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 | The initiate first denies the Christian faith: (Wicca and Christianity are two very different religions. An initiate no more denies belief in Christianity than they would Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam. The concept of denying the Christian faith appears to come directly from Renaissance era Christian propaganda.) |
| The initiate is rebaptized in the name of the Devil. (This is untrue. Baptism is not one of the Wiccan rituals. The Wiccan pantheon of Goddesses and Gods does not include an all-evil deity. In particular, it does not include the Christian Devil, Satan.) |
| The initiate receives a new name in place of their given name. (This is partly true; they receive a new Wiccan name to be used during rituals; they still retain their given name for non-ritual purposes. Wiccans may also have a third name for use during solitary work.) |
| They deny their godparents and are assigned new sponsors. Again, this is untrue. (Wiccan rituals do not involve or mention godparents. However, a new Wiccan may be linked with a teacher within the coven to aid in her/his spiritual development.) |
| They give a piece of clothing to the Devil as a token of submission: (This is false. Wiccans do not recognize the existence of a Devil; they could hardly worship or otherwise interact with such a deity. Again, this belief comes from church propaganda at the time of the Renaissance.) |
| While they are within a magick circle, they swear an oath of allegiance to the Devil. (Rituals are indeed performed inside a circle. But, again, Wiccans do not swear an oath to the Devil; he does not exist in their religion.) |
| The initiate's name is added to the Book of Death. (There is no such book within Wicca.) |
| The initiate promises to sacrifice children to Satan. (This is a particularly obnoxious piece of hatred. To our knowledge, no Wiccan has been convicted, tried or charged with a ritual murder.) |
| She/he promises to pay "annual tribute" to the Devil. (There is no annual tribute; Wiccans do not recognize the Devil.) |
| The initiate is marked with the Devil's mark - a pentagram. (This another piece of ancient Christian propaganda. The church once taught that the Devil made a mark on the skin of his worshipers. This was a blemish that was insensitive to the touch, and symbolized his ownership of the individual. That was not true then and is not true now.) |
They conclude that:
| There are generational lines of Witchcraft practitioners. (This is true. Sometimes children will adopt the religion of their parents after they become adults. This is true with all religions. Most Hindus have Hindu parents; so too with Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, etc.) | ||||
| Children are indoctrinated from the age of 2 or 3. (Usually, children are not allowed to be trained in Wicca. One normally has to be at least 18 years of age to be trained by a Coven or experienced Witch.) | ||||
| Ritual abuse survivors, worldwide, have described "horrifying and grotesque
practices that had been done to them on a continuous [sic] bases [sic]." (There
have been cases of Christian ritual abuse documented. Dead
bodies of victims of exorcisms have been found; perpetrators have been tried in courts. Some cultures
engage in various coming-of-age ceremonies which might be considered ritual abuse. Female genital mutilation is one example. However, to our
knowledge, ritual abuse by Satanists, Wiccans or Occult group is non-existent.) Always-present memories of abuse, ritual and otherwise, are usually of real events. However, most memories of ritual abuse survivors that have not always been present appear to be false memories which are either:
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Reference:
- Y.E.S. for Christ bills themselves as "a resource for information on waging war on the kingdom of darkness. To know your enemy is important in war." They seem to regard Wicca, Satanism and the Occult as being anti-Christian, rather than un-Christian or neutral with respect to Christianity. See: http://www.generationyes.com/yes/
Copyright © 1998 to 2001 incl., and 2003 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2003-AUG-18
Author: B.A. Robinson
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