Pneumatised!

(Disclaimer: Anything said about the Christian group mentioned in this blog does not necessarily apply to every Christian. There must be some nice ones out there who aren’t trying to impose their beliefs on others.)

Okay, as part of my role as Summoner for the Toronto Temple of the WCC, it is my duty to find a replacement at the end of my term. That I’ve done. Then, of course, I get this brilliant idea to take my successor to the Hamilton Pagan Pride this year taking place the day before the Toronto Summoner Changeover. “This should be a fun day for us”, I’m thinking. The idea is that we would act as backup, and we aren’t expecting much to happen.

Could I be more wrong…

Apparently, the Hamilton Pagan Pride day was so successful last year that (of course) it got the attention of a local Christian evangelical group called “By The Way Ministries” who plans to attend this year’s Pagan Pride in the hopes of “saving” (more likely, harassing) our “lost” pagan souls. Apparently, other religions aren’t allowed to have a nice little public festival (one day out of the whole year) without it being construed as some kind of “battle” against Christ’s faithful “oh so innocent” followers.

Here’s what By The Way Ministries has to say about the event (see link above):
“We need faithful prayer warriors. During this event, there are dedicated Pagan believers who are praying against Christian homes, leaders and labourers. Even though this event seems harmless, be prepared that there is major spiritual warfare taking place.”

Supposedly, By The Way Ministries has some former druid or witch acquaintances who claim that “Pagan Pride Organizers are prepared for opposition by religious groups and have dedicated themselves to prayer for such an event.” Uh-huh. Sure they really were druids or witches? Last time I checked, pagans spent most of their time not even thinking about Christians, and we certainly don’t bother fighting some “spiritual war” with other religious followers. In fact, I’d bet that most pagans spend more time trying to keep their own lives in balance and at peace than fighting some “spiritual war”. Are these Christians so self-centred and desperate for attention that they assume everything in the world revolves around them? Sorry, but the center of MY universe is me (me, me, ME!) and not them. What is with all this drama? Seems to me that some Christians need to grow up a bit – the world isn’t high school. I suppose though that if you’re so scared of other people fighting a spiritual war against you, the world probably seems like a big scary monster about to bite your head off. (*Chomp!*)

Okay, seriously though. We pagans just want one nice day to have a little festival and fun, and to let the public know that we aren’t really that scary. We’re normal people too and we certainly aren’t intent on harming anyone (but I will defend myself if physically attacked). Last time I checked, peaceful gatherings were allowed in a public park. Just because we’re pagans or a religious group that’s not Christian doesn’t mean that the gathering is suddenly dangerous and that we’re all of a sudden mobilizing our forces to attack in some great “spiritual war”. Sheesh. Go home and watch Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ or something – just leave us pagans (and other religions) alone.

I’m hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. I’m hoping that all this group is going to do is walk around trying to hand out brochures and pamphlets. I’m hoping that they won’t be rambling at every pagan (or non-pagan who’s pagan-friendly) and scaring them away from the event. I’m hoping that this group will know the line between freedom of speech and harassment before crossing it. However, I don’t expect anything less than a group of Christians intent on ruining what should just be a peaceful and fun day for pagans and non-pagan pagan-friendly people. Guess some people are so unhappy with themselves they never give up trying to make others unhappy.

Okay, time for me to go meditate some more and pray against these Christians… just kidding! I’m going to meditate on the notions of peace, harmony, and fundamental human rights (i.e, the right to free speech and the right to practice our own faith – visit the Amnesty website linked on the right menubar and read about other human rights issues).

Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame