Happy Samhain

[TheHarlequin]

Blessed Samhain & Happy New Year to all my fellow Pagans, Witches and Wiccans

[Walsingham]

Blessed Samhain & Happy New Year to all my fellow Pagans, Witches and Wiccans

 

Presumably you were pleased to enjoy the BBC's 24 hour coverage of the festival? I certainly ***ing hope so, because no-one else was.

[TheHarlequin]

Blessed Samhain & Happy New Year to all my fellow Pagans, Witches and Wiccans

 

Presumably you were pleased to enjoy the BBC's 24 hour coverage of the festival? I certainly ***ing hope so, because no-one else was.

 

Wow.. what a close minded religious hater.

 

Your bigotry aside, there is about ~2 million folks under the pagan umbrella in north america, ~4 mil world wide*. Where in 1990 is was less then 50K world wide*. Point being not only are you inaccurate in your assessment (though you were not going for factual accuracy granted) but non-Judaic/xian religious shows, orgs and view points are simply going to continue to grow at a wild pace. Deal.

 

*Source: religious tolerance web site

Edited November 6, 2010 by TheHarlequin

[Hurlshort]

It sounded a lot more like 24-hour festival coverage hatred than religious hatred. Don't be so defensive.

[Nepenthe]

It sounded a lot more like 24-hour festival coverage hatred than religious hatred. Don't be so defensive.

Defensive wasn't quite the word I would have used.

[I want teh kotor 3]

I'm pretty sure he was mad at BBC covering it for 24 frickin hours than with you for celebrating it.

[Nepenthe]

And I'm pretty sure you guys are feeding the troll.

[TheHarlequin]

And I'm pretty sure you guys are feeding the troll.

 

Wow I stand up to a at least someone close minded at worst a bigot and I am the bad guy. Nice. Troll <> someone you disagree with. FYI. In no way was I saying something to cause a flame, I was however standing up to a rude/ignorant comment.

[TheHarlequin]

It sounded a lot more like 24-hour festival coverage hatred than religious hatred. Don't be so defensive.

 

He just told me no one else was watching their coverage of my holiday one can assume said out of hate or/and ignorance. Yes I will be defensive to such thank you very much.

[Nepenthe]

I was however standing up to a rude/ignorant comment.

Could've fooled me!

[Hurlshort]

Way to make snap judgments Harlie. You clearly don't know much about Wals, and since most folks here are very familiar with him, you have come across looking silly. That is why going on the defensive so quickly is bad, it would have been less embarrassing if you had just asked Wals to clarify his comment.

 

But don't let the fact that everyone here says you are reading too much into his comment, go ahead and get on that soapbox.

[Shryke]

simple misunderstanding - no biggie

[TheHarlequin]

Way to make snap judgments Harlie. You clearly don't know much about Wals, and since most folks here are very familiar with him, you have come across looking silly. That is why going on the defensive so quickly is bad, it would have been less embarrassing if you had just asked Wals to clarify his comment.

 

But don't let the fact that everyone here says you are reading too much into his comment, go ahead and get on that soapbox.

 

Then he should have been more clear and not sounded as such. *shrugs* I know... double standard.. he gets a a free pass but lets jump on me because I don't walk on glass. Thankfully I don't give a frogs fat arse about you or anyone here. This is just a online forum. Nothing more or less to debate games with other faceless folks across the world and the like. Don't know any of you thus unlike you have no real illogical attachment. Take that as you will.

[Tale]

He gets a free pass for what? Complaining about the BBC? Oh no, Walsh, you need to be more sensitive about programing schedules!

[Darth InSidious]

Way to snap-judge Walsingham, Harlequin. You're doing a great job selling how wonderful paganism is, there.

 

Now, Walsingham is many things, but a bigot he ain't. First, he was complaining about the fact that it got blanket coverage, not the right of pagans to worship however they please, wherever and whenever.

 

Second, there may be 4 million pagans worldwide, and 2 million in the US. There aren't that many in the UK. In fact, the 2001 census found 42,262 neopagans in England, Scotland and Wales (with 32,000 pagans and 7,000 Wiccans in England and Wales). That's out of a total population in excess of 60 million. That's 0.1% of the population. Even taking the high-end estimate of 250,000 neopagans, that's only 0.4% of the British population.

 

To give some context, there are over 330,000 Sikhs in the UK according to the same 2001 Census, with higher estimates of 600-750,000. There are similar numbers of Jews. There are over 550,000 (according to the 2001 Census; up to 800,000 according to other estimates) Hindus. Muslims make up between 1.5million and 2.4million Britons, or up to 4% of the population. The number of practicing Roman Catholics in the country is estimated at 5 million.

 

But do we televise, say, festivals in honour of Baisakhi, or Diwali, or Eid, or Corpus Christi processions? No. First, because this is not a secular country. And second, because all thse faiths are a minority, and while we recognise the right of minorities to practice, believe, and be represented, this does not necessarily mean that they must get television coverage of their religious activities disproportionate to their representation in the British population. There was no coverage, say, for All Saints' or All Souls', both of which have far greater historical and cultural resonance in the UK.

 

Third, the last major religious coverage the BBC gave prior to that was of the Papal Visit to the UK, the first state visit by the spiritual leader of around 5 million people in the UK and over 1.1 billion worldwide, and for whom it is estimated around 500,000 people turned out for (or, about twice the upper estimate of how many pagans and wiccans there are in the UK). (Also, the Pope, to be blunt, is news, in a way Samhain and other festivals aren't.)

 

And my goodness, if you think complaints about the amount of coverage Samhain got is 'bigotry', compared to the flak we Catholics got from some quarters prior to the Visit (one admittedly stupid columnist saying in the Independent on September 8th this year: "But if one is a Catholic, then surely double-speak and duplicity are second nature."), then you are sorely deluding yourself.

 

Fourth, the BBC is first and foremost a national, not an international broadcaster. The hint is in the name: British Broadcasting Corporation. The number of pagans worldwide is therefore of less significance.

 

Fifth, I think it's quite clear that Walsingham is not entirely serious in his post.

 

For my part as a non-pagan, I'm quite happy for you to get News 24 coverage of Samhain. First, because I got four days of excellent coverage of the Pope in the UK. Second, I am quite happy and willing to use the 'off' switch on my TV, and third, because I was playing New Vegas in any case. But accusing Walsingham of being a 'bigot' or 'close-minded' for disliking coverage of a religious festival which has little significance, cultural, historical or political for the majority of this country, only makes you look silly.

Edited November 7, 2010 by Darth InSidious

[Hurlshort]

What a friendly fellow. I consider quite a few posters here personal friends, just as I would with the people I see at work or on a sports team. I spend real time here having discussions with real people, so I find it very illogical that I wouldn't form an attachment. Why waste your time here then?

[Thorton_AP]

It sounded a lot more like 24-hour festival coverage hatred than religious hatred. Don't be so defensive.

 

The thing about Harlequin is that everything that doesn't agree with his opinions and views is a personal sleight against his very being and character. He's the poor victim in everything you know.

 

 

Wow I stand up to a at least someone close minded at worst a bigot and I am the bad guy. Nice. Troll <> someone you disagree with. FYI. In no way was I saying something to cause a flame, I was however standing up to a rude/ignorant comment.

 

No. You epically fail to understand the point that he was making. As usual.

 

 

He just told me no one else was watching their coverage of my holiday one can assume said out of hate or/and ignorance. Yes I will be defensive to such thank you very much.

 

One would assume that if they weren't particularly bright, or if they were insecure and had a persecution complex. You can rationalize your defensiveness all you want; it doesn't mean you weren't overreacting.

 

 

Then he should have been more clear and not sounded as such. *shrugs* I know... double standard.. he gets a a free pass but lets jump on me because I don't walk on glass.

 

We're jumping on you because you have a history of being excessively defensive and playing the victim. You dug your own hole here (though I wouldn't be surprised if you, again, completely fail to recognize this point.

[Walsingham]

It was nice of you chaps to stand up for me.

 

1. I could have been more clear in the basis of my objection, which as has been pointed out was on how ludicrous it was devote such massive coverage to an incredibly small stream our religious makeup.

 

2. I'm not a bigot. Except about parrots.

 

3. Close friends and family are actually long practising priestesses in various pagan religions. I get on tremendously well with them. But again, they're not even comparable with say, sikhs in this country.

 

4. Whether this is an internet forum or not the people here are people. Taking zero interest in them is both insulting and begs the question of why post at all? Does your keyboard need regular use or it seizes up?