Oct 15 2009
Pagan News Update: Republicans, Halloween, and Vampires Oh My!
In Pagan news today, there seems to be an overall theme of acceptance. Could it be that some people no longer balk at someone who lives out of the broom closet?
- Dan Halloran is a Pagan Republican. Yes, even this is apparently possible!
Personally, I’m surprised this dude even lived through the Bush Administration, but I’m all for him opening the eyes of his political party. - Halloween expert Lesley Bannatyne offers some candid insight into Halloween and discusses her research. Bannatyne witnessed rituals from a Pagan group local to her and discusses her views on modern witchcraft.
- Vampires in New Jersey, USA are performing some Pagan rituals involving blood sacrifice. They also happen to sell fangs. While I believe that vampirism may be an actual medical condition and/or state of being, I personally am not cool with ritual animal sacrifice. Then again, I don’t need to eat blood. If I did, I’d probably look for some TruBlood, though.
What do you think of these stories? Do you have a Pagan news update? If so, please send it to Tara at queenDOTguinevereATgmailDOTcom.
Possibly-related Articles: (auto-generated)
You do realize that Theodism, which is the pagan religion Halloran follows, practices animal sacrifice, right?
There are even pictures floating around the Internet of him taking the head off a pig with a sword.
Pagan Republican seems like one of those oxymorons like Gay Republican. It could be my ignorance talking but I just don’t see Paganism and Republicanism (at least the current version of Republicanism) being at all compatible. But then I still have a lot to learn so….
TaraC–
I definitely think that the current trend in the movement to the right is not necessarily what the Republican party has traditionally stood for (not that I’m necessarily defending conservative beliefs…I just think 2000 onward marked a different breed). I suppose some nontraditional humans might still follow a fiscally conservative perspective or have strong feelings towards decentralized government, which might make the Republican party very appealing to them. I do not necessarily pretend to understand this…just trying to sort it out, too.
Norman–
Thanks for the info. Now I want to investigate Theodism. It sounds interesting, and probably something with which I will disagree.
Here is some more info on that–noting that some people who share these beliefs do fall into the far right politically!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81satr%C3%BA_in_the_United_States#Theodism
madrigalblue,
I’m sure you’re right. I’ve been told that the “Republican party” of today bears little resemblance to what it used to be. But then I’ve known nothing else during my lifetime, having grown up during the Reagan-Bush-Bush era.