NMR ISSUE 34

An Urban Wicca
Astrological Forecast 34
Behind Closed Doors
Dagger Moth, Walrus
Editorial 34
Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot
Hail the Season, Merry Meet
Letters 34
Magickian
News from the Front
She Changes:
The Banishing
The Extended Pagan Holiday Season
The Magical Flute
The Seven Faces of the Soul Part II

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News From the Front

By Donald Michael Kraig

People look at me aghast when I reveal that I frequently listen to Christian radio and TV stations. I explain that I do this in order to find out what those who hate and fear us are doing. Also, it is important to note two things: First, most of these stations are not representatives of Christianity and Christians as a whole. They are merely the very public and very loud mouthpieces for a small minority. Second, the person who said that Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel was wrong—religion is that refuge. In short, I refuse to acknowledge the existence of the religious right. Rather, there is a small group of fascists [American Heritage Dictionary defines fascism as government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism] who are trying to cover their distasteful political views by disguising them as religious views.

Of course, if we look in even the standard media we can find out information on this terrorist minority. As an example of this I picked up two local Los Angeles papers, the Times and the Outlook for Saturday, August 13, 1994.

The first article I want to describe was in the Outlook. That paper used to be called the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, and usually published such bizarre articles, (really conservative commentary disguised as news) that when I was growing up we referred to it as the Evening Outrage. I remember there being a walkout where about 1,000 students stood on the front lawn at my alma mater, Venice High School. Some left campus. The Outrage had a huge headline reading, STUDENTS RIOT AT VENICE HIGH. This is the type of paper the Outlook was, and is.

On page B5 there is an article entitled, Bible Belt fears unholy alliance of Catholics, evangelicals. The story explains that a coalition of conservative activists wrote a document entitled, Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium. The document calls on Evangelicals and Catholics to work together.

There is much trepidation about this document on the part of some Evangelicals, especially among Southern Baptists. This is because they have viewed Roman Catholicism as a questionable form of Christianity. Another doubter, a Baptist with ties to the Clinton administration, says that the document is merely a manifesto by a squad of well-off, white, male, right wing Republicans.

In short, there are extreme doubts, both from the left and right, about whether Catholics and Evangelicals should link up in their political agendas. Certainly they have great similarity.

But there is another question that comes to mind. The very basis of Protestantism, of which the Evangelical movement is a small party, is that it is anti-Catholicism. Protestantism in its modern form began with Martin Luther's denunciation of the way the Catholic Church was being run. Thus began the Lutheran church and the Reformation. Why would Evangelicals want to join with that which they oppose? Was it simply to unite the political far right hiding within the Evangelicals with the far right hiding within the Catholics? Or was there something else?

The answer may have appeared on the same day in the Times. Once the Times was considered one of the finest papers in the world, filled with in-depth writing and thoughtful commentary. Over the past several years, however, the publisher has changed, the paper's political view has swung from liberal to middle-of-the-road, and the content has been shortened and dumbed-down to match the success and appearance of USA Today.

On page B4 there is an article entitled, Survey Finds Drop in Evangelicals' Ranks for 2nd Year. This article says that only 7% of U.S. population are conservative Christians, down from 12% two years ago. Further it adds that they only made up 9% of the population last year.

In short, the people of the far right, who hide in a guise of Christianity, are falling in numbers, not growing. And, they represent far less than 10% of the population. How does that compare with other views? Well, 10% of our population believes that God is a state of higher consciousness and 8% believe that God is the total realization of all human potential. People with these ideas, usually considered a religious minority, share their beliefs with more people than do the Evangelicals.

The article states that religion is growing in importance to Americans (up from 59% to 62%) but belief in the Bible being totally accurate dropped from 47% three years ago to 38% this year. The person who took the poll, who is also a minister, said, There is a big trend toward a diverse and inclusive spirituality.

In short, the closed, negative attitudes of the small minority that calls itself the religious right is losing. Their point of view, that people must act the way they dictate, is losing ground. Is it any wonder that a tiny minority that is losing numbers is willing to join with another group—even though in the past they have been enemies—in order to achieve a common goal? Make no mistake, the Papacy, structure and much of the theology of the Catholic church is antithetical to Protestantism and the Evangelicals. The diminishing numbers of the religious right, working under the notion that an enemy of my enemy is my friend, is willing to join with their enemy in order to strengthen their political position.

Frankly, I do not believe that the downward trend among Evangelicals will continue for more than another year or two. As we close in on the year 2,000, people fearing for the future will seek out the simplistic answers to complex problems given out by the Evangelical leadership. Already, one Evangelical broadcaster has predicted that Jesus will have returned by the time you read this. There will be much more of this over the rest of this decade.

Do not think, however, that the failure of Evangelical Christian prophecy will cause that movement to decay. In the classic book, When Prophecy Fails, the author examines what followers do when their leader's prophecies fail to come true. Rather than turn the followers against the leader, they tend to support the false prophet even more than before, going so far as to blame themselves for the failure of the prophecy. I urge readers to find the book and examine the evidence.

More important, what will happen to religion in the next millennium? After the year 2,000 I believe that there will be a further turning away from Fundamentalist religion such as the form practiced by Christian Evangelicals. People will be looking for something more. Will Wicca be a part of that?

Only the future will tell.

1994, Donald Michael Kraig