Samantha, please blink this AWAY!

Turning the Witch-Hunter into a Hero

I saw this on WildHunt. The plot for a potential (in development) film depicts Witch-hunters as heroes:

...The protagonist is one of the last remaining witch hunters, a breed that keeps the population of witches and warlocks in check. They are about to repopulate in a major way unless he can stop them...

Jason at WildHunt rightfully comments:

...So let me get this straight, the historical figures who tortured, killed, and accused innocent men and women of being “witches” and “warlocks” are being revamped as broody anti-heroes trying to save humanity from real-live witches? What’s next? A film where heroic cops raid gay bars for the good of America? Films set in the old west where Native Americans are turned into villains again and again...?


Elizabeth Montgomery must be spinning in her grave.

Darwin and the Pythoness

No U.S. distributor for Charles Darwin movie because of fear of fundamentalists

Many of you will remember the Xtian angst that ensued when the Monty Python movie "The Life of Brian" was released in the USA. At that time, I was friendly with a married couple who ran the a 'mom & pop' size theater in my college town. They were fans of Python, and dearly wanted to show the film. But they had received a very pointed threat against them on their answering machine, if they decided to show the film. They agonized whether they should show the film. In this case, this threat of terrorism had the desired effect. One of the owners told me that although someone defacing one of their movie screens would be covered by insurance, the loss of revenue would ruin them. (This was before studio owned megaplexes dominated the market). They decided not to show the film.

Well, it looks like the factually challenged have won the day again. The 'good' news is that theater owners will not have to sweat the decision to show the film or not, as the film now has about zero chance of finding a distributor in the US. From Crooks&Liars:

...Good God, what is this country coming to?

It seems the film Creation, a major-production biopic about Charles Darwin starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, won't be seen in the United States because no distributor with the guts to stand up to the religious right in this country can be found...

The producer said:

"...The film has no distributor in America. It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the US, and it's because of what the film is about. People have been saying this is the best film they've seen all year, yet nobody in the US has picked it up.

Burn'em all, let Allah sort them out.

Iran arrests 104 "devil worshippers": report

Now, I'm assuming this warrants the death penalty:

...The Islamic Republic, which bans alcohol and narcotics, last year said it would launch a crackdown on "indecent Western-inspired movements" such as rappers and satanists...

One Inquisitor, er, I mean investigator said:

"... a Guards intelligence unit launched an investigation into the all-male group about one year ago, leading to their arrest Sunday evening..."The group's aim was to promote irreligious behavior," Hamedi, adding they had posted footage of their parties on the Internet."

Damn that Internet!

Witches burned in Kenya

Five suspected witches burnt to death in Kenya

More horrifying murderous persecution:

NAIROBI: Five elderly people suspected of practising witchcraft were burnt to death in western Kenya, police have said..."They include four women and a man in their 80's who were accused of having abducted a child," Kisii deputy police Commander Manasseh Musyoka said yesterday.


Besides the hideousness of this, I can't help but think it should give pause to all the well meaning scholarly Pagans out there who deny or trivialize the 'Burning Times'.
(thanx GreenGhost, for sending me the link)

Suspected Witch Burned Alive

Woman suspected of witchcraft burned alive

Horrifying:

...(CNN) -- A woman in rural Papua New Guinea was bound and gagged, tied to a log and set ablaze on a pile of tires this week, possibly because villagers suspected her of being a witch, police said Thursday...

Help for Accused Witches

Fund to fight 'witchcraft' abuse

From the BBC:

...In June 2005...three people were sent to prison for abusing a child they claimed was possessed by evil spirits...The child...had been stabbed, beaten and had chilli peppers rubbed in her eyes...Five years earlier eight-year-old Victoria Climbie was tortured to death - her killers attacked her in part because they believed her to be possessed...
When she died she had 128 individual injuries...

It's hard to believe that stuff sounding like it came right out of the Burning Times is happening today. But at least people in the UK are doing something about it.

(thanx to Green Ghost for the heads up)

Let's play 'Kill Hypatia'

Christian group resists local occult movement

Owners of the 'Mystic Eye' in Tupelo, Mississippi, are feeling that special flavor of Xtian love:

...members of the Knights of Columbus...a Catholic fraternal benefit and service society, discovered a Tupelo store that deals in occult books and magic supplies. Dave Palladino, one of the men, said the group felt compelled to act..."We want to let people know it's there, and it's dangerous," he said. "It's just so easy to turn our backs on certain things. I see that apathy as such a danger...."

Seems the bible-thumpers called in some special preacher to hold a seminar on the evils of Paganism and turning away from the scriptures.

Thanx to Witchvox for the tip. MoonBaby, from Mississippi, one of the posters over at Witchvox made some good comments:

...I live 20 minutes north of where the Mystic Eye is located. Unfortunately this mentality is what we have to deal with here. It is not easy trying to raise healthy pagan kids when what you teach is being counteracted even our public schools. I feel this issue is important for all pagans, and I also appreciate the support you all have shown to the Mystic Eye and our area...Please everyone keep the letters coming and please keep writing the author of the Tupelo Daily Journal...the only way we are going to be able to change anything is by showing a united front!...

What a great idea! Here's the usual suspects:

Managing Editor:
mike.tonos@djournal.com

Editorial Page Editor:
joe.rutherford@djournal.com

Religion Editor (the one who wrote the piece):
charity.gordon@djournal.com

And here's a msg from the Owners of the Mystic Eye:

...TO ALL LOCAL PAGANS WHO ARE TIRED OF CHRISTIO-FACISM:
There is a small group gathering at the store Monday 26, who plan to "visit" this nice catholic group during their "meeting". We know how much you love our store, but more so, how much you all love the right to worship and believe as YOU see fit- NOT AS THOSE IN POWER WOULD HAVE YOU TO BELIEVE. So please, come show your support! Let's stand up for our religious (or non-religious) rites. We DO have rights. But if we don't stand up for them... they will not do us any good, and we'll all have to go into hiding again - RIGHT WHERE THEY WANT YOU TO BE....


I'll UPDATE soon...

The New Burning Times

Suffer Not the Witch to Live

How does your very religious family react when they find out you are becoming a Pagan, a Wiccan, or a Witch? One of the great things at Witchvox are the personal essays. Some of them are particularly affecting, like this one, by Torren Springs.

...It happened again. It always happens, and it always happens the same way. The lack of understanding, the unwillingness to try. The conviction that the Witch is wrong. "Witchcraft is rebellion against God. So it says in the Bible."

Will I never escape it? Does it never end? Do they never relent? Live and let live, be at peace and allow others to do the same. Is this so terrible, or so terribly difficult to accept?

My father has a friend, Pastor Tim...He says something else, attempting to make me see... something. I ask him, "So, is this something like, 'do not suffer a Witch to live'?"

He smiles and almost nods... and continues smiling, as though he thinks I've finally seen the light or something. I can't stand it.

Her essay is brutal. But it's a taste of what some of us go through. I'm sure a few of our friends in the neo-agnostic movement are going through it right now.