Pagans on Parade

[Mornac]

• Tweet

Human sacrifices 'on the rise in Uganda' as witch doctors admit to rituals
Witch doctors in Uganda have admitted their part in human sacrifice amid concerns that the practice is spreading in the African country.
 
07 Jan 2010

One man said he had clients who had captured children and taken their blood and body parts to his shrine, while another confessed to killing at least 70 people including his own son.

The latter has now given up the ritual and is campaigning to stamp it out, according to BBC News.

The African country's government claimed human sacrifice was on the increase.

According to officials trying to tackle it, the crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity - and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly.

During its investigation, to be broadcast on Thursday on Radio 4 and Newsnight, the BBC team witnessed anti-sacrifice campaigners torching the shrine of a witch-doctor in northern Uganda, who agreed to give up the practice.

He said clients came to him in search of wealth.

"They go and capture other people's children. They bring the heart and the blood directly here to take to the spirits," he said.

"They bring them in small tins and they place these objects under the tree from which the voices of the spirits are coming."

The witch doctor, who said he was paid 500,000 Ugandan shillings (around £160) for a consultation, denied any direct involvement in murder or incitement to murder, saying his spirits spoke directly to clients.

Moses Binoga, the assistant police commissioner who is head of the Ugandan anti-human sacrifice and trafficking task force, said there were 26 murders thought to be part of ritual sacrifice last year compared with three cases in 2007.

"We also have about 120 children and adults reported missing whose fate we have not traced," he added. "From the experience of those whom we recovered, we cannot rule out that they may be victims of human sacrifice."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/6944292/Human-sacrifices-on-the-rise-in-Uganda-as-witch-doctors-admit-to-rituals.html

[ivanm]

Solution.  Let it happen so we won't have to feed them some day. If they don't have brains enough to value life then handouts won't help them either.

[Mornac]

Head Voodoo Priest Protests Haiti’s Mass Burials, Fear of Zombies

January 17, 2010

(ChattahBox)—The head Voodoo priest of Haiti is sickened by the desecration of dead bodies, as they are unceremoniously collected off of the city streets and hurled into mass graves. In a nation where many people practice Voodoo, the supernatural prospect of Zombies rising from the mass graves to prey on the living, is a real fear. Since a powerful earthquake flattened the poor Caribbean nation of Haiti into mounds of rubble on Tuesday, the shocked survivors have roamed the streets littered with rotting corpses and the overwhelming stench of death. In a nation without an infrastructure during the best of times, the earthquake has not only destroyed most of the buildings in the capital city, and killed tens of thousands of people; it also wiped out what little government existed. Haitian President Rene Preval is homeless and has taken up residence at the police station.

To deal with the tens of thousands of dead bodies littering the streets, Haitian authorities and UN officials are loading the stiff corpses into dusty dump truck hearses and dumping them in mass graves on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.

The grim sight of twisted human bodies being unloaded from the back of a municipal dump truck into a gaping hole leaves a lasting impression, on anyone who witnesses it. MezenDieu Justi, an elderly Haitian man watching the mass burial was devastated by the horror before him. “We have lost any dignity in death,” he said.

The Red Cross has estimated the death toll at about 50,000, but Haitian officials have predicted the final tally could reach 200,000. However, the final number will never be known, because the nameless dead filling up the mass graves have not been counted.

Because of the fears of the spread of an epidemic from the bloated dead bodies, authorities are working quickly to clear the city streets of the dead. And the sheer number of dead bodies has left few options for burial, other than mass graves.

But it’s heartbreaking. Haitian survivors may never learn of the true fate and resting place of their loved ones. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says that such mass burials “add to the burden of suffering already experienced by survivors.”

“The worst part of this is that these actions are taken without respecting the processes of identifying and preserving bodies, something that not only goes against cultural norms and religious beliefs but also has social, psychological, emotional, economic and legal consequences that add to the suffering directly caused by the disaster,” said PAHO.

And the nation’s chief Voodoo priest, Max Beauvoir is strongly objecting to the horrific mass burials on religious grounds. He met with President Rene Preval over the weekend to officially lodge his protest on behalf of the many Voodoo worshipers in Haiti. “It is not in our culture to bury people in such a fashion,” Beauvoir said.

Before the country was decimated by the earthquake, about half of the 9 million residents of Haiti practiced Voodoo, which is a mix of Christianity and elements of West African paganism and animism. Although, about 80 percent of Haitians are also Catholic, they somehow blend Voodooism into their worship of God, without finding a conflict between the two practices.

Max Beauvoir who was educated at City College in New York and the Sorbonne in Paris, was recently chosen as the Voodoo Supreme Master. Beauvoir believes that Voodooism has a role to play in Haiti’s revival. In his Voodoo temple in Port-au-Prince before the earthquake’s destruction, Beauvoir and his followers held frequent ceremonies to summon the spirits. They would light blazing bonfires and dance around a giant totem poll. And ceremonies would end with animal sacrifices and the draining of their blood.

“The conditions in which bodies are being buried is not respecting the dignity of these people,” the Voodoo Supreme Leader told President Preval. Many Haitians believe that the desecration of their loves ones could lead to the dead roaming the earth again as Zombies.

In a 2008 New York Times piece profiling Max Beauvoir, soon after he was chosen as the Supreme Voodoo Master, he ridiculed Hollywood’s treatment of Zombies as scary monsters. Beauvoir believes Zombies to be a very real element of Voodoo science.

Whatever beliefs one holds, the mass burials are a grim consequence of the earthquake’s devastation of the country and the destruction of the Haitian people’s dignity.

http://chattahbox.com/world/2010/01/17/head-voodoo-priest-protests-haitis-mass-burials-fear-of-zombies/

[ivanm]

I think we saw an equivalent thing during WW II, both in Europe and in the Pacific theater. It seems that more recently in the Bosnia/Herzegovinia conflict there were also mass graves.

[Mornac]

Scientologists 'heal' Haiti quake victims using touch
Jan 23 02:30

Amid the mass of aid agencies piling in to help Haiti quake victims is a batch of Church of Scientology "volunteer ministers", claiming to use the power of touch to reconnect nervous systems.

Clad in yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the logo of the controversial US-based group, smiling volunteers fan out among the injured lying under makeshift shelters in the courtyard of Port-au-Prince's General Hospital.

A wealthy private donor provided his airplane to fly in 80 volunteers from Los Angeles, along with 50 Haitian-American-doctors, in a gesture worth 400,000 dollars, said a Parisian volunteer who gave her name as Sylvie.

"We're trained as volunteer ministers, we use a process called 'assist' to follow the nervous system to reconnect the main points, to bring back communication," she said.

"When you get a sudden shock to a part of your body the energy gets stuck, so we re-establish communication within the body by touching people through their clothes, and asking people to feel the touch."

Next to her lay 22-year-old student Oscar Elweels, whose father rescued him from the basement of his school where he lay with a pillar on his leg for a day after the deadly January 12 quake.

His right leg was amputated below the knee and his left leg was severely bruised and swollen.

More than half of his fellow students died in the rubble of his school, although the rest of his family was unscathed, he said, thanking God.

"One hour ago he had no sensation in his left leg, so I explained the method to him, I touched him and after a while he said 'now I feel everything'," said Sylvie.

"Otherwise they might have had to amputate his other leg. Now his sister knows the method and she can do it."

Asked about the method being used on him, a smiling Elweels described it as "a sort of harmony between the nerves, a kind of exercise. I couldn't feel at all, but then I could."

Does he know Scientology? "Yes, it's a French organization," he said.

"All the patients are happy with the technique," said Sylvie. "But some doctors don't like the yellow T-shirts. It's a color thing," she insisted.

Another group of Scientologists distributed antibiotic pills. "The doctors said give everyone with wounds antibiotics," said Italian volunteer Marina.

Some doctors at the hospital are skeptical. One US doctor, who asked not to be named, snorted: "I didn't know touching could heal gangrene."

When asked what the Scientologists are doing here, another doctor said: "I don't know."

Do you care? "Not really," she said, wheeling an unconscious patient out of the operating room to join hundreds of others in the hospital's sunny courtyard.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.4e601264cbdad356a9d677659aa5919c.51&show_article=1

[Mornac]

Earth religions get worship area at AF Academy

By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Dan Elliott, Associated Press Writer
Mon Feb 1, 5:53 pm ET


DENVER – The Air Force Academy has set aside an outdoor worship area for Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and other Earth-centered believers, school officials said Monday.

A double circle of stones atop a hill on the campus near Colorado Springs has been designated for the group, which previously met indoors.

"Being with nature and connecting with it is kind of the whole point," said Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier, who sponsors the group and describes himself as a Pagan. "It will dramatically improve that atmosphere, the mindset and the actual connection."

The stones were moved to the hilltop last year because erosion threatened to make them unstable in their previous location near the visitors center. Crews arranged them in two concentric circles because they thought it would be a pleasant place for cadets to relax, Longcrier said.

When Longcrier and academy chaplains were looking for an outdoor worship space, they discovered one already existed in the form of the circles.

Lt. Col. William Ziegler, one of the academy's chaplains, said designating the space is part of the school's effort to foster religious tolerance and to defend the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.

"It's about our commitment as airmen to protect freedom and defend freedom. To me this is a freedom thing," he said.

The school also has worship facilities for Protestant and Catholic Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists.

The academy superintendent, Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, has made religious tolerance a priority. It became a concern in 2004 when a survey found many cadets had heard slurs or jokes about other religions and that some felt ostracized because they weren't religious.

Longcrier and Ziegler said they've heard no criticism of the new worship space but both noted its presence was just made public.

"Not to say that it's not coming, but so far we haven't had any real issues," Longcrier said.

He said 15 to 20 cadets have shown an interest in Earth-centered beliefs, and eight to 10 regularly attend Monday night meetings. Of those, six or seven are devout believers and the others are "searchers," Longcrier said.

The academy has about 4,000 cadets. The school is one of five U.S. service academies, including West Point and Annapolis. Cadets graduate as second lieutenants.

"Earth-centered" spirituality encompasses many beliefs, Longcrier said, many that recognize multiple gods and goddesses and observe holidays tied to the seasons.

Longcrier said he personally doesn't consider gods and goddesses to be actual beings but personifications of natural events that human ancestors wanted to put a face on.

"The goddess is symbolic of the Earth," Longcrier said. "Do I believe I'm worshipping this female entity living in the Earth or up in space somewhere? No. The symbolism is very important."

The group's meetings are usually devoted to mediation, lessons or ceremonies, he said.

Longcrier, who oversees laboratories in the academy's astronautics labs, said he has military designation as a "distinct faith group leader."

Anyone is welcome to visit the new worship site but it should be treated as a religious structure, he said. A formal dedication is planned in March.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100201/ap_on_re_us/us_air_force_academy_earth_religion_3

[lucy]

Gaia?

[Mornac]

Hindu radicals target Catholic school
January 10, 2011

Hindu radical groups have disrupted admission procedures in a Church-run school at Ujjain, claiming that children had been refused admission because of their religion.

“The school management insulted our religion and refused admissions to Hindu children,” Amay Apte, local leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student group, told ucanews.com on Jan. 9.

On Jan. 7, Apte’s group and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, world Hindu council) demonstrated in front of St. Mary’s Convent School in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.

Apte also alleged that the principal had told a Hindu parent that the school would not admit children of “tilak dhari,” a term used for Hindus, who sport religious dots on their foreheads.

The student leader said they filed a case against the school management and want the administration to ensure no such incidents recur. He threatened statewide protests if the administration failed to act.

School manager Sister Lillian dismissed the allegations. “We have not insulted any religion. On the contrary we respect all religions,” said the member of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Mary of the Angels, which manages the school.

The manager pointed out that more than 80 percent students in the school are Hindus. She said the school has admitted all children who have met the requirements without looking into their religions.

The nun said a VHP activist unsuccessfully tried to press the management to admit an ineligible child. He then brought the Hindu radicals, who were stopped at the gate by the police.

Manoj Bhatnagar, a Hindu parent, accused the radical groups of creating trouble to attract attention to themselves. Most students in the school were non-Christian. “How can they say that the management is biased?” he asked.

He says all should be proud of “the most reputed school in Ujjain.”

http://www.cathnewsindia.com/2011/01/10/hindu-radicals-target-catholic-school/

[notoc]

'Faith schools' in the UK do this all the time. Just one of the reasons why they should stop applying for and accepting public funds made available to them by their pretence of being 'inclusive' and declare themselves private businesses and fill-out their tax returns accordingly.

[johnhp]

notoc,

So these people should take all responsibility for wanting to be and act like a private school?  How dare you?

[Mornac]

Wiccans, Druids, & ‘Earth-Centered Groups’ Get Outdoor Chapel at Air Force Academy

May 6, 2011

Colorado Springs, CO is seen by many as the center of the Christian evangelical community in the American West. So it is more than ironic that the United States Air Force Academy, also based in Colorado Springs, has just opened a prayer circle and Stonehenge-like area so that its Wiccans, Druids, and “earth-centered groups” have a place to worship.

“This outdoor worship space is something we have created to help people of all religions,” Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, the academy’s superintendent, told The Gazette before a ribbon-cutting on the site.

Cadets at the new 'earth-centered' chapel at the USAFA. (Photo: The Gazette)

So how many people will this benefit? The Gazette says there are 10 cadets who regularly attend “earth-centered” worship services, which encompasses New Age religion, paganism, Druids, ancient Norse beliefs, and Wicca.

Back in February, Father Jonathan Morris told Fox News the decision was “politically correct cowardice by bumbling bureaucrats,” adding, “behind the smoke and mirrors of the supposed high demand for ‘Earth worship prayer circles’ is a small group of activist atheists in America who seek first to water-down and then to abolish the name and face of God from the public square.”

“This is very important for us, we didn’t have a place to call our own, to be outside in nature,” cadet Nicole Johnson, a member of the earth-centered group, told the paper.

Before getting their own, dedicated worship site, the group did have access to a classroom where members would conduct their services. Now, there chapel sits 7,200 feet above ground on a hill that overlooks the main campus chapel. Apparently worried about security, it is surrounded by security cameras.

The site does have the backing of religious leaders on campus.

“I think its great,” Maj. Joshua Narrowe, a rabbi at the academy, said. “It’s not a big group, but is a religious need.” According to him, chaplains at the academy not only signed off on the the earth-centered chapel, but they pushed for its construction.

At the dedication, some of those chaplains offered prayers for the new side. Lt. Col. Daniel Brantingham said in his prayer: “We stand here in gratitude for a most precious gift from you. The gift of choice.”

But that was trumped by Air Force Reserve Capt. Kelly Ihme, an adviser to the earth-centered cadet religious group: “Heart and tree, earth and stone, nothing but good this place be known.”

Read the rest from The Gazette.

The new chapel comes as atheists are pushing for one of their own to join the chapel corps. From the New York Times:

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — In the military, there are more than 3,000 chaplains who minister to the spiritual and emotional needs of active duty troops, regardless of their faiths. The vast majority are Christians, a few are Jews or Muslims, one is a Buddhist. A Hindu, possibly even a Wiccan may join their ranks soon.

But an atheist?

Strange as it sounds, groups representing atheists and secular humanists are pushing for the appointment of one of their own to the chaplaincy, hoping to give voice to what they say is a large — and largely underground — population of nonbelievers in the military.

Joining the chaplain corps is part of a broader campaign by atheists to win official acceptance in the military. Such recognition would make it easier for them to raise money and meet on military bases. It would help ensure that chaplains, religious or atheist, would distribute their literature, advertise their events and advocate for them with commanders.

But winning the appointment of an atheist chaplain will require support from senior chaplains, a tall order. Many chaplains are skeptical: Do atheists belong to a “faith group,” a requirement for a chaplain candidate? Can they provide support to religious troops of all faiths, a fundamental responsibility for chaplains?

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/wiccans-druids-earth-centered-groups-get-outdoor-chapel-at-air-force-academy/

[johnhp]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, Mornac, should these people not be allowed freely to exercise their religion?

[ivanm]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, Mornac, should these people not be allowed freely to exercise their religion?

When I was in the AF, back in the 50s and 60s, services were provided on base for the most common faiths such as Catholic and Protestant, but the faiths that were sparsely represented did not have separate facilities or services.  They were allowed and encouraged to go off base for their worship. Each airbase I went to had a lovely modern chapel that was designed for all faith or multi faith usage.  For example, Catholic services were held in the same space as the Protestant services were held, only at different times.

We had chaplains who were ordained and were officers in the AF, usually a captain's rank.  Many were Protestant because the majority of airman were Protestant, but they tried to minister to everyone. It was common to see them in the hospital making their rounds each day, and I enjoyed talking to them.
When a young person is sick and is a long way from home and his support system then it is nice to see a friendly face that cares.  Chaplains often helped people with personal issues.  It put a human face on the service life.

However, I do not see the armed services as being a social experiment and I have mixed feelings about the extent to which it is going to please splinter groups. I look at it this way, if you cannot accept the rules and the status quo of service policy then maybe you should not be a part of it. Taken to the extremes, this benevolence results in the sicko types like the nutcase that mowed down a number of GIs at Fort Hood.  I think they need to paradrop him from 10,000 feet, without a chute.

[JC3.0]

this benevolence results in the sicko types like the nutcase that mowed down a number of GIs at Fort Hood. 

 I think the guy was disturbed but I don't think what he did was terrorism in the "jihadist" sense. I know what we are being told, but I think it just suits the gov't's meme and war on terror bullshit. I think the guy was disgruntled, disturbed and happened to be of that religion and it's all being mixed into a convenient bowl and being fed to us as terrorism. And most 'red-blooded non thinking non questioning Americans will just swallow that bullshit and accept it. Either way it's a tragedy, a horrific act and the nutbag needs punished to the full extent, so don't get me wrong. I am just not buying that this was a "terrorist" act, but rather a disgruntled American soldier of a foriegn persuasion who has issues.

 I also think religion has no place in our military. You are fighting for our nation, not for Jesus. Jesus didn't make the United States, and "Under God" and "In God We Trust" were nowhere in the original documents and only came into play (see forcefucked upon us ) later. Be who you want to be as a religion, but we,over the decades have incrementally been stepping toward Theocracy, and I know it's just fine and dandy for the Gawd types, but originally we were founded as a nation free to worship ANY religion, not just the "local flavor being served up"-any religion - which would include Islam as well as many other so called 'undesireables", like that or not.

[ivanm]

I think the guy was disturbed but I don't think what he did was terrorism in the "jihadist" sense. I know what we are being told, but I think it just suits the gov't's meme and war on terror bullshit. I think the guy was disgruntled, disturbed and happened to be of that religion and it's all being mixed into a convenient bowl and being fed to us as terrorism. And most 'red-blooded non thinking non questioning Americans will just swallow that bullshit and accept it. Either way it's a tragedy, a horrific act and the nutbag needs punished to the full extent, so don't get me wrong. I am just not buying that this was a "terrorist" act, but rather a disgruntled American soldier of a foriegn persuasion who has issues.

 I also think religion has no place in our military. You are fighting for our nation, not for Jesus. Jesus didn't make the United States, and "Under God" and "In God We Trust" were nowhere in the original documents and only came into play (see forcefucked upon us ) later. Be who you want to be as a religion, but we,over the decades have incrementally been stepping toward Theocracy, and I know it's just fine and dandy for the Gawd types, but originally we were founded as a nation free to worship ANY religion, not just the "local flavor being served up"-any religion - which would include Islam as well as many other so called 'undesireables", like that or not.

You may be right about the nut not acting as part of a jihad but I find it more that coincidental that he observed the Islamic faith, one that advocates the killing of infidels just because they are infidels.

Yes, we have freedom of religion, but when a creed advocates harm to those of different creeds that in effect imposes on the others' right to believe as they choose.

Remember the nutcase leaders at Waco (Mt.Carmel) and the Jonestown massacre?  Should those freaks be free to wreak death and suffering on innocent followers?
Freedom is a relative thing, and one's own  freedom ends where the next guy's freedom begins. I think it is the duty of a goverment to see that innocent people are not harmed or killed by nutcase outfits.

I don't care for the religious right agenda either, and just this morning I got an email from Sekulow about reading something on why Christians should get political. That sort of bullshit plus the Mike Huckabees turn me off.  I understand that the pontificating bible banger is going to run for President.  Hell it is no wonder the Party cannot win an election with  self appointed saints like him around. All he does is to dilute the vote that should be concentrated on a candidate with a chance to win.