WitchWars

Raising Some Questions...

2008-02-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

The great man Jason Pitzl-Walters over at The Wild Hunt Blog have contributed yet another question-raising post entitled

The New Anti-Paganism.

Go read it, go! Seriously, right now, drop what you're doing and click the link. It's worth your time, trust me.

Questions to ask yourself as you read this...
1) How will the general populace react to a new law which regulates religion? Will any of them consider even for half a second about the establishment clause in the Bill of Rights?

2) Will the United States Supreme Court allow this law to be passed even though it clearly goes against the establishment clause?

3) Supposing a law such as this weasels its way through the House and Senate, will we Pagans allow ourselves to be driven back underground? Or will we finally have the guts to stand together as one people in the face of those who wish to "cure" us of what they consider to be a disease?

4) Still riding on the supposition that the law is passed, who will enforce this law?

Finally, After a Decade of Waiting...

2007-05-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

FINALLY.

Now, after a decade of waiting, Wiccan soldiers who fought and died for the United States of America can be at ease, beneath our symbol of belief -- the pentacle.

And to think, the VA put up all this fuss over a five-pointed star within a circle. Why?

Well, here's my opinion. Our lovely president, Mr. Bush (the younger), once commented, "I don't believe witchcraft is a religion." There it is, folks, perfect excuse, right?

Not.

The First Amendment clearly states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

And yet, for ten years, the Department of Veterans Affairs unconstitutionally held up issuing a memorial plaque for Wiccan servicemen, with feeble excuses like:

"...We are reviewing the information and expect to make a decision within the next 30 to 45 days. A decision letter will be sent to you at that time...”

Sometime near the end of 2005, as reported in The Daily Spell:

"the National Cemetery Administration promulgated new rules for approval of "Emblems of
Belief" that now include:
1) A written request from next of kin or authorized representative
2) Letter from the recognized central head for the sponsoring organization that certifies
a) that the emblem is currently widely used and recognized as the symbol of the organization or belief system
b) that the sponsoring organization supports addition of the emblem to the list
c) that the sponsoring organization does not promote activity that is illegal or "contrary to public policy." (emphasis added)
3) A written description of:
a) how the sponsoring organization's belief/faith system is comprehensive in nature and "addresses fundamental and ultimate questions" (emphasis added), and
b) its organizational practices (such as regular services, ceremonial functions, existence of clergy, efforts at propagation, observance of holidays, or other characteristics of a "traditional
belief/faith system"). (emphasis added)
4) Information about the size and organizational structure of the organization including total number of members and the location of the congregations
5) A 3 inch circular digitized black and white representation of the requested emblem."

Anyone who does not see the complete unconstitutionality of these above "requirements" is blind as a bat. What business is it of the government to know whether a religion is "comprehensive in nature" or if it "addresses fundamental and ultimate questions"... Furthermore, what exactly would the government define as "fundamental" and "ultimate"? Oh, wait, the last time I checked, the Bill of Rights restricts the government from having anything to say regarding religion... ANY religion... So get out of the religion-pool, Gov.!

And what's more disgusting -- during this ten-year stretch, EIGHT symbols were approved, one for each on behalf of the following religious groups:

Christian and Missionary Alliance 7/02
United Church of Christ 6/13/03
Presbyterian Church, 10/9/03
Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii 3/04
Soka Gakkai Buddhist Symbol 4/21/04
Sikh Symbol 5/25/04
American Humanist Association (exact date unknown)
Muslim Star and Crescent (exact date unknown)

So the only thing I can think of, realistically, is that someone "up there" had a dish with the Wiccans. Unfortunately, we will never know for sure who the "clog" in the system really was.

It took nearly ten years, one class-action lawsuit, and a writ of mandamus from the courts until the VA finally caved.

Perseverence Pays Off. Huzzah!

Rockin' the World, One day at a time.

-Liz.

State says Nevada soldier's plaque can include Wiccan symbol

2006-09-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

September 13, 2006
By SCOTT SONNER
ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. (AP) - The widow of a Nevada soldier killed in Afghanistan a year ago won state approval Wednesday to place a Wiccan religious symbol on his memorial plaque, something the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has refused to do.

"I'm just in shock," Roberta Stewart said from her home in Fernley, about 30 miles east of Reno.

"I'm honored and ecstatic. I've been waiting a year for this," she told The Associated Press.

~~~ read more here or copy/paste the following address into your address bar: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/sep/13/091310252.html

Veterans Affairs Department Must Accommodate Wiccan Symbol

2006-07-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.au.org/site/News2?JServSessionIdr002=s2xj8e7q32.app13a&abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&id=8269&security=1002&news_iv_ctrl=1241
Veterans Affairs Department Must Accommodate Wiccan Symbol On Memorial Markers At Government Cemeteries, Says Americans United
Thursday, June 8, 2006

Americans United Asks Veterans Affairs Department To Respect Religious Diversity, Approve Pentacle For Wiccan Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

The Department of Veterans Affairs must recognize religious diversity by allowing a Wiccan symbol on the memorial marker of a soldier who died in Afghanistan, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

In a June 7 letter to R. James Nicholson, secretary of Veterans Affairs, and William F. Tuerk, under secretary for Memorial Affairs, AU requests that the widow of Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart be permitted to place a Wiccan pentacle on his marker and that the department extend that same right to other Wiccan families.

Stewart, a Wiccan, was killed in Afghanistan on Sept. 25, 2005. The Nevada resident was a highly decorated Army soldier who was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and other honors. His widow, Roberta Stewart, has repeatedly sought to have the Wiccan pentacle placed on his marker, but Veterans Affairs officials have not responded.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, called the situation outrageous.

“A brave man died in service to his country,” Lynn said. “The federal government has a duty to allow his widow to honor his chosen faith.

“Aside from the constitutional issues raised, this is a simple matter of justice and common decency,” Lynn continued. “I am hopeful the Veterans Affairs Department will do the right thing and extend full recognition to Wiccans and their families.”

Wiccans have been trying for at least nine years to persuade the National Cemetery Administration to add the pentacle to its list of approved emblems for government headstones, markers, and plaques. Most recently, the Rev. Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary in Wisconsin filed an application in January 2006, but the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Cemetery Administration have failed to act on it. A department official refused to even provide a time-frame for issuing a decision.

“The National Cemetery Administration’s failure to recognize the Wiccan Pentacle as a valid religious symbol constitutes unconstitutional discrimination against the Wiccan faith and its adherents,” wrote Aram A. Schvey, AU litigation counsel, in the letter to Nicholson and Tuerk. “Indeed, there is absolutely no legal support for the Administration’s practice of maintaining a list of officially-approved religious symbols much less its exclusion of any religious symbol from the officially provided markers for military gravesites.”

Schvey added, “Sergeant Stewart gave his life fulfilling his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, including the First Amendment protections that have allowed him and his family the freedom to worship as they choose. It is a cruel irony that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Cemetery Administration, rather than extending the thanks of a grateful nation to the family of a fallen soldier, are undermining the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom for which Sgt. Stewart fought and died.”

The letter requests that the Department of Veterans Affairs respond within 30 days to avoid litigation.

Wiccan Widow Threatens to Sue Over Memorial Plaque

2006-07-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, May 18, 2006

WASHINGTON — The widow of a Wiccan soldier killed in Afghanistan last year says after months of waiting, she is ready to take the Department of Veterans Affairs to court to get a pentacle engraved on her husband’s memorial plaque.

“I’m getting sick from the stress of all of this,” said Roberta Stewart, whose husband, Patrick, served in the Nevada National Guard. “I’m spending six hours a day on this. I just want to put it to an end.”

Full Story: http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=37253

Top Veteran Official Joins Pentacle Debate

2006-07-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2011604&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
By SCOTT SONNER
RENO, Nev. May 27, 2006 (AP)

Over the years, families have used religious symbols such as the Jewish Star of David, the Christian cross and the Islamic crescent and star to honor their loved ones on headstones and markers. For Sgt. Patrick Stewart's family, the symbol of choice was also from his religion: the Wiccan pentacle.

But of all the symbols and faiths recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Wicca and its emblem a circle around a five-pointed star are not among them.
The department is reviewing a request to include the symbol, but when a decision will come is unclear.

ABC News: Witch School Opens Doors in Midwestern Town

2006-07-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

By DURRELL DAWSON

June 30, 2006 — In the "Harry Potter" series, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sits in a mystical Scotland location, shrouded by magic that hides it from unknowing humans.

Starting next week, in the unlikeliest of places, a real witch school will open its doors to the public in a place known as the Sweet Corn Capital of the World.

After almost five years of existence on the Internet, Witch School is expected to operate under normal business hours in the town of Hoopeston, Ill., about 100 miles south of Chicago.

The school is dedicated to educating the public in Wicca, a neo-Pagan religion that incorporates nature and magic into its theology. Until now the school has existed almost entirely on the Internet.

Ed Hubbard, the school's CEO and director, was lured to Hoopeston by what have been considered to be some of the lowest real estate prices in the country.

The town is known primarily for its annual Sweet Corn Festival; its high school mascot known as the Cornjerker; and the National Sweetheart Pageant, which has produced eight Miss America winners.

The town could soon be known as a Pagan colony, after Witch School starts letting visitors utilize its ritual space, view the studio where it produces videos for the Internet, and peruse its library of religious, metaphysical and historical texts.

It's a humble beginning, Hubbard says. The school is adorned with a "Witch School" sign and has maintained a quiet presence since moving to Hoopeston in 2003. He says that with an estimated 30 new students to 50 new students registering on the Web site every day, the "cyberministry" is rapidly growing.

The school has roughly 120,000 active students who enroll in Witch School's Internet courses, which range from Druid and Celtic history to crystal and gem magic, Hubbard says. Students then take at least one test a month to stay active and can eventually become an accredited member of the clergy.

"We're really getting to be a functional community," Hubbard said of the increasing presence of Witch School online. The school is also increasing its visibility in Hoopeston.

Not-So-Warm Welcome
When Hubbard first announced plans to house Witch School in Hoopeston, population 6,000, it caused an uproar among some residents, who feared the school would bring notoriety to the central Illinois town.

In 2003 as he finalized plans to move from Chicago to Hoopeston, residents of the town and its surrounding areas mobilized, signing petitions in opposition to the school and lobbying the City Council to try to stop it.

"We did what we felt was our place to do at the time," said Pastor Steve Nelson of Hoopeston's First Baptist Church. He was one of several pastors who had held prayer meetings outside of Witch School's property.

Nelson says the people of Hoopeston are all too often reminded of the school's presence, because it occupies a former brick horse stable and it is in the middle of town near the Hoopeston Civic Center.

Still, he says he has come to accept the school as a permanent fixture and moved on, even though he doesn't approve of Wiccan beliefs.

"I just disagree with their anti-God approach and feel it's not good for our community," he said. "When given the opportunity, I would speak against it."

Witch School isn't the only Wicca-friendly business that has been lured to Hoopeston by low real estate prices.

There is a Wiccan-owned bookstore, and Catherine Novak moved her crafts and herbs shop from Virginia Beach, Va., to Hoopeston to cut back on expenses and expand Internet sales.

Novak describes her business, Beads and Botanicals, as a combination of New Age and hippie. She says that in the six months it has been open, her business in Hoopeston has suffered from a perceived connection to Witch School and Wicca.

"A lot of people in this area are nervous about new things," she said.

Novak says some of the locals balked when she offered a newsletter about herbs and jewelry-making, and others have been taken aback by the voodoo dolls she sells. She emphasizes that she also sells Christian postcards.

"I don't see any reason to promote any religion over anything else," she said. Novak says she isn't "pounding the pavement for Wicca" and considers herself pagan, a broader term that could encompass several religions, including Wicca.

A Growing Religion
According to the American Religious Identification Survey, there were approximately 134,000 Americans claiming Wicca as their religion in 2001 — up from 8,000 people in 1990.

"It's still a very small group, but it is growing," said Ariela Keysar, co-author of the book "Religion in a Free Market."

Keysar, an associate research professor at Trinity College's Public Policy and Law Program, worked on the study, which is one of the broadest surveys on religion in the United States.

Part of this growth could be attributed to the prevalence of Wiccan Web sites and portrayals of witchcraft in Hollywood movies that have been "less than negative," Hubbard said.

As for his students, he says they come from everywhere: South Africa and Croatia to Australia and Uruguay via the Internet. Witch School is not alone online.

Like Witch School, the Cherry Hill Seminary in Vermont offers pagan-related classes on the Internet. However, Kirk White, the school's president, says there are a few differences in its education.

"It poses a number of unique challenges when you're talking about one experiential-based thing like religion," he said.

The Cherry Hill Seminary is a three-year program that requires an on-campus residency to include a more hands-on approach. Still, White says he respects what the Witch School does.

Hubbard, the Witch School's director, considers his decision to move the institution to Hoopeston as an experiment in religious tolerance. Most residents of Hoopeston are at least neutral toward Wicca and Witch School, he says.

When Witch School finally opens its doors to the public on July 1, Hubbard says he won't expect a flood of visitors, though he feels it will be a step toward acceptance as Wiccans in Hoopeston.

"Three years ago the question was did we have a right to be here," he said. "Now it's can we be successful."

Wiccan Leaders call on Christians to Censure Pat Robertson and Condemn Violence

2005-08-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

America and its allies are calling on all people to end terrorism and violence as acceptable political tools worldwide. Yet here in America itself, a major Christian Leader, the Reverend Pat Robertson, has called for the assassination and murder of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. This announcement was delivered from the Christian Broadcasting Network's 700 Club television show to an international audience of millions on Tuesday, August 22. Rev. Robertson hinted that God would approve of the killing of the dictator and save the United States of billions of dollars. Such a public incitement to murder by any other religious or political leader would be called an outrage, yet we see no such action against Robertson.

Several Wiccan leaders, who have themselves been targeted by Robertson's organization, are calling on all Christians and religious people to censure Pat Robertson and publicly denounce the use of violence. Rev. Ed Hubbard of the Correllian Nativist Church states, "Pat Robertson has the ear of the president of the United States and has asked that Christians pray for the death of political leaders. He is legitimizing the use of violence against non-Christians and those who disagree with his political positions using his powerful religious pulpit. Robertson would use the CIA as the Christian Inquisition and Assassination division of the Christian Church.”

Hubbard adds, “Without a clear statement from Americans, and especially Christians, condemning this action, then we see that they accept and even approve of such violent, and potentially illegal, terrorist statements. It makes CBN no better than the Taliban and other terrorist organizations broadcasting hate. Good people should be appalled and call for Pat Robertson to be censured and even removed from such an important position. Otherwise, it won't be long before he may call on his followers to commit acts of physical violence rather than spiritual violence. It is definitely not beyond him to do so."

Pat Robertson has advocated violence and negative prayer (prayer intended to bring about the illness or death of a person) numerous times to push his religious political agenda, and calls on civil disobedience and other means to ignore laws he finds inconvenient to his own political aims-calling them contrary to the Bible. The question Americans and their allies must ask is, "How far will we accept his call for violence before we believe it? Will he call for the death of Americans in the name of God?" Only immediate censure and condemnation of such violence can assure all people that Christians are truly a loving people, otherwise they are accomplices to murder and violence.

Ed Hubbard will be presenting a seminar on Witch Wars: Attack against Our Religious Freedom at the WS Education and Leadership Conference in Albany New York, Sept.1st-4th. Rev. Ed Hubbard's presentation will also be made available online.

For more information on the online conference, go to http://www.witchschool.com/main_con.asp

Witchcraft and Wicca, The Heart of the Harry Potter Controversy

2005-07-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

http://prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prweb261778.htm

Witchcraft and Wicca, the Heart of the Harry Potter Controversy

Harry Potter has become a record breaking phenomena and is the 21st century's opening fairytale. Within the pages J.K. Rowling created a World of Wizards and Witches, and unwittingly exposed the fastest growing religion in America to hundreds of millions of people. The faith is called Wicca and its members are Witches, and it is at the core of the controversy that Hogwart's School has created.

(PRWEB) July 15, 2005 -- In 1997, a young mother wrote a book called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," and it was published. Little did she know, nor could she imagine how much the world needed Harry Potter and his wonderful story. J. K. Rowling created a phenomena that brought magic to the forefront of human thought and unwittingly reopened a new round of an ancient battle, Christianity's battle to destroy witchcraft in all its forms. Harry Potter has rekindled interest in beliefs that were already growing in the United Kingdom and United States for more than fifty years, and that belief is a faith called Wicca.

Wicca is a religion which practices as its core faith Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Wiccans practice earth friendly ways of living, believing in nature as sacred and the world as personally important and valuable to them, being an inheritance for the children even unto seven generations. They believe in fairies, spirits, Gods, Goddesses and a spiritual life which has become largely invisible to the average human around them. Wiccans believe in reincarnation and they practice all sorts of mind enhancing skills in seeking personal evolution. The Wiccan accepts visions, oracles, and prophecies are part of our life as much as fact and logic. Wiccans use magic and sciences with equal familiarity, and believe them to be one and the same. They have a world view and an inner education which changes them into a being capable of understanding and even creating wonders and miracles. Most importantly Wiccans are also known as Witches and that is the what is what makes even discussing them taboo in Western Christian society. They are biblically condemned.

The practice of Wicca has been striving to survive in Western Civilization in various forms and under various organizations and names over the centuries. The Modern practices emerged in the 1950's from the books of Gerald Gardner and soon a flow of hereditary traditions and modern converts created a movement that membership in for most of the last two millennium was worthy of being burned or killed in many imaginative ways. Fortunately reason won out and a progressive British Government, followed by other nations began to allow Wiccans protection from being persecuted for their beliefs. This was like putting a match to kindling, and the Modern Wiccan movement grew like wildfire. By the dawn of the 21st Century Wicca was the fastest growing in religion in America by many accounts. Today Wicca is a fully legal and recognized religion with full equal rights, even if they are not allowed to practice by some authorities who are acting improperly and sometimes in defiance of the Constitution.

So what does this have to do with Harry Potter? Well nothing, in the sense that it is a story created from the imagination of a young woman, and with her story she has entertained a whole world. Harry Potter has many components that are similar to Wicca, but really is a work of fiction. But it speaks well of the idea of practicing magic and according to some Christian authorities plants unacceptable thoughts about Witchcraft and the practice of things that are occult in nature in our youth. Simply put, Harry Potter is making Witches more acceptable and leading kids to practice witchcraft which will destroy them. That is the Christian line against Harry and his comrades, and why he is condemned? Harry is the devil's own, no matter how positive the story. He is being seen as the voice of the darkest occult lord and is seducing people to become Witches, and that can never be allowed.

What does this have to do with Wicca? Wicca, as a faith and practice is being greatly challenged by Christian authorities, and they are seeking every legal means to stop the Wiccan faith from ever getting a foothold in the American mainstream. In the simplest terms, the Christian preachers quote 'Never to suffer a Witch to Live' as biblical law, and are immediately faced with the Constitution and equal protection under the law. So they seek every possible tool to discredit Wiccans similar to the actions they have done to Native and Indigenous people for centuries, and seek to assure no one ever takes Witches seriously. Harry Potter breaks through that rule, and while fiction, does open the mind to the possibility of magic and that Witches might be real. So Harry Potter might kindle interest, and those interested might find out that a real Wiccan community with schools, temples, and a growing culture actually exists, that these Nature Worshipping people are not Christians and believe many things that contradict their world view. It challenges everything Christians want us to believe, and why Witchcraft in all it's form, fictional and real must be stopped by Good Christians at all costs. It's really that simple, Christians believe they have the right, they even say commanded by God, to destroy anything and anyone they call evil, and Witches are the ultimate enemy for them.

Wiccans face a future of growth, possibly emerging as the third largest religion in America in the next two decades, and a constant and continuous fight with Christian authorities to be allowed their equal and free rights. As Wiccans go about practicing their faith the biblically driven controversy will continue, and anything that professes a good word for a witch or a wizard, even lovable Harry, will find themselves at the end of two thousand year taboo, and be attacked publicly. This will be an interesting crossroads in America and will be one of the defining moments in the true meaning of religious freedoms. For the Wiccan the future is simple to see and they see that Love and Trust will always be the core of true American Freedom, and they will practice it daily. After all, America is home to the free and the brave, and that describes the true heart of Wicca.

Idiocy at its best.

2005-06-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

Here's something to chew on. A nice little brief, courtesy of findarticles.com

The president of Bob Jones University, a conservative Christian school in South Carolina, has written President George W. Bush to say his reelection shows that God has given the nation "a reprieve from the agenda of paganism."

The president of Bob Jones University, a conservative Christian school in South Carolina, has written President George W. Bush to say his reelection shows that God has given the nation "a reprieve from the agenda of paganism." Bob Jones III read his November 3 letter to students at a chapel service on the Greenville campus, and it was posted on the school's Web site. "In your reelection, God has graciously granted America--though she doesn't deserve it--a reprieve from the agenda of paganism," he said. Jones suggested that the president remove staffers who don't agree with his biblical values. "Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil," he advised, then went on to say: "You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ." President Bush was criticized for visiting the school during his campaign for president in 2000. At the time, the school had a ban on interracial dating, which it has since dropped, and was known for its belief that the pope is the Antichrist.

One paragraph is all that's needed. Nothing more to be said.

So much for the Bill of Rights.

Oh, and their thinking that the Pope's the Antichrist is rich, too.

Commencement phase, complete.

2005-06-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

Ed the Pagan has just autographed for me (a few minutes ago) a copy of his book, Witch Wars Defense Manual. Greatness; now I'll start reading it.

(Estimated Time of Completion of Reading) ETCR: Midnight, CST.

Hello, World!

2005-06-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hehehehehehehehe

Nine has arrived.

Lucky me.

Lucky you.

Witchvox.com Posted the Press release

2005-06-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

Witchvox.com picked up my latest article, advertising the witch Wars manual to journalists, and posted it to Wren's Nest as a Press Release. Thank you Wren and Fritz, and they did mark it a press release. As you know they and a lot of Pagan press picked up many prweb.com articles adn did not identify them as a press release. When my article, Christians and Pagans Agree, showed up and it was a press release, without many people realizing it, it was an ephinany to me. So Wren's Nest is improving and helping us understand data as we can.

Everyone should sponsor Witchvox.com. I mean it. Witchvox.com is one of our very best tool and network, and they do not get enough thanks. If you beleive even one word I say, then sponsor Witchvox.com, it is a voice of freedom of speech.

So I am watching the comments, and I am simply amused, bewildered, and overall happy with the response. Maybe people will find their way over to the Blog.

Blessings
Ed

Newest Article on PRWEB.Com

2005-06-01T00:57:00.000-07:00

Can be found at http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/6/emw244935.htm

Christian Evangelicals Have Declared a Culture War: Are You Prepared?

What if you were a Witch and you were told you were not an American because you are not Christian? For some today, this is what is happening as the Christian Right continues its declared culture war against the separation of Church and State, according to author Ed Hubbard. The "Witch Wars Defense Manual" offers advice on how to stand up to their psychological attacks and to stand up for your rights, no matter what your faith.

(PRWEB) June 1, 2005 -- While many Americans are becoming worried and fearful of the recent Christian Evangelical Movement's actions to consolidate political and judicial authority over the United States, some have more to fear than others. Among the Christian Conservatives stated goals is to 'wipe out Paganism in America.' This goal seeks to deny legal and Constitutional recognition of all non-biblical faiths as non-religions and corrupt.This has direct consequences to a growing faith of Wicca, whose followers are know as Wiccans and often use the word Witch to describe themselves. But Wiccans are not being silent. Author Ed Hubbard has been speaking out, and has published the book 'Witch Wars Defense Manual.' The book explains the underpinnings to the current Christian march to power, and how bad it is going to get before it is all over.

According to Hubbard, "The Christian Evangelical movement is a very powerful group, who are engaging in a psychological war against the American and global population, and seek to deny true religious freedom in favor of a community based exclusively on Judeo-Christian values as interpreted by their leaders. If we are to preserve our freedom of religion, we must acknowledge the Culture War they have declared and understand their strategies, arguments, and tactics in order to protect ourselves."

In his book 'Witch Wars," he reveals ways Pagans fight among themselves, and then explains how Christians attack Pagans and Wiccans. He lays out timelines that show how and where spiritual battles occur and a how the public can anticipate where the next conflict that Christian Evangelics plan in their continued foray in taking back America.

This book is not for the timid; it is a manual that deals with religious conflict on a psychic and spiritual level of the subliminal mind. Examples show how religious leaders use psychological warfare to battle for the heart and soul of our United States, and offers hope to preserve the freedoms we all love and cherish. In "Witch Wars Defense Manual," readers are given the tools to stand up and even disarm those who would use religion as a weapon.

Hubbard, a Wiccan Priest of the Correllian Nativist Church, has personal experience with the Christian Evangelical movement protesting his beliefs, the most famous of which is bringing the Witch School Campus in Hoopeston, Ill, in June 2003. The protests created an international news story and has been the subject of many articles, interviews, and even into studies of religious conflict resolution. In his continued fight for religious freedom, Ed Hubbard continues to live in Hoopeston, where Christians and Pagans coexist in peace today.

Copies of the "Witch Wars Defense Manual" can be purchased at www.WitchWars.com.

No Sooner Said than Proven!

2005-05-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

Why is an Indiana Judge interfering with a Divorce of two Wiccan Parents, by creating a Decree in the divorce papaers that forbids the parents from exposing their child to Non-Mainstream Religions. Neither parent asked for it adn are in fact, extremely angry about it.

What is his agenda? Why did he do it?

No one at this point is sure, but isn't it interesting.

Check out the threads over at Witchvox.com, and be horrified and not too terribly surprised.
Actual article link: http://www.witchvox.com/wren/wn_detail.html?id=13023

Also the article from yesterday, Christian evangelicals Declare Culture war itself was a bit attacked. It was supposed to run on PRWEB.com, which I paid for it's release. But 'somehow' it glitched and was never put in. It was the second time I had an incident, but they did straighten it out. It only took a day and a half. Was both cases an accident and coincidental? I hope so.

The article will be released to journalists on June 1st, and through google news and maybe Yahoo News. PRWEb.com did correct their mistake and will make good on this.

So we have it...the declared Culture War has begun to take shape. Are you ready?

Christian Evangelics have declared a Culture War! Are You prepared?

2005-05-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Christian Evangelics have declared a Culture War! Are you prepared?

What if you were a Witch and you were told you were not an American because you are not Christian? For some today, this is what is happening as the Christian Right continues it's declared Culture war against the seperation of Church and State. The Witch Wars Defense Manual offers advice on how to stand up to their psychological attacks and to stand up for your rights, no matter what your faith.

While many Americans are becoming worried and fearful of the recent Christian Evangelical Movements actions to consolidate political and judicial authority over the United States, some have more to fear than others. Among the Christian Conservative stated goals is to 'wipe out Paganism in America.' This goal seeks to deny legal and Constitutional recognition of all non-biblical faiths as non-religions and corrupt. This has direct consequences to a growing faith of Wicca, which followers are know as Wiccans and are often use the word Witch to describe themselves. But Wiccans are not being silent and author Ed Hubbard has been speaking out, and has published the book 'Witch Wars Defense Manual.' The book explains the underpinnings to the current Christian march to power, and how bad it is going to get before it is all over.

According to Hubbard, "The Christian Evangelical movement is a very powerful group, who are engaging in a psychological war against the American and Global population, and seek to deny true religious freedom in favor of a community based exclusively on Judeo-Christian values as interpreted by their leaders. If we are to preserve our Freedom of Religion, we must acknowledge the Culture War they have declared and understand their strategies, arguments, and tactics in order to protect ourselves." In his book 'Witch Wars', he reveals ways Pagans fight among themselves, and then explains how Christians attack Pagans and Wiccans. He lays out timelines that show how and where spiritual battles occur and a how the public can anticipate where the next conflict that Christian Evangelics plan in their continued foray in taking back America. This book is not for the timid, it is a manual that deals with religious conflict on a psychic and spiritual level of the subliminal mind. Examples show how religious leaders use psychological warfare to battle for the heart and soul of our United States, and offers hope to preserve the freedoms we all love and cherish. In Witch Wars Defense Manual you are given the tools to stand up and even disarm those who would use religion as a weapon against you.

Ed Hubbard, A Wiccan Priest of the Correllian Nativist Church, has personal experience with the Christian Evangelical movement protesting his beliefs, the most famous of which is bringing the Witch School Campus in Hoopeston, IL in June 2003. The protests created an international news story and has been subject to many articles, interviews, and even into studies of religious conflict resolution. In his continued fight for religious freedom, Ed Hubbard continues to live in Hoopeston, where Christians and Pagans coexist in peace today. You can buy copies of the Witch Wars Defense Manual at WitchWars.com

Theocracy Article at USAFA

2005-05-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a Article which denotes what the Christian evangelicals do when in power. The Article is Fear of a Christian theocracy isn't just liberal hysteria By Jonathan Chait http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/11727303.htm

The article is what can happen, but eventually makes the mistake of saying that the Christian Evangelical movement does not have a lot of influence, and liberals over react, but the intent by Christians becomes obvious.

Coming to Grips with the Culture War!

2005-05-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

Over the last year, the conflict has heated up and I truly accept that we are now in the midst of a Culture War. At the core of a Cultural War is the conflict over the central paradigm of thought that controls power. A cultural war calling into question in which decisions on how to control power will be allowed. The agreement by which we will be governed is the very battleground in which we fight a Culutre War.

The Culture War has been coined and declared first by the Evangelical Right, and now more mainstream sources including Businessweek. So I accept that this is the term for the high level supersymbolic third wave conflict of the new emerging civilization. We are at war inside our culture, our way of living, of believing, of earning wealth, of sharing resources, even the goals of what we want. We are being asked by the Evangelic Christian Movement to put god and Jesus back as the central paradigm, and make sure that all our beliefs agree on this. They beleive that enough followers can control the democracy and the longer they can hold it, the moer they move the country towards their goals. Chrisitan leadership has declared the Culture War is fully engaged, and we are to be some of it's tragic victims.

So it's funny for me, because I don't believe in being in a victim, I am working towards developing a strategy that makes sure Wicca is legally protected, and allow our numbers to grow. In exchange, they cry from the Pagan community is that we are commercializing Wicca. They want to be victims, underdogs, and demand their rights.
What they can't seem to understand is that they really don't have rights, rights are earned by using them, fighting for them and then protecting them.

The Evangelic Movement is the FASTEST GROWING RELIGION IN THE USA, not Wicca. Islam is outstripping Wicca as well, and secular numbers have increased faster than Wiccans. Imigration grows Hnduism, Buddism as well. Only the Catholics and Protestant Mainline traditions are losing numbers. Wicca growth is fairly modest....after all do we have 1800 Covens or groups forming this year. Nah..but we are seeing that many Evangelical Churches forming, several hundred new Mosque groupings, even Bahai and Hindu's are talking new centers. Wicca is not even close to any of that.

So I am grips with the fact a Culture War is open, the offensive has begun, and I don't know how we are going to survive it as a community. I can only hope.

New Understandings!

2005-05-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I came in direct contact with the Evangelical movement in a way I never thought possible. The Witch Wars Defense manual awakened a lot of feelings within me, a sort of cleansing clearing of old thoughts and making way for new realities. Then I got to see a draft copy of the Devil Came to Hoopeston, and while it is not distributable (I have nothing to do with it at all, it's a doctoral students project), was very important. I saw myself reflected within it as Ed the Pagan. I saw why I was seen as such a threat to the community of Hoopeston. It was an awakening of a level of understanding.

The same day I received a copy of Business Week, and it's cover story is Evangelical America, Big Business. Explosive Politics. It discusses amazing megachurches and planting 1800 new churches in the next year. Those megachurches and small planted churches, are being tailored closer and closer to a marketing ideal. Mass-customization of the Central Christian Message. Blam....I get hit again. Another understanding another lesson.

The Christians are vying to make their religion equal being an American. If you are not Christian you can't be a real American. The Evangelical movement is taking the whole concept of America Democracy and claiming it as their very own system. It is their spiritual separation system, based on religion instead of sex, color, and sexual persuasion. They believe they can defend this and make this restored to the central community. Not only do they think they can, the have the plans and structures to do so. Can any of us talk about planting 1800 covens or circles or study groups? Can any of us talk even about 100? I think we will add another 20 ourselves, that's it.

Restoration of Evangelical America, where politics and faith are not separate, but strangely in tune, because everyone else is as Christian as you are. They are fighting to become the central influence in society and that means they need to fight as hard as they can for at least one more generation. Another twelve years, and I think they can have us all. I think they re buying key influencer systems that will feed this material to an ever increasing number of Evangelical Christians.

People are making claims that I am commercializing Wicca, spreading it too far, and making it too public. Okay, so would you want to be a Pagan in any of the new 1800 church planting zones with no support. I am doing my best, and I am barely reaching any of our people really. I feel like I have barely touched the ability and depth of our community.

But a Culture War and possibly deeper has begun, and we are targets regardless of how we feel. Look to our Constitution for the primary answer....it's our only choice.

The Hammer

2005-05-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

People ask me about my personal inner experiences with the Divine. At a young age I was trained to be in love with Christ and Christ's true family, and I felt it all. I know what it is to be part of a thriving and growing congregation.

What does it mean when you really need it?

My Family Life was coming apart at 13. I was in High School, and my little cell of domestic torture and tranquility, was at least stable. By the time I was 14, my life would be plunged literally into hell. It was a breath taking experience, and it was Pastor Bakke that pushed me in.

I graduated Eighth Grade, and heading to High School. My summer expanded with summer camp and working in evangelical camp in Rockford with Brian Bakke and his Cousin. Then a fire at my house, then an appendectomy. High School came and I entered Catholic High School.

My entire understanding of Christ exploded, and I could not understand how different Christianity could be and is. My Grandparents were proud of me.....Then Grandpa died, and mom and dad broke up. Mom moved in with a Lesbian, and I was eventually moved to a new house and a new school.

I asked Pastor Bakke to help, and in the end he did something incredible. He said I should find a church in my new neighborhood and that he couldn't help me anymore. My best friend Brian said he was busy and that he didn't have time for the Rock Club and that it was time to close it down. So it was then that cold afternoon on sunday that they dropped me off, hammering my emotions, literally exiled from all I ever knew, with years of rock samples and my bible.

So here I was on the brink of living hell, and my pastor pushed me in. My whole life for the church, for him, all to be cast aside because my mom moved in with a Lesbian and my pastor could not handle it. The man who would eventually save whole cities in Christ's name cast me out of his sight. And I did nothing wrong.

So now I was rejected by the Baptists, and the Catholics too, and my parents broken, granpa dead and grandma dieing. The hammer struck, and the world shattered.

Next: Enter Stage Left: Satan

Can eBay Help Build a Pagan College?

2005-05-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

Can eBay Help Build a Pagan College?

Wiccans of the Correllian Nativist Church are forming a Theological College to open this fall. In order to help raise funds they are turning to eBay as their place to sell their ideas, in electronic form.

(PRWEB) May 19, 2005 -- Wicca and Paganism is growing so quickly in the United States that a demand for trained teachers is rising exponentially. Yes, in America, there is a growing new career by becoming a Witch. While apprenticing is still the primary way of training a young Witch, some 21st century Wiccans are updating with creating Correllian College, with it's major campus in Albany, New York.

But what does that do with eBay?
"eBay is the perfect place to reach millions of people" says Witch School Director Ed Hubbard, "and this is where everybody eventually looks for information as well as products. By using eBay to help us raise funds, we have the larger benefit of providing public information inherent in selling on eBay. Simply put we can reach more people who share our interest faster than ever before. Our listings allow us to really be part of the world economy". Witch School sells books and even a unique .pdf to college supporters through it's online eBay store.

Why a Pagan College?
"The need is acute, we need trained educators and clergy, now more than ever before." Davron Michaels, Director of the Correllian College Project, points out. "We have a growing number of people who are looking for answers, and their education is leaving them unable to cope with the world they feel should be living in. We have a highly educated membership and we are focusing on the fact most traditional education systems are becoming increasingly hostile to Pagan ideals. So the need is apparent and the demand is now, we need to have a place where we will be able to learn and build knowledge. We need our own college. We need it right now. Tommorow will definitely be to late."

So there you have it, Wicca, America's fastest growing religion is turning to the eBay, the world's fastest growing marketplace, to help build a Pagan College.

Ebay Auction Listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6532227117

Contact for Correllian College:

Davron Michaels
Correllian.org
e-mail protected from spam bots
Ph: 518-459-7845
Address: 219 N. Whitehall Rd,
Albany New York 12209

Contact for Witch School:
Ed Hubbard
witchschool.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
Ph: 217-283-4360
Address: 112 W. Main Street
Hoopeston, Il 60942

Why Pastor Bakke Gave me a Blue Print

2005-05-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

In my life as a young Christian, I spent many a day in Church doing something. Pastor Bakke kept us busy, and we were a young congregation and it was fun. We were also very serious evangelists for Christ. We spent a lot of time talking to people outside our church.

Ray Bakke, when I was 8 years old, talked about the Evil of Ouija Board, and How witches were going to take over the United States. A bit fantastic but lurid details about the nature of witches, who were making news a little.

Then when I was 13 he laid out a day, right before I was baptized, how witches were moving into society, and how they were going to infiltrate society. From Kits like the Ouija board, to shows on Television that popularized it, to the idea that they would form communities in rural areas. His warnings were pure gold, a society laid out to venerate the world and it's base physical nature. These people he warned claimed to be nature worshippers but were Satanists all the same.

Yep you caught that...small w for witches, big S for Satanism. But that is how Pastor Bakke taught. But the story he laid out was beautiful and for me it echoed in my heart. Pastor Bakke looked Straight at me, it was like he was telling my future. It was like telling me that I was a Witch in disguise. That I was in fact a Witch, and yet it was such a powerful feeling that my life twisted out of control within a year. My faith was finally settled, God wanted me to be a Witch Missionary. So with Jesus in my heart, I was going to be a Missionary to Witches. So I set out to learn Witchcraft.

Bible, The Pastor, and Occult Studies became the anvil of my life.

Next up the Hammer.

Kansas seeks to redefine science, remember the goal

2005-05-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

On Wren Nest, the Story Kansas seeks to redefine Science
http://www.witchvox.com/wren/wn_detail.html?id=12950

I left the following comment:

This is the test ground of changing language. We control the words and the definitions, you control the central paradigm. This is a Meta-conflict seeking to validate religion in the eyes of science. Silly or not, it is incrementally possible for them to win this battle.

What does a Pagan Education look like. We a College forming right now in Albany for this fall, and homeschoolers everywhere, the question is not what they want us taught, but what do we want to teach ourselves.

Let's start answering that question. What do we feel needs to be taught, and begin a educational counter-offensive.

It's war people and we better realize that.

Blessings
Ed
==================================================
Let me point out that the goal. The goal of most of the movement os to bring the World Church bring the Whole Gospel to the Whole World. They lament that they do not reach the other two thirds of the people. So changing education is the primary incremental metachange you create. Look at the timing and weakening allegedly of the American Education....see where complaints are.

My thought of the day.

Blessings
Ed

What the Hell Do I know about the Christian Movement

2005-05-16T00:36:00.000-07:00

People ask me all the time how I 'allegedly' know the Christian Movement. I grew up in it, in fact a prize pupil, and a I was the youngest member ever of Fairfield Baptist Church. I was a member of the Church until the betrayal. (That's a another story). Fairfield Baptist at the time also had a great phenomena going on. Ray Bakke first Church in Chicago was there. He would become instrumental in the Lausanne covenant.

But as he learned and created a global plan to evangelize Cities, I was his apprentice. Ray Bakke may know more about urban ministry than any other evangelical.He taught me everything I know, and even gave me the first hints of my Wiccan Future. Unwittingly, he helped form me into the man I am today. He was like my second father. He was and is simply brillant.

Today Bakke, 58, has served as senior associate for large cities with the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization; helped found the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE), which trains urban pastors; launched the Seminario Biblico Hispano of Chicago; and helped found Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding (EMEU).

http://cityvoices.gospelcom.net/pages/raybakke/ray_apstle.html

So when people ask me how I know about Global Evangelism, I apprenticed for my entire youth and half my teen years, with the Man who leads a global campaign that is leading the effort that will make America a Theocracy. I was his son Brian's best Sunday Friend. I learned, I memorized, and to this day it is why I know how to build the World's largest Wiccan Church, I also know why I am.

It's about Freedom. Real Freedom. It's about truth.

It's all about In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust.

But that is where I trained. Check it out. Feel free to ask.

Strange world.

But here is the Lausanne Covenant. It's dramatic.

http://www.lausanne.org/Brix?pageID=12891

Blessings
Ed

Today's Thoughts

2005-05-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

It's saturday night, and I am alone in the Witch School Hoopeston Headquarters. It's interesting as we think about the future. We are beginning the final phase to developing the Pagan College. It is a big jump and one that I am anxious to make.

In my heart, I remember what Guy Kawasaki said: 'You can be rich, you can be powerful, and you can be famous, but you won't amount to much of anything until you change the world.'

I definitely want to change the world. I want to see a Wicca emerge into the ideals of the public and influence government and society with our best wishes and thoughts. It is important, as we have a philosphy which preserves and does not destroy others.

The idea of a Pagan College is worth fighting for.

Blessings,
Ed

Wiccan Defense Manual Outlines Christian Campaign to Eliminate

2005-05-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

Wiccan Defense Manual Outlines Christian Campaign to Eliminate
Minority Religions

Who would have believed that American Christians at the beginning of
the 21st Century would be claiming to be relentlessly persecuted and
insisting the only remedy is to dismantle the separation of Church and
State? After being voted into office by a majority of Americans,
Christian Conservatives are acting as if they have a mandate to
nominate and confirm that the judiciary of the United States should
draw its members only from self-proclaimed People of Faith, who
reassert Christ as the true Lord of America.

One voice in stark contrast to this mandate is that of the Rev Ed
Hubbard. He points out in the book 'Witch Wars Defense Manual,' that
"when Christians allow men of pure faith to become judges of state
law, and believe themselves to be enforcing God's Law, people are
tortured, maimed, imprisoned, enslaved and killed as Witches, Pagans
and Heathens. It is a sobering thought to remember." As a Wiccan
Priest and a Practicing Witch, he feels that he has to protect the
freedom he has had, as well as that of his community, as Christian
Conservatives attempt to roll back progress made by minority
religions.

As Christian leaders are moving to control more and more of our
everyday life, a religious movement known as Wicca is growing at a
phenomenal rate. Wiccans are also known as Witches and are
practitioners of a natural faith that includes Witchcraft. By some
accounts Wiccans may represent 500,000 to 600,000 Americans and more
are joining daily. The difficulty for Wiccans is that Christian
ministers insist that Wiccans, members of a legally recognized
religion, would be denied all public access. They are insisting that
Wicca be eliminated and even criminalized. With such harsh attitudes
the whole concept of freedom of religion is being questioned and
tested to see if truth will hold up as our founding fathers intended.
The threat to our core freedoms is now. We must understand that the
Christian Conservatives have a very different point of view, a belief
in God and Christ, and the belief that they were appointed to Serve
God and America. You need only look at recent headlines to see this is
becoming increasingly true.

This point is illustrated by the recent speech by California Supreme
Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown as reported in the Stamford
Advocate, where she insisted that people of faith were embroiled in a
"war" against secular humanists who threatened to divorce America from
its religious roots. In her speech, she said, "There seems to have
been no time since the Civil War that this country was so bitterly
divided. It's not a shooting war, but it is a war; Brown is also a
Federal Appellate Court Judge Nominee.

Another purveyor of faith is Matthew Staver, a religious-right lawyer
who recently argued a church-state case in front of the Supreme Court,
who stated that his main purpose is to remove all separation of church
and argues, "The term `separation of church and state' is an easy
hook. People hear it, they think of the First Amendment. It's like the
line `Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,' and you think of
Muhammad Ali. But there's no separation phrase in the First Amendment
... Interpreting it that way is laughable." When you combine Brown and
Staver's attitudes toward interpreting law and religion, disaster
results.

One such disaster could be similar to the one the Fourth Circuit Court
of Appeals created by basically confirming that you can discriminate
against minority religions. They did this by reversing the lower court
decision, offering that discrimination in the selection of people to
deliver prayers at government meetings is permissible.The case in
question is over Chesterfield County, which has a policy that allows
its religious community to sign up for a list of those who can be
asked to deliver opening prayers at board of supervisors meetings, and
that only religious leaders who practice within the Judeo-Christian
tradition are allowed to pray. The policy thus permits Christians,
Jews and Muslims to offer the invocations - but excludes those from
other religions. It was already used to exclude the Wiccan Cynthia
Simpson from offering such prayer, which led to this lawsuit. If the
policy is left in place, it would exclude Wiccans, Hindus, Buddhists,
Native Americans and a number of other religious groups from being
able to participate. If the Supreme Court eventually hears the case
and reaffirms the Fourth Circuit's decision, then this means other
governmental bodies could create similar policies nationwide. Minority
religions have something to fear from the current political
environment, Wiccans more than most. Wiccans worry to what degree will
Christians go to suppress the Wiccan Faith which, at its core,
believes in our Founding Fathers vision and their work represented in
the Constitution. The Christian Conservative movement has no plan or
place for any faith other than their own. Just ask them.

In the "Witch Wars Defense Manual," Hubbard lays out the ideas,
tactics, and weapons of Religious Psychological Warfare in
understandable language. Subjects range from Wiccan Infighting to How
and Why Christians Suppress Minority Faiths, especially Wicca, and
describes in detail the Jesus Taboo that is gripping this country.
Furthermore, the Defense Manual lays out the Christian Agenda through
the year 2012, and the dark future it portends for the world. It is
today's most provocative book and one of tomorrow's biggest
controversies.

Witch Wars Defense Manual By Ed Hubbard is on Sale at

www.WitchSchool.com/supplies/witchwars.asp

###

Contact Information for Rev. Ed Hubbard:

CEO Witch School

First Director of Correllian Nativist Church, Inc.

112 W. Main Street, Hoopeston, IL 60942

Phone: 217-283-4360

First Post.....Witch Wars

2005-05-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

This is the first post of Witch Wars, the Blog site of Ed the Pagan and others who are working towards keeping Pagans free and able to compete in the psychological conflicts that fill our life.
Especially dealing with Witch wars and Christian attacks of the Pagan community.

Began on Friday the 13th, of course, while we face a time of unlimited opportunity and deep fights. Let us face them together.

Blessings
Ed