Ignorant, Knee-jerk Blaming of Wiccans/Witches

Paganism, witchcraft, and Wicca as portrayed on TV, movies, and popular culture. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Practical Magic, etc. If you know of a good show or movie, you can recommend it here or discuss it with others.
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Kassandra
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Ignorant, Knee-jerk Blaming of Wiccans/Witches

Post by Kassandra »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CucbeFZ3FlQ

Nothing new, but still kind of amusing/unfortunate, not looking like it will go away anytime soon.




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Re: Ignorant, Knee-jerk Blaming of Wiccans/Witches

Post by TwilightDancer »

As long as there are monotheistic, Abrahamic religions, there will always be discrimination towards anyone that practices the craft.
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Re: Ignorant, Knee-jerk Blaming of Wiccans/Witches

Post by Lord_of_Nightmares »

TwilightDancer wrote:As long as there are monotheistic, Abrahamic religions, there will always be discrimination towards anyone that practices the craft.
As long as there are ignorant people, there will be discrimination against anyone different. (Religious or otherwise.) Abrahamic religion or not. (Indian and Africa where there is a lot of tribal superstitions that want albino parts for example.)
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Re: Ignorant, Knee-jerk Blaming of Wiccans/Witches

Post by Firebird »

Woah, I feel seasick after that ...or maybe It was a bad mushroom...lol

But seriously what was the outcome of that? ...since that was August, do they have more info? Or did they retract that statement?
I really hate it when there is some sensational story and then no follow up.

Ugh,
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Re: Ignorant, Knee-jerk Blaming of Wiccans/Witches

Post by Kassandra »

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Lady_Lilith wrote:As long as there are ignorant people, there will be discrimination against anyone different. (Religious or otherwise.) Abrahamic religion or not. (Indian and Africa where there is a lot of tribal superstitions that want albino parts for example.)
I'd say this is billboard material. :)



A Planet Plagued with Isms

Yes, as long as we continue to choose to give energy to all manner of "Isms" on this planet, there will always be prejudice, discrimination and hate crime. Along with the physical environment, I think collectively we also need to clean up our mental/spiritual environments. It starts there, and manifests outwardly from there. The oppressive attitudes and actions of monotheistic, Abrahamic religions are only the tip of a very large iceberg including...

Religionism
Sexism
Racism
Ableism
Ageism
Nationalism
Politicalism

In fact, in all fairness, I must say that I have met many individuals from the Abrahamic religions who were paradigms of kindness and open-mindedness, living self-sacrificing lives in the spirit of service-to-others. They have inspiried me, and I think they should get credit for not yielding to the tempting, ignorant holier-than-thou groupthink around them. I have also met atheists who were that way. I never throw all members of one group into the same box, and believe it to be so.

And likewise, I have met Wiccans and other pagans and magical practitioners who were judgmental, dogmatic, believed they had all the answers for everyone, and that there were no other "correct" beliefs, practices, nor paths ...but theirs. All else were wrong, unacceptable, and should under no circumstances even be discussed. I felt that I encountered this on this board at times, which is what inspired me to make this post: Pagan Fundamentalists, in hopes of stemming that tide.

So, no, all monotheistic religionists are not "all bad," and all pagans/witches are not "all good." The pagan/witchcraft community at large is anything but a dreamy, united bastion of hope, brotherhood and understanding, not by a long shot. It's just like any other (extremely) diverse group of people possessing a variety of approaches and attitudes. The spectrum could range from those who are respectful and positive regarding others, to those who are hateful and rather destructive.



Those Teaching Moments

I love how Michelle articulates her thoughts on things of a spiritual nature. She is quite erudite, but at the same time, she peppers her erudition with a sense of humor. Humor's very important, I think, especially when trying to shed light on something grossly misunderstood. Humor is the strength to be able to detach long enough to point out the ironies within serious situations. Some people are incapable of mustering a sense of humor. And that's OK.

But, there are many times when we must stop, cool our heels, take a deep breath, and realize that instances of our lives may just include impromptu "teaching moments," situations when we're the only one available to do the clarifying of some silly (and sometimes fatal) misunderstanding or another, whether we like it, or not. I say, might as well take it in stride, maybe try to squeeze in a laugh or two, if possible (and appropriate).

Yep, sometimes, we get stuck carrying the Ring 'cause there's no one else competent, or willing --or simply available at that moment, haha-- to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjAAC13al9s

This is a conversation I had with a transgender acquaintance last week, who was quite frustrated with the lack of knowledge about transgenderism he encounters around him. He used terms like cisexual, and I had to remind him, "Whoa, whoa, whoa --dude, most people haven't heard that word before, let alone even know what it means," lol. (I didn't even know, and had to look it up!) Then he calmed down and realized, "Yeah, I have had a lot of those 'teaching moments,' now that I think about it." I assured him he would have many more of them, in years to come.

I think our days would go by much more smoothly, and with a lot less wear and tear on our spirits, if we keep in mind that everybody around us isn't on the same page about every aspect of life. If you happen to find a kindred spirit here and there, on the same or a similar page as you, then great! Enjoy it, but that's merely a cherry on top, an exception. Chances are, however, that won't be a norm in your life, ever, so don't get used to it...seven billion people on a planet, with seven billion different outlooks on life, will never manage to see eye to eye on everything.

Sometimes, the best we could do in a given moment is hope to plant a seed or two of awareness. That's it. And that may entail being misunderstood, maybe even being called a few names, etc. But, if we stay calm, stand our ground with confidence and patience, rise to the occasion to take a moment to try and clarify the stereotypes and distortions we encounter, as Michelle modeled in this video, perhaps in the end we'll have done a small part in making the world that much of a better place...

...maybe.



Follow-ups

Lillith, that really is quite a horrible phenomenon, that unfortunately is on-going, and even seeming to grow in frequency. Perhaps one day I, or another one of us, will garner the stomach to make a post about such things here. There are instances when practitioners of various paths just go too, too far

Firebird, I don't know what became of that case. I stumbled upon Michelle's video just last night, and figured I'd post it. I was interested in it more for the general point she was making about the knee-jerk tendency some people have of instantly embracing their cherished, comfortable stereotypes, rather than bothering to actually do a bit of research and speak from a place of some iota of knowledge. If you do happen to follow up on this case, please do share your findings.

Peace.





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