The Vanderbilt policy says students must be excused from classes and other academic activities on days when their religious traditions put restrictions on labor or forbid it outright, like Eid al Fitr for Muslims and Yom Kippur for Jews. It says professors, department chairs or deans can decide if absences will be excused for religious days that are not “work-restricted,” including the Wiccan and pagan days. “This is a mechanism to let faculty be aware of these holidays, that there may be students approaching them, for example, to reschedule an exam, to make up a day of coursework or something like that because they are choosing to observe their religion on that day,” Vanderbilt spokeswoman Princine Lewis said Tuesday. “And that’s an agreement that would have to be worked out with the faculty member.”

Local conservative commentator Roy Exum has decided this is just another example of liberal decadence at Vanderbilt.

“Now I’m all for Freedom of Religion, but when pagans and witches are accorded center stage at a school where tuition is now nearly $50,000 a year, the crazies are clearly running the insane asylum. [...] Before there were holidays like Yom Kippur for those of the Jewish faith and now the Muslim holidays of Eid al Fitr are included, but don’t you think a bunch of pagans dancing around a maypole “to symbolize the mystery of the Sacred Marriage of Goddess and God” is a little over the top?”

I love it when people profess to love freedom of religion, and then talk about how the principle is being taken too far. Meanwhile, response from modern Pagans has generally been very positive at this forward step towards acceptance and accommodation. Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary, a longtime advocate for the equal treatment of modern Pagans, struck a hopeful note on receiving the news.

“I am thankful that Vanderbilt University has expanded its diversity accommodation calendar to include some Wiccan and Pagan holidays.  It is my hope that universities, colleges, and other institutions will be inclusive of Wiccan and other Pagan traditions of those in their campus communities as well – and that accommodation of holidays extends not only to students, but to faculty and staff.”

Fox was also interviewed by the Associated Press on this story, along with Marijean Rue, a graduate of Vanderbilt’s Divinity School, who is a Witch in the Tangled Woods Tradition.

Rue, who also worked as a Vanderbilt employee after graduating, she felt comfortable telling other people her religious beliefs and felt Vanderbilt was a progressive campus that was welcoming to all religions. The addition of the holidays is a supportive sign to pagan students and faculty by the university, she said. “You feel like people aren’t going to say, ‘You’re just making this up,’” Rue said. She said young college students who are exploring religious beliefs like paganism could feel more secure in expressing themselves on campus. “When an authoritative body comes out and says, ‘We accept this,’ it really makes people feel safer,” she said.

The adoption of Pagan holidays to the list of holidays for which a student can take an excused absence has been a quietly growing phenomenon in the United States. In 2007 Marshall University in West Virginia added Pagan holidays to  its list, sparking national coverage in the process. Last year, the New Jersey State Board of Education added the eight Wiccan/Pagan “Wheel of the Year” holidays to its “official” list, while North Carolina passed a law requiring all school systems and public universities in the state to allow two excused absences per year for religious observances.

While some may feel this is political correctness run amok, it is simply a long-overdue acknowledgement that modern Pagan religions are, in fact, valid religions. Religions that have holidays and observances, and are legally recognized by the United States government. Universities like Vanderbilt and Marshall are simply codifying a reality that already exists at institutions all across the United States, that Pagan students are receiving excused absences for their holidays. Listing them simply streamlines the process of having to achieve permissions. As Pagan religiosity is further mainstreamed, no doubt Pagan faiths who don’t follow some version of the “Wheel of the Year” will also seek, and be granted, recognition as well. For those who criticize or oppose such measures, it’s simply another instance of their Christian privilege coming into play.

Amanda Armstrong is a pagan celebrant with Celtic leanings who performs professional clergy services in the Nashville area. She lives with her husband and four cats.

Higher Ground

We were warned of heavy rains for days before it began, but no one thought this could happen. Spring is the rainy season in Middle Tennessee, the season of sudden downpours my father calls “toad chokers” followed by intense afternoon sunshine. Nothing could have prepared us for the nearly 14 inches of rain that fell in the next 48 hours. Nashville has a lock and dam flood control system that was built in the 1960′s and has suffered only a few major flood events since that time. Our biggest worry during these seasonal downpours is flash flooding from the many creeks that crisscross the wide basin that defines the Greater Nashville Area. The storms began early Saturday and inched across the state. Warnings were issued and those that live in flood prone areas kept watch.

My husband and I were visiting the eastern part of the state Friday night and decided to drive back to Nashville early on Saturday morning. I had gotten a call from my father before we left, warning us of torrential rain on the way, but nothing unusual for this time of year. Most people went ahead and rescheduled weekend Beltane plans for the following weekend. Unusually, the annual Tennessee Renaissance Faire was shut down due to the heavy downpours. Saturday evening we headed west of town on I-40 to have dinner with family and saw the Harpeth River rising dangerously high near the interstate, but it was along the normal floodplain and  I had seen this happen many times before. Traffic then stopped about 45 minutes west of Nashville. The interstate was closed completely, in both directions. I thought perhaps there was a terrible accident. We  later found that the interstate was completely flooded the next county over. When we arrived at my aunt’s house, we watched a local newscast showing live footage of a portable classroom floating down the I-24 in Nashville, hitting semis and cars before breaking apart. 70 vehicles were stranded in rapidly rising water with desperate drivers standing on the concrete median and the roofs of cars. It was as if we were watching one of the ever popular apocalyptic big-budget films, except this was my home.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5gYhLKwSp4

Sunday morning, Nashville awoke to a nightmare. All of the major creeks and rivers were at or near flood stage and rising with 7 more inches of rain expected through the evening. Parts of Nashville that have never flooded in living memory were underwater or at risk. Thousands were without power, internet or cell phone service. My husband and I decided to try and get some groceries and cat food before the interstates became impassable. We live right below a flood control dam and never worried about our own home being flooded. Our house sits just 40 feet below the top height of the dam on a fairly large hill. By the time we got home, we were very worried. Whole neighborhoods were submerged, roads destroyed. Train tracks were washed out or buckled. Bridges were swept away. The normally quiet Stones River, which runs 200 yards from my back patio, was perhaps 20 feet away. The river rose an astonishing 45 feet in less than two days, below a dam meant to control just that.

We spent the next 24 hours watching the water rise to within a couple of yards of the house and then recede a few feet, only to rise again. The neighbors all made hourly walks down to the path leading to the Greenway park that runs along the river to check water levels which we tracked using makeshift gauges of sticks and stones. I sat at the computer for hours refreshing the water level data page from the Army Corps of Engineers website praying that the numbers would fall instead of the incessant rising. We spent 24 hours in constant fear of hearing the floodgate sirens go off if the dam started to fail and had to be completely opened. I am so grateful that we made it through with no damage to house and home. So many have losts homes, cars and jobs. Most of our family and friends have checked in but no one has been spared some kind of loss.

I called my Community Supported Agriculture contact to let her know there was no way we could possibly get to our drop off site for our weekly food pick up. She sounded heartbroken as she told me they had lost their entire flock of pastured laying hens. I later found out that they have no idea if any of the Spring crops survived and they cannot reach many of the other farmers who work with them. We have hundreds of small farms in the Middle Tennessee area experiencing much of the same.

Local news stations were out and reporting immediately but could only access most of Nashville by air. The images were astonishing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ud6LV8DZLs

Very few times in my life have I seen what I would call awesome in the old fashioned use of the word, but this was it. We watched the Cumberland River in downtown creep inch by inch up to the old historic district downtown, cresting Monday night at a near record 51 feet flooding the historic buildings all along the waterfront. We watched hundreds and hundreds of rescues by boat of people trapped in second stories or the small islands they now live on. We watched horses, cows and mules coaxed into flat bottomed boats or standing on tiny pieces of land waiting for the water to recede. And yet, we heard almost nothing from the national news. As Keith Olbermann says in the clip, there is nothing worse than to have a disaster at home when another, bigger disaster is ongoing. I understand why all eyes are on the Gulf, it’s heartbreaking and horrifying.

So many major buildings have been heavily damaged or nearly destroyed. Titans Stadium is full of water, as is the hockey arena. The Country Music Hall of Fame is flooded. The Opryland Hotel has 10 feet of standing water and the Grand Ole Opry House is much the same. The Parthenon with it’s 50 foot statue of Athena is closed due to Mayor Dean’s request for citizens to stay home. I have not been able to verify whether there was damage to the structure, but I’m sure it would have been mentioned by the local news if there had been anything significant. Sri Ganesha Temple in Bellevue is on a large hill, but no one is answering calls. Power and phone service is still out in many areas so getting information is still difficult. Our excellent Greenway Park system will be devastated as all of these parks run along the waterways.

The death toll is currently at 22 from this storm system. One of those lives was a member of the pagan community, Joshua Landtroop. He leaves behind two children and many friends. Joshua left work on foot Saturday to check on his two children at home when flood waters started to rise. His body was found Sunday morning. The waters rose so quickly in some areas that no one could have survived being swept away. There will be a memorial service on Saturday night for Joshua at the annual Pagan Unity Festival held May 13^th the 16^th in Burns, TN at Montgomery Bell State Park. Memorials are encouraged for the Joshua Landtroop Trust Fund for his two sons Heath and Tristan at Family Advantage Federal Credit Union, P. O. Box 39, Spring Hill, TN 37174. For more information on PUF, please visit  http://paganunityfestival.org/ .

Hands on Nashville is our main clearinghouse for volunteer work, you can donate at http://hon.org/HomePage/index.php/home.html .

The Red Cross is accepting donations for flood relief. Donations can be made at www.nashvilleredcross.org or by calling (615) 250-4300.

The Community Foundation of Nashville is accepting donations to support flood relief, restoration and clean up online at www.cfmt.org/floodrelief or by calling (615) 321-4939.

The Bellevue Chamber of Commerce has established an account to help flood victims. Donations can be sent to 177-A Belle Forest Circle, Nashville, TN 37221, payable to Bellevue Flood Aide. For further information, call (615) 662-2737.

Regardless of which side of the climate debate you are on, it is hard to deny that both the climate and weather pattens are changing. We have dammed our rivers and we build housing developments on our farmland, fooling ourselves into a false sense of security because we think we can predict or even control what Nature will do. These last couple of months have been filled with news stories of earthquakes, volcanoes and now floods. As a pagan I cannot help but wonder what lies ahead as Nature continues to show her true strength. But now, as both a pagan and a Tennessean, I ask that you remember us here in the Athens of the South. The waters will recede, and I pray the healing will be swift.

“This was a symbolic killing,” Adkisson wrote. “Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate and House, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg’s book. I’d like to kill everyone in the mainstream media. But I knew these people were inaccessible to me. “I couldn’t get to the generals and high-ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chicken (expletive) liberals that vote in these traitorous people.”

By all accounts Adkisson was remorseless during the trial, and while his defense attorney claimed he could have argued an insanity plea, prosecutors say they had clear evidence of extensive planning and premeditation before the murders. For extensive coverage of the shootings, check out the Knoxville News Sentinel’s special page devoted to the incident. With this murderer behind bars forever, here’s hoping that healing and closure can come to the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and the friends and family of those affected by this tragedy.

“Nashville’s Green Train, an eco-educational non-profit run by Merle Haggard and restaurateur Bob Wolf, had a witch in its ranks until recently. Or, to be more precise, a pagan. Not the kind historically drawn and quartered or burned at the stake, but rather the contemporary tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, vegan variety. That was until Wolf charged this Wiccan ordained minister, Susan Hunter, with creating Green Train’s MySpace page. The personal networking catastrophe that followed– replete with online earthy salutations and pentagrams–saw Hunter canned in spectacular fashion back in mid-September. She’s crying discriminatory foul.”

Apparently Hunter, after creating the organization’s MySpace page, did what almost all MySpacers do, invite people she knew to “friend” the organization. Anyone familiar with the ways of MySpace can guess what happened next.

“Hunter sent out “friend invitations” to 40 of her friends who also happened to be earth-loving hippies and pagans of various stripes. When the messages started flowing in—“Blessed be” or “Faerie blessings,” usually accompanied by a pentagram and pictures of ivory-skinned ladies identifying themselves exotically as Asterope Morgaine and Feryia—Hunter says Wolf blew a gasket, ordering that all pentagrams be deleted. She says she deleted the Christian symbols too, out of spite before being summarily dismissed.”

So is telling a Pagan volunteer to delete only Pagan symbols, and then firing her when she deletes all the religious symbols, discriminatory behavior? Susan Hunter seems to think so.

“‘It’s my opinion that I was fired for religious reasons,’ she said. Wolf claims Hunter was just a volunteer. But perhaps the most stinging accusation hurled by Hunter was this: ‘The guy doesn’t even recycle.’”

Wolf insists this is much ado over nothing, and that Hunter “got her feelings hurt” and is now “witch-hunting” him in retaliation. Wolf says he has nothing against Pagans, and even attended a Pagan Pride Day festival and bought Hunter a book.

“This is a witch hunt by somebody who got her feelings hurt,” Wolf said, though the old cliché would seem to be reversed here. “I don’t have a problem with people’s opinions. I even went to a pagan day festival; we bought her a pagan bible.”

So, discrimination or misunderstanding? Something tells me that lawyers will soon be hired to figure it out.
]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/10/throwing-pagans-from-green-train.html/feed 5 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/07/update-unitarian-universalist-church.html http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/07/update-unitarian-universalist-church.html#comments Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:29:00 +0000 Jason Pitzl-Waters http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/07/update-unitarian-universalist-church-shooting.html “When I first heard the news, even before anything about the gunman’s motives were known, I couldn’t help but guess that it was because the UU *is* the sort of church it is – welcoming, and accepting of pagans, of religious diversity, of glbt, and human diversity.” – Sangrail

As we continue to learn more about the tragic shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, the Unitarian-Universalist blogosphere, and its allies, react.

Over at Religion Dispatches, Laurie Patton remarks on growing up in a UU congregation, and how the shooting reminded her of her place in the “culture wars”.

“Sunday’s horrifying episode reminded me that as a liberal I was, and am, part of the culture wars—and that those culture wars are sometimes far more than just “culture.” They are, by now, a deeply rooted part of the split in American life, whereby those who legitimately seek inclusion and change are pitted against those who legitimately wish to conserve the best of our culture. The divide is so deep that those who are already unstable and prone to violence can draw upon those culture wars to justify violence—the same way that anti-Semitism or anti-Muslim sentiments have surfaced in violent acts perpetrated by unstable (and some alarmingly stable) people in recent memory, such as the shooting at the Jewish Community Center in Seattle and attacks on the mosques in the wake of 9-11.”

David Neiwert at the Orcinus blog notes that threatening to kill liberals is no longer ‘just a joke’.

“In Tennessee this weekend, the chickens came home to roost when a gunman named James David Adkisson walked into a Unitarian Universalist Church and began shooting. So far, two people are dead, and seven more were wounded. He was saying “hateful things,” according to all the news reports … Right-wingers love to “joke” about mowing down, rounding up, and otherwise “wiping out” all things liberal. It’s become a standard feature of conservative-movement rhetoric. And whenever anyone calls them on it, they have a standard response: “Aw, c’mon — it’s just a joke!” In reality, of course, rhetoric like this has historically played a critical role in some of the ugliest episodes in American history, as well as thousands of little acts of xenophobic brutality: functionally speaking, it gives violent — and frequently unstable — actors permission to act on these impulses.”

Transient and Permanent looks at the history of violence against UUs.

“Domestic terrorism has been an ongoing threat to Unitarian-Universalists because they tend to embody cutting edge trends that society is slowly, painfully moving toward. The issues change through the decades–integration, civil rights, women’s rights, pacificism, gay rights, environmental conservation, universal healthcare, religious pluralism, and so on–but the Unitarian-Universalists remain ahead of the pack year after year. Even though society generally catches up with them in time (by which point the UUs have typically already moved ahead once again), being on the fringe of the mainstream is a dangerous place, in America and in most any country. At various times and in their homes, churches, and out in public, UUs have been beaten, stabbed, shot, or blown up simply for their beliefs, and there is no reason to assume this will ever come to a complete end.”

Finally, Sara Robinson, also at the Orcinus blog, puts lie to the myth that UUs are “weak” or “soft”.

“Conventional wisdom says that we’re soft in all the places our society values toughness. Our refusal to adhere to any dogma must mean that we’re soft in our convictions. Our reflexive open-mindedness is often derided as evidence that we’re soft in the head. Our persistent and gentle insistence on liberal values is evidence of hearts too soft to set boundaries. And all of this together leads to a public image of a mushy gathering of feckless intellectuals that somehow lacks cohesion, backbone, focus, or purpose. You can only believe this if you don’t know either the history or the modern reality of Unitarian Universalism.”

For more reactions from the Unitarian-Universalist blogosphere, head over to the definitive UUpdates. The UUA has set up a special blog entitled Supporting Our Friends in Knoxville where you are invited to leave comments of love and support.

“KPD Chief Sterling Owen said … that mental illness is not believed to be a factor in the suspect’s actions. Owen also said the FBI is now involved in the investigation. Owen confirmed witness reports indicating that the suspect arrived on the scene with a large quantity of ammunition. He also noted that the suspect had attempted to conceal the 12 gauge shotgun he used in the shooting by carrying it in a guitar case.”

There were around 200 people in attendance, and children were singing songs for the congregation when the shooting started. Four members of the congregation managed to tackle and subdue Adkisson. The minister of TVUUC has asked people to “pray for us”. Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale has issued a written statement of support and sympathy:

“When we go to our places of worship, we go expecting to have a time of reflection and fellowship. Today’s violence is the worst sort of desecration and should be renounced by citizens of all faiths. I join all Knox Countians in offering our prayers to the families affected by this terrible tragedy. This is a time for all of us to come together to lend our complete support to this church family.”

As a member of the extended UU family, I want to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to the TVUUC community, may they find the strength to recover and move forward. May healing come to those still in the hospital, and may justice be done.

More information: CNN, Knoxville News Sentinel, Reuters, New York Times, Statement from Rev. William G. Sinkford, President, Unitarian Universalist Association.

ADDENDUM: From Philocrites: Gunman targeted the UUs for their ‘liberal stance’ and their acceptance of gays.
]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/07/breaking-unitarian-universalist-church.html/feed 15 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/04/keeping-kids-away-from-pagans-and-gays.html http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/04/keeping-kids-away-from-pagans-and-gays.html#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:36:00 +0000 Jason Pitzl-Waters http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/04/keeping-kids-away-from-pagans-and-gays.html The Family Policy Network, a conservative Christian advocacy group, has released a position paper regarding its support for “parental rights” bills being proposed in Virginia and Tennessee. The main issue regards after-school clubs at public schools, recent court rulings have allowed for the existence of gay-straight alliances and non-Christian religious fellowships alongside more traditional clubs (SADD, 4-H, Fellowship of Christian Atheletes).

“…scores of public school children have learned important values and engaged in meaningful community service as a result of their participation in school-based clubs. The number and scope of school clubs has increased dramatically in recent years. Currently, clubs promoting astrology, atheism, feminism, homosexuality and even witchcraft are common in public schools, and have often alarmed parents, teachers and administrators in school districts throughout the nation.”

Since “traditional” values (read: Christian and conservative) are no longer the sole voice in after-school clubs, the FPN wants a comprehensive notification and “opt-out” policy for all students.

“Working with parents, educators and legislators; Family Policy Network has drafted a legislative proposal to require school officials to inform parents of school-based clubs, and ultimately to guarantee a parent’s ability to determine whether their own child may participate… FPN’s model legislation requires school districts to give parents information about all non-academic activities in which their child may participate. Parents must be notified of the name of each available club, its mission statement, and cost of participation (if any). Additionally, schools must provide a list of any and all faculty or other adult sponsors involved with each club; as well as any local, regional, state or national organizations with which the club is affiliated and/or associated.”

It might seem fair until your learn that FPN is quick to state that this is “opt-out” only, and they do not advocate “permission slips” or “opt-in” legislation since that could hurt participation in clubs run by their supporters. Under legislation such as this, each parent could tick off a list of groups that the child isn’t allowed to participate in (enforced I would assume by the school). So a Democratic-leaning child of Republicans could be barred from attending a Democrat club, and a Christian child could be allowed to only attend Christian clubs.

“FPN does not support these “opt-in” proposals because they create an undue burden for popular and wholesome clubs like the Key Club or FCA. In order to hold accountable a controversial club that may never have more than 20 or 30 participants, the opt-in legislation has the potential to harm the ability for wholesome clubs like FCA or Key Club to reach hundreds of students.”

Again, this may seem “fair” on the surface, but it favors the majority, removes autonomy of thought and association from (predominantly teenage) children, targets parents and teachers who want to support controversial clubs, and works to isolate and eliminate any club that may run counter to a dominant local ideology. For while a well-mobilized Christian community may “opt-out” their children from anything left-leaning, non-Christian, or outside their social norms, Pagan parents or parents of gay children are generally more likely to allow their children to attend a Christian club if they so desire. Thus allowing free reign to “wholesome” groups while choking off membership in more controversial clubs.

This isn’t about “parental rights” it is about politicians scoring points with conservative Christians and creating laws that work to eliminate support networks for teens who may hold different views from their parents.
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