Pagan Community Responds to Inflammatory Fox News Comments

[icymist]

As Heather Greene reported yesterday here at The Wild Hunt, the Pagan community has been reacting to inflammatory and offensive statements made by Fox News and Fox & Friends Weekend personalities regarding the University of Missouri adding the eight Wiccan Sabbats to its “Guide to Religion.”

Since then, the response from Wiccans and other modern Pagans on social media sites like Facebook have been heavy and sustained. More than 25,000 individuals have signed a Causes petition demanding an apology, and over 4000 have signed a Change.org petition demanding the same.

“Fox and Friends on February 17, 2013 decided to belittle women, make fun of a Federally recognized religion, present inaccurate information as “facts” concerning the religion of Wicca, and decide that religious freedom and respect is ONLY for the mainstream or “traditional” religions rather than for EVERY American Citizen regardless of their spirituality. [...] They are also doing a lot of damage control by removing this video from the public record due to the backlash it is receiving but I, and many others in the Pagan community will not allow them to hide their bigotry and pretend it didn’t happen.”

http://wildhunt.org/2013/02/pagan-community-responds-to-inflammatory-fox-news-comments.html

[icymist]

1. Fox News mocked beliefs, Wiccans say

April Ford understands that paganism is a minority faith generally misunderstood in the mainstream, but it still stung when Fox News commentators mocked believers with stereotypes and jokes.

“When you say derogatory things about a religious group, you have taken our sacred traditions and spat on us,” she said. “It’s very hurtful.”

Ford practices Wicca, a form of paganism, in the Columbus area. She is among about 40,000 people who have signed petitions on causes.com and change.org asking for an apology for comments made Sunday during a Fox & Friends Weekend report about the University of Missouri adding pagan and Wiccan holidays to its “Guide to Religions.”

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/02/22/fox-news-mocked-beliefs-wiccans-say.html