Indiana, Marrying Horses, and Dancing Naked at a Government Building

Being Wiccan or a Witch has its share of challenges; it's not an easy path by any means. Many don't understand who we are or how we worship. They think we're sex addicts, devil worshipers, or damned for eternity. We are targets of discrimination. And don't even get me started on the impressions of us from movies and television. 

But more than perhaps any other religion, people judge all Wiccans and Witches by the vocal ones who make statements to the media, like in this article. 

[SIGH]

We have some very serious battles for equal rights going on right now. You'd have to have been on an Alaskan cruise for the past few weeks to not have heard about the controversy in Indiana over "religious freedom" laws that would essentially permit discrimination by people who could refuse to serve others, such as homosexuals, citing their religious beliefs.

One Wiccan High Priest (HP) decided to look on the bright side of these laws. Despite calling them "horrible", he says that it would allow the tenets of Wicca to govern behavior in Indiana, and would provide the opportunity for Wiccans there to:

• Marry a horse ("love is the law" so "whatever we want to do with marriage we can do")

• Refuse drug tests ("natural" substances like "herbs" can be used at officially sanctioned ceremonies; the "body is a temple" that we don't have to "give a piece of")

• Dance naked on the Indiana capitol's steps under a full moon ("The Charge of the Goddess" allows this practice)

People in America (seem to) understand that there are different sects of Christianity. So when a Christian who runs an establishment says they won't serve a particular group because of their religious beliefs, we don't tar all Christians with the "bigot" brush. We seem to get that the indvidual does not speak for all Christians, but is expressing their personal spiritual beliefs, which we are free to agree or disagree with. 

Unfortunately, Wicca has not been given that luxury yet. Yes, I believe we're a growing spiritual path in the United States; I don't think we're the 5th largest, but we are growing quickly. We don't have an overall hierarchy, and many Wiccans wouldn't recognize one if we tried because our beliefs differ so much from person to person. Add all these facts to the common stereotypes of Wicca and Witchcraft, and we're just asking for trouble. 

Bottom line: People assume that this HP speaks for all Wiccans, and of course, he doesn't. 

Hubert H. Humphrey once said, "The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously." When you talk about marrying horses, what do you expect?

This situation also reminds me of a protest rally going on in Washington, DC, a number of years ago, and a protest march was underway. Way in the back, once almost all the participants had walked by, was a lone man with a sign that said FREE BANGLADESH. While I truly can't recall the reason for the rally, it definitely was NOT about Bangladesh. But there he was, carrying his sign with a group of unrelated protesters.

Indiana has changed the law, which is fantastic news. Ultimately that protects all Indiana citizens from discrimination, which I strongly support. And if I look at it from this HP's perspective, maybe his statement was strategic, that he said some of the most ridiculous things possible to show Indiana lawmakers how crazy things could get if the law actually went through. Seeing anybody dancing naked on the steps of a government building under the full moon would be pretty bizarre indeed.

In the end, though, this HP is doing essentially the same thing as the FREE BANGLADESH protester at the rally: Taking the opportunity to dive into a political issue and try to twist the conversation to a topic of his choosing. Yes, the argument could be made that this fight affects us as Wiccans and Witches, and it does in the sense that any group could be targets of discrimination. But all this article seems to do is perpetuate the idea that Wiccans and Witches are crazy, since we obviously think about marrying livestock. [headdesk]

(NOTE: For the record, the Commonwealth of Virginia has not authorized inter-species weddings, so if you're planning to marry your horse here, at least as of the date of this blog, thanks for thinking of me but I won't be able to help you out. Even if you got that far, making the case to your accountant for joint human-equine filing might be a challenge, even if the horse is wealthy and paying taxes, which wasn't an obligation for non-human mammals the last time I checked, although it might be open to debate.)

Clergy to North Miami Beach Police Department: All Lives Matter, So #usemeinstead

A friend posted a story up on his Facebook wall that I thought was totally disgusting, but had an amazing ending. 

Picture this: National Guard members show up to use a local firing range in North Miami Beach, FL. They notice that the people using the range before they did--a group of snipers from the North Miami Beach Police Department--didn't take down their targets, all of which are photos of African-American males. One of the Guard noticed that one of the photos is of her own brother. 

Needless to say, people got REALLY upset about this, and I'm right there with them. I certainly was outraged that a police department would do this. (This is likely the reason why many ranges won't even allow targets with heads or faces on them.)

But instead of getting angry, a group of priests decided to strike back in a very unique way: By submitting pictures on Twitter with the hashtag #usemeinstead. 

What I liked in particular was that the photos showcased in the article were of white ministers and priests. No matter who was on those targets, it's offensive, but to see one race or group singled out is totally and completely unacceptable. We expect more from those who enforce our laws. 

It's fantastic to see members of clergy stepping up and using social media to present a strong, positive message loudly and clearly: Black or white, clergy or layperson, all lives matter. 

Shame on You, Franklin County, Virginia!

I am a resident of this great Commonwealth, but there are very few things that make me more angry than when people in power deny rights to others because of their own biases. 

This is one of a number of articles on this topic, but here is the bottom line: A couple in Franklin County, VA, went to the county courthouse to be married, only to be told by a court-appointed officiant--yes, someone paid by the county to marry people--that he wouldn't marry them because neither of them believe in God. 

You'd think with a plot line like this one, it would have appeared in the Onion, right? WRONG. 

Sadly, this really happened. A county official denied the right of marriage to two people who legally have the right to do so because of the official's religious beliefs. What makes it worse is that the officiant originally agreed to marry them, but only at his church and not in the courthouse. And then he refused to marry them. SUCH BULLSHIT! 

The couple contacted the county clerk, who was stunned, and the clerk asked the couple to contact the judge who appointed said officiant. The judge did not see any problem with the officiant's behavior. Luckily, the county courthouse has a second officiant who has no hangups with agnostics, and the couple will be married in the next few weeks. 

What is scary about this whole incident is the simple fact that the officiant said the couple "did not have the right" to be married because they did not believe in God. The couple recorded the officiant saying it, so while not everything you read on the Internet is true, they've got this on tape. Smart move on the part of the couple, actually. 

Every person has a right to marry if they choose. Here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, homosexuals hopefully will be able to marry soon, but it is not legal yet. That aside, however, if you are unmarried, divorced, or widowed, and you want to marry someone, and obtain a license to marry that person, then the county should have no trouble performing a civil ceremony. 

What does this mean for non-Christians? Well, I would be hesitant working with the Franklin County Courthouse on anything, and I'm very glad I don't live there, because I wouldn't want to face the discrimination that this couple had to deal with. And we're not just talking about Witches or Wiccans, folks, or even Pagans of any kind. There are plenty of non-Christians out there. 

I had the same reaction to this story as I did when I heard that pharmacists can choose to not fill prescriptions for  birth control or the morning-after pill. If that's how you feel, then perhaps this isn't the right career for you. It's easy to say "find another officiant" or "find another pharmacist", but if people don't speak up, then these people will continue to get away with bigotry. 

And what about the judge, who believes this kind of behavior should be tolerated? Would anyone who is not Christian want to go before his court and trust that they would not be discriminated against? We don't have any evidence of bigotry on his part, of course. But could you trust his judgment if he allows discrimination to occur in his jurisdiction? I don't think I would. 

There is a simple solution to this problem: Both the officiant and the judge should be removed. There's no place for bigotry in any government--municipal, county, state, or Federal. 

I hope the citizens of Franklin County send a strong message by not re-electing this particular judge, and by firing this officiant.