Pagans in public places
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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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