{"id":221,"date":"2009-04-14T15:19:16","date_gmt":"2009-04-14T15:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2009\/04\/starhawk-and-the-pope.html"},"modified":"2009-04-14T15:19:16","modified_gmt":"2009-04-14T15:19:16","slug":"starhawk-and-the-pope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/04\/starhawk-and-the-pope.html","title":{"rendered":"Starhawk and the Pope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Starhawk called upon Pope Benedict to apologize to Witches and other Pagans<\/a> for past Church actions against Pagans and women in today’s Washington Post.  In response <\/a>David Gibson at Pontifications Blog   here at Beliefnet pointed out that she was behind the ball, as John Paul II had already apologized<\/a>  for much to which she was referring.  Some observers thought the Pope did not go far enough, but others held it really wasn’t necessary to apologize at all for abuses hundreds or even thousands of years in the past.  However one feels on this issue, it is important to acknowledge that he did apologize, and apparently did so quite sincerely.<\/p>\n

Gibson then took Starhawk herself to task<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

it is also important to examine one’s own conscience before judging
\nanother. And while “witches” (or those who are slottled in various
\nrelated categories) are too often victims, and the pope acknowledged
\nthat in Africa, the “imagination, intution, and magic” that Starhawk
\ncites also fuel terrible abuses and horrific crimes against innocents
\nin Africa and elsewhere. The pope also spoke against that. Did
\nStarhawk? Perhaps she or her clan spoke out against abusive withcraft
\nand superstition and neo-paganism during the papal visit to Africa, but
\nI didn’t see it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nI see this issue rather differently than Gibson.<\/p>\n

In a sense the problem is with our name, a name I have no intention of
\ngiving up.  “Witch” refers to two different groups of people that can
\nsometimes over lap.  First are those following traditions rooted in
\nvery distant times, probably growing out of shamanism, that make use of
\nmagick, herbs, spirits, divination and healing to bring a community
\ninto greater harmony with the more-than-human context in which it
\nexists.  Because the Church believes non-Christian Pagans worship
\ndemons, they claimed all this was witchcraft.  The name stuck, as has
\nthe name “Pagan.”<\/p>\n

Then there are those who make use of magick, herbs, spirits, and
\ndivination to gain power, destroy enemies, and manipulate others. 
\nThese folks have to be called something, and that word has been “witch.”<\/p>\n

We Witches emphasize the first group, but often neglect to mention that the second group has existed as well.  <\/p>\n

The distinction between them blurs when one community fights another, because their
\nshamans might also get in on the action, using their magick against
\ntheir community’s enemies.   Think of the Christian churches of Germany
\nsupporting their soldiers while the Christian churches of America
\nsupported ours in both World Wars.  One could draw a distinction between those who injure others for personal gain, and those who do so to defend their community, and I do.  But it is shaky ground. <\/p>\n

The abuses of ‘black’ practitioners, have been used to justify the
\nreligiously intolerant in suppressing those who follow a Pagan way
\nsteeped in a shamanic past.  Historically the Catholic Church has been
\nsecond to none in committing such crimes.  And so everyone working either alone or in small groups has been lumped
\ntogether as “Witches.”<\/p>\n

Don Frew tells me this confusion over what constitutes a “Witch” has
\nbeen a frequent problem when we initially communicate with many
\nindigenous traditions, at least in Latin America.  While missionaries
\nattacked their ‘witchcraft’ they themselves rejected the title because witches did
\nbad things, and they didn’t.  Then they meet people who say they are
\nwitches.  Initially they think we must do bad things, and only relax
\nwhen they learn the truth.<\/p>\n

And so I am not convinced that the African examples Gibson would have
\nus denounce are properly criticized.  Maybe, maybe not.  All I know of them is what their
\ndetractors have said. When those describing them are also associated with an
\ninstitution having a long history of distorting and maligning
\nindigenous spirituality, I’ll reserve judgment as to whether we are
\ngetting accurate information on those African examples.  <\/p>\n

Yet there are nasty practitioners and when they come to light within our
\nown community Pagans have been pretty united in denouncing them..  <\/p>\n

But lest we get too smug, the Pagan traditions are not bloodless
\neither.  Those who would commit far darker deeds and serve depraved motives in the
\nname of the Sacred include more than arrogant monotheists. 
\nThink of Carthage and its infant sacrifices, or the Aztecs and their
\nblood offerings.  Much that is most objectionable in some Islamic
\npractices towards women has nothing to do with the Koran and a lot to do
\nwith the Pagan Arab cultures where Mohammed’s teachings first took root, and
\nwere modified.  <\/p>\n

I think while we all must acknowledge the dark sides of our
\nrespective histories in order to inoculate ourselves against the disease of self-righteousness, the true task of our time today is to build our
\ncommunities on what is best in our own traditions, and let others do
\nthe same in theirs, relying in Interfaith to promote mutual respect,
\nwhile enabling friendly relations with different religions to
\nmarginalize those within any particular tradition who seek to gain
\npower within their own community  through sowing divisions and distrust
\ntowards others.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Starhawk called upon Pope Benedict to apologize to Witches and other Pagans for past Church actions against Pagans and women in today’s Washington Post.  In response David Gibson at Pontifications Blog   here at Beliefnet pointed out that she was behind the ball, as John Paul II had already apologized  for much to which she was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,106,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interfaith","category-pagan-culture","category-pagan-news"],"yoast_head":"\nStarhawk and the Pope - A Pagan's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/04\/starhawk-and-the-pope.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Starhawk and the Pope - 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