{"id":147,"date":"2012-02-21T17:58:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T17:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/02\/the-sword-of-judgment\/"},"modified":"2014-12-23T14:04:43","modified_gmt":"2014-12-23T20:04:43","slug":"the-sword-of-judgment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/02\/the-sword-of-judgment.html","title":{"rendered":"The Sword of Judgment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>\n\n\n\n
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Pantheacon<\/a> is the world\u2019s largest indoor Pagan gathering, exceeded only by the largest outdoor festivals like Pagan Spirit Gathering<\/a>. Each year\u2019s lineup of speakers, workshops, rituals and entertainment (not to mention connecting face to face with people you only know via the Internet) is both impressive and broad. Most people who go say it\u2019s awesome. I\u2019ve never been\u2026 one of these years I\u2019ll get my travel budget and vacation time aligned so I can.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, for the second straight year the main accomplishments of the convention have been overshadowed by a high-profile dispute over the exclusion of transgender women from a women-only ritual. I wasn\u2019t there and I\u2019m not going to attempt an in-depth analysis of the situation. A summary of last year\u2019s incident is here<\/a>, including some bigoted and hateful remarks by Z. Budapest<\/a>, author and founder of Dianic Wicca.<\/p>\n

The Wild Hunt has some coverage<\/a> of this year\u2019s convention, where Budapest led a ritual labeled \u201cgenetic women only.\u201d Thorn Coyle organized a silent meditation protest<\/a>, which drew three times as many participants as the ritual itself. Though not a disinterested report, I think Thorn\u2019s explanation of why she did what she did <\/a>is the best commentary I\u2019ve found.<\/p>\n

My thoughts on this matter are fairly simple:<\/p>\n