Today the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling in Hosanna-Tabor Church v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which centered on the question of whether an employee of a religious organization could be fired without recourse to anti-discrimination laws if they were ordained within said faith. The case heard by the Supreme Court involved a teacher at a Lutheran school who was fired due to a sleep disorder. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, backed by the Justice Department, felt that her role at the school was largely secular in nature, and shouldn’t fall under the exceptions usually given to clergy within religious groups. However, the court, in a rare unanimous ruling, sided with Hosanna-Tabor Church, and for the first time, acknowledged that a ministerial exception from federal discrimination laws does exist.

The Supreme Court of the United States

“Closing the courthouse door much of the way, but not completely, to workplace bias lawsuits by church employees who act as ministers to their denominations, the Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously gave its blessing — for the first time — to a “ministerial exception” to federal, state and local laws against virtually all forms of discrimination on the job.  The Court’s ruling, which only Justice Clarence Thomas said did not go far enough, did not order courts to throw out all such lawsuits as beyond their jurisdiction, but it left them with only a narrow inquiry before the likely order of dismissal would come down.  As soon as the denomination makes its point that it counts an employee as a “minister,” within its internal definition, that is probably the end of the case.  And the employee could be anyone from the congregational leader, on down to any worker considered to be advancing the religious mission.”

In short, ministerial exception involves not only ministers, but any employee who is performing religious work within a faith group. This was plainly expressed in the concurring opinion of Justice Alito and Justice Kagan, who noted that many religions do not use the term “minister” and that “courts should focus on the function performed by persons who work for religious bodies.”

“The First Amendment protects the freedom of religious groups to engage in certain key religious activities, including the conducting of worship services and other religiousceremonies and rituals, as well as the critical process of communicating the faith.  Accordingly, religious groupsmust be free to choose the personnel who are essential tothe performance of these functions. The “ministerial” exception should be tailored to this purpose. It should apply to any “employee” who leads a religious organization, conducts worship services or important religious ceremonies or rituals, or serves as a messenger or teacher of its faith. If a religious group believes that the ability of such an employee to perform these key functions has been compromised, then the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom protects the group’s right to remove the employee from his or her position.”

This concurring opinion will no doubt be very welcome to a coalition of minority faiths, the Muslim-American Public Affairs Council, United Sikhs, Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, O Centro Beneficente Uniao Do Vegetal, and Templo Yoruba Omo Orisha, who filed an amicus brief in this case  warning that they were particularly susceptible to judicial encroachment, and that their faiths often categorize what might be seen as “secular” work within a sacred context.

“…many seemingly secular activities take on deep religious significance within specific faith traditions. For Sikhs, for example, operating a community kitchen and providing meals (langar) to the needy and vulnerable is an indispensible element of religious worship. For some temple-centric religions, the actual process of constructing a temple carries deep religious significance. Hindu temple architects and artisans follow ancient religious traditions in their work. For others, temple overseers may be tasked specifically to ensure that construction workers follow religion-based standards and refrain from profane acts that might desecrate the temple. For other religious organizations, meditation is a form of worship, distributing aid through prescribed means is an essential sacred ritual, and counseling and healing are acts inspired by deity. But because such religious functions – at least from the external view – may be indistinguishable from the same activities carried out for secular purposes, courts trying to parse the sacred from the profane jeopardize the ability of religious organizations to define and carry out their own sacred missions.”

The court agreed with this view, noting that the “amount of time an employee spends on particular activities is relevant in assessing that employee’s status, but that factor cannot be considered in isolation, without regard to the nature of the religious functions performed.” Justice Roberts went on to say that the lower court’s ruling “placed too much emphasis on Perich’s performance of secular duties.”

I don’t think it is hyperbole to say that this is a landmark ruling, enshrining the concept of ministerial exception in our highest court, and all but eliminating workplace discrimination suits if the plaintiff performs a significant religious role within an organization. That said, the court did stress that this doesn’t protect religious organizations from criminal investigation or other kinds of litigation, and should only be applied to the hiring and firing of “ministers”. How broad or narrow the understanding of “ministerial” duties will be is something that will no doubt be settled in the courts for years to come. For minority faiths, it seems to signal that the ministerial exception isn’t isolated to traditional minister-congregational models, and can be applied to any number of religious situations. What the ramifications might be for adherents to non-Christians models of worship and work remains to be seen.

You can read my original post regarding this story, here. For extensive links to documents and analysis of this case, do check out the information-packed SCOTUSblog.

On Wednesday the Supreme Court of the United States will hear a case that could have serious ramifications on what’s known as “ministerial exception” at institutions run by religious organizations. Hosanna-Tabor Church v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission centers on a teacher at a Lutheran school who was fired due to a sleep disorder. The church is claiming that the teacher’s position falls under ministerial exception, and is therefore exempt from any discrimination proceedings, while the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, backed by the Justice Department, feels that her role at the school was largely secular in nature, and shouldn’t fall under the exceptions usually given to clergy within religious groups.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Chief Justice John Roberts

“The core question before the Justices, in responding to the broad argument for an exception, is how to define the scope of duties of parochial school teachers like Cheryl Perich.   If the decision is that Ms. Perich was a minister, anti-bias laws cannot shield her in the workplace; if she was not, she is then like any other worker, protected against discrimination on the job.   In her case, the claim is that she was discriminated against because of her physical health problems and her insistence on her legal rights — in short, she was allegedly the victim of retaliation, in violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.”

While all the expected big players in American religion, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Council of Churches, and the National Association of Evangelicals, are backing the church, and a broad interpretation of ministerial exception, so too are a number of minority religions in the United States.

“Defending the school is a coalition of small and sometimes-obscure religious groups. They include the Muslim-American Public Affairs Council, United Sikhs, Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, O Centro Beneficente Uniao Do Vegetal and Templo Yoruba Omo Orisha.”

In their amicus brief, this coalition of minority religions say they are particularly susceptible to judicial encroachment, and that their faiths often categorize what might be seen as “secular” work within a sacred context.

“…many seemingly secular activities take on deep religious significance within specific faith traditions. For Sikhs, for example, operating a community kitchen and providing meals (langar) to the needy and vulnerable is an indispensible element of religious worship. For some temple-centric religions, the actual process of constructing a temple carries deep religious significance. Hindu temple architects and artisans follow ancient religious traditions in their work. For others, temple overseers may be tasked specifically to ensure that construction workers follow religion-based standards and refrain from profane acts that might desecrate the temple. For other religious organizations, meditation is a form of worship, distributing aid through prescribed means is an essential sacred ritual, and counseling and healing are acts inspired by deity. But because such religious functions – at least from the external view – may be indistinguishable from the same activities carried out for secular purposes, courts trying to parse the sacred from the profane jeopardize the ability of religious organizations to define and carry out their own sacred missions.”

Interestingly, the Unitarian Universalist Association, filing along with the ACLU and American United, takes a very different view of this case. In their opinion, a generous interpretation of the exception shields groups engaging in abusive or exploitative actions.

“The ministerial exception is designed to allow religious bodies to practice their religion and convey their message without government interference. But the exception thwarts society’s interest in ending discrimination—without serving the exception’s purpose—when applied to shield a religious entity from liability for discrimination or retaliation that is unrelated to religious ideology. As a result, in applying the ministerial exception, courts can and should use their considerable experience in determining whether sincere religious views animated a litigant’s conduct. And the Constitution provides no bar to this enterprise.”

It all comes down to viewpoint. For minority groups like Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye or O Centro Beneficente Uniao Do Vegetal, who have both gone to the Supreme Court to protect their beliefs and practices, the less power the government has to pass judgment on their practices, the better. For the UUA, and the civil liberties groups who often represent minority faiths in court, it’s about accountability and justice.

“The American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of religious-liberty groups filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, considered by many to be one of the most important religious liberty cases in years.  The brief argues that although churches certainly have a constitutional right to religious autonomy, that right is not absolute, and religious organizations do not have the right to discriminate based on non-religious grounds. Religious institutions should be given some leeway in hiring practices in order to express and practice their faith. For example, a Catholic church need not hire a female priest and an Orthodox Jewish congregation need not hire a female rabbi if doing so would violate their religious tenets. However, this ministerial exception should not apply to discriminatory decisions that have nothing to do with religious doctrine.”

So how will SCOTUS rule? Well, a good preview might be Sylvia Spencer v. World Vision Inc in which the 9th Circuit Court ruled that the religious non-profit organization could hire and fire workers based on religion. That decision was just denied certiorari, meaning they’re allowing the ruling to stand. Is it a harbinger? Will the six Catholic justices find themselves moved by their own church’s position on this case? SCOTUS will have to decide how far the First Amendment reaches, or as law professor Richard W. Garnett put it: “Does a government like ours, limited by a provision like our First Amendment, have the authority to second-guess a religious community’s decision — even a decision that seems wrongheaded or objectionable — about who should be its religious teacher, leader, or minister?” What do you think?

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. Before I begin, let me just remind everyone that the Pagan Japan Relief project, an initiative to raise 30,000 dollars for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières is just over 3,000 dollars from its final goal! That the Pagan community has been able to collectively raise nearly 27,000 dollars already is a monumental achievement, but lets do a final push, spread the word, and prove that serious fundraising for worthy causes can happen among our interconnected communities. For more background on this initiative, and why it’s important, check out Peter Dybing’s blog.

Now then, unleash the hounds!

• As if to underscore the recently released Australian Human Rights Commission survey on religion, which found that there is pervasive distrust of modern Pagans in that country, the Ballan Autumn Festival has banned a vendor’s wares under a clause forbidding “products or services relating to the occult, black magic or devil worship”. The festival secretary says the matter is resolved, but the Wombat Regional Arts Network says it’ll withdraw support until the regulations are reviewed.
• The New York Review of Books (paywall link) tackles “The Last Pagans of Rome” by Alan Cameron, a book that seeks to prove that Western paganism went out with a “whimper,” and that “the acceptance of classical literature, learning, and art by most elite Christians may actually have helped the last reluctant pagans to finally abandon the old cults and adopt Christianity.” This sounds like a book that tries to dismantle the idea of survivals, and resistance, that have grown up around this period. I’ll have to get my hands on it once the price ($85) comes down a bit.
• As the James Arthur Ray “death lodge” trial drags on, and is estimated to hear testimony well into June, court proceedings have drawn a wide variety of spectators. “A mix of family members of Ray and the victims, American Indians who have long valued the sweat lodge tradition and others wondering about the lure of Ray’s teachings” according to the Associated Press. With testimony about Ray’s business practices scheduled soon, expect that interest to only ramp up.
• Why did police in Queens confiscate colored powder from Hindus celebrating Holi? Parade organizer Vishnu Mahadeo said “they walked around and started grabbing from anyone they saw [...] they said the law said you can’t have powder.” Hindus in Richmond Hill have been holding this parade for 25 years without incident. They can’t still be scared of Anthrax, can they?
• PNC-Minnesota has just posted part 4 in their video series on creating a community Sacred Space. Previous segments of this series can be seen here: Part 1 (Getting started), Part 2 (Challenges and Construction), Part 3 (Funding).
• CNN’s Belief Blog rounds up various faith perspectives regarding the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and while I’m heartened that some Buddhist voices were incorporated, I’m disappointed that Shinto was not represented. Religion News Service coverage is still, sadly, overly focused on the Christian experience within Japan. It’s a sad commentary when the Baptist Press has more coverage of Shinto than mainstream news outlets.
• The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is siding with polygamists and polyamorists in the controversial case to decriminalize the practice of polygamy in Canada. Monique Pongracic-Speier, lawyer for the BCCLA says that “this law is a Victorian statute. It is time for it to be relegated to the scrap heap of history.” For my full coverage of this case, and why it’s important to modern Pagans, click here.
• Did you know that Witchcraft and black magic ruined Dave Mustaine of Megadeath’s life? True story. “It wasn’t that I was a bad guy or that I had a big mouth, it was that I got into witchcraft and black magic and it ruined my life.” See? So remember kids, don’t mess with Witchcraft of black magic, or you might end up like Dave Mustaine.
• Yoruba leaders in Nigeria are warning against the extinction of their culture and traditions. At a recent book launch and presentation Chief Mathew Ogedengbe noted that “we have allowed foreign languages, cultures and traditions to rule us.” Participants in the discussion called for the teaching of vernacular language in schools, and criticized the Nigerian film industry, which often demonizes traditional beliefs and practices.
• The new evidentiary hearing in the West Memphis Three case is scheduled to begin on December 5th. The WM3 (Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley Jr.) have long been considered by many to be victims of panic-fueled miscarriage of justice, and winning the right to new evidentiary hearings provides them their best chance yet of overturning the convictions.
• The next Parliament of the World’s Religions will be held at Brussels in 2014.
• Congratulations to P. Sufenas Virius Lupus on his new Patheos.com column “Queer I Stand!”.

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.

This past Friday in Asheville, North Carolina was the second annual Blessings on the River: an Oshun Veneration & Concert. Held in concert with rites performed at Asheville’s sister city of Osogbo, Nigeria, proceeds from donations during the veneration benefited the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove. The event was sponsored by the Zamani Refuge African Culture Center, with event altars constructed by Mother Grove Goddess Temple. Valeria Osunyemi Watson-Doost from the Zamani Refuge, herself a priestess of Oshun, has posted a four-part video series from the event on Youtube.

Here are the links for part 2, part 3, and part 4. You can also watch footage from the inaugural event last year.

This looks like an excellent example of how a US-based Goddess/Pagan community can participate in an event for the benefit of indigenous pre-Christian religions in far-flung parts of the globe. Local writer Byron Ballard, a member of the Mother Grove Goddess Temple, and blogger for the Asheville Citizen-Times, noted that the event was “a terrific opportunity to connect with people in our community who practice a beautiful spirituality”. I imagine that participants in Asheville and Osogbo have both been enriched by this experience, and that practitioners of Yoruba Traditional Religion have achieved a kind of outreach and understanding rarely found in the United States.

As the modern Paganism movement become an increasingly international phenomenon, we are going to get more chances like this to interact, share, and make alliances with indigenous faiths and revived Paganisms across the globe. Outreach efforts to European indigenous faiths, African traditional religions (and African diasporic faiths), and indigenous faiths in the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East may allow advances we couldn’t achieve alone. I will be tracking this phenomenon in the months to come.

Florida has long been a hotspot for practitioners of African diasporic religions (Santeria/Lukumi, Vodou, Umbanda), due to its proximity to Cuba, Haiti, and other nations where these faiths first took root. In recent years, these religions have also been co-existing with a growing number of African immigrants who bring their own native faiths with them, most notably Yoruba Traditional Religion. While the Yoruba religion provided some essential spiritual DNA to the diasporic religions, the gulf between them in traditions, practice, and behavior can cause frictions and misunderstandings.  These differences became very pronounced when two Lukumí priests were re-ordained by a group of traditional Yoruba priests in Miami.

“I sincerely believe that those Lukumí olorishas that actively participated in these ordinations consciously mocked our Lukumí forebears and our religious heritage. Their direct participation in these initiations is reprehensible, irresponsible, and by all means unforgiveable because they perpetrate a direct and outrageous affront to us as a religious community. Their actions constitute a deplorable transgression against our religious legacy because they question and cast doubt on our validity and orthodoxy as a growing world religion. As such, I am not willing to sit idly while a misguided and injudicious group of people maliciously burrow at the foundations of our community, disregard its historical plight, destroy its stability, and question its legitimacy and validity, something that has taken the Lukumí and their descendants almost two hundred years to accomplish! We cannot allow the seeds of discord and instability to sprout among us—Traditionalists, Lukumí, and all Diasporan traditions—because instead of promoting understanding and mutual cooperation, these seeds will only evolve into confusion, tension and intolerance. Sadly, instead of seeking unification and cooperation, these initiations will only contribute to the further fractioning of the Orisha religion in Africa and the Americas.” – Obá Oriaté Willie Ramos, Ilarí Obá

This began a debate between the two communities, and culminated in the formation of a council of Oba Oriates in South Florida, who ratified an accord in June concerning initiations and relations between Lukumi practitioners and Yoruba Traditional Religion practitioners. Here’s a brief excerpt.

“Those priests ordained in the Lukumí Religion that for whatever reason wish or are desirous to be ordained by and/or convert to the practices of the Traditional Yoruba Religion will abandon and renounce any and all rights – hierarchical and practical – within the Lukumí Religious system. We will not recognize nor validate the consecration or the privileges of those priests that abandon Lukumí worship to adopt those of the Yoruba Traditionalists. If they decide to abandon Lukumí Religion and are ordained in the Traditionalist rites, they will lose the religious status they acquired through their Lukumí ordination.”

In short, you can be Lukumi, or you can be a Yoruba Traditionalist, but you can’t be both. The document emphasizes that though both faiths share a common heritage, they are too different to co-mingle.

“We emphatically reiterate that the practices of the Lukumí Religion and those of the Traditional Yoruba Religion are completely and unequivocally different. As such, we do not currently share any common ritual practices that link us. We consider both religious systems to be totally and unequivocally separate and independent of each other.”

This accord is supported by noted figures within the movement like author Ócháni Lele (Stuart Myers), and Oba Ernesto Pichardo, who was involved in the famous Supreme Court case Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah. Yoruba practitioner Ifakolade Sangobunmi Obatalayemi (Christian Carrazana) has rejected the accord and is encouraging “all Orisa worshippers” to do so as well.

“So in conclusion, the core of the problem lies within Lucumi community; there are those who accept the reality of the situation and are open to learning from the Yoruba; but on the other hand, there are those who are not, and insist on keeping their tradition as they were taught—but are doing so by waging a campaign of falsehoods, insults and isolationism. This Accord is an instrument of that on-going campaign; and it does not fix the problem; but instead, it exacerbates it.

For all the reasons set forth herein,  I encourage all Orisa worshippers, regardless of whether you are traditional Yoruba, Lucumi, Candomble, Vodoun, to deliberate upon this matter; and join together to reject this Accord as an instrument of discrimination and hate.  Most of all, I sincerely hope that for the next up coming conference in Miami(and there will be one soon)  that Ernesto Pichardo, Willie Ramos, and especially all who agree with them, have the courage to attend so we can sit down as adults and discuss our differences so that we can find a way to peacefully co-exist with one another.”

Will tensions cool and relations normalize between the two camps in South Florida? Are there similar tensions in other regions as well, or is this development due to South Florida’s unique concentration of practitioners? If one cannot be Lukumi and a Yoruba Traditionalist at the same time, does this hold true for any other faith as well? Specifically, as more modern Pagans explore and initiate into African diaporic religions will they have to stop practicing whatever traditions they were previously initiated into? I welcome input and feedback from any of my readers involved in African diasporic or traditional African faiths on this matter.

I like to think I’m a rather tolerant guy when it comes to religious freedom. I have no trouble with religions that practice humane animal sacrifice, I could care less what consenting adults want to get up to in the privacy of their own homes, and I tend to range from permissive to supportive on the issue of entheogens. All that said, this sicked me out more than a little.

“Authorities are investigating a Hialeah man who allegedly smuggled illegal Giant African Snails into Florida and convinced his followers to drink their juices as part of a religious healing ritual. State and federal authorities in January raided the home of Charles L. Stewart after learning he had a large box full of the snails — which grow to be up to 10 inches long — according to a search warrant filed recently in Miami-Dade Circuit Court … One witness told investigators that during the ritual, Stewart grabs a snail from the cage, then would “hold it over the devotee, then cuts the [snail] and pours the raw fluid directly from the still live [snail] into the mouth of the devotee.” Several followers became violently ill, losing weight and developing strange lumps in their bellies…”

Giant African Snails. Photo from the IL Dept. of Public Health.

I’ll give you all a moment to collect yourselves. OK. So, why (oh dear gods why) am I writing about this? Because the man claims that this snail-drinking ritual is part of his Yoruban faith.

Stewart, 48, who court documents describe as “El Africano” or “Oloye Ifatoku,” said he practices the traditional African religion of Ifa Orisha [aka Yoruba religion], which is often confused with the Cuban Santería, a blend of Yoruba and Catholic practices. “I did not invent this. It’s something that is part of our religion,” he told The Miami Herald. “It’s not something meant to hurt anybody.” He declined to comment further.

Meanwhile, Santería spokesman and advocate Ernesto Pichardo is quick to distance his religion from this practice, saying he has never come across such a ritual, and that it isn’t a part of Santería. As for Yoruba, there is plenty of textual/cultural evidence for the possible inclusion of snails in Yoruba ritual, but I couldn’t find anything specific about the drinking of “snail water” for the purposes of healing. I suppose it’s possible, and if the snails were legal, he might have a great religious freedom case for the court system. The problem though is that they are illegal, Stewart and an accomplice knowingly smuggled them in, and these snails are a hugely invasive species that could wreak havoc with our ecosystem.

“…these snails can do extensive damage to the environment if released outdoors. They are known to eat at least 500 different types of plants.”

Oh, and they breed like nobodies business. In addition, the snails, especially if they are smuggled in directly from Africa, can make you seriously ill if you decide to partake in a “healing ritual” involving one.

“Giant African snails can carry a parasite that can cause illness in humans,” Dr. Whitaker said. “I strongly encourage anyone aware of the existence of these snails to call their local health department.” … The parasite can be transmitted to humans when snail mucous comes into contact with human mucous membranes, such as those of the eyes, nose and mouth when touched by an unwashed hand or by ingesting improperly cooked snail meat.

That most likely explains why followers became “violently ill”. Let’s hope they didn’t catch meningitis, one of the possible side-effects of being exposed to the parasite these snails can carry.

In the end, this isn’t really a religion story. Sure, religion plays a role in the motivations, but that isn’t why this man is in trouble. He’s in trouble for  knowingly smuggling in contraband, endangering Florida’s ecosystem, and making his followers violently ill in the process. Claiming religious exemption only works if the needs and demands of your faith are reasonable and don’t endanger those around you. Once Charles L. Stewart has answered for his crimes, he’ll have to stick with native snails for his rituals, maybe explore the culinary wonders of escargot, instead of serving up giant snail “water” to his followers.

Top Story: As I first mentioned back in September, the snarky fashion show “What Not to Wear” (on the increasingly misnamed TLC network) shot a Salem-themed episode starring Salem Witch and shop co-owner Leanne Marrama. Now it’s finally being aired this Friday.

“The show’s cast and crew descended on Salem in September, where they filmed Marrama’s look being “put on trial” — reminiscent of Salem’s infamous 1692 witch trials — by a jury that included other members of the city’s psychic community. The show then swooped Marrama — and all of her clothes — to New York for a week, where “What Not to Wear” hosts Stacy London and Clinton Kelly weeded out her wardrobe and gave her $5,000 to start anew, and redid her hair and makeup. The results will air Friday at 9 p.m. “I’m so excited to see the episode,” Marrama said. “It’s going to be very funny, and I hope other people can learn something from it.” CinemaSalem will host a free public viewing of the episode as it airs live. Marrama plans to attend, along with her family and friends.”

The article also notes that locals hope the town will be prominently featured, but not everyone in Salem is happy with all the witch-focused attention it gets. Ward 3 Councilor Jean Pelletier, during a discussion over what to name a new bypass road, heaped scorn on the idea of naming it after “stupid witch stuff”, drawing the ire of some Salem residents.

“I hate to tell you, Councilor, but that “stupid witch stuff,” along with the Salem power plant, is the engine that drives the Salem economy. Instead of downplaying those two money-makers, you should promote them. Which would you choose: “Stupid witch stuff” or raising taxes?”

Want to know why non-witchy residents tolerate the massive Halloween-flavored mardi gras every October? Why they don’t seem to mind all the reality television, migrating Witches, and plastic capes? One word: revenue. No, make that two words: revenue and taxes. So long as Witches are good for business, everyone will find a way to get along.

In Other News: A few days ago I highlighted an article about Ugandan anti-sacrifice campaigner Polino Angela, who claims that he himself sacrificed several children, including his own son. Some Ugandans, perhaps unused to the old Christian “Satanic Panic” media-spin where “saved” confessed mass-murderers are somehow allowed to walk free, are straying off-message in an article for the Observer.

“His preaching can’t take away the crimes he has committed against humanity, if there is evidence of the offences against him he may not escape the law,” said Anselm Wandega, the head of policy advocacy at ANPPCAN Uganda Chapter.

Moses Binoga, head of the Police anti-Human Sacrifice Task Force, has also opened an investigation in the Amolatar District, were Angela is said to be living. Uh-oh! Looks like some countries actually take you seriously when you claim to have killed 70 people as a former witch doctor. Will Angela backtrack on his somewhat dubious claims of an organized child-sacrifice network now that he might actually get in trouble? We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s looking more and more like my suspicion over this story was warranted. Religion-blogger Richard Bartholomew is also skeptical, and he notes that one of the supportive government officials in the original story is a notorious homophobe more  interested in the length of mini-skirts than in police corruption. Just as some Western conservative Christian organizations are quietly funding and supporting Ugandan efforts to pass a draconian anti-homosexuality law, perhaps there are others quietly importing that old Satanic Panic?

Over at EarthSpirit Voices, Andras Corban Arthen shares with us the story of  how Nigerian citizen Wande Abimbola, the selected spokesman of the Yoruba religion in Western Africa, had his deities seized from him by an Australian customs agent on his way to the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne.

“Finally, the metal doors of the Customs area parted one more time, and Wande Abimbola, his American-born wife Ifaboyede, and their eight-month-old son made their way into the terminal, looking troubled and dismayed. “They have taken our deities away,” they informed their greeters. The Abimbolas were scheduled to offer several presentations on the spiritual traditions of the Yoruba, and they were bringing with them several objects which manifested particular orisas, the ancestral spirits whose veneration is central to Yoruban religion. The objects are not considered to be mere symbolic representations, but extensions and abodes of the orisas themselves — sacred emanations of sacred beings, to be treated with honor and respect. But this was obviously irrelevant to the Australian Customs agents in Melbourne, who unceremoniously confiscated the objects.”

Though Abimbola was able to retrieve his deities on his way back out of the country, the event cut through the idealism of the event for Arthen, reminding him of the hostility, ignorance, and discrimination that exist outside the walls of interfaith gatherings like the Parliament.

“For me, though, this episode continues to ring a sour note in what was mostly a very harmonious event. It’s very easy, when attending a function such as the Parliament, to get so wrapped up in the beauty and idealism present all around us that we can forget some of the harsh realities that lie in wait just beyond these walls. The quarantined gods of the Yoruba were, this time, a constant reminder of the arrogance, the prejudice and the fear that continue to cause so much conflict among nations and cultures, and a reminder as well of how much we need to continue to talk, and teach, and learn from one another, as we do in the Parliament of the World’s Religions.”

I suppose another lesson is that interfaith activities are a first step, not the last step, in normalizing relations and establishing mutual respect between different faith groups. It’s easy to move past differences when most everyone around you is willing to do so, it’s quite another thing to engage a far more hostile and cynical wider world on a regular basis.

Bakersfield, California District Attorney Ed Jagels is retiring from public office after 26 years. Jagels became notorious for his prosecution of  several (46) innocent men and women over bogus child-abuse (and “Satanic” child abuse) cases. A situation that was covered in the documentary “Witch Hunt”. Several spent years in prison, some even decades, before finally being freed. A situation that still haunts some of the children coached into giving testimony.

“What Jagels did not witness was the aftermath of his actions. All the children who testified against Stoll and my mother have had to deal with years of life-altering guilt. I was forced to believe that I was molested by my mother, taken from my home and placed into mandatory therapy, where I spent years in counseling trying to recover “blocked” memories.”

Jagels now admits that mistakes may have been made, but seems to feel little remorse for the lives he destroyed.

“If those cases came today, we would have handled them differently,” Jagels said. “But what we had at the time, I think we handled them the best we could.”

Attorney Michael Snedeker of Portland, Oregon, who helped free many of the accused says that “truth and justice meant nothing to him”, meanwhile, Jagels’ supporters are already trying to whitewash his career. This whole story illustrates how the officials who allowed the SRA panic to go forward, to pursue questionable evidence and testimony, go unpunished. Some of them may even become Senators if they play their cards right.

In a final note, more religion-beat reporters are moving on. Boston Globe reporter Michael Paulson is being promoted, so he’s leaving the God-beat behind, and there’s no word yet on who, if anyone, is going to replace him. Meanwhile, AP religion reporter Eric Gorski is also moving to a different beat. All this isn’t making Mollie at Get Religion feel very optimistic about the future of religion reporting.

What a major change. I suppose it is good, in both Paulson’s and Gorski’s cases that they will be moving to new positions with an eye toward the importance of religion coverage. If only we could put former religion beat pros throughout every paper. Still, I have to agree with what another Godbeat pro said about the changes — that they’re “devastating to Godreporting.”

I suppose you can insert my now-standard “this is why we need a robust Pagan-grown journalism” speech, but I’ll save it for Pantheacon and PSG (though I will still throw in a link to the Pagan Newswire Collective, because I can). In any case, it seems to be yet another sign of the incredible shrinking God-beat.

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