Greetings again!! Hopefully by now you have read my first rebuttal to the first blog post by Pastor Sam Jones on "Why We Should Be Against Witchcraft". Some people would advise that I just let this issue "be", but I enjoy writing, debating and good dialogue and honestly, while I vehemently disagree with many of his beliefs and how he tends to incite fear regarding certain sub groups of our community, he is someone who has always been respectful towards me personally and whom I feel I can have intelligent discussions with. So, here is Pastor Sam's second post.
Why We Should Be Against Witchcraft Part 2
In this blog post, Pastor Jones recounts a few stories. Interesting stories. He also posts a passage from the Bible about the "Witch of Endor", who calls up the spirit of Samuel for Saul, who disguises himself and then deceives the witch into doing this for him. So, to sum it up in my own words, Saul says "Hey don't do witchcraft, you'll be put to death", then he wants some answers from Samuel so he goes to the Witch of Endor in disguise and says "Call up the spirit of Samuel....I've got some questions for him", but she says "No way, you know what Saul says", but Saul, in disguise, says "Fuggedaboudit, I promise you in the name of the Lord that you'll be okay", so she does it, then realizes he's Saul and has deceived her and has immediate regrets. Hmm. I think that story speaks for itself. Draw your own conclusions. Who's the bad guy here?
Moving on, Pastor Sam tells a few stories about his Great Grandmother, who was a witch, and his Grandmother, who was a witch. Honestly, neither woman sounds like the type of person I would probably hang out with. Neither woman sounds like ANY of the witches or Pagans I know. Clearly, neither one was Wiccan or followed the Wiccan Rede, which states thou shalt do no harm. In my opinion, they had several issues. First of all, conducting seances. I have yet to attend an actual seance. But if someone DID do a seance, all mystical paths would teach that protections should be in place first, often calling on archangels and YHWH, before engaging in such an activity. Obviously his great grandma didn't do this. Second of all, cursing. This is wishing harm on other people and you don't have to be a witch to do that. I am all about karma and justice and I will admit that sometimes I will have the intent that justice be served, but not by my will or law, but by the will and law of the Universe. I also know that Christians will pray that justice be served, so there's no difference there. Throwing around curses willy nilly like his grandma did is not being a "good' witch, though. It's careless and says more about his grandma's state of mind and soul than it does about witchcraft. It sounds like she was careless about several things.
If, indeed, as Pastor Sam says, the power his grand matrons used was admittedly from the "devil", then they are absolutely nothing like me and absolutely nothing like most witches and Pagans. Certainly not any whom I have ever met here in the Cedar Valley. I posed this question to Pastor Sam on his timeline: "What if your grandma was just a "bad" witch?". Because it sounds to me like she was. The great grandmother, too. And not just bad witches, but not very good people in general. I am glad that the grandmother got saved in the story and was able to turn her life around. I am genuinely glad! That was her path. Not everyone's path is the same. For her, she clearly needed to be saved to become a good person. Another point I will make on this topic is that I have known several "bad" Christians. Christians who have done bad things and done things to hurt others. I also know that this does not mean all Christians are bad.
I am blessed to know so many good and wonderful people in my life. I am literally surrounded by them. Here's the truth. Some are Christian (this includes Mormons, Catholics, Protestants, some who are ordained pastors, etc. etc.), some are Pagan, some are witches, some are Muslim, some are Jewish, some are Hindi, some are Buddhist, some are atheists, some are Gnostic, some are chaotes, and the list goes on and on. And I will also tell you this. As long as they are not harming others or infringing on the rights of others with their beliefs, I support, accept and respect all of these paths. I simply do not understand and cannot comprehend the thought that we can't all live together in peace. I do not understand how Pastor Sam and his congregation feel that certain people of certain faiths don't belong in our community. As long as we live in peace and harmony, and do no harm, we all belong here. We ALL belong here.
In my opinion, a blog post such as this one is nothing more than fear mongering, which is far more dangerous than witchcraft could ever be. "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself". What inspired the Inquisition? What inspired the Salem Witch Trials? What inspired the Crusades? What has caused more war and suffering than anything else on Earth? Fear. Fear of those different from you. Fear of those who believe differently. Fear of that which you do not understand. Pastor Sam says he understands witchcraft because he comes from a "long line of witches", but honestly, he's only mentioned two thus far.
If you take away anything from Sam's blog, I do want you to pay very close attention to his last statement. If you are protected, by God, Jesus, Archangels, your own soul, or whatever other protections you may have, there is no witch or sorceror or spell caster or voodoo practitioner or anything similar of any kind that can harm you. THIS IS TRUE. You are honestly in control of your own life. So many people forget this. Take responsibility for what happens to you. Take responsibility for the things that you bring upon yourself. Change the things you can. Accept that sometimes things out of our control happen, but know that it is your reaction to the event that really counts. Stay strong in the face of adversity and celebrate your life. The worst evil in the world is the evil that lies in the hearts of mankind. And that is everywhere. No spirit can harm you, but other humans certainly can. In my small circle, the people with the happiest, most well adjusted, peaceful and prosperous lives whom I know are atheists. Hmm. Why is this? Could it be that they are not living a life full of fear and paranoia? They don't acknowledge the "other side" so to them, it simply doesn't exist. Of course they are not touched by the supernatural. It does not exist for them.
How are you choosing to look at the Cedar Valley? You can choose to look at all the bad things and misfortunes and then blame it on the people who are different from you, who according to your holy book are engaging in activities that displease God, or you can choose to look at all the wonderful things that are happening. The people who help each other. The small acts of kindness. The generosity of strangers, the sun shining in the middle of a rainy week. There is so much goodness in our community and so much diversity. To me, this is beautiful and I rejoice in the good things that happen. We here in the Cedar Valley make wonderful works of art, we lift each other up, we celebrate our differences as well as the way we are alike, we help those not as fortunate as ourselves, we teach our children, we dance, make music, play sports, live together, grieve together, laugh together and LOVE. Those are the parts of the Cedar Valley I choose to focus on and see. What do you choose?
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