By Steve Hynd
Last night, Bill Maher aired a previously-unseen 1999 clip of wingnut senate candidate Christine O'Donnell in which O�Donnell claimed to have once �practiced witchcraft�:
O'DONNELL: I dabbled into witchcraft -- I never joined a coven. But I did, I did. ... I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I'm not making this stuff up. I know what they told me they do. [...]
One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn't know it. I mean, there's little blood there and stuff like that. ... We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.
Matt DeLong in the Washington Post and a bunch of others are making hay from this snippet this morning. Steve Benen notes:
She was, by the way, completely serious. In context, O'Donnell seemed to be arguing that she's a credible person to talk about the dangers of witchcraft because she "dabbled" in it herself.
But they're all missing something I'd like to make quite clear:
WITCHES ARE NOT SATANISTS. We don't believe in Satan, or the Judeo-Christian God. Even Satanists know this - to the point where no real Satanist (and there are a few) would self-describe as a witch in the first place.
So the only conclusion is that O'Donnell was making shit up and did so in a way that, even a decade ago, comprised a bigoted and xenophobic attack on Wiccans. There are over 800,000 Wiccans in the U.S. with thousands of them fighting and even dying for their country. We deserve the respect accorded to any other religion.
Update: Garance Franke-Ruta gets it right and refuses to pander to easy religious bigotry just to bash O'Donnell. Would that some other, supposedly progressive, writers had the same intellect and restraint.
I can't wait to see the stewart/colbert take on this!
ReplyDeleteThere's really no need to get to invested into O'Donnell's religious nuttery, other that to acknowledge that it exists. The lady has basically made a living of of the christo/wingnut welfare train her whole professional career. She was a regular on Politically Incorrect for years where she served as a kind of ultimate wacky straight man foil, full of sanctimonious, impractical, and naive religious perspectives that made for a lot of humor.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is that she is also on the record blathering on with other ill founded (non-religious) political views. Such as http://annamissed.com/.HERE where she tries to criticize socialism using the same language that's usually used to describe capitalism.
Criticizing her on (non-political) religious issues will only raise her profile as a victim.
Great post Steve. I followed the trail of a comment you left elsewhere. I am disappointed in the progressives who are hyping this. O'Donnell is a nutcase, we all should know better.
ReplyDeleteWould a Satanist really have a picnic on a Satanic altar?
ReplyDeleteI suspect the real story behind O'Donnell's dabble into witchcraft is that she had one date with someone who became so fed up with her self-righteousness, he pretended to be a Satanist just to punch her buttons.
Thanks, Pamela and agreed, Anna.
ReplyDeleteKat, No matter the real story for O'Donnell, the real story for liberals is becoming how many will throw away their principles to become bigots for partisan gain.
I expect no better of the likes of Michelle Malkin on the right, ignorance and bigotry are her trademarks. But I've seen liberal bloggers write things like "rhymes with 'bitch'" and the faux-liberal "It might bother me if she were a witch now" running for public office.
WTF? The author of that second admits he has no idea if there are any other kinds of witches other than Wiccans. Pennsylvanian Pow-Wow, Italian Strega, he has no clue - and didn't bother to buy one before he posted! Would it really bother him to have a Wiccan or one of those other tiny witch groups run for public office?
But he still won't find a satanist willing to self-describe as a witch.
Ignorance is no excuse. If you don't know, don't go shooting your mouth of - that's the very heart and core of bigotry.
Regards, Steve
We are witnessing the proliferation of previously non-political people getting into politics. Like geezers in bathing suits, they are as unembarrassed by their ignorance as old men and women in swimwear sporting a lifetime of wrinkles, age spots, thin hair and raspy voices. They are sadly oblivious to political realities, but those who point, criticize and malign them are forgetting that the targets of their snide remarks also vote.
ReplyDeleteI watched the video linked above by anna missed. (Try this link.) Innocent viewers who just came from Sunday School, knowing none of the back story about this woman, will have nothing but a positive reaction to what she says. Never mind that along with Beck, Palin and the rest of the crowd she is blowing smoke. Just because the words are as devoid of content as cotton candy it is a mistake to mock and point at those who buy them. There is a market for cotton candy, too, you know.
I live in a place where Glenn Beck is cited in sermons as a courageous man and a spokesperson for God. When a certain population of sincere Christians look up from the pages of their bibles they may not understand what they have read, but their minds and opinions are as malleable as those of children. They have been taught from childhood to hear and respect their leaders.
This kind of spinning on the part of church leaders has been going on from the time the New Testament was formally canonized. Check this link to 2 Peter 3:15�18 to see how precisely the writer of this book (written after Paul was safely dead) spins the words and actions of the Apostle Paul to fit what is historically called the Petrine doctrine. Notice how gently the writer evaluates Paul noting how "the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction." Knowing this the reader must "take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability."
Notice how Paul himself escapes criticism and the problem lies not with him but others aiming to deceive the faithful.
We can play this game all afternoon, but in the end we are worse off than when we started. There is no way that knowledge will ever trump belief systems. Those who think these people are nothing but a bunch of kooks who will soon go away do so at their political peril. Group think and peer pressure are never on the side of progress. History is filled with examples of kooks (and worse) in charge.
Steve, in order for knowledge to trump belief systems it requires people to not be so knee jerk sensitive over ever single small issue.
ReplyDeleteAs a Buddhist I could have knocked off several posts defending Tiger Woods when the Brit Humes of the world were trashing him publicly, saying he should convert to Christianity.
I didn't. I pick my battles. This was one that just didn't matter. My faith is a personal matter.
S-P, choosing or not to defend your Buddhism from Republican sniping is your decision. I'd have spoken up because casual bigotry is always the thin edge of the wedge. But I'd argue it's also rather different from defending my Wiccanism and witchcraft (a moments research will assure the ignorant that the two are synonomous in the US) from gratuitous sniping from liberals who are supposed to know and act better. It's the very fact that it is liberals doing this that makes it even more a battle worth fighting. "It's OK because the Republicans do it too" is not and never will be an excuse I accept.
ReplyDeleteImagine if O'Donnell had professed she had dabbled in Islam or Judaism when she was young, but got all her facts wrong. How many liberals would feel it was ok to knock those religions to score cheap points on O'Donnell?
Regards, Steve