You see there? This is what I’m talking about! This is everyone’s fight.
A Schaumburg company allegedly fired a woman, and one employee is accused of calling her a “devil worshipper” after she disclosed she practiced Wicca — a pagan religion viewed by some as witchcraft.
Hat tip to Jason.
I just gave Hayley (my 13 year old friend) a talking to for defending the right to abort with one of those annoying chain letters about rape victims and down syndrome.
I told her that if she truly did believe in a woman’s right to choose, (and she does), that defaulting to those arguments reinforces that it’s NOT okay in less dramatic, (at least on paper), circumstances. She agreed.
I think the next time I get any inaccurate shade for being a devil worsipper, perhaps rather than explaining how I’m NOT one, (because as a Wiccan AND as a Jew I don’t so much believe in satan, and would not be prone to worshipping ‘bub even if I did believe), maybe I’ll just go for it. Religious freedom is for everyone, even the asshole satan worshippers.
Might be fun.
This company should be taught a good lesson that they shall never forget.
If the community gets it’s act together this company will be exposed as the worthless bigots they are and boycot will hit the bastards where it really hurts,their wallets.
Dan, I’d like to believe the community will get it’s act together, but how many can stand up? So many Wiccans can’t even tell their own families they are witches.
My heart is breaking for this country.
A nice juicy payout on the lawsuit will make up for a lot of Wiccans who are unable to stand up. That’s what the U.S. court system is for (when it’s working)!
Sorry for hiding in a ‘mousehole, but I don’t want to cop flak for this quote that I saw on the official UK government web site today said by a real official government minister:
http://direct.gov.uk/Nl1/Newsroom/NewsroomArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=10037868&chk=TAvqGz
It is clear from the report that beliefs in ‘possession’ and ‘witchcraft’ have been a hidden problem in some parts of our society. We must act to ensure that society – including government and everyone who works with children – actively roots out the problem and tackles it effectively. […]
Crap crap crap send it all to hell and back. It’s not the belief in witchcraft that’s a problem but it’s the ABUSING CHILDREN that is the problem. Don’t root out witchcraft. Root out child abuse.
I fear that this is going to label anyone who states a belief in witchcraft as a likely child abuser. Just when you thought there might be somewhere more tolerant to move to, from talking to witches who live there, something like this pops up and slaps you in the face.
The worst part is that from what I remember of the ‘high profile’ cases mentioned, the abusers were Christian nuts, not witches or even people with much understanding of witches. The report is a bit more balanced and even notes “of those [abusers] that were recorded [about religion], the majority described themselves as Christians” so why the outrageous quote from a minister? This should be called a report into the link of child abuse and Christian beliefs! Of course, Blair-who-prays-with-Bush would never allow such a thing to see the light of day, so let’s label belief in witchcraft as the problem…
Argh!
You know, as awful as it is, these impressions don’t last. The idea of “Wiccan child abusers” is not going to stick. It’s happened a few times here and it’s always blown over. Hell, most child abusers are Christians.