Now, I’m not saying that court rulings are always perfect – members of minority religions are well aware of how entrenched assumptions can affect even jurists’ ideas of what is reasonable or unreasonable. But each and every point that the bishops present as an example of infringement of religious liberty has been ruled against on substantive grounds based in the First Amendment. In short, religious institutions that accept taxpayer dollars have to abide by the same nondiscrimination laws that other institutions do. And religious employers have to provide the same benefits for their employees that nonreligious employers do.

This reinforces my point that it’s true this isn’t a “Catholic” matter – it’s a matter of religions with institutions. I have tremendous respect for the Catholic history and tradition of providing social services, including health care, child care, and education. If they see providing those as a fundamental part of practicing their faith, so much the better, and they should absolutely be allowed to do so. That’s guaranteed in the Free Exercise Clause. But the Establishment Clause still applies: the government is prohibited from supporting religion, even if that religion is trying to do good things. When Catholics insist that they won’t let gay couples adopt, or provide reproductive health care to victims of sex trafficking, they are practicing their religion – and enforcing it on others who didn’t voluntarily choose to be subject to Catholic dictates! That’s pretty much the definition of an establishment of religion, and the state has no business funding it.

As the “Fortnight of Freedom” approaches, Pagans should be aware of the tendentious arguments and ahistorical reasoning being used here; we can easily refute these “talking points” by having facts handy. Most importantly, we need to make it clear that these organizations are not being denied the opportunity to help others, just the chance to discriminate against others while receiving taxpayer funding.

The pagans

Reading the pagan report on the Declaration of Dependence prayer guide was very
revealing. We know that satan rules his subjects through fear and it was very evident
just how totally dominated they are by fear. Father, Your word says that perfect
love casts out fear. We pray that everyone held captive by structures of darkness
will be filled with the perfect love of the Father, let the pagan community meet
Your children that are so filled with Your love that the chains of darkness blinding
the minds and hearts will melt away.

Yup, the Satanic Panic is alive and well in some corners of the country. Since I wrote that “report,” I’m rather bewildered about what fear he’s referring to – unless you count fear of extremely fundamentalist would-be theocrats. They also seem to think we haven’t met any Christians, or perhaps any Real Christians by their definition. At any rate, I think it’s interesting that we seem to have caught their attention. It certainly puts their previous comment about our “help” with DC 40 in a different light: either they have actually achieved sarcasm, or they think they can turn our efforts to their own ends. How do we make sure that doesn’t happen?

I do not want this to turn into an escalating set of prayer/magic wars. I, personally, am glad that Pagans are aware of the Chicago 50 initiative but think it’s okay that we’re not organizing on a national scale like we did in response to DC 40. (Among other things, in DC 40 they were specifically attacking a goddess I and others pay homage to, and nothing specific like that is going on in this round.) I think this indicates how we ought to shift our efforts to include more and more mundane approaches.

As the election cycle progresses, we have more opportunities – and more important reasons! – to speak out and act politically against the NAR and those who would be their political catspaws. Since Romney seems to have clinched the nomination and he doesn’t have direct ties to these groups, their shenanigans don’t reflect as badly on him right now. But as conservatives and evangelicals decide whether or not to rally to Romney, we should keep an eye out for both overt and “dog whistle” references to philosophies like that of the NAR. Getting the word out about the true intent of these groups – and others that are less explicit but equally fundamentalist – is vital to keeping our hard-won freedoms in all sorts of areas.

In particular, we recommend to our brother bishops that we focus “all the energies the Catholic community can muster” in a special way this coming summer. As pastors of the flock, our privileged task is to lead the Christian faithful in prayer.

Both our civil year and liturgical year point us on various occasions to our heritage of freedom. This year, we propose a special “fortnight for freedom,” in which bishops in their own dioceses might arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending our first freedom. Our Catholic institutions also could be encouraged to do the same, especially in cooperation with other Christians, Jews, people of other faiths, and indeed, all who wish to defend our most cherished freedom.

We suggest that the fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, be dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom”—a great hymn of prayer for our country.

The statement concludes:

To all our fellow Catholics, we urge an intensification of your prayers and fasting for a new birth of freedom in our beloved country. We invite you to join us in an urgent prayer for religious liberty.

Almighty God, Father of all nations,
For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1).
We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty,
the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good.
Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties;
By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land.
We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness,
and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The good news is that this isn’t a form of malefic magic, per se. The bishops aren’t encouraging people to pray that Catholicism becomes the law of the land. The bad news is that they are asking people to pray – and to take political action! – that the law of the land be applied in ways that allow Catholic institutions to take public funding without adhering to public laws that they disagree with.

The bishops argue that they are trying to defend religious liberty for people of all faiths, but their most important point is not about individuals:

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America issued a statement about the administration’s contraception and sterilization mandate that captured exactly the danger that we face:

Most troubling, is the Administration’s underlying rationale for its decision, which appears to be a view that if a religious entity is not insular, but engaged with broader society, it loses its “religious” character and liberties. Many faiths firmly believe in being open to and engaged with broader society and fellow citizens of other faiths. The Administration’s ruling makes the price of such an outward approach the violation of an organization’s religious principles. This is deeply disappointing.5

This is not a Catholic issue. This is not a Jewish issue. This is not an Orthodox, Mormon, or Muslim issue. It is an American issue.

But it may be an issue for religions that have institutions.

The crux of their argument is that the law should respect the institution over and above the individuals that institution serves. They want institutions to be able to deny health care to women, or insurance coverage to women, and services such as adoptions to LGBT people, among other things.

Watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State argues that it’s not Catholics’ religious liberty that is at stake. Executive director Barry Lynn said:

“When taxpayers are forced to support sectarian agencies that refuse to meet the needs of women, gay people and other communities,” concluded Lynn, “that’s a real violation of religious liberty. Public funds should go only to agencies that serve the public interest. If the bishops want to run sectarian social services, they ought to collect the money from their parishioners, not the taxpayers.”

What do you think?

This is not as obviously an attack on separation of church and state (although they still want to destroy that), but I find it offensive in a different way. The proclaimed “target” of this prayer war is corruption. Their materials equate corruption with both gang involvement (rather than seeing it as a problem of social justice) and political corruption such as bribes. Their implicit message is that only Christianity can ameliorate these problems. In other words, the only way to be a good person – an uncorrupt official, a peaceful member of society – is to be Christian. It is yet another way of saying that they want us to cease to exist.

Finally, their email message to supporters includes another note “to our pagan friends.” (sic)

To our pagan friends, thank you for your help in the DC40 initiative.
We encourage you to again download the prayer guide and pray for the end of corruption
in Chicago. May the Lord of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, possessor of heaven and earth,
fill you with knowledge of Himself,
and bring you into the fullness of eternal truth so you can fulfill
the destiny for which you were created.

I’m going to assume that the bit about “helping” with DC 40 is sarcasm, although these folks have previously seemed to be singularly blind to such nuances of language. I, for one, am going to work against corruption, for social justice, and for our secular political system, but not in any way that they would see as help.

What are you going to do?

A couple of weeks ago I released a paper on NAR beliefs. My main point was that the movement as a whole has no official doctrinal statement, but many of the groups affiliated with NAR have developed their own. … One positive advance of the NAR is that we no longer call church councils in order to determine what our doctrinal positions should be. … theological statements are human in origin, and thereby subject to flaw. This includes statements written by different members of NAR.

He illustrates his position with descriptions of internecine strife in early Christianity over the divinity of Jesus and the negative effects it had on the church, as well as the fact that present-day leaders can change their minds, implying that arguing over differences in belief is pointless and ultimately harmful. He goes on to argue that most present-day Christians agree with him:

Please allow me to summarize my thoughts here with a quote from my book, Changing Church. In it, I have a chapter, “From a Heavy Doctrinal Load to a Lighter Load,” and here is my conclusion:

“A whole new generation of believers in the Second Apostolic Age is not nearly as interested in the fine points and details of theology as past generations have been. Few people choose their church these days because of what it believes about open theology or Calvinism or modes of baptism or church government or the pretribulation rapture or sanctification or predestination or the forensic theory of justification. If God is our Father and if we are saved through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross and if we are daily filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, I am convinced we can find a way to work together despite our theological differences” (p. 161).

To me, this looks like an attempt by the NAR – now that they admit their existence – to defuse the concerns of potential opponents by sidestepping the issue of specific beliefs (of which they have quite a few, although they don’t all agree on all of them). This looks to me like an attempt to present the NAR as a form of “big-tent” Christianity, much as the Republican party at one point tried to build big-tent conservatism as its base.

I’ll have more reflections later on what this strategy might win them in the near term even if it ultimately founders when they are confronted with their own words about their specific beliefs and the importance of orthodoxy.

(Dear all: It’s been one thing after another – illness, family emergency, more illness – since Samhain. I’ll be getting HC’s blog back on track over the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience.)

Katrina Messenger and Caroline Kenner led a beautiful ritual on Sunday. After everyone’s attention was centered with the ringing of a singing bowl, Caroline opened the event, and Katrina spoke about how important it was to honor the legacy of the Queen of Heaven. Since the anti-Pagan groups appropriated that title as the name of their putative demon, Katrina emphasized that the historical goddess Inanna, who held that title, would be a centerpiece of our ritual. Maria led a grounding exercise, Eridanus cast a circle and called the quarters, and then invocations began.

Caroline invoked the ancestors, including Founding Fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin (and his sense of humor), and others. She sang an ancestor song, and then Katrina led a powerful chant invoking Inanna and sang a descant over it. With that, several people offered prayers from a wide variety of traditions. I’m working from memory for these brief descriptions, so those who spoke, please forgive and correct my mistakes.

Alida DeCoster, a Unitarian Universalist minister, spoke movingly about how important it is that we not “fence the Spirit in,” and acknowledged Spirit as Mother who gives birth to us. I prayed to Columbia, invoking her to protect separation of church and state. Gwendolyn offered a piece of her daily practice calling on Hecate and Athena to help all involved in government not be biased by bigotry. Caroline prayed to Freya as a powerful mother, and Carly Lesser read a psalm to the Shekhinah. David Dashifen Kees prayed to Ma’at, who weighs our hearts, and Caroline told the story of Durga slaying the buffalo demon and invited her to come to DC to fight for what is right. Gryffyn prayed to Hecate, and Firesong spoke about Yemaya as the mother of waters. She also led beautiful chants and songs between each prayer, keeping the energy building. Adam prayed to Ix Chel, Angela Raincatcher prayed to Brighid, and Katrina ended with another appeal to Inanna in her role as Queen of Heaven.

Led by excellent drummers, we danced a spiral dance while chanting the “Isis, Astarte…” chant, building a cone of power that Katrina shaped and released. Afterward, she declared that we would not be saying goodbye to the goddesses invoked because the point of the ritual was inviting them to DC, acknowledging that their worship happens here and will continue, thanks to our freedom of religion. The circle was opened, and everyone relaxed into a free-flowing period of music and togetherness.

I’d like to add that I know many, many people could not attend in person but wanted to be there in spirit. I felt a lot of additional energy from those of us supporting us from a distance. Thank you!

Hail Columbia:

Hail Columbia, happy land!
Hail, ye heroes, heav’n-born band,
Who fought and bled in freedom’s cause,
Who fought and bled in freedom’s cause,
And when the storm of war was gone
Enjoy’d the peace your valor won.
Let independence be our boast,
Ever mindful what it cost;
Ever grateful for the prize,
Let its altar reach the skies.

Chorus
Firm, united let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

Immortal patriots, rise once more,
Defend your rights, defend your shore!
Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
Invade the shrine where sacred lies
Of toil and blood, the well-earned prize,
While off’ring peace, sincere and just,
In Heaven’s we place a manly trust,
That truth and justice will prevail,
And every scheme of bondage fail.

Chorus
Firm, united let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

Behold the chief who now commands,
Once more to serve his country stands.
The rock on which the storm will break,
The rock on which the storm will break,
But armed in virtue, firm, and true,
His hopes are fixed on Heav’n and you.
When hope was sinking in dismay,
When glooms obscured Columbia’s day,
His steady mind, from changes free,
Resolved on death or liberty.

Chorus
Firm, united let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

Sound, sound the trump of fame,
Let Washington’s great name
Ring through the world with loud applause,
Ring through the world with loud applause,
Let ev’ry clime to freedom dear,
Listen with a joyful ear,
With equal skill, with God-like pow’r
He governs in the fearful hour
Of horrid war, or guides with ease
The happier time of honest peace.

Chorus
Firm, united let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

Image of original.

Columbia, Gem of the Ocean:

O Columbia! the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of each patriot’s devotion,
A world offers homage to thee;
Thy mandates make heroes assemble,
When Liberty’s form stands in view;
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white, and blue,
When borne by the red, white, and blue,
When borne by the red, white, and blue,
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white and blue.

When war wing’d its wide desolation,
And threaten’d the land to deform,
The ark then of freedom’s foundation,
Columbia rode safe thro’ the storm;
With her garlands of vict’ry around her,
When so proudly she bore her brave crew;
With her flag proudly floating before her,
The boast of the red, white and blue,
The boast of the red, white and blue,
The boast of the red, white, and blue,
With her flag proudly floating before her,
The boast of the red, white and blue.

The Union, the Union forever,
Our glorious nation’s sweet hymn,
May the wreaths it has won never wither,
Nor the stars of its glory grow dim,
May the service united ne’er sever,

But they to their colors prove true.
The Army and Navy forever,
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue,
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue,
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue,
The Army and Navy for ever,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue.

(A slightly different third verse)

The star spangled banner bring hither,
O’er Columbia’s true sons let it wave;
May the wreaths they have won never wither,
Nor its stars cease to shine on the brave.
May thy service united ne’er sever,
But hold to the colors so true;
The army and navy forever,
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!
The army and navy forever,
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue

From the YouTube description:

On Wednesday, President Obama observed the auspicious holiday of Diwali, or festival of lights, in the East Room of the White House. The occasion marked the first time that an American President has observed the holiday.

Thank you, President Obama, for doing your part to help us all remember that this nation is made up of many different faiths, some familiar and some unfamiliar.  We here at the Hail Columbia Project would also like to wish our Hindu, Sikhs, Jain, and Buddhist friends a happy Diwali.

Silver Spring, MD, October 19^th, 2011   Priestesses and priests from the Washington, DC Pagan community will hold a Celebration of the Divine Feminine and Religious Freedom in Lafayette Square Park across from the White House on Sunday, October 30^th, 2011, as a protest to the New Apostolic Reformation’s 51-day prayer campaign targeting Pagans, Wiccans, Witches, Druids, Heathens, and other Goddess-worshipers nationwide.

The New Apostolic Reformation is a Dominionist group of Christians preaching that all feminine forms of deity are demonic.  The NAR is engaged in a 51-day campaign of imprecatory prayer to create a fundamentalist Christian theocracy in the USA.  Republican presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry are influenced by the NAR agenda.

Reverend Barry Lynn, United Church of Christ minister and executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said, “Some people think the Dominionists and the New Apostolic Reformation are a newfangled movement. I call them what they are: the Religious Right in a new gown. They’re not fooling anyone. This is the same old bunch of theocrats we’ve been dealing with for more than 40 years. It’s the same crew that believes only its narrow version of Christianity is acceptable and pleasing to God. It’s the same collection of people who believe their religion gives them the right to run everyone else’s lives.”

Rev. Lynn went on to say, “I have news for them: Wiccans and Pagans are part of the American religious mosaic, and they’re here to stay. Founding Fathers like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison gave us religious liberty – and that means religious liberty for everyone. The followers of nature-based faiths are going to use it because they don’t want to lose it. What could be more in keeping with the great American tradition?”

Katrina Messenger, a writer, teacher, blogger, poet and Washington, DC native, will be the main celebrant in Lafayette Square Park.  Ms. Messenger said,  “The methods used by the NAR and other Dominionists are founded upon hate, fear, and ignorance.  Their demonization of our Gods and Goddesses uses inflammatory language that can lead to violence and discrimination against followers of minority religions.  We have choices in how to respond to this threat to our freedom and our faiths.  Many are resorting to prayer, some to writing letters, and some to defensive strategies.  We decided to honor the Queen of Heaven, the Goddess Inanna, in a public space, and demonstrate the very freedoms the Dominionists seek to destroy.”  Ms. Messenger is the founder of Connect DC and the Reflections Mystery School in Petworth.

Event organizer Caroline Kenner is a Washington, DC-born shamanic healer and teacher who now lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.  “Nationally, many in our community are appalled by the scurrilous lies about our Goddesses spread by the New Apostolic Reformation.  We Pagans are proud American citizens entitled to all the religious freedom granted by the Founders of this country in our Constitution.  We are dismayed by the hate-filled rhetoric the New Apostolic Reformation uses, and we wish to show the public that our Goddesses are beneficent and peaceful deities.”

The event in Lafayette Square Park begins at noon and ends at 5pm on Sunday, October 30^th, Samhain eve to many Pagans, leading into one of the most holy days of the Pagan year. “Samhain, or Halloween, is the Feast of the Ancestors in some of our Pagan religions.  We will invoke the Founding Fathers and Mothers of our nation during our ceremony, along with a multitude of Goddesses from pantheons both ancient and modern.  Among our Goddesses will be Lady Liberty and Columbia, the Goddess who stands guard atop the Capitol Building,” said Ms. Kenner.  “The New Apostolic Reformation people would topple Columbia from Her pinnacle, and rename DC the District of Christ.”

There will be a number of people offering prayers during the ritual, including a Unitarian Universalist minister and celebrants from several Pagan faiths.  After the religious ceremony, there will be drumming, dancing, chanting and energy raising designed to protect people in all fifty states and DC who support freedom of religious belief and practice for everyone.  People of all faiths or none are welcome to join the event.

Sacred Space, an annual conference on metaphysics, mysticism and magick, now in its 22^nd year, is the sponsor of the celebration in Lafayette Square Park on October 30^th.  Supporting organizations include Connect DC, Reflections Mystery School and Gryphons Grove School of Shamanism.  Individual supporters include Washington, DC Pagan bloggers Hecate Demeter, Literata and David Salisbury.

For more information or to read the NAR curse against Pagans, visit: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2011/09/the-new-apostolic-reformation-message-to-pagans.html

CONTACT:

Caroline Kenner
301-384-8455
301-412-1760
mythkenner@aol.com