Is the answer to that question somewhere in between? How does it matter to our overall understanding of the curative role of sex or the need to heal traumas, sexual or otherwise?” An interesting and thoughtful meditation on the various perspectives.
• A prosecutor in Siberia’s call to ban the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s most holy texts, sparked an international outcry recently. Embarrassed by the official’s actions a Russian court rejected the proposed ban, and Russia’s Foreign Ministry went on damage control. Quote: “I repeat this is not about the book per se, but about the unsuccessful translation and the preface written by the author.” This is just the latest incident in the abuse of Russia’s laws against extremism, which local officials have been using to crack down on Russian Pagans and other minority faiths (like the Jehovah’s Witnesses) that the Russian Orthodox Church disapprove of. Expect to see more of this in years to come.
• Does Ron Paul have a controversial Dominionist pastor problem? Not anymore!
• SFist provides cosmic proof that Oakland mayor Jean Quan bungled the handling of Occupy Oakland.
• Prayer warriors explicitly target the separation of Church and State.
• Unsurprisingly, several high-profile young adult authors hated, hated, hated the terrible, no-good, film adaptation of Susan Cooper’s classic book “The Dark Is Rising.” Quote from “Wicked” author Gregory Maguire: “I am told that the movie based on “The Dark Is Rising” is pretty lousy; the novelist, Susan Cooper, begged me not to see it, and out of long-standing friendship I have obeyed her.” The book, however, remains excellent, do seek it out.

That’s it for now! Happy 2012 everyone! Feel free to discuss any of these links in the comments, some of these I may expand into longer posts as needed.

• The Seattle Times reports on the passing of Brian Fairbrother, a well-known and liked barista, who was also a member of the local Pagan community. Fairbrother defined himself as an “urban Pagan,” and commissioned the “Sacred Shrine of Caffeina, Goddess of the Waking Day” near his espresso walk-up back in the 1990s. Fairbrother died as a result of head injuries from a bicycling accident. May he rest in the arms of his gods, and may his family and friends be comforted.
• Sarah M. Pike, author of “Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves” and “New Age and Neopagan Religions in America” , writes about the 2011 Burning Man for Religion Dispatches. According to Pike, “for those “Burners” who are true converts, it is a religious event on a massive scale.” Pike also cites the work of Lee Gilmore, author of “Theater in a Crowded Fire: Ritual and Spirituality at Burning Man”, who argued for the event being “pagan” at its roots.
• Pagan chaplain and activist Patrick McCollum will be speaking this evening at an interfaith event in California. The event will be held at St. Mary’s College and is entitled “Young People on the World Stage.”
• Soriah with Ashkelon Sain, a duo whose album “Atlan” made my A Darker Shade of Pagan top-ten for 2009, returns with a new release for 2011 entitled “Eztica.” Described as “a neo-tribal, mystically ethereal, paranormally enrapturing musical experience” this mix of throat singing (what Soriah calls “an offering to nature in her own tongue”), atmospherics, and ritual, is truly captivating. The CD will be available on October 11th from Projekt Records, you can purchase a digital download now via Amazon (and, I’m assuming, iTunes). The title track, ”Eztica,” can be downloaded for free.
• R.F. Foster, author of “Words Alone: Yeats and His Inheritances”, discusses W.B. Yeats, faeries, and the Irish occult tradition for the Oxford University Press blog.
• Speaking of music that appeals to modern Pagans, Kate Bush is putting out a new album this year, her first since the 2005 double album Aerial. It’s entitled “50 Words For Snow” and will be released on 11/21 via Bush’s own label, Fish People.
• The Dogwood Local Council of the Covenant of the Goddess recently participated in a  24 hour prayer vigil to celebrate unity in prayer.  The event encouraged people of all faiths to experience how others worship,  with displays from many different religions and sects. A picture of the prayer alcove they erected for the event is now on Dogwood’s site splash screen, and Michael Cheiron gives his account of the event. In related Dogwood news, Local Coucil Second Officer, Lady Arsinoe recently conducted a small-scale demographic study of modern Pagans.
• Congratulations to Rebecca Elson at The Magical Buffet on hitting their five-year anniversary. In a press release, Elson said that “The Magical Buffet is proof that if you’re considerate, hard working, and have a good sense of humor you can accomplish amazing things.  I’m really proud of The Magical Buffet and I’m endlessly grateful that so many people read and support it.  The site is really about me and my readers, we’re definitely partners.”
• Transcendental Meditation (TM) is back on the rise. “The rolls of practitioners have tripled in the past three years, according to the Transcendental Meditation Program, the practice’s national organization.”
• A warm welcome to Teo Bishop, whose “Bishop In the Grove” blog has joined the Patheos family.

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.

• Duke Divinity School professor Mark Chaves, author of  “American Religion: Contemporary Trends,” explores why a growing number of Americans are willing to say they don’t belong to a religious tradition. I recently mentioned Chaves in an earlier post about the decline of religon, and what that might mean for modern Pagan religions.
• British shaman/Vodou initiate Peter Aziz has been jailed for 15 months for distributing brews of ayahuasca at a retreat in 2007. Aziz’s lawyer said at the sentencing that “It has caused him a considerable amount of worry as far as his personal beliefs are concerned. He has learned what can be learned from this and will not be before the court again.” Ayahuasca contains DMT, which is an illegal controlled substance in Britain. In the United States it is legal to import and use ayahuasca so long as you are a member of one of the groups, like O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, who has established that the drink is an essential and central part of their religious practice.
• A memorial benefit celebration for influential author and art historian Merlin Stone, who died earlier this year, is being held on September 24th in Clearwater, Florida (Facebook event link). Stone was author of the seminal book “When God Was A Woman,” and a successful Kickstarter campaign was recently held  to produce a memorial documentary project in her honor.
• Tombo Studio, a boutique run by Feri Tradition and sacred dance instructor Anaar, has unveiled a new website design for its current line of handcrafted costume clothing, modeled by some well-known West Coast Pagan luminaries (Morpheus Ravenna, Sharon Knight, and T.Thorn Coyle) and photographed by Paul Nordin.
• It’s Pagan Pride time again! That means many local Pagan groups are getting their one dose of media attention for the year (maybe two, depending on how media outlets cover Halloween). So far we have reports from Ontario, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Texas, Connecticut, and many more to come.
• If you’re in the Pacific Northwest this month, you should check out Faerieworlds Harvest on September 16th-18th in Eugene, Oregon. All the fun of Faerieworlds, but with milder weather!  Pagan favorites SJ Tucker, Faun, Woodland, and Stellamara are all slated to perform. Also of note is the Esoteric Book Conference this weekend in Seattle, Washington. I’m planning to attend both, so expect to hear more on these events in the near future!
• Religion Dispatches is featuring an article on Burning Man from Jay Michaelson entitled “Burning Man in the Age of Rick Perry.” In it Michaelson says that “a dogmatic religionist cannot abide the inspiration of another. Unless it is within the same religious system, it is damned, or confused, or pagan, or worse. Thus the dogmatist is only left with data which confirm her existing categories of thought. All contradictory data is removed from consideration. Whereas, any religious/spiritual progressive must be inspired precisely by the plurality of revelatory experiences.”
• Also at Religion Dispatches is a review of Kevin M. Schultz’s book “Tri-Faith America: How Catholics and Jews Held Postwar America to Its Protestant Promise.” Reviewer Edward J. Blum says that the book “helped explain how and why at seventeen I used the language of “Judeo-Christianity” for conservative evangelical ends, while remaining intellectually and morally open to civil rights and liberal crusades.” For more on this topic, check out The Wild Hunt’s interview with Kevin M. Schultz.
• The latest volume of the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture is now out, and it features some articles that should be of interest to my readers. These include “Sacred Nature: Earth-based Spirituality as Popular Religion in the Pacific Northwest” by Mark A. Shibley and “Cinema of the Not-Yet: The Utopian Promise of Film as Heterotopia” by Adrian Ivakhiv. There’s also a review of Bron Taylor’s “Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future”.
• This just in, gluing mirrors to campaign signs isn’t a calling-card for Santeria.
• Theology matters on the campaign trail now more than ever.
• The debate over banning black magic in India.

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.

Animal Sacrifice, Factory Farming, and Palo Mayombe: Religion Dispatches has an excellent essay up by Meera Subramanian, senior editor of Killing the Buddha, on the recent case of William Camacho, a practitioner of Palo Mayombe whose barber shop was shut down after sacrificial chickens were found in the basement. Subramanian compares the actions of religions that engage in animal sacrifice to the factory farming industry, and suspects that public discomfort with one and not the other is all down to issues of visibility.

William Camacho. Photo by Peter Pereira/SouthCoastToday.com

“Last year alone, about eight billion chickens were slaughtered in the U.S., according to the USDA. So why does the idea of animal sacrifice so easily fall into the realm of heebie jeebies? Why do stories about people like Camacho and their doomed animals get picked up so quickly, not just by ABC, but also sites with names like Wacky Bastards? [...] Camacho broke the rules. No chickens within city limits. But what shutting down his barbershop and the initial talk of throwing animal cruelty charges at him reveals is really our discomfort and alienation from the animals at the heart of the New Bedford controversy. It lays bare our preference that animal killings, whether as a part of a religious ritual or not, stay hidden out of view. It asks that any connection that animals might have to the spirit world remain tamely leashed to our household pets.”

I recommend reading the entirety of Subramanian’s essay. As for Camacho and Bad Boyz Cutz? The barber shop is open for business once more, and no charges are being filed against him at this time. He’s still seeking advice from attorneys.

Burning Man Celebrates its 25th Anniversary: Burning Man in Nevada is now under way. The temporary city in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with a ”Rites of Passage” theme. This year marks the first time the event has sold out, and also sees the event transition into a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the festival’s ideology outside the famous once-per-year event. What is that ideology? Lee Gilmore, author of “Theater in a Crowded Fire: Ritual and Spirituality at Burning Man”, argues for the event being “pagan” at its roots.

“No one I’ve ever spoken to (and I’ve been attending and researching this event since 1996) has ever come right out and called Burning Man a religion–Pagan or otherwise–and the event’s organizers have repeatedly stated as much for years. However, I think in some ways it can be considered to be a pagan (note the lower case) phenomenon. In this meaning, I see the uppercase term “Pagan” as referring to our various Neopagan traditions–that is the sets of practices, beliefs, and communities that are seen as (albeit loosely) constituting our family of religions–while I use the lowercase term “pagan” as a more general adjective.

In this sense, I am thinking of Michael York’s concept of “root religion,” which identifies paganism as a set of shared–yet diversely constituted–primal religious tendencies that broadly underlie all global religions. As he stated, “inasmuch as paganism is the root of religion, it confronts the earliest, the most immediate, and the least processed apprehensions of the sacred. This is the experiential level on which paganism in both its indigenous and contemporary forms wishes to concentrate.” (see York’s Pagan Theology)

Burning Man has a similarly embodied, experiential, and ritualized quality. This feeling is in part engendered by the encounter with nature in Nevada’s Black Rock desert. In the beauty and essential simplicity of this vast dusty arena–as well as in the visceral physical experience of its arid and demanding environment–many participants encounter a sense of the transformative and numinous.”

Recent data suggests that Burning Man is becoming more religious, political, and female as it ages, though critics still contest the event is a “dead-end cult.” For more on how Burning Man is small-p “pagan” check out the rest of Gilmore’s guest post for The Wild Hunt. You may also want to read the interview conducted with her at Religion Dispatches last year.

Debating Dominionism: In final note, the debate and discussion over what Christian Dominionism exactly is, whether its worth talking about, and whether it is or isn’t a threat, continues. At Religion Dispatches Sarah Posner and Anthea Butler have an excellent discussion that digs deep into the subject, and goes beyond the alarmism and denial currently dominating coverage.

Rick Perry hugs NAR "Apostle" Alice Patterson at 'The Response'.

“I view with a jaundiced eye these journalists who think that by the mere act of writing an 800 word op-ed they’re going to wave a wand over people of faith and make their beliefs go away. Not Happening. Yes, not every conservative Christian is a Dominionist, but to say a movement doesn’t exist, without even being able to say what it is in an op-ed is just irresponsible. It also shows what the real issue is.

For the last 30 years, journalists have had an easy time reporting on the religious right, because all they did was pay attention to to white male leaders of big organizations like Focus on the Family, National Association of Evangelicals, or Family Research Council. The days when a nice soundbite from Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, or Ted Haggard would suffice are over. If journalists and others want to understand the last 10 years of the religious right movement, they will need to pay attention to the theological, religious, and ethnic diversity among evangelicals, Pentecostals, and non-denominational churches. They will at least need to recognize the old and new leaders of the religious right, and the complex network of leaders, conferences, and teachings if they want a reductionist argument they can spin out in 800 words. As someone who has studied and written about Pentecostalism for over 15 years, their lack of basic knowledge is staggering, and although I don’t expect people to get it like I do, I do expect reporters and journalists to do their homework—like you do, Sarah!”

In addition to that, Fred Clark at Slacktivist points out that Dominionism has been a serious concern within conservative Christian circles for some time now, and certainly not a myth. He also notes that if you don’t want to be seen as a Dominionist, you should probably avoid hiring them. Right Wing Watch echoes Clark by asking why, if Dominionism is a liberal myth used to attack conservative Christians, does it have conservative critics? At Talk To Action Chip Berlet responds to the latest wave of Dominionist coverage backlash from figures like Ross Douthat and Mary Eberstadt (more here). For my run-down of the debate up to this point, check out this post.

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

• If the embryonic Rick Perry candidacy has done one thing of real merit, it has been to inspire mainstream media coverage of the New Apostolic Reformation. Wednesday’s edition of Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC featured an interview with Forrest Wilder of the Texas Observer, who has been closely covering Rick Perry’s new religious allies. This has led other outlets, like Salon.com’s War Room to also take note. In fact, those of us who’ve been early adopters in following this pernicious religious movement have been spoiled for choice lately. The question now is if this spike in coverage is adequate sunlight antiseptic against their infection of spiritual warfare tactics? As for Wilder, he says coverage of “The Response” has been shallow, at best.
• Peter Dybing, National First Officer of Covenant of the Goddess, has issued a call “for ministers of all faiths and political persuasions to take a stand” against Dominionists who “seek to enslave the entire nation to their religious values for their own good.”
• A judge in Illinois has denied an inmate’s request for a copy of Anton LaVey’s the Satanic Bible. The State Department of Corrections argued that the book encouraged “hatred and violence.” Beth Winegarner at the Backward Messages blog weighs in on the case, saying that “only in a society where some religions are favored over others could a judge — whose salary is paid by the people — tell a member of one faith that he cannot have access to his holy text, when access to such texts while imprisoned is otherwise protected by law.”
• Did you like Thor comics but wish they were more Celtic? Well, today is your lucky day, Marvel Comics has announced that the Celtic thunder-god Tanarus will be (no doubt temporarily) replacing the Norse god after the current major crossover epic wraps up. I’m personally waiting for the debut of Lugus: Lord of the Lightning Flash!
• Religion Dispatches reports that the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations has issued General Comment No. 34, which explores freedom of speech under international law, and says that “prohibitions of displays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief system, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with the Covenant.” The document also rejects “any restrictions on the operation of websites, blogs or any otherinternet-based, electronic or other such information dissemination system.” Austin Dacey sees this as a serious step forward in eliminating blasphemy laws, saying it will give a legal framework for those trying to push reforms.
• I’m a little behind the curve on this one, but fantasy author Mercedes Lackey released a new collection of novellas at the end of 2010 entitled “Trio of Sorcery” that revisits fan-favorite (and Pagan-favorite) character Diana Tregarde. It’s been twenty years since the last book in that series, “Jinx High,” was published, and Lackey had long-soured on publishing any more stories with that character due to obsessive stalkers and death threats by disturbed individuals who thought Lackey was a documentarian and not a fantasy novelist. With the current boom in the urban fantasy genre, and with some water under the bridge, is Lackey thinking of returning to her Witchy protagonist again for new full-length novels?
• Former political candidate and (alleged) Witchcraft-dabbler Christine O’Donnell is making news again thanks to the publication of her new book “Troublemaker,” where she addresses the “dabble-gate” missteps of her 2010 Delaware senate campaign. O’Donnell calls the infamous “I’m not a Witch” ad “a wrong-headed move, made for all the wrong reasons, but it was mine.”
• At Witchvox, Heather Awen addresses of issue of using strip-mined crystals as spiritual tools, prompting a thoughtful meditation on the subject from Lupa at her Therioshamanism blog. At her own blog, Awen gives tips on greening your rituals.
• Here at Patheos P. Sufenas Virius Lupus asks “what does sexual liberty look like?” Lupus notes that “as polytheists, and as people who claim to be “earth-based” and “nature-based” in their spiritualities and theologies, there is absolutely no reason to view gender variance or diversity of sexual orientation—which exists in abundance in non-human animal natures—as anything to be upset over or worried about, so long as it is carried out in ways that are also appropriate to human nature and social conventions.”
• Finally, let me give a warm welcome to the Pagan Newswire Collective’s news bureau: PNC-Texas (aka Lonestar Pagan)! They’ve already got some great stuff up, and I look forward to their future participation. Oh, and while I’m on the subject of the PNC, we’re looking for a motivated media-savvy volunteer to be our new Bureaus Coordinator, if you’re interested in this important role, do drop us a line.

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.

• One positive thing that has come out of the recent Ninth Circuit Court decision in Patrick McCollum’s case against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is that mainstream religion-news outlets like Religion Dispatches are taking notice of Christian pseudo-historian David Barton’s part in the proceedings.
• A reality-based web series on a group of young Witches in Salem is set to debut this Fall. It will, naturally, take part during the Halloween season and will the see the Witches “interact with Pagan and Witch Elders.” Place your bets now as to who these “highly-recognized teachers” will be!
• The Atlanta Post features an essay by Ezinne Adibe that deals with attacks on African Traditional Religions. While the piece briefly mentions Pat Robertson’s slur against Vodou in Haiti, and traditional practices that have survived in America, the bulk of the article talks about the witch-hunting phenomenon in Africa.
• The Los Angeles Times interviews Rob Young, author of “Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music” (now out in paperback), in the piece Young calls historian Ronald Hutton one of his models for the book (which is very good).
• Time Magazine spotlights a self-proclaimed “proud Pagan” who is either so desperate for attention that he has taken leave of all good sense, or he truly is the kind of man who’d accuse his ex-girlfriend of aborting his baby on a highway billboard. He’s on such morally shaky ground that even the local pro-life groups have abandoned him, and the more people dig, the less there is to like.
• The documentary “Raw Faith,” about the faith journey of UU minister Marilyn Sewell, is seeing a limited theatrical release this month. More: here. Thought my UU Pagan readers might appreciate the heads-up.
• The U.S. Army has appointed its first Hindu chaplain. Like the Buddhist chaplain appointed in 2009, it happened through a conversion process (a process that didn’t work for Pagan Don Larsen). Will this continue to open the door for an eventual Pagan chaplain? Thanks to Chas Clifton for the heads-up.
• Indian Country looks at the movement to embrace Two-Spirits (LGBT members of American Indian tribes). You can check out the documentary “Two Spirits,” here.
• The defense case in the James Arthur Ray trial has begun after yet another attempt to have the charges dropped was denied.
• Catholic site First Things goes there with the Ayn Rand – Anton LaVey/Church of Satan connection. I am truly, honestly, surprised that it has taken this long.

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.