The Editorial By Scot Rhoads Content vs. Cover We have a very new look for this issue. It is a bit less polished and it's a funky shape, but the extra pages give us a lot more space. And if it works out, we will be able to add even more sooner than we'd hoped! But looks count for a lot. I hear that off-white pages and a smaller cover will kill our sales. I have had to learn the hard way that substance has difficulty outshining form in our highly packaged world. This is to be expected, as there is so much more information to consume and so much less time to spare for it. When you have to judge a thousand books a week, it's hard to go by more than the covers. But despite my lessons in the importance of form, I am still a big fan of content. Since I think this new format looks good, and it offers the possibility of our adding so much more content so much sooner, I am eager to experiment with it. I expect to know after two to three issues if this is going to work. I hope you will write or e-mail us at nmron. Why the new subtitle? It says almost the same thing as old one, but I hope that it will better communicating our content to those skimming the magazine stands. As opportunities presents themselves I will keep trying new things to tune up New Moon Rising. Please send us your suggestions! Pagan Safety Extinguished Those who read Pagan Safety in the last issue may have been dismayed that poor Glen left off with his Samhain ritual going up in flames. Unfortunately his ending had disappeared into the ether, but we retrieved it for this issue: With a loud boom all our talk fell quiet. Was someone shooting at us? Another boom. Were the Fundies raiding our festival? The third blast and burst of embers into the air revealed that the gourds were exploding. Quick, put the out flames starting in the blue spruce next to the bonfire! Things became quit frantic for a few moments. My neighbor, who is the police chief of a nearby town and heads our block watch, showed up at the gate with his pistol in hand. Who's that shooting? He inquired. At that moment another gourd exploded and my neighbor, the cop, hit the ground, or should I say mud. Now I knew what happened to the water meant to put out the Spruce. A great cloud of explanations began to well up in my consciousness. It was going to be a long night. I hope my tale brings a little mirth, and a lot of caution. And remember to always put small holes in your gourds. Lost Talk of the Nation I like to listen to Talk of the Nation, a call in show on Public Radio. One day I finally tried to call in. The line was busy. Fortunately, since I get to decide what goes into this magazine, I still have a public forum to get things off my chest. It's good to be the editor. The subject was making abortion part of a national healthcare plan, and the Catholic Church's opposition to their hospitals having to pay their share for that part of the services. It was gratifying (in an ungenerous way) to see the Church falling back to such a limited position on abortion and still getting heat for it. I consider this a good sign. I had hoped to call in to support the Church's desire to not pay for the abortion part of the insurance as long as the alternative is insurance that covers the care and education of unwanted and damaged children and addresses the problems associated with over population. I don't imagine that this is part of the Church's position. This is typical of the Church and Western Civilization. The Church wants the freedom to oppose abortion. I think everyone should have this freedom. I don't respect the position, though, when it doesn't include taking responsibility for that position. People want the freedom to smoke/drink/take (other) drugs, they want the freedom to do what they want with their property, they want to play dangerous sports, they want to exploit natural resources, etc. We could not function without freedom or it would not be worth functioning. But freedom without responsibility leads to what we have. Now that we are slowly (re) learning how our actions affect others and the planet, it becomes clear the problems that come from not taking responsibility. There have been many totalitarian proposals for addressing the problems of our large complex society (usually giving dismal results), but we can solve these problems without sacrificing freedom. Our society is alienating, and one symptom is the estrangement of actions from consequences. The results of pollution, overpopulation, unhealthy lifestyles are embarrassingly recent revelations in our society. We are not equipped to make these connections. But we could be. I have heard talk of taxes on gasoline and cigarettes, for instance, that would be a form of insurance against the problems that these things cause. I'm sure we all know how well received these ideas have been. Our society is still childishly shortsighted about the consequences of our actions, and the chores we heap on following generations are already frightening. Our generation has already earned even more curses from our children than our parents have earned from us, because we know better. As Pagans, we strive to rediscover our place in Nature, to see these connections and learn to take full responsibility for our actions. But this is hardly restricted to Paganism, or even non-Christian worldviews. Any can find a place for responsibility in their philosophy, because, despite protests, all religions are plastic. Catholicism today is practically a different religion from that of the Middle Ages.We can see this, for instance, in the massive decline of Church sanctioned murders. Anyone can become an ally. Pagans tend not to be evangelical, but there are some things that we should be evangelical about. One of the key things is responsibility, as we understand it, on global and personal levels. This is one of the best gifts we can offer our society and the generations that will have to clean up after our civilization. As an ancient religion, we offer ideas of responsibility evolved to fit well with our species' psychology and a sustainable lifestyle. As a new religion, we can most easily adapt these ancient ideas to the rapidly changing world we humans have created for ourselves. When we are aware, circumspect, and cooperative, we can help restore a healthy sense of responsibility to complement our world's restored love of the Goddess. Blessed Be! SR | 
