OK, now my blood pressure is really up!

I'm not much of one for "pagan unity" ... I don't feel that heathens have much in common with wiccans (in fact, I cordially despise wiccans) and don't see too many opportunities to work together religiously with such folks.

Working together politically is another matter - on occassion things do come up which are so patently offensive to non-monotheist religions that they practically demand a response from all off us.

The press release reproduced below from the The Pagan Unity Campaign highlights one such example:

Date: Nov. 26th, 2003

Subject: Offensive bigoted prejudicial quote by James Towey on behalf of the White House.

Contact: Ginger (828) 230-1273

James Towey the White House Deputy Assistant to the President and Director, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives hosted a Q and A session on Whitehouse.gov web site today, and amazingly answered a thoughtful question for a PUC staffer, with this idiotic bigoted reply:

---------Quoted from www.whitehouse.gov--11/26/2003---

Colby, from Centralia MO writes:
Do you feel that Pagan faith based groups should be given the same considerations as any other group that seeks aid?

Jim Towey: I haven't run into a pagan faith-based group yet, much less a pagan group that cares for the poor! Once you make it clear to any applicant that public money must go to public purposes and can't be used to promote ideology, the fringe groups lose interest. Helping the poor is tough work and only those with loving hearts seem drawn to it.

-------------------------end of quote--------------------------------

The Pagan Community needs to make the administration aware that not only do members of minority faiths have "loving hearts" But that we in fact DON"T EVER try to promote ideology like the Christian faiths who base their whole religions on 'saving' others. We also need to snow under this man's office with introductions of the varied and numerous Pagan faith-based groups that of course "care for the poor."

PUC encourages all Pagans to send him Yule cards this Yuletide season, along with PUC. Together we shall try to educate this man who is supposed to be a religious expert for the current administration, about the various Faiths who have followers in Lady Liberty's land!!!

Address your cards, letters, telephone calls, and faxes to him at:

Jim Towey, Director
The White House
Washington, DC 20502
(202) 456-6708 (phone)
(202) 456-7019 (fax)
www.fbci.gov

He probably hasn't "run into a pagan faith-based group yet" because most of us are not busily sucking cash from government coffers to serve our pet projects, unlike a great many Christian/Muslim/Jewish groups. We're too tied up doing things to help our communities to worry about getting paid for it.

We generally don't have "professional" clergy - folks who suck blood and money from their "flock" for a living. Few heathen groups have bothered to get the requisite 501(c)(3) status to even do tax exempt fund raising.

This obviously means we don't have "loving hearts" and that we couldn't care less about out communities. BULLSHIT!

This is truely an outrage: I personally served on the board of directors for the Hamilton County, Indiana chapter of the American Red Cross for two years while godhi of Ravenswood. The kindred itself collected and donated food and supplies for their relief efforts. I know of a great many heathen groups who participate as full members of their respective communities in charity work.

But apparently, we don't have "loving hearts" and are only interested in promoting our "ideology". Somebody needs to tell this idiot that it's the monotheist groups who have the "Great Commission" and the One True Way who are the ones interested in spreading their ideology!

There's a letter on the way to this bozo from me, and also one to his boss. Not that I think it'll do much good, but I'm not gonna sit on my hands on this one.
10:45:42 AM     comment []