The delegation were on their way to commemorate the 70^th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre, wherein almost 22,000 Polish officers and intelligentsia were executed by Soviet troops in 1940, burying the victims in the Katyn forest. Somewhat ironically the executions were discovered by Nazis in 1943, who used them as propaganda material against the Soviets. The Soviets denied the charges and blamed the Nazis. It was only in 1990 that Mikhail Gorbachev, who was the last head of state of the USSR before its collapse in 1991, admitted that the NKVD (the Soviet Secret Police) had executed the Poles. He also confirmed two other similar burial sites.

As often happens at disasters like these, one person missed the flight. Those who believe in fate will argue that it was not this person’s destiny to die. Perhaps this person still has an important mission to fulfill? Was this person’s guardian angel looking out for them? So what about the guardian angels who were supposed to be looking after the others? Are guardian angels not able to overcome fate?

Not only did the plane crash occur while the entourage were on their way to commemorate an anniversary of the Katyn massacre, but it was the 70^th anniversary. 70 is a very interesting number, being a product of 7 and 10. The number of planets known to the ancients was 7, while 10 was a number of completeness, thus 70 can be seen as a number of perfect spiritual order. It was also the number of disciples sent out by Jesus.

The next few weeks will see detailed investigations taking place. Some are already suspecting sabotage, but the presidential plane, was a Tupolev Tu-154, which has a rather poor safety record. Our prayers go out to the families and friends of the victims, as Katyn claims yet more Polish lives.

Tony Mierzwicki

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

The US has a long tradition of promoting religious freedom. In 1779 Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, in which he supported the separation of church and state. The Statue emphasized that:

“No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .”

The practice of paganism should be protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, but is it really?

In The Complexity of Religion and the Definition of “Religion” in International Law published in the Harvard Human Rights Journal, T Jeremy Gunn identified two types of coercion in religious discrimination:

Firstly, there is coercion that disrupts or interferes with religious services, causes harm to religious buildings, shrines, and symbols, or threatens the lives of others. The actions may be taken for the purpose of expressing hatred, destroying a religious community, or forcing it to flee.

Secondly, there is coercion that enforces or promotes religious (or cultural) conformity in a community. This is a feature of certain theocracies, where security forces may be called upon to enforce religious standards, using various degrees of force.

Religious discrimination against pagans, who are invariably a religious minority, occurs throughout the world. In most cases this discrimination takes the form of the first kind. However, the second kind does occur, as in a recent case in Saudi Arabia, where a man was sentenced to death for the practice of sorcery.

In the US, much progress has been made with regard to allowing prisoners access to paganism and the recognition of Wicca by the armed forces, but there is still much more to do. It is timely to remember the plight of pagan chaplain Patrick McCollum, currently embroiled in his challenge to California’s discriminatory “five faiths” policy, which limits the hiring of paid chaplains in the prison system to Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American adherents.

It is a sad state of affairs when the US government produces reports scrutinizing religious freedom internationally, when in the US itself there is still a long way to go before all religious minorities can enjoy the freedom which is their right.

Yours in Freedom,

Tony Mierzwicki

The defense is arguing that “traditional” faiths are first tier faiths and that those faiths were meant to have equal rights and protections under the United States Constitution, but that all of the other faiths (including pagans) were second tier faiths, and were not meant to have the same equal rights and protections under the United States Constitution as the first tier faiths.

A conservative activist organization called WallBuilders, argues that Patrick has no standing because modern pagans aren’t guaranteed the same Constitutional rights and protections as Christian or monotheist citizens:

“The true historic meaning of “religion” excludes paganism and witchcraft … paganism and witchcraft were never intended to receive the protections of the Religion Clauses.”

Should this argument be accepted, the equal protection of all religious minorities in the United States could be cast into doubt. The First Amendment is supposed to guarantee religious freedom. What is happening is clearly unconstitutional.

The most comprehensive outline of the whole situation can be found at the Wild Hunt, and is essential reading for all pagans. Elysia Gallo of Llewellyn has added her voice. Cherry Hill Seminary has issued a press release supporting Patrick. Circle Sanctuary has expanded upon the recommendations in the Wild Hunt for action to be taken.

This case highlights the absolute necessity of the need for pagans to stand together. As a recent example of what can be accomplished when we stand united, was the Air Force Academy chapel agreeing to add a worship area for followers of Earth-centered religions. The military has been adopting a more liberal attitude towards minority religions over the past few years. To quote a member of the Sacred Well Congregation, “If we speak together, we are a chorus to be heard. If we whisper alone, we are but a sigh in the dead of night.”

Patrick suggests that we should write our demands to Jerry Brown, the California Attorney General, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mathew L Cate, the Secretary of the CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation).

The time to act is now. We must demand equal treatment, equal accommodations, and equal access to our religious items for institutionalized persons. Once the rights we take for granted are taken away, it will be too late.

Tony Mierzwicki

I had the privilege and pleasure of chatting to Patrick McCollum yesterday about the PWR definition of paganism. Patrick was in attendance at the PWR and so has first hand knowledge of what actually transpired. Without going into details, Patrick, in my opinion, is a true pagan leader, having engaged in numerous legal battles for pagan recognition and rights.

Patrick states that Andras was quoted out of context regarding his definition of paganism. Andras did actually mention the now infamous Eurocentric definition as his own personal definition when explaining his activities to outsiders. It should be noted that this Eurocentric definition is just one of many that have been bandied about in academic circles over the last few years. However, Andras then went on to outline its inadequacies and he proceeded to discuss several of the groups which had been omitted. In the end, Andras and several other Pagans present in the Parliament discussions, continued conversations over who we are and how we should define ourselves, and as is generally the case throughout the Pagan community, no conclusions or particular language was given more credence than any other. The main point here, is that what was said was part of a discussion, and not some kind of, edict or authoritative statement officially defining Paganism as it is being portrayed on a number of blogs.

I personally feel that the positive outcome of the controversy is that many people have started thinking seriously about what paganism actually is, and who should be included under the pagan umbrella.

Patrick’s idea of who the pagan umbrella encompasses is virtually identical to mine, as he would like as many people included as possible. Patrick includes many indigenous religions as pagans, particularly those who see themselves falling within that umbrella. I had always included those who take up the shamanic practices taken from various indigenous religions, but I can see the wisdom of Patrick’s idea, and am happy to embrace it.

Patrick stressed that the more people we have under the pagan umbrella, the more seriously we will all be taken. There is no reason to compromise our beliefs, as we can all agree to differ. What matters are sheer numbers.

Patrick told me of one really exciting occurrence at the PWR. A key representative for Hinduism stated that he would like to see his religion included under the pagan umbrella. Hinduism has grown to become the world’s third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam. It claims about 837 million followers – 13% of the world’s population.

Patrick estimates that in the US we have roughly 1.2 million pagans, with another 200,000 worldwide. Incorporating Hindus into our ranks would greatly swell our numbers giving us much more political clout.

Hinduism is the world’s oldest organized religion and consists of thousands of smaller religious groups. There are numerous similarities between Hindu and pagan practices. In addition, there are numerous aspects of Hinduism which have been incorporated into eclectic spiritual systems, including yoga and the concepts of chakras, karma and reincarnation.

These are indeed interesting times. Modern pagans have more rights now, than they have ever had, but there is no excuse for complaisance since there are those who would take our rights away from us in a heartbeat. It is important to stay visible, keep demanding equal treatment, be inclusive rather than exclusive, and minimize infighting (as this weakens us collectively), so as to achieve our common goals.

While I would love to take credit for the idea, Patrick came up with an absolutely brilliant suggestion. If all of us were to present our own definition of Paganism in our own terms, we could then attempt to combine those components. Upon achieving majority agreement, we could come up with at least a preliminary statement that more accurately reflects the whole community’s view of how paganism should be defined.

Tony

Organized mainstream religions have the benefit of hierarchies with clearly defined leaders. It is thus very easy for such religions to send either leaders or spokespersons to events, so that all their members can be spoken for. Would it be possible to have generally agreed upon leaders or spokespersons representing pagans in a similar fashion?

In my last couple of posts, I’ve discussed my displeasure regarding the Eurocentric definition of paganism proposed by the PWR, and have pushed my own idea of paganism being an umbrella term for the many small religious groups outside of the world religions. However, because the term pagan was initially one of derision, there are some people who I would consider to be pagans, who dislike the term and refuse to use it.

There are obvious advantages in terms of gaining recognition in being a part of a large group. Consider for instance the victory won by wiccans in the military who are now allowed to have pentagrams on their gravestones. This came about due to tireless lobbying by numerous dedicated individuals and the undeniable fact that wiccans make up the lion’s share of the pagan community. I believe that non-wiccan pagans should “piggyback” the wiccans so that their sheer total numbers enable them to have the recognition that they would be unable to have on their own.

Wiccans can be thought of as either solitaries or as members of covens. There is no one person who could rightfully claim to be the leader of all of the wiccans. Yet this has not been an insurmountable obstacle for wiccans in gaining recognition because of their sheer numbers.

Non-wiccan pagans similarly are either solitaries or become members of small groups. These groups, in general, are not affiliated with each other, and so there is no universally agreed upon leadership for pagans.

How should wiccans and pagans be represented? Could a democratic process such as a vote be used? It is commonly stated that working with pagans is like herding cats – there is great truth in this, and I cannot imagine an election of any sort ever taking place. And even if it did, most voters would be running on pagan time – read late!

There are a number of pagans who have dedicated themselves to working for their community. Some have fought protracted legal battles for pagan recognition and rights. Some of these people are very open about their work whereas others tend to work behind the scenes. There are others who have busied themselves in interfaith work enabling meaningful dialogue with mainstream religions. I believe that it can be argued that their long-term dedication makes them very appropriate as representatives, and legitimizes their claims. Altruistic selfless spokespersons focused on the greater good of the pagan community would appear to be the most appropriate choice.

Assuming that the pagan community was blessed with a number of altruistic spokespersons, would all pagans be happy with their representations? Given the extremely diverse multifaceted nature of the pagan community, I think that there will always be some who will feel like they are being overlooked. How do we stop pagans from feeling overlooked? At the risk of sounding like a broken record, all who want to be included within the pagan umbrella should be included.

Tony Mierzwicki

Reconstructionists and those within rigidly defined orders, covens and other magickal groups have a set curriculum – a very structured system of lessons to assimilate. While it is true that many reconstructionists are self-taught, the reality is that they are largely poring over the same source texts.

There is, however, a rather large group of pagans, called eclectic solitaries (or solitary eclectics), who have the benefit of being totally flexible when cobbling together their personal magickal system from often disparate sources. While there was a time when eclectic solitaries operated in secret and perhaps surreptitiously attended the occasional gathering, the internet is now providing numerous avenues for semi-anonymous interaction.

It may be pertinent to ask just how prevalent is an eclectic approach to spirituality? Is it a characteristic of paganism, or is it far more ingrained?

On 9 December 2009, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a very relevant report entitled “Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths.” A rather entertaining outline of the report was produced by Charles M Blow for The New York Times. It is important to note that the sample within the survey was overwhelmingly Christian (primarily Protestant and Catholic), as that is representative of the American society.

The report indicated that many Americans Christians were blending their faith with “Eastern or New Age beliefs.” Roughly one quarter believed in reincarnation; yoga as a spiritual practice; spiritual energy in physical things such as mountains, trees, crystals; astrology; and the ability of some to cast curses.

The report also indicated “sizable minorities” claimed supernatural experiences, specifically feeling like they were in touch with the dead; encountering ghosts; and consulting fortune tellers or psychics.

I really feel for those surveyed who had to differentiate between being in touch with the dead and encountering ghosts, as there can be quite a lot of overlap between the two.

Mr Blow neatly summarized the report as showing that growing numbers of Americans are “bending dogmas to suit them instead of bending themselves to fit a dogma. And this appears to be leading to more spirituality, not less.” While a few people in the past left mainstream churches in their quest for deeper spiritual experiences, it seems that now there are growing numbers wanting to have their cake and eat it too.

The idea of mixing multiple sources, or eclecticism is certainly not new, and has been prevalent in philosophy since ancient times. Eclecticism, or more precisely syncretism, gave rise to very progressive spiritual systems in late antiquity, most notably Gnosticism, Hermeticism and Neoplatonism.

Religions which employed syncreticism at their inception include Greek, Judaism, Christianity, Druze and Baha’i. Another example is Buddhism which in part owes its success as a world religion to its flexibility in blending with pre-existing practices where ever it spread. In Asia today, Buddhism is often practiced non-exclusively alongside many other religious traditions. If all religions had this level of tolerance towards others, just think of how much more peaceful our world would be.

Other examples could be cited, but it seems that syncretism appears to be part and parcel of the formation of many, if not all, religious systems. The religious systems eventually crystallize, whereupon orthodoxy can rear its ugly head, and further syncretism is frowned upon. Progressive thinkers have always dared to challenge the religious establishment, sometimes paying a horrible price for their outspokenness, as the chilling example of the Inquisition all too clearly shows.

Those solitaries in society today who describe themselves as eclectics are actually tapping into a spiritual approach that may well be universal – it can be seen in the formation of numerous spiritual systems over thousands of years all over the world. The internet, once rather appropriately referred to as the information superhighway, is a great starting point for information on virtually every spiritual modality that may whet the appetite of the ardent seeker.

Returning again to the PWR definition of paganism, why would any eclectics wish to limit themselves to European spiritualities when there are so many avenues to explore just a mouse click away?

Tony Mierzwicki

The pagan contingent at the PWR sparked off controversy in allegedly proposing a very restricted definition of paganism. The information was provided by Ed Hubbard in his on-going commentary on the PWR:

http://paganmichigan.ning.com/forum/topics/updates-from-the-parliament-of

The core definition was:

“’Paganism’ is a collective term that most aptly defines Indigenous cultures of pre-Christian Europe, the Celtic and Germanic Tribes, The Balts, The Scandinavians, The Basques, The Slaves [sic] and many others.”

The problem with this definition is that it limits itself to reconstructionists and those lucky enough to be part of still living family traditions in Europe (such as family traditional witchcraft or hereditary witchcraft). The “art” of the reconstructionists involves recreating dead pagan religions, but not necessarily as they were once practiced, as they should be relevant to contemporary society. It should be noted that reconstructionists and those coming from family traditions make up a very small minority within the pagan community.

Further to this, EarthSpirit founder and Parliament Board of Trustees member, Andras Corban-Arthen, was quoted as saying that Wicca could not be seen as an indigenous Pagan faith practice and was instead a modern syncretic movement. Under this description Wicca “would not fall under the definition of Pagan, and would be squarely a New Religious Movement…”

A few days later, The Wild Hunt provided a statement from Andras Corban-Arthen, where he confirmed some of the things which Ed Hubbard wrote, but refuted others. Importantly he stressed that he did not state that Wiccans weren’t pagans, but rather neopagans. Corban-Arthen actually proposed three categories of paganism:

Traditional paganism (survivals of Indigenous European beliefs and practices)

Reconstructionist paganism (modern recreation through the study of literary, historical, linguistic, and archaeological sources)

Neopaganism (syncretic modern forms)

These groups were apparently in keeping with categories normally used in the interreligious community.

While I can understand the desire of the pagan contingent at PWR to “fit in” with the other participants, I am somewhat surprised by the strong European focus which somewhat artificially narrows the categories.

The traditional paganism category should include shamanism from all over the world. Whilst numbers are admittedly small, I have come across Westerners engaged in practicing shamanism from Asia (India, Mongolia, Tibet and Indonesia), South America (Amazonian entheogenic explorations) and African (particularly South African).

The reconstructionist paganism category should include those recreating American (Aztec, Incan and Mayan), African (especially Egyptian, e.g. the Kemetic faith) and Middle and Near Eastern (Sumerian, Babylonian and Canaanite) faiths.

The neopagan category opens a can of worms, as it is heavily influenced by the plethora of contemporary occult writings.

The influence of “The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” pervades many contemporary occult writings. The Golden Dawn was founded in the late 19^th century fusing Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Qabala, Hermeticism, Alchemy, Theosophy, Enochian magick, medieval grimoires, as well as ancient Egyptian and Greek elements. This was essentially a mish mash of influences incorporating almost everything esoteric that was known at the time, the scope of which went way beyond Europe. There is Golden Dawn influence in derivative systems of ceremonial magick (such as Aleister Crowleys’ Thelemic Magick and Nema’s Maat Magick), Wicca, witchcraft, and various other neopagan systems.

Many of the eastern teachings we take for granted now (such a chakras, karma, reincarnation) were introduced by Madame Blavatsky into her Theosophical teachings. Eastern teachings are also very pervasive in contemporary occult writings.

It is evident that many contemporary occult writings are saturated with concepts which are not of indigenous European in origin, which will find themselves being incorporated into many eclectic spiritual paths.

My concern is that quite a number of people who I consider to be pagans, but who have non-European influences in their spiritual practices are effectively squeezed out of the definition. On a personal note, I remember being upset a number of years ago when I spoke to a sociologist who informed me that her definition of a pagan was someone who practiced an earth-based spirituality and worked with the wheel of the year. While some of my reconstructionist practices tap into an agricultural calendar, it is different to the Wiccan wheel of the year, while my Graeco-Egyptian and ceremonial magick workings were certainly not earth-based. I was effectively excluded.

Perhaps we should investigate what paganism really is.

The genesis of the term pagan goes back to roughly the 4^th century and originally meant “country dweller.” Historically it has been used as a derogatory term by adherents of Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) to indicate a disbeliever. Applying this definition to a contemporary worldwide concept would mean that all non-Abrahamic religions – including world religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and so on – are pagan.

Historically, however, the term pagan has been applied to small indigenous polytheistic religious groups. I personally do not think it is appropriate to refer to the non-Abrahamic world religions as pagan. To me, paganism is an umbrella term for the many small religious groups outside of the world religions.

While pagan groups tend to be polytheistic I personally do not see a problem in incorporating monotheism or henotheism. For example, the Pharaoh Akhenaten venerated the sun god Aten above all others gods, but did not deny their existence. Perhaps one day a group of reconstructionists will follow in his footsteps?

Coming back on track, while the various PWR definitions of paganism may make sense in bridging the gulf between pagans and other religious groups, they leave out significant numbers. The sad reality is that pagans are a religious minority and are hence subject to discrimination. The only way that all pagans can negotiate recognition and proper treatment is by banding together. The most appropriate logo I have come across for this is unity in diversity. It would be ideal if pagans could come together for political reasons while maintaining their own individual practices and beliefs.

Those who are negative towards paganism can readily use a “divide and conquer” type approach. Why should we help them by dividing ourselves?

Tony Mierzwicki

On 28 October 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law (as a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act). The bill in question is H.R.1913 – Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.

The OpenCongress Summary states:

“This bill, previously introduced in Congress in 2007, seeks to expand upon the 1969 US federal hate-crime law by extending beyond federally-protected activities and towards bodily crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, in addition to the current provisions of bodily crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, and national origin. It would also codify and expand the funding and investigative capabilities of federal officials for aiding their local counterparts.”

The bill expands 1969 Federal hate crime laws to include sexual orientation, gender expression or identity and disability. Previous hate crime laws gave the Justice Department authority to prosecute crimes motivated only by race, color, national origin and religion. The bill is named after the gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard who was beaten and left for dead in 1999 and James Byrd, a black man murdered by white supremacists in 1998, the measure has been a matter of contention for years.

The bill came about after more than a decade of advocacy by the Human Rights Campaign, the families of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr, and countless members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities.

On 12 December 2009, Joe Solmonese, president of Human Rights Campaign encouraged keeping up the momentum in the fight for LGBT equality. He added that right wing groups are falsely claiming the promotion of LGBT equality will end free speech, criminalize anti-gay thoughts, and open the door to jailing pastors for their sermons, and that it would “shred America’s Judeo-Christian value system.”

I’ve never really understood the term Judeo-Christian. I cannot conceive of any Jews ever refering to themselves as being part of the “Judeo-Christian” tradition. For the Jews, Christianity is an offshoot, a heretical movement, that sprang from Judaism two millennia ago. It is far simpler and more accurate to refer to the Christian tradition.

Googling the expression “shred America’s Judeo-Christian value system” comes up with a number of sites very negative towards the bill. Negativity towards the bill is really tantamount to condoning hate crimes. Is this really what Jesus would want? While Christianity can be seen as a set of beliefs and practices, its core should always be the message of Jesus. I always thought that Jesus’ message was about love, peace and tolerance. Guess I was wrong…

To me, paganism is an umbrella term encompassing non-mainstream religions. One complication is that not all people who I would class as pagans identify as pagans. This is largely because the term pagan was originally one of derision. While I am in no way qualified to speak on behalf of all of those whom I would class as pagans, one thing I can say is that all of the pagan organizations and events with which I have been associated have had an inclusive attitude. All have been welcomed regardless of race, nationality, colour and disability. Also welcomed are members of the LGBT communities. I believe that a lesson in tolerance taken from the pagan community could make mainstream society a much more pleasant place for minority groups.

Tony Mierzwicki

In the interview, Jessica describes her transition from a soft-polytheistic Wiccan to a hard-polytheistic Hellenic Reconstructionist. For those unfamiliar with the practice of Hellenic Reconstructionism, also known as Hellenismos, the interview provides a fascinating insight into just how ancient Greek religion can be practiced in a manner that is vibrant and relevant to today’s world.

The interview appears in its entirety on The Witches’ Voice, better known as WitchVox. I have included copious footnotes so as to make it as accessible as possible.

Like many pagans, Halloran was raised a Christian, or in his case, a Roman Catholic. His university studies took him from a purely academic interest in Germanic mythology and lore, to embracing Heathenry, otherwise known as Germanic neopaganism, as his religion. Seeking to cover all the relevant bases, the Irish Central described him as an Irish American pagan attorney.

Specifically, Halloran is involved in Theodism which grew out of Gardnerian Wicca. Various groups espousing a Theodish philosophy have formed over the years, including one founded by Halloran in1997 which has now grown to be the largest theod in existence. [Note that Halloran’s name is sometimes spelled as O’Halloran.] Theodish groups now devote themselves to utilizing history, anthropology, and applied comparative studies disciplines, to reconstruct the pre-Christian tribal religions of the Germanic peoples.

There are a number of positive aspects to the forcing of Halloran “out of the broom closet.” The mainstream public tends to associate paganism with Wicca [of the Charmed or The Craft type variety] or some sort of earth religion. The pagan community is incredibly diverse, and there are many unique paths that can be followed apart from these.

Halloran has been hailed as the first openly heathen elected official, but is he the first openly pagan official?

Halloran has certainly got huge media attention, but openly pagan Jessica Orsini was elected to public office in April 2006, and re-elected in 2008, as Alderwoman, 3rd Ward, City of Centralia, Missouri. Most interest in Jessica Orsini is focused on her being a transgender individual holding public office, who is in fact one of only two transgender officials to win office in this country. She also enjoys wargaming and is a “dedicated pagan.”

In an ideal world with a total separation of church and state, the religious beliefs of candidates for public office would be irrelevant, as candidates would be judged solely on their ability to make a positive contribution to their community. Sadly, however, in the real world of intolerant religious fundamentalists insisting that their way is the only way it is important for minority voices to be heard. Having individuals like Dan Halloran and Jessica Orsini in office sends an important message to the mainstream community that theirs is not the only way, and that pagans are here to stay and are not going away. [So mote it be…]

I would be very interested in hearing about any other openly pagan elected officials. I do not wish to force any officials out of their broomclosets.

Tony Mierzwicki