The schedule on their website states they are planning an action at "Drums in DC" on October 28th. The Annual Samhain Drumming at the Jefferson will be on October 28th so I fear this may be their intended target.
I have received a statement from the Open Heart Foundation on this group's general presence in the area.
The Open Hearth Foundation will take precautions that are necessary in preparing for Samhain festivities in the light of this new campaign. We recommend that Pagan groups who are holding festivities in the DC area during this time take extra care and make sure to have a plan in mind with what to do if protesters or dissenters showed up at their events. While it is not likely that they would confront us in the physical, we could only be so lucky that dissenters would give us this kind of warning before arriving. We will stay alert and informed, making sure to monitor the situation and make adjustments to our plans as deemed necessary for the safety and security of all.
Literata had this to say on her blog about the attack
Hecate on her blog questions the effectiveness of passive reactionAs someone who has a strong devotion to religious liberty, I find this “siege” dangerous and disgusting. It fundamentally misunderstands the nature of religious liberty which was built into our country at its founding. Whether one sees liberty as an idealization or as a personification, Liberty is a very strange creature: she says right up front, “Of course you have other gods besides me.”Her law is to allow others their reverence so long as it harms no one. In direct contravention of that principle, these people are actively seeking to change the government of the United States so that my religion – indeed, any religion except their specific sub-sect of Christianity- would be disallowed, and public laws would compel private adherence to their interpretations of their spiritual directives, at the specific expense of religious liberty, and even personal liberty, for all who disagree.
We will keep you posted on the developments on this campaign and the community reactions to it.As a devotee of the Goddess Columbia and a Witch who lives and practices in the greater Washington, D.C. foodshed, I don’t intend to simply stand by and ignore this. I think there’s a tendency among many Pagans (and I include myself) to find this stuff pretty freaking distasteful, to view Dominionsits as nutjobs, and to not want to engage. And, of course, sometimes, giving energy back to these attacks just feeds them.But I just have to ask: How’s that approach working out for us?
Do you think our Samhain activities will be threatened with their presence in DC?
Here's the problem in a nutshell: Fundamentalism of any kind is a serious anti-social mental illness and should be handled by law enforcement and the mental health community as such. Sane, rational people see extreme behaviors for what they are - dangerous to the common welfare of all.
ReplyDeleteNow, how do we get law enforcement to act before they have to react?
Anonymous--and I put this out to the rest of the DC Pagan Community, as well--
ReplyDeleteIs it possible for the organizers of the Samhain Drumming to ASK for a police presence? I assume there had to be a permit obtained. If we have such permits, why not ask for this?
As for my reaction, I tend to feel we should possible do some work in the weeks leading up to this for protection of the members of our community. The focus would be on DC, but it would be meant for Pagans everywhere.
While I think these people are stupid and sick (and largely feel sorry for them more than anything else,) I also feel there are potentially some very real dangers and that we should prepare ourselves, both psychically and physically for whatever may come.
Blessed be.
Erce Wind Horse
Police are always present at Samhain Drumming since its a permitted event. This is good news. However, nothing stops DC40 from getting a permit nearby and generating enough noise to be a problem.
ReplyDeleteI am working with others on a Hail Columbua public ritul-rally in the start of October and will update everyone here on that.
I think that's a really good idea. I will watch for news.
ReplyDeleteThere's also this event which I've started:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=225205657520912&view=wall¬if_t=event_wall
Do you really think they could succeed in a noise war against the Samhain drumming, David? ;). Sounds like we need to promote, recruit, and make plenty of noise of our own.
ReplyDeleteThanks to you, Hecate & Anne Johnson for covering this so effectively! This gives us time to get ready to counter this.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't the first time that protesters have been at this event... The last time I recall was 2000 or 2001 when Pat Robertson sent CBN to come a'calling. In general, when they talk about the large numbers they plan to have, they are likely to get a half dozen people actually show up. And if I correctly remember the details of that event, one spirited arch druid assisting with the group focus was more than enough to put the protesters into stunned silence. The last public rite I attended where there were threats of armed protesters, it was 200 ritual attendees to 2 unarmed protesters. One guy walked around the edge of the area where we had circle whispering the Lord's prayer. The other stretched out on the grass in a cross shape and I assume was praying silently. From my talks with others, those tend to be the usual protesters that show up and the typical numbers. That isn't to say that one shouldn't be observant.... Observation is a requirement for living here in this era. It just isn't as major a concern as it could be, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteI am a 'Recovering Roman Catholic,' and from the old point of view I have to say this. Don't they know that to use the tools of the Devil, AKA force, is to open themselves to him? Forcing someone to do something, whether the force is physical or spiritual, it is still force. They are breaking the 'Golden Rule' not, he who has the gold rules, to love thy neighbor as thy self. So since this was, according to the Bible, the word of Christ can they still call themselves Christians?
ReplyDeleteFrom my better, at least to my mind, point of view I have to say that someone needs to tell them that negative energies, prayer, magic, chi, whatever, tend to rebound to the sender.
Elsewhere it was posted that we should take the energy they send against 'Capitol Hill' and store it for later use. Negative energy is still negative energy, we should all work on grounding this stuff out. Their intent will eventually come back to bite them.
royla_huntsman@msn.com - Virginia
I have much more to say on this subject, but I'll leave it for a later time. Instead, in response to this:
ReplyDelete"I am working with others on a Hail Columbua public ritul-rally in the start of October and will update everyone here on that."
I can't wait to hear about more! I will personally be out of town this Samhain, but I am more than willing to lend a helping hand or two to the effort. If any assistance is needed, please feel free to email me!
thecoexistcafe(at)gmail.com
Gentle people, as the permit holder of the event, I have called the Park Service and they are aware of possible protests. Having searched out the Drums in DC event it is being held at a mega-church in SE Washington, DC, nowhere near the Jefferson. I, however, have already spoken to the Park Service and permits are first-come, first-served. We already have the skirt of the Jefferson. It is unlikely that they would give a permit to a perceived "rival" group as they have just as much at stake in keeping Washington DC peaceful. Sincerely, Charles Butler, Ecumenicon Fellowship. Wear orange to the event as peaceful warriors.
ReplyDeleteCharles Butler chazzer3332000@yahoo.com
Currently I am working on a ritual that will continue over the course of their 40 days to ground out their prayers. I wish I could be in DC to support the pagan community there against this hateful extremist group. I'll be drummin' away in Washington for you!
ReplyDeleteI'll be sending out magical protection for the Samhain drumming. You guys are going to need it. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI think this is so ridicules. Who thought of this and who was stupid enough to go along with it?
ReplyDeleteWashington, District of Christ. Stupid name.
And where does Ba'al fit in all of this?
the goddess Columbia will fall and will fail. Read Isaiah 47 in the Holy Bible, it the one true God speaking directly to Columbia!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (10/9, 1:19pm)- That is an inaccurate reference. Isaiah 47 is using the image of a woman to represent the city of Babylon and the enactment of women as subservient slaves to the patriarchy. Your reference has nothing to do with the Goddess Columbia, it is only a reference to Christian sexism and slavery. If this "god" is demanding those things, then it is no god for me.
ReplyDeleteDavid - I'm not sure which translation you are using. Mine is a Hebrew-to-English direct translation, bypassing the Latin. Suffice it to say, it has *nothing* to do with the status of women changing in Isaiah's time. The passage begins with a warning to Babylon / Chaldea, frequently called the "Fair Child" in the text, which I suppose could be rendered maiden, but it was speaking of a country, not women as a whole. The text goes on to say, essentially, that Babylon would fall as a political power because, when Israel had been handed into captivity, they went above and beyond the cruelty typically shown towards a fallen enemy. Because Babylon had committed war crimes, "She" would fall. The city was known to use financial markets and religion as hedges for extreme excess and selfishness, and the remainder of the chapter mocks that perhaps their wealthy merchants and priests and astrologers could find some way to challenge fate and save them.
ReplyDeleteAnalyzed, this passage could indeed represent certain groups, however... just not the ones fundis think. It's really a mirror pointing back at them. After all, political leaders committing war crimes, with comfy rich people prospering on the backs of cruel treatment towards others, trusting in famous religious leaders and people watching the sky for signs of, say, the end times.... Sounds a little familiar. You know what Jung said about shadows... ;-)