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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Surprise! For me, Witches are Real! Not the
half-assed, throw-a-curse. cast-a-spell witches with which Wilson and
Company are unhappy. I'm talking Real witches. The Wiccans of the Palouse are
alive and well, praising Gaia and asking for World Peace. The Wiccans of the
Palouse are supporting the Food Bank, visiting the shut-in elderly, cooking
Thanksgiving dinner for those without families in town, and working to eliminate
racism, sexism, poverty, and over-use of the Earth's resources. The Wiccans on
the Palouse are involved in their community, care about Moscow, Pullman, Colfax,
Colton, Uniontown, Palouse, Toy, Princeton, Harvard, Potlatch, Viola, and our
other small places of no consequence to The Kirk. We have people in all those
places, and reach out to people in many more places. We do our bit for local
economies; we do more than our bit for local charities.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The difference between Real Witches and the
Christ Church version is that Real Witches don't cast spells to harm other
people. Real Witches try to improve situations through kindness and the Three
Fold Law (whatever one does, for good or ill, returns three times). Christ
Church, on the other hand, routinely uses "imprecatory prayer" (AKA calling on
supernatural powers) to attempt to smite those they see as
enemies.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> The easiest person to con is a con-man, the
easiest person to cheat is a cheater, the easiest person to get to buy lies is a
liar, and the person most interested in shouting "persecution" is the
persecutor.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ring any Christmas Bells? We drop coins and dollar
bills in the Salvation Army pots, knowing it goes to feed the hungry, give kids
toys for the Holy Days, and help those who need help in the Dark Time of Winter.
Do Doug and his deluded followers do the same? Don't know, don't really care,
but again the track record leaves me with the assumption that the Salvation
Army, not being part of the Kirk agenda, probably goes lacking of donations
from that quarter. Witches, on the other hand, don't care who runs the
charity; we care that ALL those in need have a place to sleep and something
to eat. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Real Witches have an investment in keeping the
Palouse a Hate Free Zone. The Kirk? One wonders, given their history and the
invective they spout. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Blessings to all going into the Cold Winter, and an
early Solstice Greeting to everyone on the Palouse. Keep warm thoughts for
the Wiccans, and we will keep warm thoughts for all of you. Much better
than Kirker Imprecatory Prayers that the children of our enemies "go begging in
empty places"! We want all children fed and loved, and no empty places with no
one needing to beg! Suffer not a Witch to live? Much better to cultivate the
Witches of the Palouse who have warm hearts, generous spirits, and a true
distaste for evil beliefs and behaviors!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Blessed Be</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Debi Robinson-Smith</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ngier@uidaho.edu href="mailto:ngier@uidaho.edu">Nick Gier</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, November 25, 2008 11:10
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] The Persecution of
Quakers: Shame On Our PuritanForefathers</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>Greetings:<BR><BR>I wrote my
Thanksgiving column early so that I could relax for Tofu Turkey
Day.<BR><BR>While I did this research I also gathered material on the Salem
Witch Trials. Some may not know that in addition to writing favorably
about Southern slave owners, Wilson & Co. also took a more positive view
of executing witches. In the same way that Wilson declared that
Christians should not be ashamed about what the Bible says about slavery, he
also takes very seriously the Biblical injunction that "one should not suffer
a witch to live." And for them witches are very real. Stay tuned
for a column on this topic.<BR><BR>Proud Intolerista,<BR><BR>Nick Gier<BR><BR>
<DIV align=center><B>THE PERSECUTION OF QUAKERS: <BR>SHAME ON OUR PURITAN
FOREFATHERS<BR> <BR></B>by Nick Gier<BR> <BR>I would carry fire in
one hand and faggots <BR>in the other to burn all the Quakers in the world.
<BR> <BR>–Boston preacher John
Norton<BR> <BR></DIV>
This is the time of year to honor a small band of persecuted English
Christians, who first sought refuge in Holland and then decided to set sail
for the New World. With the aid of friendly Indians they were able to
survive their first year in America. We celebrate the Pilgrims of Plymouth
because of their yearning for religious liberty and their desire to worship
freely in their own way. What we don't always recognize, however, is the
fact that they denied that freedom to those with whom they
disagreed.<BR><BR>All residents of the Plymouth colony had to pay a church tax
and attend the established church every Sunday. Because Quakers refused
to do this, their males were not "admitted as free men" and could not "be
employed in any place of trust." Quakers believed that they were not subject
to civil authorities, and they refused to take oaths or serve in the military.
They also rejected all religious dogma, preferring to follow the internal
light of Christ than a literal reading of the
Bible.<BR><BR> In
1658 eight Quakers were arrested on a ship arriving in Boston Harbor.
Their leader, Christopher Holder, stumped the Puritan magistrates when he
pointed out that they had no law proscribing Quaker belief. Laws were
quickly passed with increasing severity: the first offense was to have one ear
cut off, and offending a second time would cost Quaker males the other
ear. Quaker women were to be whipped instead. If Quakers, male and
female, had not their lesson by the third time, "their tongues would be bored
through with a hot iron." Christopher Holder kept coming back to Boston to
preach and to debate Puritan leaders, so on July 17, 1658 Holder and two other
Quakers had their ears cut off, whipped twice a week for nine weeks before
they chose to return to England.<BR><BR>Five Quaker women left the safety of
Rhode Island, where Roger Williams had established religious liberty in
America for the first time, and came to Boston to support their oppressed
comrades. As soon as they arrived they were thrown in jail with the
others.<BR><BR>The Bay Colony Puritans concluded that Satan had sent them this
Quaker scourge, so on October 19, 1658 the General Court of Boston passed a
law stating that any Quaker refusing banishment would be executed. The
result was that Quakers kept coming back to Boston with more zeal than ever.
Mary Dyer, one of the women from Rhode Island, and two men were tried under
the new law and they were convicted. The men were hanged but Mary Dyer
was rescued by her son riding on a white house with a reprieve from the
governor in his hand.<BR><BR>When Mary Dyer learned that the Boston Puritans
were boasting to the English Parliament about their mercy in her case, she was
determined to confront them and she returned to demand that the laws against
Quakers be appealed. It was decided that no new trial was necessary, and after
refusing to recant, Dyer was led to the gallows once again and she died there
on June 1, 1660. One more Quaker would be hanged before a new charter
from England forced the Boston Puritans to protect all Christians except
Catholics.<BR><BR>I was raised in an evangelical Quaker church in Medford,
Oregon, and their peaceful meditative Christianity had a profound influence on
my life. I was recruited but declined to attend George Fox College, now a
reputable small University in Oregon's beautiful Willamette Valley. Every
spring the religious scholars of the Pacific Northwest meet, and the George
Fox faculty always present excellent papers.<BR><BR>American Quakers are now a
small but widely respected part of the nation's spiritual life. The
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has an international reputation for
aiding people in need and insisting on nonviolent solutions to international
problems. Their early American predecessors would definitely have been
surprised, if not shocked, to learn that the AFSC now supports gay and lesbian
rights.<BR><BR>Barack and Michelle Obama have also chosen a Quaker school in
Washington, DC for their two daughters. I'm sure that they will receive the
same character education that I did as a young boy at the Medford
Friend's Church.<BR><BR>Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the
University of Idaho for 31 years<BR>
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