Uh oh- Here we go. "Pagan group gets the boot in Hannibal"

[Beaverhausen]

Saw this in LBN but thought we could discuss the ramifications here.


http://www.showmenews.com/2005/Feb/20050203News007.asp

Pagan group gets the boot in Hannibal
Wiccans settle on Columbia after hotel pulls reservation.


By CHUCK ADAMSON of the Tribune’s staff
Published Thursday, February 3, 2005
Cooper County pagans are coming to Columbia this weekend after being refused service in Hannibal.

Rose Wise, high priestess administrator of the Ozark Avalon Church of Nature-Wicca, said the Hannibal Inn and Convention Center sent them a letter about 10 days ago saying their retreat planned months ago couldn’t be held there.

The Hannibal Inn’s general manager, Kevin Kennedy, declined to comment this morning.

Wise said Ozark Avalon, located on 160 acres in rural Cooper County just west of the Missouri River, has had a contract with the hotel since August. She said the hotel sent her a letter that cited "threats of boycotts and protests should this event occur at our property. … The overwhelming amount of concern that has been generated is a genuine threat to the Hannibal Inn."

Wise said she didn’t know who was planning to protest.

The Wiccans held the annual Imbolc celebration at the hotel last year.

Imbolc is a Wiccan holiday celebrating the transition from winter to spring.

More at the link

[dbt]

1. The "Right" is succumbing to fear, isn't it?

Of all the beings on this Earth who rarely do harm to any living thing, Wiccans and Gays are at the top of the list. Yet, these seem precisely the groups that the right wing is choosing to persecute--which brings up the question of why.

IMO, it's because their "world" is dissolving around them. Nothing works as it "should" any more, even the Earth Herself is angry. So, just as ignorant tribal groups have done for eons, the "Right" is looking for someone to blame. They see homosexuals and witches as "evil." They cling to a black/white, either/or notion of reality--ignoring the very Free Will that has allowed them to live so comfortably for so long.

They sense, very deeply, that something is WRONG in the world, but they cannot see what (read: WHO) it is. They accept the notion of bu$h as a decent, moral and decisive man whom God has put in the White House. Given their rigid definition of Reality, he, therefore, cannot be the problem--so it must be Queers and Witches who are overturning everything.

They are afraid of the changes that anybody in this forum can see happening every minute. Hard as it may be, they are more to be pitied than feared. Their world is on the way out, and there's nothing they can do about it.

Hold The Peace.

dbt

[davidinalameda]

2. smells like a nice juicy lawsuit to me!

and I hope they do sue the hotel

it's discrimination pure and simple

[toddaa]

3. Don't just sue

Wiccans need to stop behaving like victims and go on the offensive. If a Christian Supremist group threatens to protest, threaten right back. The hotel could care less about anyone's rights, they just don't want a media circus. It's bad for business. Well, what of it? Turn it into a media circus. Let's all go to Hannibal and make their lives miserable.

There's a time and place for court action, but it should be a last resort. Wiccans, pagans, and those of us in the "miscellaneous other" category need to stop running to the ACLU to fight all our battles. Until the Christian Supremists understand that we aren't just going to go away, they will continue to push us on to the sidelines. The gays and atheists are getting their shit together, it's time you Wiccans did the same.