Posted on 08/20/2004 11:59:43 AM PDT by Between the Lines
GREAT FALLS -- About a dozen pagans gathered at Town Hall on Monday to show support for Great Falls resident Darla Wynne. Last week, Wynne returned home from dinner with a friend and discovered one of her parrots had been beheaded and his heart cut out, she said.
A note attached to the back of Little One, Wynne's 8-year-old African gray parrot, said, "You're next!"
"I was frantic looking for his little head, and later I did find his heart," Wynne said tearfully. "They want me to leave this town. I feel so responsible for this. I shouldn't have gone out to dinner."
Great Falls Police Chief Mike Revels confirmed the threatening message to Wynne and said an investigation continues. Police found no evidence of a burglary and were unable to collect fingerprints, Revels said.
"Forensic evidence on the note was destroyed and there was no other physical evidence found," Revels said. "The case is ongoing."
Wynne, a Wiccan high priestess, filed a lawsuit in 2001 against Great Falls for invoking the name of Jesus Christ in council prayers. Federal courts ruled in favor of Wynne, saying the prayers were unconstitutional. Town officials, who have the support of the state attorney general, have appealed the case.
Last week's incident was one of a string of break-ins at Wynne's home. Great Falls police have responded to at least 10 calls of reported vandalism at her residence in the past year or so, Revels said.
"She's had a lot of problems," Revels said. "But we haven't been able to link anybody to any of the incidents."
Many of the town's 2,200 residents regard Wynne as a witch and disapprove of her pagan faith, she said. The vandalism has ranged from destruction of her cars to several of her animals being poisoned, Wynne said.
"No one will say anything," Wynne said. "They think they're protecting their own."
Katie Glenn of Asheville, N.C., said she was in Great Falls on Monday to support Darla and "let everyone know we're human."
"I find it deplorable to see other people, who come in the name of Christianity, judge others so harshly," Glenn said.
Wynne said she has endured numerous verbal and written threats. She received by mail a booklet, "Thou Shalt not Suffer a Witch to Live," and said a man yelled at her, "Witch, you're going down."
Twice last week before her bird was killed, Wynne said she received threats in the mail.
During Monday's Town Council meeting, about a half-dozen supporters gathered with Wynne outside Town Hall. Several more attended the meeting inside. Wynne's friends posted an e-mail about the beheading of her bird and people from both Carolinas, Texas and Detroit came to offer support.
Revels and several uniformed officers attended the meeting to keep everyone safe, the chief said.
Wynne's friend Donna Hudson of Columbia said Wynne has been persecuted by town officials.
"I believe all pagans, basically all Americans, should be concerned about the situation that has developed here," Hudson said. "The very community that should be supporting her is violating her rights."
Mayor H.C. "Speedy" Starnes wouldn't comment directly on the incident, saying only he believed the town still has a strong case.
Wynne said she will continue her court battle and won't leave town. She said she is saddened that her remaining parrot, Baby, is lonely for his companion.
"Birds mimic what they hear," Wynne said. "Baby cries because he's heard me crying and he's lonely for his friend, Little One."
> for most Wiccans I have met you take away their chocolate.
Uh... what? In English, please....
> And "pagan" is one of those terms that gets batted around and is NOT synonymous with "Wiccan".
Indeed. "PAgan," in it's roughest form, basically means "Anyone not of my religion," and is more liekly to be understood as somebody who is not Christian, Jew, Muslim or atheist or agnostic, I guess. Everybody else be a dirty pagan... and we can't be too sure about them shifty agnostics...
> A lot of it is fruit-cakeism.
Indeed. I would lump Wiccans in with that, thought harmless fruitcakism.
> my point was although it's not something wiccan would do, it's a surprisingly good way to disturb a wiccan.
Would it distrub *you*? Religion aside... I come home and find my cat gutted... I'm gonna grab Mr. Scattergun and go find me somebody. That Just Ain't Right.
> My point was to acknowledge it *could* be a Christian, even though it didn't appear to be one.
It *appears* to be somebody who doesn't like Madam High Priestess. And it seems, from reading available news articles, that rather a large number of local Christians don't like her. I've not read of any Muslims calling for a fatwa beatdown on her.
It was tiamat that disagreed, not me. Don't know what she had in mind.
orionblamblam wrote:
> for most Wiccans I have met you take away their chocolate.
Uh... what? In English, please....
Fun as this is, I need to pull out for a bit
( Real Life and all of that)
BBL.
> Fun as this is, I need to pull out for a bit
Ummm... an excellent place for a joke. Anybody got one?
LOL! Good point. But I think you know what I mean.
>>for most Wiccans I have met you take away their chocolate. <<
LOL! Ya know, good call, there.
>>And "pagan" is one of those terms that gets batted around and is NOT synonymous with "Wiccan". <<
No, "pagan" is a general term meaning someone who does not worship the God of Abraham. Wicca is one pagan religion of very, very many. There is, of course, a natural dislike for a term designed to exclude someone, but many wiccans I know (most?) have actually used the term, surprisingly . And not in the way that people have identified themselves as "Yankee," "Queer," or "N*gger" just beCAUSE the word had been used as a slur. Some wiccans, however, treat "pagan" as if it were another sect, though; others add certain connotations to it; others *are* offended by it as it were a slur.
I use the term in the general sense: to describe non-Abrahamic religions, meaning a much broader term than wiccan.
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