CHRISTIAN & WICCAN CONFLICTS
Why are conservative
Christians mainly involved?
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Why are conservative Christians primarily responsible?
In those anti-Wiccan conflicts of which we are aware, when the perpetrators' religious faith can be identified, they
have always been Fundamentalist or other Evangelical
Christians. We know of no major verbal or physical attacks that have
originated from mainline or liberal Christians, or from followers of other
religions in the past seven years. (We define a
"major" event as one serious enough to have come to general attention by
having been publicized
in the media, or to having been mentioned in a Pagan newsgroup or mailing
list.)
There are many reasons why the conservative wing of Christianity is mainly
involved:
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Bible mistranslations: Some of the animosity towards Wiccans and
other Neopagans appears to be
linked to a misunderstanding of the many
unrelated activities which have been called "Witchcraft:"
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In English versions of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), the
Hebrew word "m'khashepah" is often translated as
"witch." The word actually means a female sorcerer who uses
spoken curses to harm other people. |
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Similarly, in the English translations of the Christian Scriptures
(New Testament) the Greek word "pharmakia" is often
translated as "witch." It actually means a person who poisons other
humans through the administration of toxic potions. |
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Meanwhile, Wiccans often use the term "Witch" to describe themselves.
They are prohibited by their rule of behavior, the Wiccan Rede, from
harming others. |
Confusion is caused by the words "Witch" and
"Witchcraft" having multiple, unrelated
meanings. Believers who
are unable to read Hebrew and Greek and who rely on English versions of the
Bible may be led astray; they might assume that the witch in Exodus 22:18,
and the witch in Galatians 5:19-20 and the Witch or Wiccan down the street
doing a healing spell are all profoundly evil and a danger to society. This
confusion is particularly prevalent in the King James Version of the Bible
-- the translation most commonly used by Fundamentalist Christians. King
James seems to have had a paranoid fear of witches -- of the evil sorceress
type. More modern English translations often use the word "sorceress," and
thus reduce the confusion. | |
Theology: Perhaps the main reasons that Christians who attack
Wiccans come primarily from the conservative wing of Christianity is due to
theological beliefs: many conservative Christians hold a dualistic view of
the supernatural. They visualize God is all-good and just, while Satan is
seen as all-evil. They feel that Satan is a very real and always present
living entity who roams the world seeking whom he might destroy. Oppression
or possession by Satan or his demons is a very real possibility. Satanic
attack and oppression is common. Wiccans are seen as conjuring up Satan or other evil
spirits in their rituals. A second byproduct of this dualistic world view is
that many conservative Christians believe that since non-Christians do not
follow the Judeo-Christian God, that they must be
worshiping the Devil. To them, there is really no other choice. |
In
contrast, more liberal Christians tend to view Satan as a Christian concept
of profound evil, but not an actual supernatural being. They accept the
consensus of mental health therapists and reject the
concept of indwelling demonic possession. They view Wicca as simply one of
North America's many minority religions, of the same general type as Hinduism,
Buddhism, Taoism, etc: they worship other Gods and Goddesses -- none of whom
are Satan.
Within the last few days of October 2000, when this
section was originally written, we noticed three events that illustrate how the
theological viewpoints of conservative Christians influence their view of
Wicca:
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OCT-26, Smithfield VA: A belief that Satan is in charge of
Wicca: A group of over 30 conservative Christian pastors and laymen met
to prepare a "strategic plan" to counter pagan activity
in their area. Pastor Anthony Van Dyke "If we fail to
plan...the enemy will take over our community." In an apparent
reference to Satan, "The Rev. William McCarty described the
pagan movement as evil and said the issue goes beyond religious freedom
because there is a higher authority at work...One pastor said he didn't
want to dignify Satan or his minions by addressing them - 'We understand
he's already a defeated foe,' he said |
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OCT-28, Broken Arrow, OK: A belief that Wiccans cast evil
spells to hurt or kill others: Public high school officials accused
Brandi Blackbear, a 15 year-old Roman Catholic student, of casting a
magic spell on a ceramics teacher. He had become sick, and was
hospitalized, apparently for appendicitis. They suspended her for 15
days. They had earlier seized her notebooks and prevented her from
drawing or wearing Wiccan symbols. Vice-principal Charlie Bushyhead
advised her "that she was an immediate threat to the school and
summarily suspended her for what he arbitrarily determined to be a
disruption of the education process." |
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OCT-31: Houma, LA: A belief that Wiccans will attract evil
spirits to the area: 30 conservative Christian churches in the city
organized monthly meetings to pray for the conversion of local Wiccans
to Christianity. Pastor René Monette of the Living Word Church and
others are concerned that the presence of Wiccans will lure evil spirits
into his town. He stated: "We feel like a lot of baggage is
going to come with all that stuff." |
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The Internet, books and media: Countless web
sites, books, pamphlets, radio
and TV programs written and produced by conservative Christians promote the
concept that Wiccans are Satanists and that they are to be feared. This causes a heightened
concern within their religious communities and feeds hatred of Wiccans and
other Neopagans. However, in recent years, conservative Christian authors
have begun to place less reliance on obtaining information from fellow
conservative Christians, and now place more importance on primary sources
of information -- web sites, books, articles and other documents by
Wiccans themselves. This has resulted in far greater accuracy about Wicca
in their writings. |
Copyright © 2000 & 2002 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-OCT-13
Latest update: 2002-SEP-17
Author: B.A. Robinson 
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