When I went out on the front porch today, I saw that the first of our lily plants had two blossoms on it, the first of the flowers we planted this year to bloom.  The first of the plants we lovingly placed in soil that is jointly owned by my husband and I and my father.  Actually, the Packhorse did the planting; I have the opposite of a green thumb.  My contribution has been limited to picking out the bulbs (we planted 27 of them, and so far 20 have come up)  and admiring them from the first tiny shoots to these first miraculous blossoms, talking to them and singing to them—they don’t seem to care that my alto is quavery and sometimes I go off-key (I make sure that Dad, who sang in choirs or choruses for 30 years, isn’t around to comment).  And I thought of the old Shaker hymn...

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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There is a Grinch in Green Bay, Wisconsin—and I am betting that he’s not green and doesn’t live on Mount crumpet with a dog named Max.  I suspect when this grinch is caught, he’ll be found to be a disgruntled Christian right-winger.

The story is pretty simple.  The mayor Jim Schmitt and the City Council President decided to put up a Nativity scene in front of city hall. To avoid getting caught up in a court battle over the legality of the crèche, they invited members of non-Christian religions to put up a symbol of their own for the holiday season.  Six requested a chance to do so, and the Wiccans hung a wreath in the shape of a pentacle (the story did not say what the other religious group was).  

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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The human mind is like a computer (an analog computer which is why it isn't all that accurate, but the recent scientific research actually bears this out). Language, Religion, and Culture form our operating system. They shape how our minds accept and process information. Now, I am a member of a steadily increasing minority. Wiccans who were actually raised as Wiccans. Because of the relative youth of Modern Wicca, most of the people who are Wiccans converted as adults. Now, with absolutely no disrespect to those who have found Wicca. Since their minds operating system was fully developed when they found Wicca, they still sometimes tend to see the world from their old perspective. I don't, I always see the world from a Wiccan perspective. Not that a Wiccan perspective is all that set in stone. After all, if you ask five different Wiccans what Wicca is about you will get twelve different answers. But, it does make for the fact that I'm completely unable to understand some of the concepts that are taken for granted in our majority Christian society. For instance, I can not wrap my mind around the concept of Damnation.

Tonight, the lead story on the eleven o’clock news on WBS-TV was an account of vandalism at a local church in Monroe, GA.  They lingered lovingly on an upside down pentacle and repeated scrawls of "666".  The reporter made several references to "devilish and evil acts," and the  ads for the news gave every impression that out-of-control Satanists were behind it. Only halfway through the report did you learn that the church is African American and there were also scrawls of "White Power" and "KKK" –and that this has been going on for many months with no publicity, until Halloween rolls around and it’s time to play up the EEEEEE-Villlllls of the Oh-Kult. The most amazing part is that while they promoted the hell out of this, there is no story on their website to link to.

Halloween as always been my favorite holiday.  I love the crisp air, the smell of apples and fallen leaves, and the chance, for one day out of 365, to be someone more exotic, more glamorous, more interesting than old everyday me. When I became a Wiccan, it also became a religious holiday for me, Samhain, the Celtic New Year, when the walls between the worlds—ours and the next—are thin and we can celebrate those who have passed on.  Either way, it was always a very positive time for me.  Since we are a coven of two, we usually give out candy in the early part of the evening, then, as midnight approaches, have a small and private Wiccan ritual.  

But Halloween is under siege.

I want to clarify what I want all Democratic candidates to say to the public.  I want to define what I mean when I say we are, or should be, and can be, the Big Tent Party.  I want all our candidates, including those running for President, to stand up for all those the Republicans hate and vilify.  Because when you stop and think about it, every voter, or nearly every voter, either is one of 'those people' or has close friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors who are some of 'those people.'

So, instead of treating them like second class citizens, or someone who is kept hidden in the attic, let us announce to the whole world, shout from the rooftops, that these are the people we want to represent, along with those who seem more 'normal.'

Although, when you really take a close look at each person, you soon realize that 'normal' is just a setting on your washing machine.

So, let us go down the list of those the Republicans treat like second class citizens, and who I want to bring into our Big Tent:

It's been a month or so since I joined the Daily Kos's merry band and I've been putting off writing a diary. This is a bit out of character for me as I usually have a lot to say and am not reticent about saying it. But the diaries I have been reading on this site are so substantive that I admit to being intimidated. Beyond that, I'm still not sure what I can or should write about. The state of the nation? So many others are more eloquent than I about this. The Iraq war? Again, while I have a definite opinion, others have stated what I would, only better. Fears? Dreams? Loves? Hates? Is this a place to write about personal things like this? I don't know...

First, I can't believe this has not been diaried. Second, I never, ever thought I would say this but George W. Bush actually did the right thing and did it graciously, as regards this one single incident.

Don't believe me? Well, I don't blame you, but take the jump and see what you think.

I wrote to Laura Mallory to inform her of the existence of the MySpace website which may or may not actually be hers.

Laura doesn’t read her mail, apparently.  At least,  she doesn’t reply to it, when you write via the form on her website which limits the length of your mail severely and makes any rational discussion impossible. Her respondent (female, therefore to be referred to as "she"), however, do not have such a limitation, and I got quite a lengthy reply form one of them after writing to inform them of the MySpace website.  I didn’t get a definitive answer on whether it is her site or not, but she has been informed, and if she has half a brain she’ll take my advice and complain about it if it isn’t hers. Of course, when you insist on linking Harry Potter to school shootings and claiming that Rowling, a member of the Church of Scotland (a Presbyterian Church, of which John Knox was perhaps the most famous member until Rowling; Presbyterians were BIG On witch burning, BTW) is recruiting for Wicca, it isn’t all that difficult for people to accept that you might believe that HP fans are in league with terrorists.  When you wear one tinfoil chapeau, what are a few more tin feathers in that cap?

The relatives of fallen Wiccan soldiers have tried for years to get the VA to allow the Wiccan pentacle to be engraved on the headstones, the same as the symbols for other religions--major and obscure--are allowed.  Conservative Christians in the military have fought this for years with no good reason.  Today, after being challenged legally for over nine years, the VA agreed to allow this symbol in military cemetaries.

With all of the cracks that are showing up in the walls the administration has erected to keep out those it considers 'undesirable', one small story should bring a smile to anyone concerned with religious freedom, and especially to Veterans who follow one of the neoPagan religious traditions, such as Wicca.

Finally, the Veterans Administration has agreed to allow the pentacle as a symbol for Wiccan veterans.  Considering that this application has been pending (in one form or another) since 1997, all I can say is "It's about time."

I am going to go out on a limb here.

I know that unsubstantive diaries are frowned upon, but there is a diary that desperately needs a recommendation, because of the subject matter.

Freedom of religion is a nice phrase that Republicans use when they want to give something or get something from their evangelical base. Democrats everywhere should applaud the move to allow our fallen soldiers the religious symbol of their choice on the headstone that marks their graves.

Go see and read "VA  finally Approves Wiccan Pentacle for Soldiers". You'll be glad you did. Tell Sunfell I sent you.

Also see my daughter's post on my blog in February about this very same subject. Symbols of Faith.

Thanks.

Mark

Americans United has won a settlement against the Bush administration after a pattern of bias against minority religions was revealed.

Ya think? That 'bias' ended my career in the USAF because I dared to poke my head out and say, "Enough".

More over the jump...

Let me repeat that because it bears repeating: Pagans, Wiccans, NeoPagans, Heathen, Goddess Worshippers, Pantheists, Animists and New Age faiths ARE NOT SATANISTS.

I bring this up because of a recommended diary which puts Satanists in with NeoPagans as part of a poll question. This is a huge deal to me as a practicing Pagan. This myth is voiced and perpetuated by right-wing Christians as a deliberate eliminationist slur intended to denigrate these faiths and prevent these faiths acquiring any legitimacy.

How do you, as progressives and Democrats feel when you hear someone say (usually from a position of authority or at least public prominence) :

Democrats are weak on national security.

Seriously, how do you feel? How much worse is it when you hear a fellow Democrat or progressive who has unconsciously absorbed this deceptive meme repeat the lie that Democrats are weak on national security?

That’s exactly how I feel when I hear a fellow progressive include satanists with Pagans, Wiccans and other New Age faiths. Please come on over to the other side, and see why.

It took too long, but one of our war dead has finally received the final recognition he's entitled to.
Details on the jump.