2012-04-20T11:36:48-07:00

Last updated on: April 20, 2012 at 11:36 am   By

This Sunday is Earth Day. Originally spearheaded in 1970 by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson as a national“teach-in” on urgent environmental issues, it has since become an internationally recognized holiday in192 countries. Earth Day is partially credited with jump-starting the modern environmentalist movement, and helping to pass legislation like the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. So naturally, it is stalking horse for Pagan religion and must be stopped at all costs, at least according to Minnesota State Representative Mary Franson from Alexandria. In a response to conservative activist... Read more

2012-04-19T12:37:53-07:00

Last updated on: April 19, 2012 at 12:37 pm   By

“I loved the Church for Christ made visible. Not for itself, because it was so often a scandal to me.” – Dorothy Day, Catholic Worker For years now there’s been a quiet effort to rein in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the Catholic Church’s largest association of American women’s religious orders. Back in 2008 it was announced that the Vatican was undertaking two large-scale investigations of American nuns who may “have opted for ways that take them outside” of... Read more

2012-04-17T23:10:57-07:00

Last updated on: April 17, 2012 at 11:10 pm   By

Pagan Community Notes is a companion to my usual Pagan News of Note series, more focused on news originating from within the Pagan community. I want to reinforce the idea that what happens to and within our organizations, groups, and events is news, and news-worthy. My hope is that more individuals, especially those working within Pagan organizations, get into the habit of sharing their news with the world. So lets get started! A Pagan Library Opens in Washington DC: PNC-Washington DC reports on the Open Hearth... Read more

2012-05-09T08:13:33-07:00

Last updated on: May 9, 2012 at 8:13 am   By

Here are some updates on stories The Wild Hunt has reported on previously. Teaching Paganism in British Schools: On Sunday I deconstructed the sensationalist Daily Mail’s assertions regarding the teaching of Paganism in British religious education courses, specifically in Cornwall. I pointed out that there is no hard-and-fast mandate requiring schools to insert Pagan religions into their curriculum, and that the RE advisory council is exactly that, advisory. Still, why let facts and reason get in the way of a... Read more

2012-04-16T10:10:02-07:00

Last updated on: April 16, 2012 at 10:10 am   By

Since February, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the fall of John Friend, founder of the Anusara yoga school, since allegations emerged of sexual, legal, and fiscal improprieties. Of those improprieties was the allegation that Friend ran a Wiccan coven, named the “Blazing Solar Flames,” as a pretext for sexual liaisons with Anusara students. “John has been the head of a wiccan “coven” that claims to use sexual/sensual energy in a positive and sacred way to help build the efficacy of our practices.... Read more

2012-04-15T11:14:05-07:00

Last updated on: April 15, 2012 at 11:14 am   By

Muck-raking (and hugely successful) British tabloid The Daily Mail reports on the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education’s (SACRE) syllabus for schools in Cornwall, saying that it encourages the teaching of modern Paganism alongside other religions (sorry, I still don’t link directly to them). “Cornwall Council has told its schools that pagan beliefs, which include witchcraft, druidism and the worship of ancient gods such as Thor, should be taught alongside Christianity, Islam and Judaism, the Daily Mail reported. The requirements are spelled... Read more

2012-04-14T10:53:34-07:00

Last updated on: April 14, 2012 at 10:53 am   By

Patheos (the official host of this blog) is making a grand shift in its design, and The Wild Hunt is scheduled to undergo “conversion” today (I’m sure it’s nowhere near as sinister as that sounds). As such, I’ve been advised to not make any sudden moves or write posts that I would like to see preserved for the long term. So, there’s no formal blog post today. That said, here’s a few quick links you might want to check out... Read more

2012-04-13T10:14:58-07:00

Last updated on: April 13, 2012 at 10:14 am   By

Last night the Buncombe County School Board in North Carolina unanimously passed a policy regarding prayer, religious activities, and the distribution of religious materials by students in their schools. It was the culmination of months of activism that began when North Carolina Pagan Ginger Strivelli challenged her child’s school’s policy regarding the distribution of religious materials. Strivelli felt that the manner in which Gideon Bibles were made available violated the Establishment Clause, and ostracized non-Christian students who didn’t want to use a special... Read more

2012-04-12T11:53:40-07:00

Last updated on: April 12, 2012 at 11:53 am   By

Top Story: On Saturday, I wrote about the impending enaction of a bill in Tennessee that could require schools to “teach the controversy” of evolution and global warming. Opposed by the ACLU, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and the Tennessee Science Teachers Association, it nonetheless was allowed to become law without the governor’s signature on Tuesday. “Republican Gov. Bill Haslam allowed the controversial measure to become law without his signature and, in a statement, expressed misgivings about it.... Read more

2012-04-11T11:29:16-07:00

Last updated on: April 11, 2012 at 11:29 am   By

Joseph Laycock, scholar and author of “Vampires Today: The Truth about Modern Vampirism,” examines media coverage of the killing of two boys and one woman over the span of four years in Mexico, allegedly the work of Santa Muerte cultists. Laycock’s Religion Dispatches piece argues that “these murders will likely have lasting consequences for alternative religion in North America,” that they are a “Manson moment” that will have potentially harmful reverberations in the years to come. “It goes without saying these... Read more

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