(no subject)
I've had my hands full with Canadian politics, outside of work and school. But the bizarre story of Sarah Palin and the Third Wave Christians.
Most people have never heard of the Third Wavers. They're a charismatic Christian sect, very Pentecostal in style. Some Neo-Pagans (like myself) have heard about them through the Pagan news blogs, because of their peculiar obsession with us.
The Third-Wavers believe in magic. They also believe they're fighting "spiritual warfare" in an apocalyptic battle against the forces of darkness. And at the forefront of the army of darkness are witches -- meaning traditional pagans in places like Africa, meaning fortune tellers, meaning Neo-Pagans in North America. Tarot cards and other means are "dark sided," and these "warriors for Christ" talk about "doing battle" with us.
So far, American Third-Wavers have confined their weird Harry-Potter-meets-The-Handmaid's-Tale world mostly to rhetoric. In Africa, though, it's sparked a recent resurgence in the centuries-old practice of hunting witches.
Lately, Neo-Pagan websites have been documenting this resurgence, and this is where Palin comes in. Turns out that pastor whose prayers she credits with having magically put her in the governor's office -- apparently it wasn't democracy -- founded his ministry the day he successfully drove an elderly woman out of a Kenyan village for witchcraft. His name is Thomas Muthee, and he considers himself a witch hunter.
Neo-Pagans are also worried about the possibility that a woman whose church preaches they're the greatest threat the country knows could soon be a heartbeat away from being in charge of the Department of Homeland Security.
Me, I'm wondering now if Harper's Christian and Missionary Alliance are Third Wave. Not that I have any evidence one way or the other, but they do have close ties to the Pentecostals -- a common root in fact.
Most people have never heard of the Third Wavers. They're a charismatic Christian sect, very Pentecostal in style. Some Neo-Pagans (like myself) have heard about them through the Pagan news blogs, because of their peculiar obsession with us.
The Third-Wavers believe in magic. They also believe they're fighting "spiritual warfare" in an apocalyptic battle against the forces of darkness. And at the forefront of the army of darkness are witches -- meaning traditional pagans in places like Africa, meaning fortune tellers, meaning Neo-Pagans in North America. Tarot cards and other means are "dark sided," and these "warriors for Christ" talk about "doing battle" with us.
So far, American Third-Wavers have confined their weird Harry-Potter-meets-The-Handmaid's-Tale world mostly to rhetoric. In Africa, though, it's sparked a recent resurgence in the centuries-old practice of hunting witches.
Lately, Neo-Pagan websites have been documenting this resurgence, and this is where Palin comes in. Turns out that pastor whose prayers she credits with having magically put her in the governor's office -- apparently it wasn't democracy -- founded his ministry the day he successfully drove an elderly woman out of a Kenyan village for witchcraft. His name is Thomas Muthee, and he considers himself a witch hunter.
Neo-Pagans are also worried about the possibility that a woman whose church preaches they're the greatest threat the country knows could soon be a heartbeat away from being in charge of the Department of Homeland Security.
Me, I'm wondering now if Harper's Christian and Missionary Alliance are Third Wave. Not that I have any evidence one way or the other, but they do have close ties to the Pentecostals -- a common root in fact.