Both conservative Christians and Neopagans are experiencing a rapid growth in membership. Evangelical Christians are increasing about 5.4% per year. The growth rate of Wiccans is difficult to estimate, but appears to be much higher.
	Many more Neopagans are coming out of the "closet" and going public with their faith, even though this decision carries strong personal dangers.
	Documentaries by various media on Wicca are becoming more common.
	Some politicians have found that attacking Wiccans is a useful method of gaining votes.  (U.S. Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia & Governor Mike Johanns of Nebraska are two examples).
	Although belief in widespread ritual abuse and Satanic ritual abuse has largely dissipated among the general public, it is still widely believed by conservative Christians, who often consider Wiccans and other Neopagans to be perpetrators of child abuse and murder.
	A perceived increase in school violence is increasing concern over gang-related clothing in schools. Many boards of education are adopting dress codes, some of which ban non-Christian religious jewelry. Wiccans are increasingly challenging this bigotry, both publicly and in the courts. These actions increase their visibility.

Passages is a series of two Odyssey programs which were first broadcast on 1999-SEP-18/19 and and SEP-25/26. It is also available in printed form in many Evangelical Christian bookstores. The series is roughly patterned after a Biblical passage (Judges, chapters 6 to 8) which describes how Gideon fought some very successful battles against neighboring tribes. The episodes deal with two young teenagers, Alice and Timmy who were attending summer camp near Odyssey. Somehow, they were transported to another world or another dimension: a country called the "Northern Territory of Merus." This was a land similar to the American west circa 1880 CE. Merus was in the middle of a religious war between worshipers of "the unseen one" (later identified as God) and Pagans.  Some distressing messages taught by the first episode of Passages were:
 

Content of the first episode	Positive and negative messages
Throughout the episode, the Adrians, who follow a Pagan religion, are portrayed as evil terrorists. They are portrayed as crude, barbaric, lawless, boorish, insensitive marauders and arsonists. They had invaded Merus, stolen farm animals, occupied the town and were trying to drive out the legitimate inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Theists are portrayed as gentle, honorable, soft-spoken, civilized, thoroughly decent, likeable individuals.	Pagans are awful people: crude, immoral and unethical. Christians are nice people: gentle, moral and ethical.
Alice and Timmy meet an adult Theist called Fletcher. He relates that their God is angry at the original inhabitants of Merus because they allowed the Adrians to bring their Pagan gods into the country.	Pagans and other non-Christians should not be allowed equal freedom of religious worship, assembly or speech.
God creates a magnificent feast in Fletcher's cabin as a show of his power.	If you follow God, you will be amply rewarded.
Alice becomes a "messenger." Her eye color was brown but changed to blue and green. God speaks through her. She gives orders to Fletcher.	Channeling (once done only by New Agers, Shamans etc.), may be used by God.
God commands Fletcher to go into town and blow up the Pagan temple.	Christians carry out God's will when they destroy Pagan property in terrorist acts. It is OK to destroy Pagan property and endanger the lives of Pagans.
Merus was once a great country, unified by a common faith in the "unseen one" -- (God)	The presence of non-Christians in America creates religious diversity which is dangerous to the country's future greatness.
A Pagan arrests Timmy, without charging him with any crime, saying: "It's enough that I don't like the look of ya."	Pagans have contempt for human rights and due process.
A group of Pagans appear. They are led by a priest who believes that Timmy is responsible for the destruction of the temple. They priest and the rest of the mob sound like vigilantes intent on lynching Timmy.	Pagans have no respect for human life.

The messages being sent to children during the Passages series are profoundly disturbing. They teach:

	Religious hatred and misinformation of Pagans.
	That God's will is for Christians to destroy the property/lives of Pagans.
	That America will be strong only if Christianity has a complete monopoly.
	Religious freedom should only be enjoyed by Christians.
	Religious diversity is evil.
	As long as you feel that God is on your side, you can safely take great personal risks.
	A theocracy has a superior form of government than a monarchy or a democracy.
	God so hates the vast majority of humanity that he will eternally punish people in hell if they follow the wrong religion.

The approximately 250,000 Neopagans in North America are the targets of this vicious propaganda. They are the only significant religious group identifying themselves as Pagans.  Some might view this type of hate radio as harmless. But past events have shown that when religious sources preach hatred against abortion providers, non-whites, religious minorities, etc., terrible things can happen. The group being targeted are often viewed by some members of a lunatic fringe as sub-human. Convinced that they are carrying out God's will, they may attack and sometimes kill the targeted group.

	Adventures in Odyssey program about fantasy role-playing games
	Christian anti-Wiccan hate sites on the Internet
	Christian radio programs exhibiting religious intolerance
	Anti-Wiccan hatred and misinformation
	Christian anti-Wiccan boycott of the Army

	Focus on the Family has a web site at http://www.family.org/. Their Email address is [email protected]
	Focus on the Family's "Adventures in Odyssey" web site is at: http://www.broadcast.com/lightsource/ They have the current day's program available via RealPlayer. Programs that have been aired over the previous 30 days are also online in their archives.

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