The Battle Lines Have Already Been Drawn

The election of Donald Trump to the highest office in the U.S. was a disheartening wake-up call for many of us.  It signified that we who count ourselves to be liberal or progressives had not done enough to ensure that the freedoms we enjoy were not wrested away from us.   This situation, however, did not just begin with the election results of November 8, 2016.  The fundamentalist, radical right has had this moment in its sights for as long as I can remember. While Pagans have been busy living it up over the years at various pagan festivals like Circle Gathering and Pantheacon, contemplating Goddess and congratulating themselves on creating a new world, the Dominionists were constantly pushing to limit as much of the rights and freedoms that we take for granted. I have said it numerous times; there is absolutely no difference between the Taliban and the Christoban except the religious texts and the specific names they refer to God. 

We should not be at all surprised by anything that Vice President, Mike Pence, says either.  His brand of Christianity is nothing if not consistent.  Pence hails from the kind of Christianity that has done and continues to do all that they can in order to convince, coerce or even frightening their own people into compliance. Dominionist sects, on the whole, have been setting up for this type of takeover that we are seeing unfold before our eyes for decades.  Ask any of them and they will tell you that in order for America to be truly “free”, we must “become a Christian nation again”.   If you ask them what that means, sooner or later they will get around to informing you that they absolutely advocate ruling by “biblical law”.  These same individuals will make no secret about how abhorrent that they find the idea of ruling by Islamic or Sharia law.  If you gently remind them how there is little to no difference, expect to get an earful.

Pagans, Polytheists, & Allies

Please, I understand these Pagan and Polytheist gatherings I mentioned above are important.  However, our activism and rallying behind various causes and issues have often been diffused because of infighting and lack of a common goal or purpose. The so-called Moral Majority which had its heydey in the 1980’s and early 90’s, did everything it could, from Satanic Panic to the constant barrage of personalities (Bob Larson) who would keep listeners in abject terror of everything in the world being not only a conspiracy theory, but an all-out orchestrated Satanic plot.  During that same time period, we were seeing an incredible awareness raising regarding Pagan faiths.  Surely Margot Adler’s book, “Drawing Down the Moon”,  the boom of Pagan, Wiccan and other types of ‘new age’ books and periodicals was at its height.  Many of the forefathers and foremothers of that movement, such as Selena Fox, for example, spent a great deal of time getting in front of the cameras of mainstream media outlets in order to reassure the general public that modern witches and Wiccans were benign and nothing to fear.  While that may be true for some, inadvertently they had managed to all but completely defang the entire movement.  The whole “harm none” idea morphed into a sort of apologetic pacifism and the so-called Three Fold Law became an admonishment against anyone who would do anything as radical as even defending themselves against those who meant harm.

I am not proclaiming that we are somehow returning to the mostly-mythical ‘Burning Times’, that series of events when some of the most rabid baby Pagans like to claim outlandish and historically inaccurate figures of the number of people who were put to death for “Witchcraft”.  What I am saying is that in the past 500 years, we have moved forward into a more inclusive, progressive society. Because of the manipulations of a few, our country, indeed our whole world appears to be more divided.  We have, since then had several shining rays of hope in the form of the Women’s March, the removal of Michael Flynn and most recently the well-deserved and utter defeat of the Draconian ACHA and the attempt by the Republicans to repeal Obamacare.  The Women’s march was the largest in U.S. history and if #45 has done one thing, he has awakened many of the once complacent electorate to know that their participation is essential and they called their representatives relentlessly and showed up at town halls around the country to protest.  It is this kind of activism we are going to need if we are to succeed against the people who would strip women, minorities, the elderly, children and the poor of their rights.

The reason for the incredible success of the radical right and Christian Dominionists in particular, is that they have always seen total control as their end goal.  They mobilized their membership and through referring to their extant religious texts and their communities were able to keep the membership towing the party line.  They created their own television and radio stations, bookstores, business networks and other ways to extend their reach far beyond Sunday services.  They created the concept of homeschooling so that they could absolutely control what went into the minds of their own children. While some parents do this because the well-being of their children requires their continued support, finding homeschooling materials that are completely secular and devoid of Christian-centric rhetoric is extremely difficult.

Who’s Really In Charge?

The truth is, that many racists, bigots, white supremacists, and white nationalists have been emboldened by Donald Trump.  Those who are threatened by the fact that the world is getting more inclusive, are terrified that in today’s job market, getting hired, or even your place in society is not assured because you are a part of the (for now) dominant culture.  Being the best person for the job is no longer based on factors such as your sex, your gender, your religion or more to the point, the color of your skin.  Indeed, the terror attack carried out in Quebec during a prayer service was done by a white Trump supporter who was also opposed to immigration.   The desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the threatening of schools and Jewish centers around the country has drawn a sharp line in the political sand: Those who adamantly reject such hatred and those who are apathetic to it.  There are those that are even happy that since Donald Trump is president, they can now outwardly display their bigotry and prejudice against any people that don’t fit into the narrow world view of what they feel is the Dominant Culture.

At the root of it all, indeed who and what is behind this rise of such is, I believe, Steve Bannon. In an article by Terrell Jermaine Starr that appeared in the Washington Post,  is unlimited control.  So what is the end game?  It is my firm belief that by recently removing all white supremacist groups from the terror watch and instituting the Religious Freedom Executive Order that Bannon and Trump want the people to start dividing into groups of us and them. He wants people, in their own self-interests to have infighting so that they are then able to declare martial law. In the meantime, sources inside the White House conclude that this is what is driving the agenda.  The current administration believes that they don’t need to give facts, just information; and if you control the information, you control the message and perception of the people.  I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like to be ‘managed’ in such a fashion. This past week underscores the fact that the majority of the American electorate don’t like to be ‘managed’ in such a fashion, either.

Sekhmet is the upholder of Ma’at.  She is also the absolute personification of Power. I say that not as some sort of feminist diatribe or anything else other than to say that Ma’at will be preserved. Astrologically, this is the time when those things that are illegal and unjust shall be exposed. With the recent revelations by the FBI before Congress and the heat being turned up on the distinct possibility of the Trump Team’s collusion with Russia and Vladimir Putin, it would seem that Ma’at will be coming down on their heads – in every sense of the word.

 

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