Channel 3 NBC news affiliate WSAV serving the Savannah, GA and Hilton Head, SC areas did what most news channels do come the Halloween season. They allow a “human interest” reporter to find a witch and do an interview for a brief filler of Halloween news. Now, granted as the years have passed there have been some good, if not shallow reporting and interviews with witches but on the general scale the people they chose to interview are local New Age shop owners who are not well informed on the history of their individual paths. When a reporter does come across a well informed and astute witch the norm is to cut the piece for tidbits on what the reporter thinks their news audience will accept in the way of actual information.
…read full article…

Technorati Tags: channel 3 news, Ignorance, massimi, metzger, Wicca, witchcraft

The Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a claim last week to sue President Bush and The National Day of Prayer Task Force ran by Focus on the Family. The issue is over the First Amendment and the Federal Government.

The Foundation charges that the government “aligns and partners” with the NDP Task Force as the official organizer of the National Day of Prayer. The NDP Task Force identifies itself online as “The National Day of Prayer ‘Official Website.’ ” The task force has close ties to Focus on the Family. Its chair person, Shirley Dobson, is married to Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, and the task force is located in the Focus on the Family headquarters. Read full release on their site here and you can read the actual legal claim here in pdf.

Back at the end of April and beginning of May I wrote about this same subject here and even a letter to my local paper(which can be read here). The Nevada Appeal had reprinted the National Day of Prayer Task Force false information and though they were aware of the issue, they never printed a correction. I had even pointed out that the declaration as created by the task force had been signed by Governor Gibbons months before President Bush even signed his declaration. My efforts to educate with the correct information were both attacked in some instances or ignored all together but at least I tried.

Technorati Tags: bush, focus on the family, freedom from religion, govenor gibbons, national day of prayer task force, nevada appeal

Witchcraft-Documentary Review: Mysteries of History, History Channel International

I watched the History Channel Internationals documentary this morning on Witchcraft. Being previously encouraged from watching the main History Channel’s documentary on Halloween, I thought that the international channel viewpoint would be just as open ended. And for the majority of the hour long episode there was some educational handling of the witchcraft subject, just not through the duration of the program.

Please, keep in mind that the following information is from the review and notes taken during the documentary. I am aware that not all this information is correct historically, even though that is how all of the information was present by the History International Channel. So, let us begin on the review portion of today’s post on Simple Abnormality.

…read full article…

Technorati Tags: burning times, History, history channel, history international channel, laura jean karr, paganism, simple abnormality, Wicca, witch, witch hunt, witch trails, witchcraft, witchcraft documentary

Pope Benedict gave a speech to more than a quarter of a million people in Paris last week. Now, normally I really don’t have that much to say about the Pope in general but there was one thing that stood out to me during the Pontif’s address and that is:

At mass on Saturday morning in Paris, the pope told more than a quarter of a million people that the modern world had turned money, possessions and power into idols as false as the gold and silver statues worshiped by the pagans of antiquity.

“Has it not imitated, perhaps inadvertently, the pagans of antiquity, by diverting man from his true end, from the joy of living eternally with God,” he said. Read full article here.

Another article to check out is this gem entitled Pope in Paris condemns love of money, power: PARIS (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI condemned unbridled “pagan” passion for power, possessions and money as a modern-day plague Saturday as he led more than a quarter of a million Catholics in an outdoor Mass in Paris.

Interesting theme for a speech coming from a religious leader decked out in gold. That’s just my thought on it. Kind of a “pot calling the kettle black” sort of thing. Funnier still is trying to promote the ideal that a love of money and power comes not from a religious institution that was built upon those precepts but no it comes form those “pagans”.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention everyones favorite overboard news agency Fox News. They ran the story of the Pope with this headline: Pope Condemns ‘Pagan’ Passion for Power, Money During France Visit

Yep, now I’ve gone and mentioned the Pope and quoted an AP article with a link

Technorati Tags: false idols, fox news, Pagan, pope, pope condems pagan passion, pope speech in paris