Recently, a friend and I were discussing the case of Darla Wynne, a Wiccan in South Carolina who is in a legal battle with her local town council regarding the subject of prayer. Right now, she's winning. Although the town council of Great Falls is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, they're currently prohibited from invoking the name of Jesus Christ in their opening prayers. I know I'm supposed to feel proud of my fellow Wiccan and Pagan, but I can't quite work up the energy. I know that by the letter of the law, the verdict is correct. I'm not denying this. But I also suspect that the Christians of Great Falls feel like they're being attacked, and I can't really blame them.

Contrast this case with that of Cyndi Simpson, which for some reason didn't get as much press. Ms. Simpson was in a similar situation; she asked that her name be included in the list of those that might be invited to perform the opening invocation at the meetings of the Chesterfield (VA) County Board of Supervisors. She was told "Based upon our review of Wicca, it is neo-pagan and invokes polytheistic, pre-Christian deities...Accordingly, we cannot honor your request." Instead of demanding that Christians curb their practice, Ms. Simpson just sued to be included.

The difference is vast. Even when you ignore the relative morality of getting an injunction against someone else praying, the Simpson case is a lot harder to demonize. Without stretching the truth, the media can only describe Ms. Simpson as someone who wants to be included, whereas the (Rock Hill, SC) Herald opened up its latest article with "Great Falls will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in its fight against a woman who opposes official prayers to Jesus Christ at Town Council meetings."

When you listen to the Pat Robertson/Jerry Falwell set, they're always talking about the agenda to destroy and undermine Christianity. Harry Potter isn't just a harmless children's book to them-- since it promotes a view that isn't 100% Christian, it's obviously there to lure children away from Christ. Since teenagers love Rock music, and most Rock music isn't about Christ--- it's the work of Satan and there to tear down Jesus. Either you're with them, or you're against them, and grey areas be damned. (Literally.)

Now, thanks to Ms. Wynne, we're not in the grey area; we're actually against them. We've gotten an injunction preventing people from praying to Jesus Christ in a particular context. In my opinion, it not only gives ammo to the Religious Right, but it emulates their tactics. To be fair, Ms. Wynne asked that Wiccan prayers be included and was rejected, but the lawsuit itself requested a specific prohibition against the use of the name of Jesus.

The goal is-- or at least should be-- to attain equality, rather than knock everyone else down to our level. If they want to make Ms. Simpson look bad without actually lying, about the most spin they can put on it is to say that she's an uppity Witch who doesn't know her place. That doesn't exactly inspire people to rise against us, and in fact is likely to make a reasonable listener sympathetic to our cause.

In contrast, Ms. Wynne is receiving death threats, and on at least one occasion her house was burgled and pets were murdered. There's no excuse for this behavior, and I'm not suggesting she deserves it, but I can't help feeling that if she'd used a different approach, her life would be easier now.

In a world strictly governed by the first amendment, there would be no prayers-- Christian, Pagan, or otherwise-- at government functions, but this isn't going to happen in reality. The practical solution is to demand inclusion in such things; not only does this establish us as spiritual people in our own right in the eyes of the public, but the conflicts in such a situation should serve to remind some Christians that they shouldn't treat prayer or government like they have exclusive rights to it. Suing to bar Christians from praying isn't going to accomplish either of these goals, and we're going to look like the bad guys here.

Our task is not to topple Christianity, or even the Religious Right. Our task is to achieve peaceful coexistence and equality in the eyes of the public and counteract the mind set that the Right encourages. Most Christians in this country are reasonable, and aren't threatened by us. But when we attack Christianity itself, rather than specific injustices, we lose ground rather than gain it.

© 2004 by Cather "Catalyst" Steincamp