American Pentecostals are turning a blind eye to persecution of child ‘witches” in Africa.  While the American branches of these churches are content to torment gays and single mothers, their African compatriots are more ambitious, fomenting rage against innocent children in honest, old-fashioned witch hunting style.

Pious followers are told their own children are the source of their misfortunes, setting off mass panics.  The children branded as little witches become at best outcasts from society- neglected, abused.  At worst, they’re subjected to horrific exorcisms- tortured, maimed, and even killed.  The sort of criminal behaviors that mark a child witch?  Ill-health, crying in the night, disobedience.

What do the American branches of these churches do? They invite these sneering monsters to give “inspirational” lectures, put them up in fancy hotels, make reciprocal visits to Africa in the name of Christian brotherhood, and never consider criticizing their gleefully sociopathic fellows, and the media refuses to criticize them for it.

 

Related:  Stepping Stones Nigeria: Raises awareness and aids victims of witch hunts

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Is a revolution brewing in Saudi Arabia?  The Jerusalem Post reports an incident where the morality police got a little more than they expected:

When a Saudi religious policeman sauntered about an amusement park in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Al-Mubarraz looking for unmarried couples illegally socializing, he probably wasn’t expecting much opposition.

But when he approached a young, 20-something couple meandering through the park together, he received an unprecedented whooping.

A member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Saudi religious police known locally as the Hai’a, asked the couple to confirm their identities and relationship to one another, as it is a crime in Saudi Arabia for unmarried men and women to mix.

For unknown reasons, the young man collapsed upon being questioned by the cop.

According to the Saudi daily Okaz, the woman then allegedly laid into the religious policeman, punching him repeatedly, and leaving him to be taken to the hospital with bruises across his body and face.

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This month’s National Geographic has a great article on Mexico’s devotion to saints- canonical and not:

“In California and Central America as well, young people light candles in La Santa Muerte’s honor and tattoo her image on their skin in sizes small to extra large. A few years ago the Interior Ministry revoked its registration of La Santa Muerte as a legitimate religion, to no effect. Newsstands sell instructional videos showing how to pray to the saint, and even chic intellectuals are beginning to say that the cult is muy auténtico.”

Don’t miss the Gallery.

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It’s hardly news to anyone here that George  Rekers,  co-founder of the Family Research Council and one of it’s loudest anti-gay voices, was caught vacationing with a male prostitute.  First he claimed he hired the Rentboy.com escort for help carrying luggage, but in a Facebook exchange, he later claimed to be emulating Jesus:

“My hero is Jesus Christ who loves even the culturally despised people, including sexual sinners and prostitutes. Like Jesus Christ, I deliberately spend time with sinners with the loving goal to try to help them.”

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Anyone who’s read the Golden Compass has a pretty good idea how author Phillip Pullman feels about the Catholic Church.  Pullman’s personal beliefs have been more opaque, at least before now, with the publication of his newest work, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

Slate reviews the book, which is describes as strange, although given they don’t recognize Pullman’s rewrite of Mathew’s exhortation to his followers to be modest in their displays of belief, I’m not sure I would put much stock in that opinion without picking up a copy first.  It looks to me like Pullman’s making an obvious distinction between the wise, humble Christ of the bible, and the ostentatious Christ of the Church:

“Think of the advantages if there were a body of believers, a structure, an organization already in place. I can see it so clearly, Jesus. … Groups of families worshiping together with a priest in every village and town, an association of local groups under the direction and guidance of a wise elder in the region, the regional leaders all answering to the authority of one supreme director, a kind of regent of God on earth. …Won’t you join me in this? Won’t you be a part of this most wonderful work and help bring the Kingdom of God to earth?”

 

 

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It’s been a tumultuous year, as far as the right to free expression is concerned.  In the US, we’re self-censoring out of fear of (possibly imaginary) violence.  In the UK, attempts to be non-offensive are of themselves so offensive it’s mind-boggling.

The Telegraph reports today that a Baptist preacher has been arrested for doing what Baptist preachers are often found doing- loudly and publicly proclaiming their religious beliefs to everyone within earshot.  What’s different in this case is that rather than inspiring some bemused head shaking or street debate, the attempt ended in an arrest, under a law designed to combat post-sports brawling and similar foolishness.

If one can now be arrested for voicing one’s opinions publicly any time those opinions cause offense, I can imagine the jails will become very full.

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National Geographics’ Ker Than weighs in on Evangelical Christianity’s propensity for “discovering” biblical treasures over and over again:

“I don’t know of any expedition that ever went looking for the ark and didn’t find it,” said Paul Zimansky, an archaeologist specializing in the Middle East at Stony Brook University in New York State.

Turkish and Chinese explorers from a group called Noah’s Ark Ministries International made the latest discovery claim Monday in Hong Kong, where the group is based.

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Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard’s disdain for the psychiatric profession is well known.  What’s not so obvious is how Hubbard came to despise those whose ideas he liberally borrowed from.

If you talk to a Scientologist about their loathing for the psychiatric profession, they might talk about the over-use of psychotropic drugs or share their discomfort with electroshock therapy or the profession’s history of questionable ‘therapies,’ lobotomies, et al.  This seems reasonable, to a degree.  Looking further, one sees assertions that psychiatric “abuses” in their eyes are not aberrations, but part of a large conspiracy within the profession.

This rabbit hole goes pretty deep.  Really deep.  Hubbard’s troubles with Psychiatry began when he first sought approval for his first draft of Dianetics, which he submitted to the  American Journal of Psychiatry.  The article was roundly rejected, and eventually published in Astounding Science Fiction, and was met with derision from the Psychiatric community.

As Hubbard’s paranoia increased, so did his suspicion of psychiatry.  At some point, he decided, they must be hiding some agenda (a belief Hubbard eventually applied to anyone who opposed his ideas).  Scientology claims Hubbard “researched” psychiatry, discovering “abuses,” but Hubbard eventually worked psychiatry into a bizarre cosmological fantasy whereby ancient psychiatrists aided and abetted the enslavement of the souls that would eventually become the human race.  So when the question comes up why Scientologists despise an entire profession, this is why- they literally believe an entire branch of medicine is an oppressive, demonic force for evil, which is part of a yet larger conspiracy to enslave humanity.

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Arkansas Judge David Burnett is probably best known for presiding over the trials of Jessie Misskelley Jr., Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin. The three teens are collectively known as the “West Memphis Three,” whose sensational trials for Satanic ritual murder ended in convictions for all three without a shred of physical evidence presented.

The judge, who repeatedly ignored evidence of jury and prosecutorial misconduct during the trial, continued to ignore compelling evidence of innocence, even handing down rulings from retirement.  One particularly disturbing move was to ignore evidence that the jury foreman in the Echols/Baldwin trial engaged in serious misconduct:

One exhibit submitted to Burnett last year may prove particularly potent. That is an affidavit by Little Rock attorney Lloyd  Warford in which Warford states that Kent Arnold, the jury foreman at the Echols-Baldwin trials, disobeyed Burnett’s order not to discuss the case outside of court.

Warford also claims that the foreman told him that he persuaded the jury to consider information that the prosecutors were not allowed to introduce.

Burnett sealed Warford’s affidavit and took no action on it. It remained sealed until recently, when I was allowed to view it at the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Other evidence ignored or dismissed by Judge Burnett included evidence of improper representation, exculpatory DNA evidence, and evidence that expert testimony given at trial was flawed, misrepresented, and incompetent.  Ironically, it is Burnett’s poor judgment which may allow the defendants to appeal their case to the Arkansas Supreme Court- as

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The Westboro Baptist “church” clearly revels in its “most hated family” status, but might it be using the fury it generates to its advantage? Rota Farlow of Florida’s St. Petersburg Times examines the possibility that the controversial group may be provoking litigation to fund its frantic tour schedule:

The father of a Pennsylvania Marine killed in Iraq sued Westboro in 2006 over its protest at his son’s funeral. The father was ordered by an appeals court to pay Westboro $16,510 in costs, ruling that it had a First Amendment right to demonstrate.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear an appeal of that decision this fall, a potential bellwether case on First Amendment rights.

The U.S. Northern Command, monitoring protests at military bases, issued an advisory about Westboro in 2005 saying church funding came from litigation.

“This group does employ passive-aggressive techniques intended to provoke a hostile response or offensive reaction from others,” Northern Command wrote. “This group will then file a civil action in an effort to reach a settlement in order to fund future activities.”

The response from Shirley Phelps-Roper, the Church’s defacto leader, claims a less credible source of funds:

Phelps-Roper said the money comes from God. She said, “He loans us what we need.”

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Tashima Crudup is a former foster child whose positive experience led her to want to foster children herself.  After clearing screening and completing fifty hours of courses, her application was rejected.  Nevertheless, Tashima’s application was ultimately rejected, because she admitted during an interview that as a practicing Muslim, she does not keep pork in the house:

“concerns raised by statements made during the home study interview, specifically your explicit request to prohibit pork products within your home environment.”

“Although we respect your personal/religious views and practices, this agency must above all ensure that the religious, cultural and personal rights of each foster child placed in our care are upheld,” the letter said. “Your statement indicates that there could potentially be a discrepancy between your expectations and the needs and personal views of a child placed in your care.”

 

Were this reasoning to be taken to its natural conclusion, the necessity of pork-filled homes for foster children would bar Muslims, Jews, and Vegetarians alike from participating in a system that already suffers a dearth of willing and capable volunteers.

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I thought you guys might enjoy this.  Reddit user Geekweed is a former Mormon and BYU student who spent Friday afternoon describing his experiences in the LDS church:

“You get naked with a sheet over you, an old person touches you with some oil. You get new underwear that goes to your knees and has small embroideries. You are given a biblical name. Then you sit down and watch a movie together that reenacts Adam and Eve. throughout the show you’ll change some of your clothing around and chant with hand movements.”

 

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The irony of this is astounding.  Apparently “multifaith” doesn’t mean what I thought it meant:

“The South African Pagan Council says its being ignored by the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM), National Religious Leaders Forum (NRLF) and National Interfaith Leaders Council (NILC). An Asatruar and Strega argue for the inclusion of Paganism in national multi-faith organizations.”

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In traditional Gardnerian Wicca, Skyclad is a poetic way to refer to nudity (“clad” means “dressed.”). Some Gardnerian and related traditions carry on many or all of their magical operations skyclad. Some believe this allows magical energy to ‘flow’ unrestricted by clothing. Often it is believed a more honest way to appear before the Gods, or to provide a psychological demarcation between ordinary and magical consciousness, which is also accomplished with robes and ritual dress in other traditions.

While the term itself was probably devised for the practice by Gardner (the term itself predates him but was unrelated to witchcraft), the idea of witches performing rituals in the nude stems from ancient popular superstition and may have some historical basis.

A renaissance era depiction of witches disrobing in preperation for a Sabbat

Related Terms:

• Ostara
• Pentacle
• Handfasting
• Drawing down the Moon

   

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Bruce Waltke is a well known and respected evangelical theologian and Old Testament scholar, who just happens to believe that the rejection of science- specifically, the rejection of evolution- could harm the future of Christianity.  In a video posted on the website of the BioLogos Foundation, a group that promotes scientific understanding in the religious community, Waltke is reported to have said:

“If the data is overwhelmingly in favor of evolution, to deny that reality will make us a cult … some odd group that is not really interacting with the world. And rightly so, because we are not using our gifts and trusting God’s Providence that brought us to this point of our awareness.”

While most of us would think that makes perfect sense, Waltke’s comments didn’t go over well with his employer, the Reformed Theological Seminary, who forced the professor’s resignation.

 

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Despite the silly name, Life’s gallery of Aleister Crowley portraits is surprisingly respectful, and filled with interesting facts, even if the photos are nothing new.  It’s (maybe or maybe not) coincidentally just in time for a certain Thelemic holiday.

See also:

Aleister Crowley FAQ

Aleister Crowley Gallery

 

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According to Bernando Alvarez, Bishop of Tenerife, ‘There are 13 year old adolescents who are under age and who are perfectly in agreement with, and what’s more wanting it, and if you are careless they will even provoke you.’

 

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