Wiccans - The Persucation

Running head: WICCANS: THE PERSUCATION

WICCANS: The persecution

Jonathan Howard

English 120 - Section 13

WICCANS: The persecution

The religion of Wicca is not just a fad. It is a strong religion. One that is of light and love, both ancient and contemporary, that is here to stay. The origin dates back about 25,000 years, to the Paleolithic Age. The Wiccan's that persisted in following the Old ways, if they intended to survive, were forced to move underground. Some persecutions may relate to imprisonment, torture, unwanted arrest, beatings, or execution. It may also relate to the destruction of property or incitement to hatred. Many Wiccans claimed that they were tried against, as witches, as a persecution against their faith. Though most of the people that were persecuted, were innocent of the charges, and not even Wiccans at all. Modern day Wiccans, in the Untied States, are discriminated against such that they are fired from their jobs, lose custody of their children, and are forced to make certain decisions because of their religion.

Right now there is an appeal being filed regarding a child custody battle. The father, who is a Fundamentalist Christian, is insisting that the child's mother (Isha Martin-Hammer) is unfit just because of her religion. She is a Wiccan. The fact that she is a Wiccan doesn't have any bearing what so ever on what kind of a parent she is. Currently she has spent over $50,000 defending herself on behalf of the child. For a mother that is "unfit," she sure does care a lot about the being a mother to her child.

There have been reports about the harassment of Wiccans and other Earth-centric religious followers. A lot of this harassment comes from Fundamentalist Christians that are pretending to be Wiccan. They represent themselves in the news and other media that way. There is an article that explains the truth that the "fake wiccans" suddenly discover Fundamentalist Christianity and is reborn again. We have come to find out that they are just doing this for the attention and for money. There are even cases where Christians pose a Wiccans just so they can collect money from other "true Wiccans." This most defiantly hurts the Wiccan communities.

The Lady of Labarthe, names