en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/673863 Comments by gorm_sionnach http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/01/bloody-death-pit-or-anti-santeria-vendetta.html#IDComment50026304 I've yet to see anyone defend the actions or abuse of animals. So far, the opinions offered have been 1. Negligence on the part of the home owner 2. Overblown sensationalism from people who allow their preconceived notions to cloud their judgement. So it would seem the consensus is we need more info and context. Sat, 2 Jan 2010 05:38:50 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/01/bloody-death-pit-or-anti-santeria-vendetta.html#IDComment50026304 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/01/bloody-death-pit-or-anti-santeria-vendetta.html#IDComment50025677 Torture? Enjoyment? I'm at an utter loss as to how either are associated with ritualized slaughter? Or that it has anything to do with fanaticism. Perhaps if you'd educate yourself a little, you'd be able to avoid blanket condemnations. Why condemn those who raise their own livestock, slaughter them with their own hands, and prepare them for consumption? I understand that getting your meat already prepared, in styrofoam or plastic wrap is convenient, but it does not provide you with some moral high-ground to condemn those who do the dirty work themselves, simply because you pretend that the meat you consume was not a life, but just a piece of meat. The animal is eaten after the sacrifice (though a portion is given to the Gods) first and foremost. The animal is not tortured, it is killed in the humanest method possible, any suffering on part of the animal detracts from the ritual, which says nothing to the cruelty of making an animal suffer. If it suffers your doing it wrong. It seems you simply dislike the idea of attaching significance to the slaughter of animals, outside of their consumption. If the animal is ultimately consumed, why then do you see it as problematic? Do you feel the same way about Kosher or Halal meats as well? Sat, 2 Jan 2010 05:30:55 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/01/bloody-death-pit-or-anti-santeria-vendetta.html#IDComment50025677 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/01/bloody-death-pit-or-anti-santeria-vendetta.html#IDComment49983113 I've got to agree with the other two posters, you are coming off as considerably hypocritical. Have you come under the sway of such sensationalists representations of animal sacrifice that you've bought into them as being representative of actual practices? It was not so long ago that people raised their own livestock, many today still keep chickens and swine for such purposes. Why does the attachment of religious significance to the slaughter of livestock make it unnecessary and cruel? Frankly home raised livestock enjoys a far better life than their stock yard counterparts, so to accept one and reject the other because some people attach meaning to the slaughter, is not a particularly defensible position. Sat, 2 Jan 2010 00:38:27 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/01/bloody-death-pit-or-anti-santeria-vendetta.html#IDComment49983113 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/12/the-simpsons-and-wiccans.html#IDComment45418918 I wish the episode had been more even in terms of the laughs, instead of only having pockets. It was what I was expecting in terms of portrayal, the first quote you referenced summed it up nicely. The show is satire, pure and simple, though Buddhism was treated with a bit more deference (although in later episodes Buddha himself is made fun of when ever he shows up) then again it was being practiced by adults as opposed to children. I do agree that it would be hypocritical to get bent out of shape about it, (Christianity after all is a regular whipping boy on the show), but this seems to be the consensus among Pagans I've talked with. Well that and "who still watches the Simpsons?" which I suppose is something which I can rightly be indignant about. Tue, 1 Dec 2009 18:20:16 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/12/the-simpsons-and-wiccans.html#IDComment45418918 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/indianapolis-public-schools-block-the-pagans.html#IDComment43596755 I'd side with the lazy/ couldn't be bothered to read the fine print mentality, still its no excuse. It is interesting that under Alternative sexuality/ lifestyle they make a point to not include LGBT sites, so at first it seems to be alright. Scroll down and you see it is its own catergory. Some social conservative group has its fingerprints all over this software. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:48:05 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/indianapolis-public-schools-block-the-pagans.html#IDComment43596755 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/more-on-the-pagan-angle-to-those-i-believe-plates.html#IDComment43102267 More and more "freedom of religion" is code for " I (and my majority religion) should have the right to pray to my God, and everyone else, has the right to shut up about it". If only politicians would stop and consider the two way street that is religious freedom, they might realize that: 1. Other religions exist in the United States 2. Those religions have the same rights as your own, even if they are smaller. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:49:07 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/more-on-the-pagan-angle-to-those-i-believe-plates.html#IDComment43102267 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/even-more-pagan-news-of-note.html#IDComment42767472 I'm not sure his religion played any part at all in his election, it was a non-issue until the story was published by the Queens Tribune, then it was used as a weapon. That voters looked beyond his religion, and at his politics (and from everything I've come across the issues with restricting development was the central platform he ran (and won) on) and elected him over his Democratic opponent. Still, an openly practicing Heathen was elected to a public office in the US, that bears some significance, if nothing else its a milestone. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:46:05 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/even-more-pagan-news-of-note.html#IDComment42767472 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/even-more-pagan-news-of-note.html#IDComment42753163 The scholarly approach is something which is supposed to be undertaken by anyone claiming to be a Celtic Recon, though in terms of reconstructing iron age social structures as the basis for group organization, I have seen some variants of it (organization based on function for example, CR groups as they are, are considerably small to begin with), but nothing to the extent of Theodism. You may be right with regards to the Hiberno-Norman roots, though most lay people would be even less aware of that, than Indo-Europeans. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:25:59 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/even-more-pagan-news-of-note.html#IDComment42753163 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/even-more-pagan-news-of-note.html#IDComment42746209 It is mentioned in one of the links above, and I have seen it somewhere else as well, though I am unable to remember where (unless it was directly quoting the above article). There are numerous Celtic Recon groups out there who do just that Nick. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:03:50 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/even-more-pagan-news-of-note.html#IDComment42746209 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/even-more-pagan-news-of-note.html#IDComment42736366 An aside from the current discussions, I've noticed in a few of the reports on Theodish belief is claimed to be "rooted in pre-Christian Celtic and Germanic belief." I'm curious how the Celts managed to get associated with this, I've not come across anything relating Theodism with the Celts; Germanic, Anglo-Saxon for sure, but not the Celts... My initial response would be that anything portrayed as "Mystic" and "European" has to make mention of the Celts somewhere, but if there are aspects of Theodish belief which stem from the Celtic cultures, I'd appreciate the information, but so far I've found nothing. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:19:36 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/even-more-pagan-news-of-note.html#IDComment42736366 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/dan-halloran-wins-alice-richmond-loses.html#IDComment41959620 It would be quite useful to have some how been able to determine if Halloran's religious beliefs were a boon, bane or banal in the minds of voters, but we can only speculate (and certainly, we will speculate!) Wed, 4 Nov 2009 16:41:00 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/dan-halloran-wins-alice-richmond-loses.html#IDComment41959620 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/its-election-day.html#IDComment41646268 “It’s a kind of fringe belief and he's certainly entitled to it, but it’s kind of scary he's running for a public office,” said another. Isn't that the litmus test for freedom of religion? In the "Some are directly quoting the Village voice" link, there is a video clip, at (0:45) there is a man holding a sign reading "No intolerance", wouldn't that be nice? Tue, 3 Nov 2009 17:44:24 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/11/its-election-day.html#IDComment41646268 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/10/the-village-voice-examines-halloran-odinism-conservative-pagans.html#IDComment40973202 I suppose the problem arises in the language, as already mentioned, the statement "Wicca is a fraud" and "Wicca has fraudulent historic myths attached to it" mean two different things. The former says that the religion itself is fake (whatever that means in a religious context), the second that Wicca propagates falsehoods about its historic origins, says nothing to the legitimacy of it as a religion. Having said that when I read the statement about Heathens not being considered Pagan, I did not read it as an insult. Many in the Heathen community call themselves so to distance (or contextualize) themselves from general Paganism, the same could be said for other Recon traditions. While the developmental history is undeniable, it is why people can delineate between Pagan and Recon, but Pagan as an identifier has grown so amorphous that it is (if not has) lost any meaning in and of itself, aside from self identification. The Asatruar/Heathen community is firmly established, so one could make the claim they are not Pagan, and not be doing so out of spite, but merely stating a fact. Having said that, I'm not able to speak to the intent of such a comment, and it very well could have been out of derision, as much as accuracy. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:50:55 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/10/the-village-voice-examines-halloran-odinism-conservative-pagans.html#IDComment40973202 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/10/the-village-voice-examines-halloran-odinism-conservative-pagans.html#IDComment40921330 I do agree that there are far more productive things we could be doing, rather than in fighting and sniping at each other. Recons and other Pagans can get along, it really isn't that hard. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:25:44 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/10/the-village-voice-examines-halloran-odinism-conservative-pagans.html#IDComment40921330 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/10/hallorans-faith-in-god.html#IDComment37221321 Conservatism, as a political philosophy is not necessarily at loggerheads with Paganism. The fact that the GOP recieves much of its support from Evangelical Christians, and has understandably influenced the policy, does not necessitate that one must be a conservative Christian to be a Republican, especially in the more progressive areas, like New York, where issues of fiscal conservacy are of more importence than social issues. Paganism is by no means monolithic, and simply because a majority of Pagans tend more towards liberal posistions, does not mean that one can not be conservative and Pagan. Sun, 4 Oct 2009 20:35:27 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/10/hallorans-faith-in-god.html#IDComment37221321