Do you know if she plans on having the chemo? If she does, I hope she gets more than one extra year out of it.

It's a shame her son-in-law won't let her keep her dog. She needs that companionship now more than ever. Some people can be cruel, in my opinion.

Okay, here's a quote from the article about the Harlan murder:

He lied to police when he talked to them on Jan. 6 in a desperate attempt to hide the crime, said defense attorney Kathleen Kyle with the Snohomish County Public Defender’s Association. That is not evidence that he planned the slaying, she said.

Um, since when has lying to police and hiding a crime ever meant the person didn't plan the crime? I thought criminals planned to cover their tracks as a rule. I've certainly never seen an embezzler come clean the moment the police approach them.

Those are good question. Personally, if a mere roommate tried telling me I couldn't talk to other men are snooped through my stuff (checking text messages on someone else's phone?!?!?!), they would not be my roommate for long. Hell, I'm not sure I'd take kindly to those sorts of things even if I was in a relationship with the guy. The fact that Harlan did put up with such stuff makes me wonder if the situation might be even worse that one might first think. But that's just me.

Jason,

First let me say that I think this is a good idea and that it's a good thing for Pagan groups to have an official statement denouncing sexual abuse. And where it is feasible (i.e. for those groups that have a structure to do so), enforcement of such a policy and removal of those who abuse it is important.

However, I think it's important to note that this is, in my opinion at least, only a partial solution to the problem. This does nothing to police those individuals who work outside of groups capable of creating/signing on to and enforcing such a policy. This is why I think it's equally important to educate the greater Pagan community -- and particularly newcomers -- about their rights and ability towards self-determination in protecting themselves from predators. I think it's important to remind people that even with the best policies, individuals need to be aware of their own situations and take note of situations that they find suspect.

Yeah, I'll second that "huh"?

I challenge you all, every Pagan every Wiccan, to be so open that you ignore warning signs and obvious social or mental problems that indicate a problem.

Am I correct in assuming that you made a type here, and meant to challenge us not to be so open that we ignore warning signs? Because the way it's currently written, this sentence completely contradicts the rest of your message.

A message I totally agree with, by the way.

Yes, yes, and YES!

One of my biggest concerns about all the talk about the sexual abuse scandals in the RCC is that too many people seem to act like this sort of thing ONLY happens in the RCC and not with religious leaders of other traditions and faiths. It seems to me that some people think that such a thing could never happen within the Pagan communities, a belief that is based in naivety and possibly hubris. And as this story shows, it's a belief that can have disastrous consequences.

Leaders of any faith, nay leaders of any kind (not just religious), hold a certain amount of power, and people are inclined to trust them. And eventually, some less scrupulous person is bound to take advantage of and violate that trust and their responsibilities as a leader. It is up to us to be aware of this and make sure that our chosen leaders are and remain deserving of that trust.

Kudos to those within the Correllian Tradition who responded promptly and appropriately to these allegations. May we all learn from their example in this situation.

You mean the First Amendment.

But yes, I'm inclined to agree with you.

You would think they would have learned their lesson by now....

It's ridiculous that this is even an issue in this day and age!

On an amusing note, apparently the email accounts for both the superintendent and the principal have been closed. Granted, it's nothing more than speculation to suggest that this is because they got flooded with too many emails from indignant people criticizing them for their actions. But it's fun speculation. :) And I suspect there's a good chance it's even correct speculation. ;)