Paganism, witchcraft on rise in UK

MSNBC ^ | 06/19/03 | Reuters

[bedolido]

TV shows, Internet, Harry Potter boost membership

LONDON, June 19 — Paganism and the ancient art of witchcraft are on the rise in Britain, experts said on Thursday as the summer’s most celebrated Pagan festival approached.

TELEVISION, THE INTERNET, environmentalism and even feminism have all played a role in the resurgence, they say.

Soaring Pagan numbers have churches worrying and calling for stricter controls on cult TV programs and films that celebrate sorcery like “Harry Potter,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”

Record attendance is expected at dawn on Saturday morning at the mystical megaliths of Stonehenge, where Pagans have celebrated the summer solstice for thousands of years.

The trend has worried some of the Protestant church’s more traditional elements. “The rise of interest in Paganism is damaging because it normalizes spiritual evil by presenting it as mere fantasy and fiction,” said Reverend Joel Edwards of the Evangelical Alliance, a grouping of some one million UK Christians.

Who's going to die in Harry Potter? “The Evangelical Alliance calls on government and TV regulatory bodies to monitor programs which promote or glamorize Pagan issues,” he told Reuters.

Thirty thousand are expected to dance in the sunrise on summer’s longest day at Stonehenge, says English Heritage, which manages the site — nearly four times the number in 1990, when it re-opened to the public after many years.

Scholars believe the ring of 20-ton stones was built between 3,000 and 1,600 BC as a sacred temple. Many of the revelers will be there just to party, but among them will be druids, who believe in spiritual enlightenment through nature, and witches who practice Wicca — harnessing nature’s power as magic.

[Xenalyte]

When most churches talk about 'buddy Jesus' its no wonder people leave.

Or they go get their very own Buddy Christ!

[Dead Corpse]

[Xenalyte]

That is THE perfect picture! And such an elegant headdress . . .

[Dead Corpse]

How about the World's Most Accurate Holy Grail Script on the web? Sound bites and piccies mixed in.

[Dead Corpse]

Who needs a Spanking?

[Xenalyte]

Sa-WEET!

[oyez]

Britains #1 cultural contribution is a witchcraft novel for kids.

What ever happened to The Tales of King Arthur?

[marshmallow]

"When people cease to believe in the one, true God, they don't just believe in nothing. They believe in anything."

G.K. Chesterton

[twigs]

I agree with you entirely. I have a teenage daughter who tends to like weird literature and even she knows to stay away from this stuff. There is a lot of good literature out there; we don't have to descend to this. And the price our culture is paying is already evident, as this article points out.

[Dead Corpse]

"Pull the wool over your own eyes and relax in the safety of your own delusions."
-J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.

[twigs]

I'm reading Orthodoxy right now. What an incredible book!

[CatoRenasci]

Well Judism has been going for 3500+ years, the ancient egyptian system lasted from something like 4500BC until almost the Christian era, and Hinduism may be close to as old. Hinduism and Judism are still alive and kicking, of sorts. Other than that, I'm not really sure.

[ASA Vet]

From what I've been able to determine, the hindu supernaturlist system dates back just a couple centuries BCE.
Looks like judism has the longivity title for this cycle of recorded history.

[CatoRenasci]

Hmm, I think the Egyptians are still ahead, but it's a close run thing and Judism may well win out in the end (unless the Arabs have their way with the Jews). Judism is a special case, however, because it has not been the religion of a major state other than for 1000 years or so BC (I refuse to go to BCE and CE - too politically correct, so I'll stick with BC and AD). If you want to look at systems that sustained major states, the Egyptians win hands down, although there are probably claims that need to be investigated for Zoroastriansim, the religion of the Persian state before the Arabs.

[ASA Vet]

The original wicca supernatualism was long lived too.
(One of my ancestors was hung in the Salem insanity.)
I refuse to use BC and AD because they give unwarranted status to
a specfic supernaturalist system.
I'd rather use AE (atomic era,) in which it is currently 58 AE, but I'd be real lonely.

[nmh]

"Yeah, right. I guess a story that encourages children to work hard and do their best to overcome obstacles can't compete with a book featuring happy tales of worldwide flooding, testing people by encouraging them to kill their own kids, and wholesale slaughter."

LOL! Depends on the child. As for your other remarks I believe you need professional help. You're off the wall.

Harry Potter is for the troubled child. Studies have indicated that. So for us, we prefer to avoid witchcraft and spells. You do as you see fit without villifying and exaggerating the preference of others. Ooops, I forgot, Harry Potter fans are unable to do this. They are too intimidated by disapproval.

[nmh]

"To fight evil one must recognize it. Think of it as paladin educational services."

Surely you don't need Harry Potter to show you what evil is! What a hoot! ALl I need to know about evil is written in the Bible and witchcraft is definitely evil as this articles states.

[Dead Corpse]

So, according to the Bible, will you burn me, stone me, or just slit my throat then defecate in my mouth? I've got a baby daughter coming, will you dash her brains out on the rocks? Or wait until she is of age then allow her to be raped to death?

Don't you people even bother to read the whole damn book?

[Pilsner]

I'd rather use AE (atomic era,) in which it is currently 58 AE, but I'd be real lonely

H. Beam Piper bump to the top.