The Wild Hunt
We at the Patheos Pagan channel bid The Wild Hunt much luck in its new phase as an independent website. To catch the latest from TWH, please check out wildhunt.org! –Christine Kraemer, Managing Editor, Patheos Pagan Channel Read more
We at the Patheos Pagan channel bid The Wild Hunt much luck in its new phase as an independent website. To catch the latest from TWH, please check out wildhunt.org! –Christine Kraemer, Managing Editor, Patheos Pagan Channel Read more
It appears that the controversial move by Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to retract a paid position for a Wiccan prison chaplain was merely a harbinger of much bigger things. The CBC reports that Toews, who oversees Canada’s penitentiaries, has eliminated all paid part-time chaplain services, effectively making government prison chaplaincy a Christian-only affair. “Inmates of other faiths, such as Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jews, will be expected to turn to Christian prison chaplains for religious counsel and guidance, according to the office... Read more
What’s it like to be a religious minority in a Christian-dominated culture? Jews on First has published a must-read in-depth exploration of what it’s like for Jewish students going to public schools in the South, consistently exposed to peer pressure and conversion attempts by their Christian classmates, behavior often (directly and indirectly) supported by faculty. “It can be the little stuff, like my classmates wishing me to have a ‘blessed day’. I know that really means that Jesus blesses you,”... Read more
There’s a certain truism that’s been adopted by commentators and analyzers of religion in the United States (and more broadly in the West), that liberal Protestant Christianity is in a demographic death spiral, and thus liberal forms of Christianity itself are in danger of winking out of existence. Conservative columnist Ross Douthat, author of “Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics,” made waves this past Summer by asking if liberal Christianity could be saved. “…if conservative Christianity has often been... Read more
Dear readers, I have been sick. In truth I’ve been sick for several days now, and still haven’t kicked the virus that has overcome my usually robust nature. I have no doubt that I’m on the mend, but I’m taking a day off from my responsibilities so I can rest up and hopefully return a bit stronger when I do return. In the meantime, here’s a neat little short film from We Are The Forest that I think you might... Read more
This past Saturday California Governor Jerry Brown signed bill SB1172 into law, banning controversial “conversion therapies” for homosexuality if the patient is a minor. In a statement, Brown condemned these therapies as “quackery” that create, rather than solve, mental health issues. “This bill bans nonscientific ‘therapies’ that have driven young people to depression and suicide. These practices have no basis in science or medicine, and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery.” California is the first state to ban conversion therapy (also known... Read more
Director/producer Alan D. Miller seems like a very intelligent guy, he participates in the NY Salon after all, so I was disappointed to see him participate in the religious pundit class version of “hippie punching”: criticizing all those “spiritual but not religious” people for CNN’s Belief Blog. You see, these spiritual (but not religious) people are very shallow, and don’t realize how darn important the Christian Bible has been to human history. “A bit of Yoga here, a Zen idea there, a quote from Taoism and a Kabbalah... Read more
Boing Boing points to a fascinating essay by author Ken MacLeod in Aeon Magazine about moments of ego transcendence and “ineffable encounters” that he’s experienced over the years, and how he experienced them completely outside a spiritual or religious container. “I was on my own, exploring the banks of a river that ran along a broad, deep gully. I wasn’t far from human habitation but I don’t remember any sound except the river on the stones, dripping moss and humming insects. The sun... Read more
There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans out there, sometimes more than I can write about in-depth in any given week. So The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up. The Somerset Guardian reports on a Clutton History Society meeting, featuring a talk from historian Ronald Hutton, author of “The Triumph of the Moon:A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft.” Quote: “After the summer break Clutton History Society resumed its monthly programme of talks in September with a visit... Read more
A purposely inflammatory film, “Innocence of Muslims,” sparked protests across the Muslim world recently. In the chaos an affiliate of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda is believed to have launched the attack in Libya that killed an American diplomat and three other embassy staffers (it should be noted that many Libyans apologized for the attack and rejected the violence done in their name). As for the film, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the actors were duped into performing for it, and that the anti-Islam... Read more
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