Subj : Fort Hood Witches To : TODD HENSON From : Moebius Date : Thu Mar 22 2001 09:08 am The Moon was red, making TODD HENSON ask MOEBIUS, "Is this a bad sign?" >> TH> Blame for everything that's wrong? Do you mean in the military, or >> TH> American society in general? >> Both. The lack of understanding (and /willingness/ to understand) cuts >> across all class lines. It's not always obvious, but it's there. TH> Are you saying that witches are blamed for what's wrong in society? Ever since the 1400s, with a brief respite for two world wars and the McCarthy years. Read the following article - which Ray posted earlier - and tell me it isn't happening. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Los Angeles Media Begins Witch Hunting Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_article.gs p?c_id=337637&id_list=&cookied=T Los Angeles Media Begins Witch Hunting After Teen Goes Missing by Regina Raab February 20, 2001 This is a special edition of Galena's Pagan Gazette, released February 20, 2001: Los Angeles Media Begins Witch Hunting After Teen Goes Missing (Los Angeles, February 19, 2001. NBC4.tv, abc7.com) A fifteen-year-old girl, Sarah Lofthouse, was reported missing on Friday, February 16. Her parents believe that she may have gone off to meet someone she met on the Internet--specifically a witchcraft site. Local news media is reportedly saying that her parents "fear that she may have been lured away by the underground culture she discovered on a website promoting a type of witchcraft called Wicca," and that the girl is, "a typical Roman Catholic schoolgirl" who secretly was involved in "the dark world she discovered on the Internet". The last sign of the girl was an ATM withdrawal that she made on Friday afternoon. "Sarah could not possibly do this on her own," her father said of her disappearance. "Somebody, some group is behind this." Several of my Pagan friends in Los Angeles have told me that the local media led off their coverage of this story with such language as, "A local teen may have been lured away by....WITCHCRAFT!" The news media is showing images of Wiccan and Satanic books (none of which were actually found in the girl's possessions--they went to bookstores to find titles she might have been reading), websites such as the Witches' Voice, and such "witchy" objects as black candlesticks with skulls on them to further promote the hysteria. Every news story gives a different location (New Mexico, New York, Mexico) as to where this supposed evil witchcraft group must be from. It should be noted that the FBI is examining the e-mail files on the girl's computer, but that no suspected sites or individuals have been named yet. All of her e-mail has apparently been deleted. So far, the only evidence that links this girl to Paganism or Witchcraft is that she visited some pagan and witchcraft sites. All of the finger-pointing toward witches is pure speculation by the parents and the media at this point, and it all seems to be intended to link Wicca, witchcraft, and Satanism together. If you would like to educate the Los Angeles news media about the irresponsibility of conjecture which maligns a system of belief and its practitioners without proof or direct evidence, please respond to knbc.complaint@nbc.com for the NBC affiliate or click here for the e-mail form for the ABC affiliate. These are the two stations whose specific coverage of this story have been mentioned to me. Apparently the print media are nowhere near as inflammatory and have only made some vague references to how the girl was interested in witchcraft. At least, so far. Update: As of about 1:30 EST on February 20, the Associated Press is reporting that the girl has been found in Ohio. Despite her father's insistence to the contrary, apparently Ms. Lofthouse did leave on her own. She was found alone and unharmed. Who is holding their breath for the media retraction about the evil witches who lured her away? View recent editions of Galena's Pagan Gazette: L.A. Witch Hunt, Interfaith Council Stands Up for Pagans, Check Your Candle Wicks, more..., February 15-22, 2001 Prince's View on Tolerance, Two Worthy Projects, and Censorship Thwarted in Virginia: February 8-15, 2001 Galena, aka Regina Raab, will publish this compilation of Pagan news briefs weekly. Have a news story you'd like to share? Got questions or comments about any of the articles in this edition? Please contact Galena and include "Galena's Pagan Gazette" and the date of the edition in question in the subject line. Thank you for reading! -------------------------------------------------------------------- Need I say more? TH> As for "lack of understanding", I've seen PLENTY of that right here in TH> this echo...where petty TH> prejudices run wild against certain types of religious thought, where TH> opinions have been quick TH> but understanding BEHIND those opinions have been might slow. Perhaps TH> you're on to something there. Of course I am. You never see it until you change your perspective, and I've had to do that many times. Moebius .... "I think you just created a monster of me." --- Spot 1.3b Unregistered * Origin: Remember the Rule of Three: Three to one's bad odds (1:3613/1275.12) .