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Pagans in public places

o7The Secret Garden Coven, a pagan group in Colorado, has come under

fire after renting the American Legion Hall in Ramah, Colo., for a

festival to be held Halloween weekend. The festival is scheduled to

include a dinner, a craft show and a midnight ritual, which organizer

Jerusha Doucette-Johnson described as lighting candles, facing in

different directions, honoring dead loved ones and giving thanks.

After word got out about the event, one woman launched a petition

drive to demand the American Legion Hall cancel the festival, and a

minister attempted to get the town’s board to stop the proceedings.

The town board refused to take a position because the city has no

legal or financial interest in the event.

Should a religious group be allowed to hold a public event in a

community, even when the residents of that community do not share its

beliefs?

f7

In our own community, there is no religious group whose beliefs

are shared by all of our residents. I rejoice that our local response

to this question is “Of course!”

Because I believe that we cannot claim liberty’s blessings and

benefits unless we take our fair share of responsibility for

liberty’s challenges, I think residents need to make their beliefs

known in their community. (This is one of the important purposes of

this column and responses to it, isn’t it?)

Personally, I would protest if someone hereabouts gave space to a

group that prioritizes evil over good. The Church of Satan, founded

in the 1960s in California by Anton LaVey -- publisher of “The

Satanic Bible” -- comes to mind; LaVey died in 1997.

God forbid that any group that advocates and witnesses to hate and

not love were to meet in our community!

(THE VERY REV’D CANON) PETER D. HAYNES

Saint Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar

As Donovan used to sing, it “must be the season of the witch.” But

given the major issues and causes, the plights and struggles, the

challenges and tests that confront humankind, does a witches’ service

measure up as a suitable matter over which religious leaders should

become exercised and townspeople should become inflamed?

To be honest, I must hereby admit that Jewish people hold services

that feature lighting candles, remembering our dear departed, facing

in different directions, and offering expressions of gratitude. Oh,

the horror of it all!

Add the fact that the Colorado gathering is intended as a

fundraiser for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and you have

the makings of a most frightening evening!

They are probably all communists, to boot.

The question under consideration -- should a religious group be

allowed to hold a public event in a community, even when its beliefs

are not shared by the citizens of that community -- might apply to my

congregation’s observance of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana.

After Services, we repair to the beach and there conduct a

centuries-old ritual of casting crumbs into the water. This ritual

symbolizes our ridding ourselves of sins and expresses the hope they

will be swallowed up in the depths of the ocean, never to reappear.

Most residents of our area do not share the belief that this

tangible act is efficacious. Should Jewish worshippers be barred from

such a practice since its beliefs are not shared by the citizens of

that community?

On Chanukah, large menorahs are placed in public settings and

their lamps are kindled in honor of a festival that the majority of

residents do not observe. Pray, what shall be done?

One resident of Ramah compared the coven to the Ku Klux Klan -- a

group that once was America’s preeminent terrorist organization and

that today is dedicated to racism and hatred, and whose flaming cross

inspires dread. Such hysteria is hardly a proportionate response to

the “threat” posed by people whose intentions are decidedly

nonviolent.

Of course, we must reckon with the very real peril that anyone who

unwittingly attends the gathering will be instantly brainwashed,

declare allegiance to the Prince of Darkness, buy a musty old book of

incantations, and ride out on a broom screaming, “I’ll get you my

pretty, and your little dog too!”

The good residents of Ramah, Colo., need not worry about the

witches casting a spell over them to deprive them of their senses.

This has already been accomplished.

One can only hope that no one in the town is named Hansel or

Gretel.

RABBI MARK S. MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

The freedom of religion is a guaranteed right in the United

States, no matter what community you live in, and so too is the right

to peaceably assemble.

It is not appropriate for public officials to condemn or ban any

organization for its religious beliefs. It is not appropriate or

legal for an individual to disrupt a lawful and peaceful meeting.

I find nothing offensive about the group’s plans or rituals. I

think the city official who closed the public meeting investigating

the complaint was correct.

I also think the people protesting, while I do not agree with

their point of view, still have the right to voice their concerns. I

find it amusing that most of the holidays associated with

Christianity were originally pagan holidays.

SENIOR PASTOR JAMES TURRELL

Center for Spiritual Discovery

Costa Mesa

Some people believe others should not have the right to express

their views. This intolerance has no place in a country founded on

freedom and made up of people of many backgrounds and traditions.

In a civil society, we seek to influence others by persuasion and

the rule of reason, not by repression. Minority views or unpopular

views are allowed. The best way to handle disagreement and

disapproval is by debate, public education and political activism.

In this situation, the minister (a Baptist) is free to give

sermons on his views about the Secret Garden Coven (a Wiccan group)

to his congregants, and he can organize a demonstration in front of

the American Legion Hall. Those who object to the Coven can send

press releases and letters to the editor, and they can distribute

fliers in front of the grocery store.

Citizens can plan an attractive event for the same night,

especially one that might appeal to young people and those who are

unaffiliated with any religious group. All these actions allow each

person, including those belonging to the Coven, to express his or her

point of view, and permit a free exchange of ideas and values.

Since the event is not being held on city property, the decision

of the town’s board not to interfere and cause unnecessary litigation

was sensible. The American Legion is a private organization devoted

to the welfare of veterans and their families.

The organizer of the event has a husband currently serving in

Iraq, and her father and grandfather are both veterans. Her husband

and parents are members of the Coven.

Those who are involved in the American Legion could consider

resigning their membership in protest. They could call for different

guidelines governing rental of the hall. Or they could help explain

to the community how the current rental policy is fair to everyone.

At our Zen Center, we have been reluctant to loan or rent our

space because we are concerned about appearing to endorse programs or

groups using our facilities.

Cults, neo-paganism, Wicca and witches, the occult, magic and

voodoo are topics that fascinate and upset people. In my class on

“Comparative Mysticism” at Cal State Fullerton, students study

current research on these subjects to dispel misconceptions, and we

explore their relationship to the experiential traditions of the

world’s major religious traditions (Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu

and Buddhist).

What is of most interest to me as a university teacher, a pastoral

counselor and a Zen teacher is how to help people pursue a spiritual

path that is healthy and constructive.

What teachings, practices, structures, leadership and actions will

best support my lifelong spiritual development, and serve the entire

human family? This is the essential question, whether answered in

conscience by the Coven, the Baptist minister, the American

Legionnaire or the Daily Pilot reader.

REV. DR. DEBORAH BARRETT

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

We are a free nation, dedicated to -- among other things -- the

right to worship whatever we desire.

Yes, a group does have the right to hold a public event in any

community. We have seen this right upheld in Jewish neighborhoods

like Skokie, Ill., when hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and

nazis decided to hold marches there. This right has been upheld by

the courts as the law of the land and defended by the American Civil

Liberties Union.

What disturbs me is that we have become a country where rights

come with no responsibility. Yes, we have the right to gamble, buy

pornography, sleep with whomever, spend our money on whatever, and

use our time in whatever fashion we wish.

We have lost a sense of community when our rights are demanded at

the expense of others. When rights are given without responsibility,

selfishness reigns, and that is bitter and destructive to a

community.

The Ku Klux Klan and nazis do have the right to march through

Jewish communities by law, whether I like it or not. So the right to

march continues to be upheld.

But do they have the right to frighten people, to intimidate, to

divide and isolate a community? No, but those things are not taken

into consideration.

It would be much better for the Ku Klux Klan to choose a

neighborhood inhabited by people they are not known to have a hatred

for. Let them march in downtown Chicago.

This is also true of the Coven. They do have the right to meet in

Ramah (or any other town). But unless they already have an

established presence (which the news articles do not mention), they

should work in the town to first build trust.

Our missionary work is done through establishing schools,

hospitals, water wells and other projects that benefit the community.

If people become curious about the God we worship, then we are

available to them. If not, they have the freedom to walk away and

still use the facilities we provided for them.

We work in Africa where a politically dominant religious group

moves into poor villages and builds schools and hospitals as well,

but the people can only use the facilities if they convert first.

This is dishonest, and not a true conversion.

A conversion only happens when the heart is involved. Perhaps if

the Coven worked on the hearts of the people first, they would have

better luck in getting approval to hold their ceremony.

SENIOR ASSOCIATE PASTOR RIC OLSEN

Harbor Trinity

Costa Mesa

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