• The Associate Press reports that Angel Valley retreat in Sedona, Arizona, where the now-infamous and deadly sweat lodge ceremony led by James Arthur Ray was held, has settled a civil lawsuit brought by victim’s families and participants. The sum is not disclosed in the report, and there is no admission of liability by the owners of Angel Valley. The trial of Ray, who is charged with three counts of manslaughter, continues.
• In a review for Real Clear Religion, Rod Dreher endorses Jeffrey Kripal’s book “Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred” which notes that both “orthodox religion and orthodox science” have a hard time grasping the paranormal. Which makes you wonder about the growth of religions and traditions that do embrace phenomena that we can’t explain.
• It’s a food-centered week over at No Unsacred Place as Ruby Sara writes about sacred eating in earth-centered ritual,  Juniper Jeni tackles the controversy over Bob Parsons shooting an elephant (then eaten by local villagers), Cat Chapin-Bishop charges that “we eat uncaringly, unfeelingly, ignobly,” and Howling Hill talks Pagan food restriction.
• The Miami New Times has been following an increasingly odd feud between animal activist (and real estate developer) Richard “Kudo” Couto and Santeria priest Oba Ernesto Pichardo (of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah fame). There’s too much to sum up here, but as one Santeria practitioner puts it “I don’t see how his job in real estate, when he started his organization, animal defecation, or cartoony music helps the religious community.”
• For more on Pagan participation in the Marin Interfaith Council Prayer Breakfast, at which Don Frew was a featured presenter, there’s a second write-up of the event from M. Macha NightMare, the sole Pagan member of the Marin council, who helped pave the way for Frew’s invitation.
• A temple to the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone was discovered by  Bulgarian archaeologists near the town of Sozopol on the Black Sea. For those keeping score, yes, a Christian monastery was built on top of it.
• Kendra Vaughan Hovey, a former reality-television star who converted from Wicca to Christianity, now claims to be neither Christian nor Wiccan, simply a Witch. Hovey notes that “if I must label myself anything, this label seems to define my spiritual practices—and who I am at the very core of my being—best.”
• How can you tell when a “Satanic” crime might not be Satanic? When only tabloids report on it.
• The tenth session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues started yesterday, featuring an opening address by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. During the address Ki-moon stated that “we know that indigenous peoples have a close spiritual relationship with nature. Now we have to make the connection between their knowledge—your knowledge—and our world.”
• Jamie L. Manson at Religion Dispatches has perhaps my favorite response to the controversy over Jim Wallis and Sojouners rejecting an ad calling for the welcoming of LGBTQ individuals in Christian churches. Manson writes that “so many religious gays and lesbians have to operate “under the radar,” and keep silent about their personal lives,” which is just one reason why I’m largely proud of a modern Pagan movement that is overwhelmingly inclusive to LGBTQ individuals. Even when there is controversy and conflict, it produces an entirely different conversation than what you would find within the dominant monotheisms.
• Traditional besom broom makers in the UK are in danger of extinction.
• A local newspaper interviews Alaskan resident and rune master Doc Warner.
• A report from the Maryland Faerie Festival.

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.

“So this image is offensive, according to myspace. So its ok to have pornographic images and default pics of guys holding guns and masks? Please feel free to use this image in protest of these ridiculous regulations and REPOST so all can see this!!! Keep messaging myspace also; to show them we are still fighting the religion option…”

Old English Futhorc runes.

From what I have been able to figure out, the outcry started when a MySpace petition profile (now switched to a closed/private profile) to expand the religious labels for Pagan MySpacers beyond “Wiccan” or “Other” had its profile image removed by administrators due to its “offensive” nature. Since then there have been claims that other Heathen/Asatru profiles also had their runic symbols taken down.

“Recent whispers through out the Myspace Asatruar community, as of today, have several pictures removed from peoples profile where upon Runic symbols are present. Apparently it is now against the TOS here to use Runes to decorate the pages. I do rather suspect that this is due to those that use our symbols for hate agendas. With that said perhaps Myspace TOS staff need to educated themselves instead of pilfering intolerance based on ignorance!”

It is unclear at this point if this was a move solely on the part of MySpace administrators, or a response to individual user complaints (any MySpace user can report “offensive” content with the click of a button). The petition site has put its offending image back up (though, as I mentioned before, the page is now listed as “private”), and it remains to be seen if this was an isolated incident or if MySpace is now conflating the use of runes by some racist groups with the more benign uses by the larger Asatru/Heathen community. We will have to wait and see what develops in the near future.
]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/11/offensive-runes.html/feed 1 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/09/few-quick-notes.html http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/09/few-quick-notes.html#comments Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:31:00 +0000 Jason Pitzl-Waters http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/09/a-few-quick-notes.html A somewhat slow news day today, but there are a few smaller items that may be of interest.

The always-excellent legal blog “Religion Clause” has pointed out two recent legal cases of interest to modern Pagans. The first is a prisoner case involving an Asatru inmate:

“In Keen v. Noble, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69629 (ED CA, Sept. 20, 2007), a California federal district court refused to dismiss a federal prisoner’s complaint that his free exercise rights were violated when prison authorities refused to provide him with runestones for his Asatru religious practices. However the court agreed with a Magistrate’s recommendation to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds plaintiff’s complaint that he was denied a hof. The court also held that RFRA does not authorize the award of monetary damages.”

So it looks like Runes as a religious tool are allowed within prison (with qualifications for safety), opening a door for similar religious items for modern Pagans and Heathens. The second case, while not involving Paganism, does seem to settle a growing issue being pushed by some Christians.

“Rivera-Alicea v. Gonzalez-Galoffin, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69905 (D PR, Sept. 20, 2007), involves claims by a secretary in Puerto Rico’s Department of Justice that she was retaliated against for complaining that “pagan” office Halloween decorations offended her Pentecostal Christian religious beliefs. In rejecting plaintiff’s Establishment Clause claim, the Puerto Rico federal district court held: Halloween decorations, like valentines, Easter bunnies, and egg hunts are all secular displays and activities that neither convey religious messages nor constitute religious symbols. Halloween lost its religious and superstitious overtones long ago. It has become instead a commercial holiday enjoyed by communities in its many forms of entertainment.”

Secular Halloween decorations, despite the protestations of some conservative Christians, aren’t an endorsement of Pagan religion. Rulings like this may also protect Halloween decorations from the complaints of Pagans who find traditional Halloween decorations offensive.

Finally, for my academic-oriented readers, there is an open call for papers for a conference on the subject of religion in comic books and graphic novels. The conference, sponsored by the Luce Program in scripture and literary arts at Boston University, specifically points out that they are looking for works that explore Pagan forms of religiosity within comic books.

“We are particularly interested in the following works and topics, though others will be considered: … Pagan Missionaries: the works of Moore, Gaiman, and Morrison as mouthpieces for New Religious Movements.

So if you are an academic, and have been looking for a place to present that paper on Alan Moore’s “Promethea”, now is your chance.
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