Everything Under the Moon

more like superiority.

that guy vibes something shocking.

more like superiority.

that guy vibes something shocking.

Heh. Yeah.

I live in Maryland. I don't know him personally, but I know a LOT of folks who do....eh, I'm going to refrain from further comment. Heh.

o.k....o.k...yes, he's got a kinda 'look at me' thing happening, but still, it's important

Honestly, this isn't anything too new for Maryland. The state has had a history of having Pagan retreat centers, schools, classes, training programs, etc. The only difference with this one is that it is getting media coverage because of where the funding comes from. But something new and equality-driving? Not really...By far, this state has probably the highest Pagan concentration in the U.S.

I would be afraid of ignorance coming to this school. Many kids or adults too, may just come because Wicca is a "fad" or a "trend" The guy seems ok, I guess, but my rituals are a private part of me, and I don't see putting them on video like that. The guys seems a little fame struck to me

I would be afraid of ignorance coming to this school. Many kids or adults too, may just come because Wicca is a "fad" or a "trend" The guy seems ok, I guess, but my rituals are a private part of me, and I don't see putting them on video like that. The guys seems a little fame struck to me

Hey, whyever they come out, I'm just saying it's important, maybe not new,
but I bet dude is putting money into advertising, maybe he even kicked the local news some cash to cover the story...

My feeling is that the GLBT community and the pagan community have a similar struggle, that being misunderstanding and intolerance so the more we're all "out there" being seen and heard, the less people will hate and fear us (yes...it's still happening)

Also, there was some serious financial backing for early Wiccaz to get out there and even noticed by the world council of religions, so I don't think they're going anywhere.

Besides we all know which rituals are "showy" and which should definitely be kept in private, if he wants to put his rites on video, maybe he should make offerings to Televisious (great god of t.v.) teehee...
I guess what I'm saying is I don't feel threatened by his putting rites on video, cuz his rites are not my rites.




Thet

Honestly, this isn't anything too new for Maryland. The state has had a history of having Pagan retreat centers, schools, classes, training programs, etc. The only difference with this one is that it is getting media coverage because of where the funding comes from. But something new and equality-driving? Not really...By far, this state has probably the highest Pagan concentration in the U.S.

Yeah.

Honestly, the fact that he's promoting it as a "real life Hogwarts" grates on my nerves pretty badly (it's not just the newscasters throwing that in to sensationalize the stories.) i know he's not the first one to do it, but he's one in a line and the whole thing just cheapens the idea of religious education.

This one is getting media coverage not just because of where the coverage comes from- you don't usually see lottery winners in the media for months at a time after they win. They have a few newspaper articles, a mention on the nightly news and are forgotten within a day or two. They don't just get invited to the today show and have national news stories showing up about them every couple of days. He is going out and drawing the attention.

This is no more a step for "pagan equality" than Ed Hubbard's Witch School...which mostly garnered a whole lot of ridicule and legal troubles.

My feeling is that the GLBT community and the pagan community have a similar struggle, that being misunderstanding and intolerance so the more we're all "out there" being seen and heard, the less people will hate and fear us (yes...it's still happening)

Meh, I don't know about where you are, but around here (That is, the Baltimore area of Maryland, where all this is going on) for the most part, people don't bat an eyelash. And this is the city where you can't walk a block without seeing at least four or five storefront Baptist churches in most areas. (I live right up the block from an intersection that literally has a church on three corners, and one of those corners has two Baptist churches immediately adjacent to each other.

We held pagan pride day this year on the same day and same time and in the same park, and within direct site of a big annual gospel music festival (it was not intentionally scheduled that way...) People wandered over out of curiosity, and I don't know of a single one of them ever doing or saying anything inappropriate or out of line. My grove has a building with land, and a big sign outside that says "Ar nDraiioct Fein"...recently, due to some zoning issues we had to go around to talk to the neighbors to let them know of some things going on and there was no way to leave out the fact that hey, there's a pagan church in the neighborhood. Most of them knew and didn't care (we've been there now for eleven years) and the ones that didn't know didn't have any objections- at least one just thought it was some sort of Irish cultural group. The one person that didn't really like the fact that we were around also didn't actively object and said that she would do nothing to interfere with our existence.

I think in most areas, there's a lot less hatred/intolerance/misunderstanding than a lot of people think, and I also think that at this point in the game, it's a much harder struggle for gay folks to have equal rights in most areas.

http://www.yahoo.com/s/723326


No matter what you practice, this is step towards Pagan equality!

Awsome!

Maybe someday I can go to Maryland...

It's funny actually, I was living in Hagerstown just about a year ago, and I donno if you've been out that far, but Hagerstown is a touch on the conservative side...actually, I'm discussing the world in general, but I'm in Beijing now.
Erlich had some telepeople phone while I was there, and she started her shpeel, and said we wondering if we can count on your support, I said, does your candidate support gay marriage rights?
She said no, and I said, well then I won't be supporting your candidate.
(teehee)



Thet

My feeling is that the GLBT community and the pagan community have a similar struggle, that being misunderstanding and intolerance so the more we're all "out there" being seen and heard, the less people will hate and fear us (yes...it's still happening)

While I am relatively new to all this, I've already had an instance where I was feared. I went to borders and bought a couple books... ya know... books about witchcraft and wicca and paganism. The lady at the counter smiled to me when I first got up there but as soon as she looked down at the books that smile was wiped off her face. She got a little flustered and tried to hurry me out of that store as fast as she could.

Its frustrating. She's only afraid cuz she doesn't know anything about it. Maybe if we educated the general public people wouldn't fear it so much and there would be more tolerance towards wicca and witchcraft. I mean, when in school, you don't learn about any pagan religions, unless you take classes which are based around religions.

I don't know... This guy seemed... eh.. like most others said, seeking media attention.

I think educating everyone about it, at least generally, would be best if we really want to move toward religious tolerance.

I think educating everyone about it, at least generally, would be best if we really want to move toward religious tolerance.

kinda naive dont you think? the only way to educate people is as long as they are willing and they arent they problem. But hey, we could try brainwashing at some point.

Thing is, the school that is being set up (like most of the other pagan schools in the U.S.) is not to educate outsiders, but instead just to provide base-level training for people who already are within paganism.

In some cases, the establishment of such a school can create even more of a nightmare for religious tolerance. Look at what happened in Hoopestown and is now happening in Rossville for "Witchschool.com".

I think educating everyone about it, at least generally, would be best if we really want to move toward religious tolerance.

kinda naive dont you think? the only way to educate people is as long as they are willing and they arent they problem. But hey, we could try brainwashing at some point.

True. people can only be educated insofar as they are willing to be. The best that we can do is lead by example, and practice what we preach. More people every day are becoming more willing to at least gain a little understanding. I've found that displaying a little understanding of where they're coming from tends to go far to earn at least a little general respect. Several years ago, I was asked to help out a friend of a friend with a college project. This friend happened to be a student at an extremely conservative, teeny little bible college (check out http://www.lbc.edu if you want to get an idea of the school)

I knew this friend was pretty open-minded...I had met him at a local public discussion forum on the experiences of people who are non-Christian in Lancaster County, PA, which is where I'm originally from. But I also knew that he was an anomaly around there, and knew nothing of his friend or the people who were working on this project...oh yeah, did I mention that it was for a class on evangelism and the project was "How to witness to Wiccans and pagans"???

The original plan was that they were just going to ask me a few questions and video tape it, but I ended up being asked to come in as a guest speaker for the class. At the time, my beliefs and practices were not nearly as well-formed as they are now and the prospect of being locked in a classroom with thirty eager bible college kids just waiting to test out their missionary skills on me was a little scary.

A large part of what I had to say didn't hinge on the "Don't witness to me you evul xians pagans don't believe in that you ruined everything for the pagans!!!!" type of knee-jerk reaction that a lot of people have and might have gone in with. But what I said was basically "Look, I understand that this is a vital part of your religion, and that many denominations of Christianity consider you to be doing something wrong if you're not out spreading the word. I understand that from your point of view, you're trying to share the greatest thing you can imagine sharing with anyone else, and you know, I don't deny, it's a pretty sweet deal. But for myself and many other people who turn to pagan religions...we know what we're turning down and we're okay with that. But please understand that one of the few things that might be even close to universal amongst pagan religions is that we don't want to be witnessed to. We don't want someone to try and convert us. It's not something that is part of any pagan religion that I know. Many people are going to be rude about it when you approach them...there's often a reason behind it, stemming from the fact that people tend not to take it too well when you're trying to tell them that something so intimately personal to them is wrong, invalid or evil- especially if you don't know anything about it, or if you're knowledge of it is based on false information."

Well, they got an A on the project and I was told later on that a subsequent class meeting included a discussion on how to evaluate their approach and be more respectful and understanding to other religions in their evangelical activities. No...they weren't going to give it up altogether, but I'd say it was at least a step in the right direction. If my little q&a session with thirty kids in an uber-conservative bible college got them thinking about being more respectful and understanding in their approach and learning a bit more of the facts before they barge on in, well I'd say I did some good. You can't change everything overnight, but you can take the opportunities for advancement, however small, when you get them.