The United States has a strong ethic of not interfering with the internal affairs of religious organizations. The recent unanimous Supreme Court decision affirming the right of “ministerial exception” sent a clear signal that our government is limited in what in can demand or regulate. In America, religious institutions aren’t taxed, and our constitution enshrines a secular ethic that prevents one faith being raised up above any other. However, freedom of religion does not place clergy and religious leaders above the law, individuals have been imprisoned when their teachings have led to the abuse or deaths of others. Now, the question is if the United States should act to keep a religious leader accused of encouraging the abuse, and in some cases death, of children from entering our country. In March, Nigerian Christian leader Helen Ukpabio is planning a trip to the United States to engage in a “Marathon Deliverance” session in Texas. The International Humanist and Ethical Union claims that Ukpabio “uses her sermons, teachings and prophetic declarations to incite hatred, intolerance and persecution of alleged witches and wizards.”

“Ukpabio claims to be an ex-witch, initiated while she was a member of another local church, the Brotherhood of Cross and Star. She later founded the Liberty Gospel Church to fulfill her ‘anointed mission’ of delivering people from witchcraft attack. Ukpabio organizes deliverance sessions where she identifies and exorcizes people, mainly children, of witchcraft. Headquartered in Calabar in Southern Nigeria, the Liberty Gospel Church has grown to be a witch hunting church with branches in Nigeria and overseas.”

Ukpabio’s teachings were profiled in the documentary “Saving Africa’s Witch Children,” a ministry that includes a propaganda film, “End of the Wicked,” and a book entitled “Unveiling the Mysteries of Witchcraft,” materials that are taken very seriously by many Nigerians, and is claimed to have directly led to the torture and abuse of “witch” children. When confronted with these allegations by the New York Times during her last visit to America, Ukpabio claimed the film was mere fantasy, and that the accusations against her were fueled by racism.

“Do you thinkHarry Potteris real?” Ms. Ukpabio asked me angrily, in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express where she was staying. “It is only because I am African,” she said, that people who understand that J. K. Rowling writes fiction would take literally Ms. Ukpabio’s filmic depictions of possessed children, gathering by moonlight to devour human flesh. [...]  Ms. Ukpabio argued that “Saving Africa’s Witch Children” exaggerates or invents the problem of child abandonment. Asked how she could be so sure, she said, “because I am an African!” In Africa, she said, “family ties are too strong to have a child on the street.”

Despite these claims of “exaggeration”, Nigeria has since outlawed accusing a child of witchcraft. A law challenged by Ukpabio, who tried to sue the Akwa Ibom state government, local police, and relief charities for damages and an exemption from the law. Failing in that initiative, her followers have used the press to attack the organizations that seek to help children accused of witchcraft. As the New York Times so aptly puts it: “In the name of religious freedom, Ms. Ukpabio seeks a gag order on anyone who disagrees with her.” Now she seeks to return to America again, to no doubt rake in donations from her American followers and admirers.

I’ve written about Ukpabio several times at this blog, a prominent figure in a gruesome business of churches naming and “curing” witchcraft in children. A phenomenon that Western churches have much to answer for. This time, Ukpabio’s visit is seeming to inspire some coordinated opposition. Humanitarian activist Michael Mungai at HuffPo says there should be protests, which are now being organized by Staise Gonzalez in Houston against Ukpabio’s visit.

Her critics, such as Staise Gonzalez, say that once children are identified as witches, especially in areas where people believe in sorcery, they are tortured and sometimes killed. ”These suspected witches have been treated in brutal and inhumane ways,” says Gonzalez, who is organizing 12 days of protest to correspond with Ukpabio’s appearance, scheduled from March 14 to March 25. ”Abandoned, isolated and otherwise ostracized from the community, taken to the forest and slaughtered, disgraced publicly, bathed in acid, poisoned, buried alive, chained and tortured in churches in order to extract confession, and murdered,” she says.

A Facebook page, Stand Against Helen Ukpabio, has also been created. Meanwhile, back in Nigeria, children are still being branded as witches, and a judicial commission on witchcraft accusations in Nigeria is demanding that she appear and testify before it. A warrant for her arrest may be issued if she ignores those summons. Considering the circumstances, and the mountain of evidence that Ukpabio is engaged the naming of child witches, and her defiant stance to any and all accusations of wrongdoing, is it in the best interests of our State Department to allow her a visa? A petition on Change.org argues that Ukpabio should be denied entry.

“US Department of State needs to be urged to do the right thing and deny Helen Ukpabio’s entry into the United States on grounds of her human rights violations.”

PZ Myers adds that “this evil, criminal woman ought to be met at the airport and turned right around, if not sent off to trial for crimes against humanity.” Will the State Department acknowledge Ukpabio’s witch-hunting as a crime against humanity and deny her entry? I can only imagine that a concerted effort to bring the matter to their attention may have some effect. I will try to contact them to see if they have an official stance or response to the charges against Ukpabio.

Those who would accuse children of witchcraft have no place in our society, and should not be feted or encouraged by welcoming them to our shores. The cures and blessings peddled by Ukpabio, and those like her, should face intense scrutiny, and not allowed the status of an United States victory lap.  For those who want to help the witch-children of Nigeria, Stepping Stones Nigeria is a good place to start.

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.

• It looks like the magic made by Salem Witches Lorelei and Lori Bruno was effective, or perhaps New England Patriots QB Tom Brady has pacts with powers unknown to us, in any case Brady led his team to a crushing  victory over the Denver Broncos in last night’s NFL playoff game. Much was made of the Brady’s Sports Illustrated “cover curse” in the days leading up to the game, but it seems it has been lifted. Jesus, who often receives very public homage from Bronco’s QB Tim Tebow, could not be reached for comment.
• NewRealities has posted an Occupy Wall Street-focused video featuring Starhawk (and LIsa Finthian) entitled “Deconstructing Empire”, a “strategy training workshop on how to organize deconstruction of those that have power over the people.” For more on Starhawk’s interactions with the Occupy movement, check out her official blog. You may also want to listen to her presentation at the American Academy of Religion’s Annual Meeting on “Elemental Theology,” which also touches on these themes.
• A group of influential conservative Christians, including Gary “hypothetical Pagan candidate” Bauer, have decided to back Rick Santorum in the race to see who will be the Republican nominee for 2012′s presidential contest. Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said that “the race is far from being decided.”
• This past week at the popular blog Boing Boing was “Robert Anton Wilson Week,” featuring a number of remembrances and tributes from folks like Rev. Ivan Stang, Erik Davis, and Jay Kinney of Gnosis Magazine. If you are a fan of Robert Anton Wilson’s work, and I know many of you out there are, you should go check it out.
• I now present to you: Sh** New Age Girls Say (though I’ve seen more than a few guys say similar phrases).
• Deborah Harkness’ bestselling novel “A Discovery of Witches” (part of a forthcoming trilogy of novels) is being adapted for the big screen by Warner Bros. Looks like witches (and vampires) are still hot in Hollywood.
• Will Yoga wreck your body? Suhag Shukla says no, but it might make your more Hindu: “Ironically, while much of the yoga industry and mainstream media perpetuate the yoga is asana formula with an occasional nod to pranayama, the leadership of a number of the world’s religions, such as the Vatican, warn their flock that yoga may lead one into exploring and experiencing Hindu belief and practice. I have to say, I concur. True yoga will not wreck your body or make you fat, but it may just open your heart, increase your capacity to see and be divine, and lead you towards a more pluralistic, Hindu view of life.”
• The news that infamous witch-hunter Helen Ukpabio is visiting America has started to spread, Michael Mungai at HuffPo says there should be protests, the International Humanist and Ethical Union reminds us that Ukpabio tried to destroy an organization that works to protect children accused of witchcraft in Nigeria, while PZ Myers says that “this evil, criminal woman ought to be met at the airport and turned right around, if not sent off to trial for crimes against humanity.”
• A British man who attacked a Witch with a bottle at the Witch’s house during a party has been sentenced to two years of prison. I mention this article because it has one of the worst headlines ever: “White witch party bottle attack man jailed.” Seriously, that doesn’t even make sense, are their headlines being written by a keyword script or something?
• A sweat lodge including Natives and non-Natives doesn’t end up going so well.
• An argument over different traditions of Santeria turns tragic.
• Chesterfield County, South Carolina, the place where divination isn’t a religious practice, where a “Wiccan-proof” public invocation model withstood a legal challenge, and where it took the threat of an ACLU lawsuit to stop the local school district engaging in federally-funded proselytizing. Quote: “The board of the Chesterfield County School District voted tonight to adopt a proposed settlement agreement that would put an end to the district’s pervasive practice of school-sponsored prayer, preaching and religious activities aimed at students.” What is with that particular county?

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.

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.

• This week Elysia at Llewellyn tackled the thorny issue of Pagan/metaphysical book piracy after discovering a site distributing PDF copies of 32 Llewellyn titles. Several emails and one DMCA notice later, the content was taken down, but not before the pirate did her level best to paint herself as the Robin Hood of Wiccan literature. Quote: “How shall I educate the poor, the disenfranchised, without the books?” Considering how easy it is to get a hold of Pagan books these days, far easier than it has ever been in any point of our modern history, the argument that book pirates are performing a noble service rings increasingly hollow. If someone is truly concerned about saving and spreading information then they should work with authors and publishers, instead of illegally bypassing them.
• Did you know that Hungary’s center-right government passed a new constitution? It’s true! Despite criticism, both local and international, the Prime Minister, whose party commands an overwhelming majority, remains unrepentant. One of the laws passed under this new constitution greatly restricts official recognition of religion. Now, only 14 Christian and Jewish faiths are officially recognized, and the hurdle for additions to that list is high. One wonders what will become of the many Hungarian Pagan organizations, have any of them applied for government recognition? I’ll be keeping an eye on this issue.
• The U.N. Human Rights Office has publicly criticized the government of Saudi Arabia for its increase in executions, for not meeting international trial standards, and for using torture to gain confessions. Saudi Arabia has made the news several times here for its willingness to kill men and women for the crimes of “sorcery” and “witchcraft”. Will outside international pressure make a difference? Recently, a Saudi princess living in London blasted her country’s religious police, saying they had a “dangerous effect” on society.
• Richard Bartholomew reports that controversial Nigerian Pentecostal preacher Helen Ukpabio is returning to America, there the infamous witch-hunter will meet with her Western backers. Ukpabio’s particular “gospel” includes propagandistic “expository”  horror films featuring witchcraft possessed children, and selling non-fiction religious titles like “Unveiling The Mysteries of Witchcraft” that make assertions about the reality of child witches. Think this madness can’t spread? Tell that to Kristy Bamu, a teenage boy in the UK who was tortured for days (along with his siblings) and then drowned by his family after they accused him of sorcery. Make no mistake, when the reckoning for the African witch-hunts finally comes, more than a few fingers will be pointing at Western churches and missionaries.
• Is New Age guru James Arthur Ray, currently in prison after being convicted of negligent homicide after leading a fatal sweat lodge ceremony in 2009, broke? That’s his claim, and he wants a judge to declare him indigent and appoint him a public defender for his already-filed appeal. The judge couldn’t come to a decision, and prosecutors want to know about his many declared assets. Is this a ploy by Ray, or has his empire crumbled already?
• The ongoing Dorje Shugden controversy within Tibetan Buddhism continues as the Dalai Lama recently urged his followers to not follow the deity, saying that “after knowing and understanding the harmful impacts of worshipping the deity, it is my responsibility to urge my devotees not to follow it”. The debate comes down to whether the Dorje Shugden is a Dharma protector or a “worldly spirit” (in which case the entity is not fit for veneration within Buddhism). From the outside, the issue is a fascinating look into how Tibetan Buddhism navigates the realm between polytheism and non-theism.
• PNC-Minnesota has started an interview series with Pagan polyarmorous families. The second installment was posted on Friday, and interviews Johnny, who’s in a poly relationship with two other women, and is the father of triplets. Quote: “We are a nuclear family. We went through the pregnancy together and are raising the kids together. We share the bills together.  Everything that the traditional nuclear family does, we do together, except there are three of us.” You can read The Wild Hunt’s coverage on the intersections between polyamory and modern Paganism, here.
• Did you know the Queen of Heaven is behind same-sex marriage? Well, all acts of love and pleasure are her rituals…
• Jury selection is under way in the trial of Gerald Field of Massachusetts, who is accused of raping and imprisoning a woman for five days. It seems that Mr. Field follows a “Nordic pagan religion” and his lawyer is asking jurors if that, and his “alleged anti-Semitic remarks” would prejudice them in a trial. Mr. Field better pray to his gods that none of his fellow Heathens get picked for the jury, as most Heathens I’ve met don’t take kindly to their faith being drawn through the mud by alleged rapists.
• Show me on the doll where the demonic realm touched you.
• Finally, congrats again to the Open Hearth Foundation in Washington DC on the opening of their new community center! Check out this video from PNC-Washington DC on the event.

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.

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.

• 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.

Observers to the horrifying phenomenon of witch-hunts and witch-killings in African nations like Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya have long wondered what role, if any, Western Christian missionaries played in the process. Some have defended missionaries, saying they have little to do with controversial figures like Helen Ukpabio, despite clear links with Western support and money. Now, Christianity Today reports that the problem of witch-hunts around the world has gotten bad enough that a major missiology conference has devoted an entire track to the subject. What these (Evangelical Christian) academics say is that indigenous ideas and reactions to “witchcraft” and malefic magic have been “Christianized” (their term), creating deadly consequences the missionaries could not (or would not) understand.

Missionaries have commonly responded [to witchcraft accusations] in two ways, said [Robert] Priest [professor of missions and intercultural studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School]. The power of witches to harm others is dismissed as superstition, but this seldom persuades local Christians to abandon the concept; or the reality of witchcraft is endorsed by missionaries not wanting to be “post-Enlightenment rationalists” with a non-biblical skepticism of spiritual warfare.

The result is that traditional witch ideas are fused with Christian theology, which obscures the social consequences: Accused witches are often destitute or outcast, and thus socially defenseless. Instead of seeing old women or children as scapegoats, said Priest, Christian leaders suggest that witchcraft participates in genuine spiritual evil and that the accusations are reasonable. “The church is providing the cognitive underpinnings for the past system in the contemporary world.”

This is a striking admission from the world of Christian missionary thought, a sign, perhaps, of how powerless Western Christian missionaries now are to halt a process they helped initiate. Another academic, Timothy Stabell, assistant professor of mission at Briercrest College and Seminary, notes that the Christian Holy Spirit becomes “just another source of witch-like power,” but one that is considered more powerful (“potent”) than indigenous magics, creating a power imbalance that would also alter reactions by non-Christian traditional practitioners.

When you take what is revealed here and apply it on a larger scale, the coercive missionary actions of organizations like Samaritan’s Purse in Haiti take a far darker turn, and the culpability of Christian missionaries in the recent anti-Vodou killings becomes a far more serious question.

“[Vodou leader Max] Beauvoir said he suspected that representatives of some other religions might be stirring up popular fears against voodoo practitioners using the cholera as a pretext. “I saw this coming. Since the earthquake some people have been blaming us, saying that we cast spells and did evil things which brought the earthquake as a punishment,” he said.”

It should be emphasized that these revelations aren’t from Talk to Action or some right-wing watch-dog site, this is from the most respected evangelical Christian news organization, and from a highly respected evangelical divinity school. That the best closing spin that could be put on this story is that “missiologists have not yet done an adequate job of wisely engaging these realities,” and that Christian missionaries should “mobilize the effort to rethink our role in this,” make me wonder what hasn’t been revealed yet.

I’ve reiterated time and time again on this site that witch hunts “over there” aren’t some isolated problem that has nothing to do with us. It should concern us, not because these victims are being branded as “witches” and some of us have reclaimed that label, but because this animus, hatred, and violence share a common root. A root that fuels distrust and discrimination in Australia, badly disguised glee in the destruction of non-Christian faiths in Japan, and opportunistic panic-peddlers in the United States. That root is the anti-pluralistic and exclusionary theologies favored by some strains of the dominant monotheisms. Now that we know there is an acknowledged link between Western missionary efforts and the process that contributed to the current crisis of witch-killings, we need to ask if there will be any accountability beyond mild internal recriminations and academic discussion. Will anything be done to make missionaries who brought their ideas of spiritual warfare and demonic powers to co-mingle with indigenous ideas of malefic magic accountable?

Since I first reported on Vodou practitioners being killed and persecuted in Haiti over frustration and fears concerning the ongoing cholera outbreak the situation seems to have only gotten worse. At the beginning of December around 12 Vodouisants had been killed by angry mobs, now that number has ballooned to over 40.

Officials counted 40 people killed – mostly voodoo priests – killed in one region of Haiti, the AFP news agency reported, with five others killed elsewhere. “The victims… were stoned or hacked with machetes before being burned in the streets,” communications ministry official Moise Fritz Evens said. Haiti’s communications minister said she abhorred the killings and insisted that the answer was to improve general education about how cholera is transmitted. ”Voodoo practitioners have nothing to do with the cholera epidemic. We must press for an awareness campaign about the disease in the communities.”

Prominent Haitian Vodou leader Max Beauvoir says that the government isn’t doing enough to protect Vodou practitioners, and that the leaders of other faiths in Haiti have had a hand in stirring up this current deadly anti-Vodou hysteria.

“My call is to the authorities so they can assume their responsibilities,” said Beauvoir, who fears more attacks against voodoo devotees. Most of the lynchings occurred in the southwest of Haiti but also in the center and the north. [...] Beauvoir said he suspected that representatives of some other religions might be stirring up popular fears against voodoo practitioners using the cholera as a pretext. “I saw this coming. Since the earthquake some people have been blaming us, saying that we cast spells and did evil things which brought the earthquake as a punishment,” he said.

The impact of education campaigns by the government and NGOs seem to be of limited effectiveness in stemming this disturbing trend of anti-Vodou violence. This is only exacerbated by the ongoing instability of the government in the still-contested elections. The real question now is how much worse will it get? Will these attacks and murders against Vodou practitioners and priests continue to escalate? What role has anti- Vodou propaganda had in this violence? I can only pray that an end to this madness and chaos comes soon.

Just a few quick news notes for you to start your Monday.

Asylum For Witch-Hunt Victims: A Nigerian woman in Britain is fighting deportation on the grounds that she will be hunted and killed as a witch in her country if sent back. Cynthia Owie came to the UK in 2008 with her infant daughter, shorty after the baby sadly contracted meningitis and died, now Owie says she is receiving death threats from fellow Nigerians accusing her of witchcraft in the child’s death and is seeking asylum.

Ms Owie, 33, said: “I have been threatened that I will be killed if I go back. I have been told I am a witch and murdered our daughter.” Ms Owie also claims she was treated “like an animal” at the Yarl’s Wood detention centre, in Bedford, where failed asylum seekers are held before removal. Her cause has been taken up by West Ham MP Lyn Brown as well as members of the Ascension Parish Church in Custom House, east London, which has been providing Ms Owie with accommodation and support for two years. Rev Chris Hanson, the vicar of the church, took the case to the Home Office last week and said the community was praying that she would be allowed to stay. “Cynthia’s case is one in a thousand,” he said. “She has gone about trying to stay in this country in a God-honouring way. I am hopeful that the Home Office will understand her exceptional circumstances. When the baby was discovered as being very ill, she was accused of witchcraft. People out in Nigeria believe she brought on this illness and we believe if she is returned to Nigeria she would be killed.”

If Owie’s plea is granted it could set a new precedent for asylum seekers to the West. Would more individuals from places like Kenya, Nigeria, or Saudi Arabia try to seek asylum to escape jail, abuse, or death? More importantly, would a stream of asylum seekers affected by witch-hunts and panics force Western governments to become more proactive in using their diplomatic muscle to end the worst abuses? What do we do when the men and women accused of “sorcery” and “witchcraft” are no longer “over there” and are instead at our doorsteps begging to be spared?

Metaphysical Store Vandalized in Alaska: A Pagan-owned shop in Soldotna, Alaska was vandalized with a large wooden cross last week, the first time such an act has taken place in the small town.

“An Alaska store owner says a wooden cross wrapped to the store sign in Soldotna was an unwelcome act of vandalism that goes against her pagan and spiritual beliefs. The Peninsula Clarion reported 45-year-old Rondell Gonzalez arrived Thursday at her store, the Pye’ Wackets on the Kenai Spur Highway, and found a makeshift cross about 7 feet tall attached to her business sign with plastic food wrap. Gonzalez says she believes in spiritualism rather than organized religion. She also said her father fought and died in Vietnam for religious and personal freedoms.”

The Peninsula Clarion interviewed Gonzalez, who called the action “pathetic”, and expressed surprise that the cross wasn’t on fire. You can find out more about Pye’Wackets at their Witchvox listing. The question now is if this was an isolated prank, pulled by bored teenagers, or if it signals something more sinister.

Sarah Palin’s Christianity: Speaking of Alaska and witch-hunts, religion reporter Cathy Lynn Grossman points to an emerging debate between former governor Sarah Palin and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend about the nature of religion within the realm of politics. It seems that Palin, in her new book “America By Heart”, criticizes John F. Kennedy for his famous speech about his Catholicism. This has lead Townsend, a niece of JFK, to pen an editorial in the Washington Post criticizing Palin’s views.

“Palin writes that when she was growing up, she was taught that Kennedy’s speech had “succeeded in the best possible way: It reconciled public service and religion without compromising either.” Now, however, she says she has revisited the speech and changed her mind. She finds it “defensive . . . in tone and content” and is upset that Kennedy, rather than presenting a reconciliation of his private faith and his public role, had instead offered an “unequivocal divorce of the two.” Palin’s argument seems to challenge a great American tradition, enshrined in the Constitution, stipulating that there be no religious test for public office. A careful reading of her book leads me to conclude that Palin wishes for precisely such a test. And she seems to think that she, and those who think like her, are qualified to judge who would pass and who would not.”

While I doubt Palin would blatantly call for a religion test to high office, her allies in C. Peter Wagner’s New Apostolic Reformation, who regularly engage in spiritual warfare against Pagans, and helped nurture her career, certainly would. The fact that two of the Republican front-runner for 2012 presidential elections, Palin and Mike Huckabee, have ties to Christian groups and figures (like David Barton, for instance) who would deny Pagans their basic constitutional protections is chilling. The more we insist on an unofficial religious tests in campaigns, the closer we get to real ones.

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