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

Contact:

• Professor Ukumbwa Sauti
  ukumbwa@e4f458957037a3.gmail.com
  781-492-4392
• Rev. Galina Krasskova
  krasskova@e4f45895704359.gmail.com
  831-383-8255

FIGHTING BACK: INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS TAKE A STAND AGAINST DC40
“The New Apostolic Reformations’s DC40 Campaign is anti-American and anti-human.”

The Turtle Island 42 Initiative (TI42) has been created out of the work of contemporary Pagans and Heathens, polytheists, and indigenous elders in response to the New Apostolic Reformation movement’s upcoming onslaught against religious liberty, titled DC40.  TI42 is being facilitated by Rev. Galina Krasskova, a teacher and priest within contemporary Heathenry (Norse polytheism) and an initiated Dagara Elder and by media professor Ukumbwa Sauti, M.Ed. Both are deeply committed to restoring their own ancestral traditions and to helping others to reconnect with their own indigenous ancestral traditions across the globe.

Named after a common Native American name for this continent, the TI42 initiative is a peaceful, non-violent protest designed to raise political and social awareness and to counter the ideological attack on freedom, liberty, and religious pluralism embodied in the NAR’s DC40 campaign. DC40 is set to begin on October 2, 2011 and run through November 12, 2011.  “We cannot allow the narrative of this nation today to be written by religious fascists. TI42 rejects the disrespect inherent in the Doctrine of Discovery, monotheistic imperialism and organized and predatory missionary work.  TI42 stands with the indigenous people of Turtle Island and beyond and all those who struggle to carry forward their Ancestral indigenous traditions from all corners of this world.”

From www.dc40.net: “RELEASING THE LIGHT AND SOUND OF ETERNAL WORSHIP OVER THE DISTRICT OF CHRIST” (what they propose the nation’s capital should be called).  TI42 rejects the narrow cultural, political and spiritual intention of DC40’s neo-manifest destiny program.

The main TI42 thrust is the website: http://ti42.weebly.com/. Each day throughout the project, updates will be posted, designed to help participants better engage with their world, with Turtle Island, its people, and with the threat to progress and pluralism that groups like the NAR represent. Above all else, this program is designed to put people in touch with their own indigenous roots as everyone, everywhere, if you look back far enough, came from indigenous Ancestors. TI42 is a call to explore that indigenous human legacy, as an antidote to the religious imperialistic madness of the NAR and its supporters.

–

Rev. Krasskova contacted me and asked me to share their press release.  If you would like to share it with other groups or organizations, feel free to download a copy of it and do so.

The Values Voter Summit, a gathering of conservatives and evangelicals banding together for political purposes, began today, and no one has made more noise than Jeffress – except perhaps Mitt Romney’s deafening silence in the face of repeated attacks on his religion. Jeffress introduced Rick Perry and said that evangelical Christians “have a choice to make” between someone who is “a good, moral person” – like Romney – and someone who is “a born-again follower of the Lord Jesus Christ” – like Perry. He later clarified and expanded his remarks in an interview with CNN:

And that’s not some fanatical comment. That’s been the historic position of evangelical Christianity. The Southern Baptist Convention, which is the largest Protestant denomination in the world, has officially labeled Mormonism as a cult.

I think Mitt Romney’s a good, moral man, but I think those of us who are born-again followers of Christ should always prefer a competent Christian to a competent – to a competent non-Christian like Mitt Romney.

So that’s why I’m enthusiastic about Perry.

Jeffress was about to discuss his interpretation of Article Six of the Constitution, which forbids a religious test for holding office, but sadly he was cut off by the CNN reporter pointing out that Mormons identify themselves as Christian, which didn’t budge Jeffress’ attitude. After further questions, Jeffress allowed that he would “hold his nose” and vote for Romney in a general election if Romney captured the nomination, because Romney “at least supports biblical principles” and Jeffress thinks Obama does not. He also graciously observed that in the case of staunch conservative like Rep. Eric Cantor, being Jewish should not be “held against him.”

Jeffress also spoke with Bryan Fischer, a radio host who has opined that the First Amendment only protects the free exercise of Christianity – which, he agrees, does not include Mormonism. Fischer is scheduled to speak immediately before Romney today.

On demons, Wagner confirmed that he and his followers believe in demons who are directly affecting individual people:

“We don’t like to use the word possessed because that means they don’t have any power of their own. We like to use the word afflicted or, technical term, demonized. But there are people who — yes, who are — who are directly affected by demons, not only in politics, but also in the arts, in the media and religion in the Christian church.”

As for “spiritual mapping” and the efforts to cast demons out of specific places, like Washington, DC, Wagner emphasized the necessary steps to take before demons can be completely cast out:

“So sometimes there has to be repentance, sometimes there has to be — there has been bloodshed in that city that needs to be repented of, there has been idolatry in the city that has ruined the land. There’s been immorality that needs to be repented of, and there are several social things that people really need to acknowledge that they’re bad and repent of them and ask forgiveness.”

Personally, I have zero doubt that “idolatry” includes any form of my religion, Wicca, and probably all religions other than Wagner’s approved types, just as “immorality” includes all forms of sex other than that between cis, hetero, married people.

While Wagner has a knack for sounding reasonable, and has certainly worked to master the less-frightening vocabulary, I’d like to remind readers of how one of Wagner’s associates, Kimberly Daniels, described “witches” (sic) as praying over Halloween candy in order to create demonic possession, having sex with demons, engaging in bestiality, and committing rape and murder, including infanticide. Daniels specifically links these activities with the trappings of contemporary Wicca, such as the celebration of the fall equinox as Mabon, the colors of the harvest season, and the figure of the Harvest Lord or Corn King. She also asserted “I have prayed for witches who are addicted to drinking blood and howling at the moon.”

Daniels has earned a reputation as a “demonbuster” and has written quite a bit about her work with “possessed” individuals. This is what Wagner is talking about when he tells NPR that some of the people in the NAR have “professional expertise” in dealing with demons. Those statements were made by Daniels in 2009. Earlier this year, she was still part of the International Coalition of Apostles, an NAR organization. Unless she has been expelled from that organization or her comments and attitudes have been repudiated by Wagner and other NAR members since then, I believe that Wagner’s new vocabulary is nothing more than a smokescreen. This article goes on to give a short list of ways Daniels’ fellow ICA members were involved with potential nominees in the last presidential election. We have already seen the involvement of the NAR in the preliminary stages of this election cycle, and it’s a significant increase since last time.

Again, I am not trying to raise fear about this group. I’m trying to raise awareness. Their increasing reach and influence, and especially political activism, mean that it is important for those who disagree with them to be alert and be prepared to participate in the political process to protect the American values the NAR wants to do away with.

On the topic of other religions, Wagner says:

“I wouldn’t want to give the impression that the NAR denies the plurality of religion. We honor each religion in a society like our American society. However, we feel that — believe in Jesus, and Jesus has told us to go and preach the kingdom of God, and part of that is the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. And people who do not believe in Jesus Christ are not candidates for the kingdom of heaven. So our desire is that everybody be a candidate. So therefore, we would like Muslims to become Christians, but in the meantime, if they’re here in America, we don’t — we don’t oppose them.” (emphasis mine)

Wagner evidently thinks that “honor” is the same as “not opposing” another religion, although he flat-out states that their goal is complete conversion to Christianity. But notice the other qualifiers there – “in a society like our American society.” Wagner and his associates want to revolutionize American society into a completely different form.

“What we strive to do and our goal is to have people in the arts and entertainment mountain who are committed to the kingdom of God, so therefore, we use the adjective there — kingdom-minded believers — and our goal is to try to have as many kingdom-minded believers in positions of influence in the arts and entertainment mountain as possible. And the reason for that is, to help bring the blessings of heaven to all those in the arts and entertainment mountain.”

This is his soft-pedaling of Dominionism, where he uses the language of political participation to camouflage the fact that to “bring the blessings of heaven,” it will be necessary for people to repent for the things he has defined as “idolatry” and “immorality.” Getting influence in a particular “mountain” is a step along the way towards the goal of changing society to make that happen.

“We believe in working with any — with whatever political system there is. In America, it’s democracy and working with the administrative, judicial and legislative branches of the government, the way they are, but to have as many kingdom-minded people in influence in each one of these branches of government as possible so that the blessings of the kingdom will come.”

In Uganda, when the NAR worked with the political system in order to bring “the blessings of the kingdom,” one result was a bill banning homosexuality and instituting the death penalty as punishment for some gay acts. Lou Engle, previously mentioned, made a statement saying that he did not support the harsh penalties in the bill, but when he spoke in Uganda, he praised the “courage” and “righteousness” behind the bill.

Engle also said, “Today, America is losing its religious freedom.” So when Peter Wagner says:

“Well, we respect all religions, but we also respect the freedom of exercising our religion. And part of our religion is called evangelization. It’s called presenting Jesus Christ to others and persuading them to become followers of Jesus Christ and walk into the kingdom of God. So we’d like to maintain our right in religious pluralism of exercising our privilege of winning other people to Christianity.”

I take him at his word: he believes that anything that prevents him from “winning other people to Christianity” is an infringement of his rights, and he will fight to protect his rights. That means using any and all means necessary, including gaining political influence to support challenges to current interpretations of Constitutional rights for people like me.

Wagner also said that he supports the work of Cindy Jacobs and John Benefiel, important organizers of the ongoing DC 40 initiative. He thinks that a cross on top of the Capitol building would be going too far, though, since “that would be a sign of a theocracy.” But apparently electing Christians who follow his beliefs and encouraging them to legislate his narrow interpretation of Christian morality into place isn’t theocracy. See what a new vocabulary can do?

(These quotes are taken from the preliminary transcripts. A full transcript should be available soon.)

Light the white candle and place it to the right of the image of Columbia. Reflect on and give thanks for the freedom of religion we enjoy.

Hail Columbia, patron goddess of your district and of our government! You represent our highest ideals of freedom and liberty. Help us to strive towards the fullest expression of those values.

Light the black candle from the white one and place it to the left of Columbia’s image. Visualize Columbia on top of a solid wall, or a dome of protection that surrounds the Capitol and even all of DC. Visualize that this protection harmlessly neutralizes all forces that attack it.

Columbia, stand firm to defend the wall of separation between church and state that protects our precious religious liberty, so that we may continue to honor you. As we do, help us resist oppression and ensure justice. Hail Columbia!