Clips:

Opinion

I'm uniquely qualified to offer an alt-religious perspective on current events. My wife and High Priestess, Lady Passion, and I are Pagan activists -- traditionally trained Witches and co-leaders of a well-known Wiccan coven, who for over a decade have fought successfully for equality and civil rights for Pagans and Wiccans here in the very heartland of fire-and-brimstone fundamentalism. We're also co-authors of The Goodly Spellbook: Olde Spells for Modern Times.

Consider the demographics: While pandering to right-wing Christian prejudices is the current follow-the-herd fad in much of the media, the statistical reality is that membership growth in the flagship Southern Baptist denomination is steadily declining.

And what do surveys show is the fastest-growing religion in America today? Wicca -- the women-honoring, nature-worshipping religion of Witchcraft that's the very nightmare of patriarchal preachers (and intolerant imams as well). It's not just because they're a spellbinding read that the Harry Potter books are so popular -- just like The Da Vinci Code, they truly are infused with genuine occult lore under a thin veil of fiction.

Now's the time to recognize the rising wave of witchery and get in front of it, while the rest of the media is distracted by the rantings of the religious right.

Here is a selection of published commentaries, many of which I co-wrote with Lady Passion (Dixie Deerman). For each commentary, the lead paragraph is given. Click on the title to read the full text, as published online at our website, www.oldenwilde.org. Most of these have also been published elsewhere in print, online, or both, as noted.

Why I Refuse to Recite the Pledge of Allegiance
Written Oct. 2003
Published in print: Metroland (upstate New York), vol. 26, no. 43
Published online: AlterNet;  PanGaia Magazine;  Refuseandresist.org
     Lately I've been catching lots of flak for my "disrespectful" refusal to stand up with everyone else and salute our nation's flag. Sure, the Supreme Court long ago affirmed Americans' right to stay mutely in our seats if we choose. But since 9/11, it's become increasingly de rigueur to recite The Pledge at many public and official meetings, and there seem to be more and more self-appointed witch-hunters in the pews casting an eye about to see who is or isn't participating in the patriotic ritual..

One Nation, Under Many Gods
Written for Samhain 2001
     The Washington Monument, our capital's soaring Egyptian Sun-shrine, is proof in marble that the USA is a Pagan as well as a Christian-Jewish-Muslim-Buddhist-Atheist nation. It's no coincidence that most of America's public architecture -- our courthouses, capitol buildings, etc. -- is modelled on classical Pagan temples, and not on Gothic churches, like the public buildings of Great Britain (which is an officially Christian nation). Anyone who takes the trouble to actually read about America's history, instead of just preaching their opinions about it, will discover that most of the Founding Fathers were religious radicals who didn't even belong to a conventional church.

Christians need to rein in their extremists
Written in Winter, 2002 (with Dixie Deerman)
Published in print: Asheville Citizen-Times, Dec. 9, 2002
     "If my daughter was in there, I'd burn this place to the ground!" screamed a Christian protestor at the owl-masked Witch who guarded the entrance to a sacred Samhain ceremony in Swannanoa on Oct. 31. The threat went unheard by the Pagans inside as we beat drums and played ecstatic gypsy music. The furious fundamentalist couldn't stop the costumed dancers from swirling in their spiral dance while hundreds of area Pagans -- including many children with their parents -- joyfully celebrated Coven Oldenwilde's 8th Annual Public Witches' Ritual on Halloween night at the youth group Mosaic Vortex's Capricorn Studio.

Institutional prejudice against Witches denies religious freedom
Written in Fall, 2000 (with Dixie Deerman)
Published in print: Mountain Xpress, Nov. 22, 2000
     Despite Asheville's reputation as a haven for diversity, our mountains also harbor an ongoing disgrace -- pervasive, institutionalized prejudice against Pagans and Witches that denies us access to public property and community resources that are routinely made available to Christians. Not so long ago, racist administrators of schools, governments and public organizations often used Jim Crow laws to keep racial minorities out of sight and "in their place." Today, local officials concoct arbitrary laws, rules and policies whenever members of minority religions seek equal rights with Christians.

From Patriotism to Matriotism:
Why Pagans are Politically Active
Written for Samhain 2004, as part of an America was Founded on Pagan Ideals feature for www.oldenwilde.org.
     Symbols that aren't backed up by honest words and courageous deeds become nothing but empty idols. It's not enough to stick a flag or a peace sign on your bumper and call yourself a lover of liberty ­ sometimes you have to get out the streets and holler back at your leaders' lies. Sometimes you have to go further and work to push an institution that's trending toward tyranny back in the direction of democracy.


Strictly Political commentary

After the incident described in "A Day of Infamy," Dixie Deerman and I helped found Asheville Justice Watch, a group of concerned citizens whose goal is to ensure police accountability through the creation of a citizen/police review board. Though we haven't achieved that yet, the pressure we've exerted on our city government has resulted in several key reforms, including compelling city leaders for the first time to seek input from the public in choosing a new police chief and city manager, and making law-enforement brass practice their own policies in taking and responding to citizen complaints.

Arlis Queen put the people back in democracy
Published in print/online: Mountain Xpress, Jan. 28, 2004
     Once upon a time, local government felt a lot less need to pay attention to the concerns of its citizens.
     These days, however, it's much harder for local leaders to insulate themselves from public scrutiny. At candidate forums and public meetings, people are asking tough questions, demanding accountability -- in short, forcing democracy to live up to its promises.

A Day of Infamy
Written in Spring, 2003 (with Dixie Deerman)
Published in print/online: Mountain Xpress, April 30, 2003
     The day the Bush Administration began bombing Iraq, we attended a protest in downtown Asheville to peaceably deplore the "shock and awe" attack on innocent civilians -- and were ourselves brutalized in a "shock and awe" attack by the Asheville Police Department.

Route 1: The best of the West
by "Rastus McSneeves"
Published in print/online: Mountain Xpress, Jan. 29, 2003
     I'm a bench-calloused, diesel-gritty veteran of public transportation. Been riding buses -- trains, when I can get 'em -- since I was big enough to reach the fare box. I grew up in car-crazy California, see, and the only way I could find to be a rebel in that paved-over paradise was to refuse to own anything with wheels. Since then, I've traveled transit in every corner of these United States. I've pumped adrenaline runnin' to catch the MUNI in San Fran, the MARTA in Atlanta, the MTA in NYC, the ... well, I couldn't find any buses in LA, so that corner don't count.

Travelling travails
Flying the not-so-friendly skies
Published in print/online: Mountain Xpress, July 31, 2002
     "Travel" and "travail" are both derived from a medieval Latin word for torture. That's something you can brood on as you stand in the airport-security line -- the strap of your one allowed carry-on bag digging painfully into your shoulder -- waiting to find out whether you'll be the next patriotic American to be ...
     [CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH:] But whichever way you decide to travel, there's one timeless bit of advice that's especially appropriate for us hapless pilgrims in these dark days when the world has come full circle, and highwaymen once again terrorize us while robber barons tyrannize us: Get superstition. Forget about air marshals and pilots packing stun guns. Since time immemorial, those who travel have protected themselves from travail by carrying a magical talisman. It can be a St. Christopher's medal (he was defrocked by the church back in 1969, but what the heck) or a pentacle or a feather or fuzzy dice or -- according to a local Witch we consulted -- a small compass, or perhaps a piece of hematite. The best travel talisman of all is any object given you for good luck by someone who cares enough about you to see your safe return.
Sidebar: You have the right to say no
     Police and other law-enforcement agents routinely board buses and trains these days, working their way down the aisles while asking passengers to answer questions and show ID, searching luggage and sometimes bodies. ("Vere are your papers?" isn't just a hoary war-movie-Nazi stereotype any more.)

Instead of the Ten Commandments, post the Ten Amendments to the Constitution
Mountain Xpress, Jan. 9, 2002 (originally part of a series, "Bright Ideas for the New Year")
     A lot of Americans -- including many state legislators --think it would be a good idea to post the Ten Commandments on the walls of our schoolrooms and courthouses, in order to encourage moral behavior. A lot of other Americans -- including the ACLU --think this would be a very bad idea, since it would violate the constitutional separation of church and state. The ACLU has vowed to sue any school district that displays the commandments in accordance with any state law.
     I have a better idea. Instead of posting the Ten Commandments, let's post the Ten Amendments to the Constitution: the Bill of Rights. And not just where students and those accused of breaking the law can learn about them. Let's paste them up everywhere, for everyone to see and read and remember. In fact, here's a copy you can cut out and display on the nearest bulletin board or refrigerator door (see box).