Strange Gods: Neopaganism On Campus.

National Review ^ | 9/5/01 | Peter Wood

[AppyPappy]

A Wiccan once told me "Half the people who call themselves Wiccans aren't really Wiccans".

[anniegetyourgun]

A pagan by any other name.....

[BlueLancer]

Which half .. the half below the waist or the half above?

[Da_Shrimp]

Wiccan adage, "Do what thou wilt,"

Hmm... inaccurate. Actually, it's 'An' it harm none do what you will'.

[FormerLib]

>>>I was hardly surprised when the Episcopalian chaplain took umbrage at my willingness to leave the Wiccans to their own devices without the benefit of formal university recognition. She pointed out...<<<

Ahem. I believe I've discovered the problem here.

[rdf]

Great post.

Peter Wood's essays are razor sharp.

Richard F.

[Cincinatus]

"How do you know that she is a witch?"

[What about Bob?]

Confused, deluded, and generally dim, they gathered themselves like iron filings on the magnetic pole of campus nuttiness and they are content to stay there. Self-identification of fools is probably a good thing, at least in universities.

What a great line. Flowery, scathing prose like this is all too rare.

[What about Bob?]

Crowley also penned 'The Satanic Bible'

[Cu Roi]

I have found, for example, that many campus clergy are ready to accept the Wiccan adage, "Do what thou wilt," which was invented in 1904 by a British libertine named Aleister Crowley ("Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.") as an ethical injunction to be set beside The Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule.

One would expect a university provost to get his facts straight. What the Wiccans say is this: "An ye harm none, do what ye will", which is often stated as "Do what thou wilt, and ye harm none". This, of course is very different from Crowley's worldview, where the individual is free to do whatever he wants without any concern for the well-being of others. By quoting only the first half of the witches' credo he gives the appearance that they are in agreement with Crowley, but if he actually left his comfort zone once in a while he might see that there is a huge gulf between the two.

[Da_Shrimp]

My point precisely (see 6).

This is typical of those who attack Wiccans.

Believe it or not, it is possible to be Conservative AND Wiccan (particularly in the Britain, where it's much more formalised)

[Da_Shrimp]

Crowley also penned 'The Satanic Bible'

I thought that was by Anton LeVey?

[Hacksaw]

Expect this thread to fill up with the usual LP suspects brimming with wrath.

[Black Agnes]

It is possible to be conservative and wiccan. One of the most anti-abortion people I know is a wiccan. SHE believes that any action a woman makes that has anything to do with sex or procreation is sacred. If pregnancy results, it is a sacriledge to the 'Goddess' to abort the child. I was quite frankly, stunned to hear this from her. She's very libertarian (small l libertarian) in all her other beliefs.

[Storm Orphan]

Half the people I know who call themselves Christians are pretty unChristian.

So what?

[Black Agnes]

Note to the above, she self identifies as anti-abortion. I would identify her as pro-life. Go figure.

[AppyPappy]

Nothing. Just imparting information. I think you mean "Half the people calling themselves Christians are not Christians". Christians do not all act the same way.

[patricktschetter]

They turned me into a newt!

I got better...