Five hundred years ago, the Catholic Church had a simple way of dealing with witches: It burned them alive. The Vatican still views these broom botherers as a danger, but is now calling on Catholics to eliminate the neo-pagan problem in a more moderate manner.(all links from the article)
According to a new booklet from the Catholic Truth Society -- the U.K. publishers for the Holy See -- the faithful can convert Wiccans by following a few simple steps. The pamphlet, titled "Wicca and Witchcraft: Understanding the Dangers," suggests that Catholics spark up conversations with these unbelievers about shared concerns such as the environment, The Telegraph reports.
Because of course, Harry Potter makes all little girls and boys want to be Wiccans when they grow up. No, really:
The Daily Mail says that the church is afraid the dark arts are becoming ever more tempting thanks to the success of Harry Potter. Dodd [the author of the pamphlet, a former Wiccan] says that any youngster who dabbles in magic risks long-term problems.
Bear with me; it's 2 am as I write this and I have to get up in three hours, so I may ramble a bit.
I will agree that dabbling in magic is something that is unwise to do, because it can have consequences and, like anything, can be used for good or evil, or somewhere in the middle. I will also point out that there is a difference between Wicca and witches, the former being a pagan religion and the latter being a practice of magic. The two are not the same, although many Wiccans call themselves witches, often erroneously, whether they practise magic or not. Also, witchcraft can, indeed be practised by those who are not even pagan. I've known true practioners of magic, and I've known Wiccans and other neo-pagans, reconstructionists, and people on the fringe of paganism (which is pretty far out there). I've also met Christian mystics who practise ritual magic, and see no problem with that in their faith. I have over 21 years of experience in paganism and the pagan community, including heading a local pagan group, attending gatherings, reading both neo-pagan and ancient pagan authors, and have been a worshipper and priestess of the Goddess Hekate for about seventeen years, so I think I know what I'm talking about here. I don't personally practise witchcraft, but I know some of the principles. I've only known one person who was pagan who is so enamoured with Catholicism's trappings that he tries to mix the two religions, and I think when it comes down to it's the hats and pomp and circumstance he loves, not the actual beliefs of Catholicism. So I don't know how effective their pamphlet will be. Many of today's pagans have left other (mostly Christian) faiths and therefore have a bit of baggage when it comes to Christianity. I personally of am of the you-don't-bother-us-we-won't-bother-you mentality when it comes to Christianity, but I've known pagans who were very anti-Christian because of their experiences as Christians. So it's a complex sort of thing.
But in the grand scheme of thing, I agree with the person who posted the link on a list I read that the Church should be more concerned with the more numerous faiths it's losing members to, or indeed secularism itself, rather than the activities of a minority religion that really isn't bothering anyone and who, unlike Christianity, is not evangelical and therefore doesn't try to convert anyone. But I guess I should be happy they're not trying to burn, hang, or press people they perceive as witches under stones like in the old days.
2 comments:
Many of the so-called "witches" of the medieval period would more properly be classified as Satanists today, but the vast majority were simply poor old peasant women practicing herbal remedies and other primitive medicine.
By the way, Matthew Hopkins's infamous manual on witchfinding is available free at the Kindle Store.
I'll check that out. I did a paper in college on Matthew Hopkins, and would like to re-read some of that material. Also, Kramer and Sprenger's Malleus Maleficarum is available on the Kindle, although I didn't see a free version of that, but there's a 99 cent version I might get. Thanks for the tip.
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