{"id":9077,"date":"2012-02-02T14:12:35","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T22:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildhunt\/?p=9077"},"modified":"2012-02-02T14:55:00","modified_gmt":"2012-02-02T22:55:00","slug":"cutting-down-every-wiccan-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildhunt\/2012\/02\/cutting-down-every-wiccan-tree.html","title":{"rendered":"Cutting Down Every Wiccan Tree?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I have a semi-official policy of ignoring Christian media mogul Pat Robertson<\/a> whenever possible. You can set a clock by how often he says something stupid<\/a>, insensitive, outrageous<\/a>, or\u00a0inadvertently\u00a0amusing<\/a> about any belief system that doesn\u2019t walk lockstep with his own. He\u2019s a calculating offender who knows that causing controversy is good for his business. I frankly have no idea how the folks at Right Wing Watch<\/a> or Talk to Action<\/a> manage to cling to sanity in their daily trawl through the\u00a0seamy underbelly of conservative Christianity. \u00a0Surely that much Pat Robertson isn\u2019t healthy for anyone? In any event, the folks at RWW reported on yet another stupid observation on Robertson\u2019s 700 Club<\/a>, this time from current Roberston sycophant Kristi Watts.<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=l_4IurtU5LQ<\/a><\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s cohost Kristi Watts mockingly asked that since the Wicca religion \u201cbelieves in the environment and believes that trees are there God,\u201d then \u201cwhy are these atheists not saying we should cut down every tree because it\u2019s offensive?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Luckily, Heathen political commentator\u00a0Hrafnkell Haraldsson jumps in to tear Watts bizarre argument apart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe obvious answer to this is that Wiccans don\u2019t worship trees. This is more of the ever-popular \u00a0Old Testament dumb idol meme, the hatred of the Yahwists for trees as representative of goddesses, and repeated all through early Christian history (e.g. 1 Corinthians 12:2), where Pagans become people who worship rocks and trees rather than seeing in nature the divine all around us. On a whole, this is roughly analogous to and about as accurate as saying Christians worship a cross.<\/em><\/p>\n

Although, it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if even militant atheists aren\u2019t too worked up about Wicca, which like other Pagan religions, eschews proselytization and preaching to \u201cnon-believers\u201d like Kristi Watts\u2019 own religion. Pagans also aren\u2019t known to be busy either trying to deprive atheists of their right to\u00a0not believe. But then, comprehension of causation is not a strong suit for those who believe their god\u2019s will\u00a0decides everything<\/a>, including who is born to whom and when.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since Hrafnkell has done such an able job of dismantling the anti-Pagan (and anti-atheist) religious hit-job on Robertson\u2019s program<\/a>, I\u2019ll instead bring up one other point. Atheists aren\u2019t gunning to chop down all the trees us Pagan tree-huggers hug because they predominantly believe in environmental and climate science, and know that cutting down \u201cevery tree\u201d<\/em> would destroy our ecosystem, and life on earth itself (sadly,\u00a0ski resort Jesus statues<\/a> don\u2019t absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen). To some Christians climate change initiatives and environmental regulations aren\u2019t a matter of responsible stewardship, but a form of \u201cpaganism\u201d in of itself<\/a>. However,\u00a0interestingly,\u00a0Robertson isn\u2019t one of them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NhmpsUMdTH8<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThey have broken heat records in a number of cities already this year and broken all-time records and it is getting hotter and the ice caps are melting and there is a build up of carbon dioxide in the air. We really need to address the burning of fossil fuels.\u00a0If we are contributing to the destruction of the planet we need to do manage about it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So even if Wiccans\u00a0worshiped trees as their \u201cgod,\u201d I think both Robertson and the straw-man atheists described on his program would agree that a policy of cutting\u00a0\u201cdown every tree because it\u2019s offensive\u201d <\/em>wouldn\u2019t be in their best interests. It\u2019s a shame that Robertson didn\u2019t correct his sidekick on this simple point of logic.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a semi-official policy of ignoring Christian media mogul Pat Robertson whenever possible. You can set a clock by how often he says something stupid, insensitive, outrageous, or\u00a0inadvertently\u00a0amusing about any belief system that doesn\u2019t walk lockstep with his own. He\u2019s a calculating offender who knows that causing controversy is good for his business. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[3169,185,419,718,3168,3170,1771,2633],"class_list":["post-9077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paganism","category-religion","tag-700-club","tag-atheism","tag-christianity","tag-environmentalism","tag-hrafnkell-haraldsson","tag-kristi-watts","tag-pat-robertson","tag-wicca"],"yoast_head":"\nCutting Down Every Wiccan Tree?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have a semi-official policy of ignoring Christian media mogul Pat Robertson whenever possible. 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