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or resurrect, for
example, he/she might very well kill you or hurt you in his defence. "2) Covens (and
individual, solitary practitioners) are equipped with knives as ritual and
ceremonial tools. Therefore, consider
each group or individual as armed and potentially dangerous. "3) You might
encounter an occultist who seems to possess 'superhuman' strength. Be on guard. "4) Drug induced
occultism, witchcraft, and satanism pose a double threat: the unpredictable effects of the drugs
mixed with the deviations of the practices" A
few years ago an article appeared in one of my local newspapers telling the
story of Heather Botting-O’Brien. The
article, “Proud Pagans on Parade,” described how Botting-O’Brien, a professor
with a PhD, became a Wiccan chaplain at the University of Victoria. The journalist who wrote this positive
article, Dan Murphy, spelled “Pagan” with a capital “P,” as I do. The article went on to describe other Pagan
institutions, such as the Witches Anti-Discrimination League, the Deaf Pagans
Resource Center, Texas Pagans Awareness, and Witches Against Drunk
Driving. Murphy spoke of Pagan Pride
Days in Ontario, Wisconsin and Montana: I could have told him of others in
California, New York and Oregon.
Murphy told how the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, a Wiccan organization,
had expanded from its home base in Seattle in 1979 to 39 affiliated churches
in the US, Canada, Ireland, France and South Africa. Two
days later another journalist with the same newspaper wrote an article:
“Fight Pagans With Prayers, Not Punches.”
This article by Jon Ferry spells “pagan” with a small “p.” It commences as follows: “Q: What will your local priest be doing this
Christmas? “A: Honing up on tae kwon do. “The news over the weekend that violence against priests has
become so bad in Britain that they’re being offered self defence classes
would be laughable, if it wasn’t so bad. “In any case, it’s a perfect symbol of what is happening to
the Christian religion around the world in these days of, well, new-age
paganism.” Ferry
went on to blame many of the ills of the modern church on Pagans. This is the reply that I sent him: “I was dismayed to see Jon Ferry’s column, “Fight Pagans With Prayers,
Not Punches,” in The Province. I am a Wiccan, and I have no particular desire
to fight him. I am also a police officer, and I defend the society in which
he lives. “I
disagree with his assertion that the country that I defend is a Christian
one. My police department is a reflection of our country, and many of my
fellow officers are Sikhs, Jews, Buddhists and even Pagan, not just
Christian. “Ferry
says that clergy in England are studying martial arts to defend themselves.
This is interesting, since these arts are based on Asian, non-Christian
religious philosophies which he seems to object to. I don't see what
Christian clergy defending themselves against parishioners (he specifically
names beggars and church members denied a wedding date) has to do with us
Pagans. Is he suggesting Pagans are inciting these parishioners to revolt? “If
he is, he is mistaken. I suggest the unrest and the declining attendance in
churches is a reflection of the failure of the Church to meet the needs of
modern society, rather than an indication that the New Age is at fault. “Spirituality is not a one-size-fits-all
proposition. We all come from differing social, cultural and educational
backgrounds, and this colors our perceptions of the divine. There are many
valid spiritual paths out there and they all lead to the same place. Ferry
seems to want to ‘fight’ me with prayers because I'm different. I'm not
interested in what he believes and I don't need his prayers. I checked
Christianity out decades ago and it didn't work for me. “Ferry
has his path and I have mine. We are different and this is the way of the
world. This world needs more understanding and acceptance, not intolerance
and dogma. I hope that these clergy
people continue their study of Tae Kwon Do.
Hopefully they'll learn a few useful things from this to add to their
spiritual philosophies- like Sun Tzu's most important dictum: ‘To win without
fighting is best.’” People
like Herold and Ferry assume that Canada and the United States are Christian
countries. They believe that the whole world should be exclusively Christian.
They actively proselytize to accomplish this. As you can see in these
examples, they often try to do this by teaching others to fear anything not
Christian. These people choose to berate or dismiss the countless people
around them who are not Christian. Many of us non-Christians are military
personnel or police officers like me, who are defending the free society that
grants these evangelists the right of free speech, permitting such Christians
to disseminate these slanders. My police department today is a reflection of
our modern North American society: It encompasses a broad spectrum of differing
cultures and beliefs. And yet these evangelists that want to convert us all
would deny us non-Christian defenders the very rights that give them the
choice to be Christian in the first place. It is easy for such people to blame their ills on
New Age spirituality or what they might call “secular” society. It is a more
comfortable assumption than admitting that the unrest and declining
attendance within the church parishes is a reflection of the failure of some
churches to meet the needs of modern society.
Kerr Cuhulain |
Hysteria, conclusion
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e-mail: webmaster@officersofavalon.com |
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To contact us: |
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Spirituality
is not a one-size-fits-all
proposition. We all come from differing social, cultural and educational
backgrounds, and this colors our perceptions of the divine. There are many
valid spiritual paths out there and they all lead to the same place. |
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Dispatches:
Volume 2 No. 2 Eostre/Alban
Eilir/Méan Earraigh/Ostara 2007 |
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Author Kerr
Cuhulain at Spring Mysteries, Fort Flagler, WA, 1992 |
