Happy New Year

Hey Crew,
  First of all, I would like to say Happy New Year to everyone.  Have fun but be safe and be careful out there!
  2011 has been quite an eventful year.  From the shooting in January of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to most recently the death of North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Il, and in between the deadly tornadoes in Alabama and closer to home for me, in Joplin and right here in St. Louis on Good Friday. Of course, what Gateway Blogger worth their salt would not mention the best part of this year - our 11 time World Champion St. Louis Cardinals!
  I know it is usually customary at this point for the author to come up with some sort of profound and/or pithy thought or speech for the coming year.  I got nothin'.
  What I will say is this.  I am very optimistic about 2012.  I think it is pretty safe to say that the one thing that will consume our attention will be the Presidential election.  It will be a bloody race, the likes of which I don't think anyone has ever seen before.  But I have to believe that the American people, at least enough of them will realize what a pivotal time in our history this is. 
  I am like a million other people.  I plan to start working out - more exercise, less cookies, be more organized, you know, all of those New Year's resolutions we all try to keep. Some we do, some, not so much.

  So, as 2011 slips away, I will say to all of you, 2012 is going to be awesome! See you next year, and be prepared for one wild ride!      

Merry Christmas and Other Evil Thoughts

Hey Gang,
  First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you guys. Thanks for reading all year long. You guys are the best!
  Now, I feel like I need to combine a few things. A "two-fer", if you will. It's that time of year again. When Atheists get their panties all in a bunch over nativity scenes, Mayors of small towns think they can get away with putting up "Holiday" trees in the town square, and the local high school band gets ready to put on their annual "Winter" concert.
  But this year, there is a cherry on the cake of all of this madness. Tim Tebow.  I realize that the last person Tim or anyone else expects to defend him is a Wiccan. But that is exactly what I want to do.
  What is the big deal?! I don't understand.  Why do people seem to be so offended by Christianity?  America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles.  It is what makes the system imperfect at times, it is what makes the system work all the time.
  I don't have a problem with Tim Tebow praying after a win.  I don't have a problem with my neighbor's nativity scene.  I am a person who is secure enough in my faith and my beliefs that I don't feel the need to get outraged when someone else expresses theirs.  Is it that we have become such an "anything goes" society that we see it somehow as someone trying to say they are better than us if they openly try to live their faith?  If that is the case, then at the risk of getting really deep, do all of us need to look inward and honestly examine what it is about Tim Tebow getting down on one knee to pray after a victory or people saying "Merry Christmas" that automatically puts us on the defensive, makes us uncomfortable, and leads us right into "offended"?
  As someone who rarely gets their holidays recognized, with the possible exception of Halloween, you might think I have a big problem with all of this Christianity going on around me.  But in the grand scheme of what is going on in the world around us, it seems pretty minor.  So if it is not offending any of my Pagan or Wiccan brethren, I am going to eat Christmas cookies, listen to my "A Charlie Brown Christmas" CD, and look at my beautiful Christmas tree.  Then I will go to work and listen to my co-worker's Christmas music.

And oh, one more thing...Happy Winter Solstice!    

The Destruction of Herman Cain (or fill in the blank with any other Black Conservative)

Hey Everyone,
  Hope everyone is having a great holiday season, whatever holiday you celebrate.
    Liberals are a curious lot.  They love to ramble on about how "tolerant" they are.  But if you belong to a certain voting bloc, be it women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Gays and Lesbians, you get the idea. If you DARE to use the brain in your head and have the audacity to think for yourself, come to your own conclusions, and the unpardonable sin of coming from humble beginnings, get an education, perhaps do a stint in the military, work your way up the ladder of your chosen profession, but do not see yourself as a victim, and take no help from any government program, such as, oh I don't know, Affirmative Action, and along the way become, dare I say it, Conservative, God or any other deity help you if you decide to run for President.
  In the words of the great Rush Limbaugh, Liberals will always tell you who they are afraid of.
  Wow. Are they EVER scared right out of their Birkenstock's of Herman Cain! The last month or so has been solely dedicated to his demise politically and his reputation and good name personally.
  First, they tried the never-ending parade of women who claimed to have been groped, fondled,or in any way felt-up by Cain. When he did not seem to be going away quietly, out trotted Ginger White.  White claims to have had a 13-year long affair with Cain.  What do ya' know, this one actually worked!
  Recent polling data has shown that in President Obama's most solid voting blocs, except for Blacks, all of his numbers are sliding.  But let's be brutally honest here. What we are really talking about is the Black vote.  For Democrats, a Black Conservative Republican nominee is like NASCAR fans for Michelle Obama. They know he cannot run on his abysmal record, so as soon as Herman Cain looked like he might actually have some traction, out came the big guns.
  I would never presume to know the feelings of African-Americans, even Conservative ones.  But how can it not be the ultimate insult to tell an entire group of people, "if you dare to think in a way other than that which we and the 'leaders' we have hood-winked and put in front of you have tried to brainwash and scare you into thinking, and THEN, go out and proclaim it to the rest of the world in a vehicle like a Presidential campaign ?! We will make an example of you and destroy you."
 This is what has happened to Herman Cain.

  Let that be a lesson to the next Herman Cain.         

Setting The Record Straight

Hey Gang,
  A Happy and safe Halloween to all!  I thought I had done this last year, but looking back in the vast "Conservative Cauldron" archives (snicker snicker!), it appears I have not.  So here goes.
  For Wiccans, Halloween is Christmas. Our highest of holy days, or sabbats. Halloween is an ancient Celtic holiday called Samhain (pronounced sow-en). It is the third of three harvest festivals  on the Pagan calendar. I could go on with a lot of history about now, but that's not why we are here. I realize I am up against about three hundred years of history and bad publicity, but I would like to explain what Halloween REALLY is.
  In addition to being a harvest festival, it is also the day in which we remember and honor our ancestors, our loved ones who have gone on to the other world.  It is also the day that we believe that the veil between this world and the otherworld is the thinnest. Also, on this day, we might engage in some form of divination. Tarot cards, runes, or perhaps and old-fashioned form of apple divination.
  It is also usually this time of year that the media likes to trot out the resident Witch, perhaps directly from "Witch Central", Salem Massachusetts, wearing flowing black robes and way too much eyeliner. And let's not forget the over-the-top fundamentalist Christian Pastor, who is convinced that Halloween is nothing more than an evil Pagan holiday only celebrated to corrupt and persuade "good Christians" over to the "dark side".
  At the risk of being repetitious, but with the hope that I have new readers all the time, part of my job here is to educate.  There is no hidden recruiting agenda.  Wiccans come from every walk of life.  We just want to practice our faith like everyone else.  We like the fun part of our holiday, but there is also a solemn meaning to it as well.  So when I am done with my ritual, I will be hungry for black and orange M&M's.     

 

Who Will Protest For Me?

Hey Gang,
  The "Occupy Wall Street" protesters are a curious bunch. None of them appear to be employed, yet as they sit in the plaza, they are speaking on cell phones, surfing the Internet on laptop computers and Ipads.  There has recently been a "charging station" set up for these devices that come from evil corporations like Apple, Sony, etc....huh??  As their occupation goes on...and on, as far as I can tell, they have a problem with the very free market that make all of their techno-toys available.
  The list of their demands in it's rambling entirety is...free stuff, and lots of it! Free health care, free education, free housing, a minimum wage of twenty dollars an hour.  Wait a minute, if you want it all to be free, why do you need a minimum wage?  Silly Capitalist asking silly questions!
  Well, I have a few more silly questions, and I am pretty sure I am not alone.  I think I am fairly normal, give or take a few spells and Full Moon rituals here and there.  I am up around 5am during the week. I work 40 hours a week.  Sure, getting up when it is still dark sucks, as does the work part.  I would much rather be writing blogs.  My question is, why can't these people do what I and millions of other Americans do every day? Why do you think you are entitled to live on my dime? Why can't I just live off your dime?  And as long as you are protesting "Wall Street" and "corporate" corruption,  why not protest the fact that you are having food and clothing donated to you by the likes of unions and the American Workers Party, an offshoot of the American Communist Party? All the while, attempting to bill this as entirely spontaneous?
  You know, I get it.  I want to protest too.  I want to protest these people who think I should work to support them, think that I have no problem with them trashing public areas which will inevitably cost my tax dollars to clean up, and basically disrupting the lives of hard-working Americans who have worked to earn their success.
  But I have to go to work.

  What a concept. 
  

Religious Freedom Not Just For Americans

Hey Everybody,
   Well, this might be a little off the beaten path, but variety is the spice of life right?  As Americans, we treat the Bill of Rights with the utmost reverence and seriousness.  We believe that the rights enumerated in this most precious document came not from any man-made government, but our Creator. Therefore, no form of government can take them away.  So when someone else's rights are threatened, we take it to heart.
  Pastor Youcef Naderkhani is a 32-year old Iranian.  Born a Muslim, he converted to Christianity at the age of 19.  He is married with two young boys.  He is also fighting for his life.  In Iran, like most Muslim countries, conversion from Islam to any other faith, especially Christianity or Judaism is called the sin of apostasy, and the punishment for this is death.  Pastor Youcef has been given three chances to renounce his faith and has refused.  Because the Iranian "justice" system is not like ours, his execution by hanging can take place at any time, even as his appeal is being heard.
  This is wrong on a basic human level.  But why, you ask, is a Wiccan compelled enough by this story to write about it?  There was a time in world history, and in particular, American history, when people, mainly women, were put to death for being Witches.  They were executed for what people thought they were practicing, not observances of moon phases, working healing and positive magick, and reverence for the Goddess and her planet.  Even today, people are killed for being "witches" all over the world.  In many areas still, if the crops fail, or the livestock is diseased and die, the locals will point and say, "witch!"
  Human Beings have held differing beliefs and faiths since time began.  It will always be.  Religious persecution is wrong no matter who it is directed at. And it must not be tolerated anywhere.  All freedom-loving people of the world must keep pressure on the Iranian government to make sure that this blatant violation of human rights does not happen.

  I can only hope that the courage and steadfastness of heart, mind, and spirit exhibited by Pastor Youcef can be an inspiration to us all.       

Pausing To Remember

Hey Everyone,
  Wow.  Ten years ago today, the World Trade Center Towers were brought down in an evil, cowardly act of, not only terrorism but an act of war.  As we stop to remember all of the friends, neighbors, and loved ones who were murdered on that day (let's call it what it is), we all think about where we were and what we were doing, what was  happening in our lives that in an instant was dwarfed by what we were witnessing when we turned on the television set that bright sunny September morning.
  I was 24 days away from my wedding.  My biggest worries were cakes, flowers, and my first dress fitting scheduled for the following Saturday.  It seems selfish now, compared to the sacrifice made by so many others that day, but my first thought was, "The world can't be coming to an end, I'm getting married in three weeks!"
  So much has happened in the ensuing ten years.  How many terror plots have been thwarted that the American people know nothing about?  Are we safer as a nation since Sept. 11, 2001?  Anyone who flies on a regular basis has some pretty straightforward opinions on that I'm sure.  We do know that Osama Bin Laden is gone. I'm guessing that there are no virgins where he is at, imagine his surprise.  Al Quaida has been shattered into a million pieces thanks to the awesome men and women of the U.S. Military. The Freedom Tower in New York City is rising ever higher, scheduled to open sometime next year.  A massive tribute to the strength, resilience, and refusal of  Americans not to let a bunch of thugs have the last word.
  As I watched the 9/11 programming this morning I was struck by one thing.  These terrorists lived and worked among Americans for years as they were plotting this horrific event, but apparently, they never learned anything about us.  As people wept and mourned the loss of their loved ones, and those they did not know, the Police, Firefighters, EMS, and scores of other first responders, as soon as an American flag was unfurled, or the Star Spangled Banner began to play, they yelled, cheered, and pumped fists in the air, they chanted, "USA USA!" They did not learn that even in our grief, we are fiercely proud of America and being Americans, and that maybe we were down for a moment in time, but we were coming right back, and when we did, not God, nor Allah, nor anyone else was going to be of help to them now. In fact, if we had anything to say about it, they were going to meet one or all of them very soon.
  The best way I can think of to sign off today, is to say Thank You to the Men and Women of the U.S. Military, Police, Firefighters, and EMS crews who risk their lives everyday to keep us and our country safe.

  God(dess) bless the U.S.A!