I was reading an article on CNN today about a Wiccan who was chiming in about a certain individual running for a certain Senate seat.

Apparently the candidate had made a statement in passing that “lumped witchcraft with Satanism” and called those who practice witchcraft “questionable folks”.

Here is a small portion of the article:

***
“Once again, the Rev. Selena Fox realized, it would be up to her and other Pagans to educate.”
“It’s an opportunity to get some correct information out there. That’s how I see it,” says Fox, who is the high priestess and senior minister of Circle Sanctuary, a Wiccan church near Barneveld, Wisconsin, that serves Pagans worldwide. “There’s comedy about it, hot debate about it, lots of pundits weighing in. But one of the things that really hasn’t gotten through is how ridicule and defamation can harm people.”
***

The bit that stood out to me was the first line. “It’s an opportunity to get some correct information out there…”

How many times has the mormon church said that?

I know (roughly) what wiccans believe as I have a friend who is one. I still don’t care. For some reason I still lump wiccans and witches together and sometimes for good measure throw in the mummy and Dracula.

They can “get some correct information out there” till the cows come home – I ain’t listening!

Same with the mormons. They can spew forth how “jesus is central to our church”, but the majority of the people are not buying it. They can jazz up their logo all they want. They can wear yellow shirts and hand out logo’d wheelchairs. They can spend tithing dollars on ad campaigns. They can build malls and hotels, but they are and always will be a nutty polygamous cult from Utah. I might even throw in Dracula – that stupid cult sucked the life out of me.

referred to as "questionable folks", just based on their religion or religious practices.
I have noticed this in the media also. This kind of speech about Catholics or Muslims would not be tolerated.
Talk about a "witch hunt"!
"Getting the truth out there" simply means informing people that Wicca is a religion (as is Satanism), and religion is not supposed to be used as a litmus test for public office.

So, you are proud of not listening? Oh. OK.

I heard some politician on Bill Maher say that she was exploring wicca and went on a first date with a wiccan to a satanic ritual. Wiccans don't usually believe in god, they worship nature and have nothing to do with satan(since they aren't even deistic.) I don't necessarily think that everyone needs to have a working definition of wicca in their repertoire, but it is narrow and ultimately dismissive to lump belief systems together and discuss it with the media. Especially in the context of
having knowledge and experience. I put that politician in the "Liar, Liar, pants on fire" category.

We just have a different concept of what that means than the Abrahamic religions. If you were to tell one of us that we don't believe in God/ess, we would be greatly offended.

We do NOT worship the god of Abraham, nor his counterpart Satan. Our pantheons are not dualistic Good God vs Evil God. We do not believe that there is a god of evil. What people of the Abrahamic religions don't want to hear is that Satanism is an offshoot of them, not of the Pagan religions. After all, Satan isn't even in our pantheons, he's in theirs.

And, yes, after listening to what she said, it's obvious that she really knows nothing about Wicca or Satanism and that she's been reading too many "chick" pamphlets.

Selena Fox is a well-respected Wiccan priestess who knows a great deal about that religious faith. She remembers the days when admitting you "dabbled in witchcraft" would certainly torpedo your career and your education, and could possibly result in having your children taken away. Many people confuse Wicca with Satanism, and this has endangered a lot of practicioners of a peaceful Pagan religion.

Wiccan clergy have worked very hard to teach the public that they're not scary people who perform blood sacrifices and worship the devil. No Wiccan would ever have a "satanic altar" with blood on it.

When the political candidate mentioned that she "dabbled into Witchcraft" and then went on to describe some high-school Satanist she dated, it was obvious that she didn't have a clue what Wicca was about. Fox was trying to quickly correct a damaging misinterpretation.

This wasn't at all like Mormon damage control, which is often about covering up the truth about the faith, not spreading it.

Imagine if the same candidate had said she "dabbled in Mormonism" and went on to describe a church with huge crucifixes, where members got drunk and praised the Virgin Mary by performing ecstatic dances. Mormons would realize that she knew NOTHING about LDS, and would probably release statements to that effect.

Not only that, crosses will keep them both away

I can't believe there is still this much ignorance about Wicca and New Age paganism.
I don't practice anymore, but I will still educate the ignorant about it.

Heidi is absolutely correct- Satan Worship is an offshoot of Christianity while Satanism is a religion started by Anton La Vey. (yes, there are differences.)

Pagans do not recognize Satan or the devil in their pantheon. The stereotypical image of the hoofed and horned man comes from the God of the Woods and used to demonize (no pun intended)the old religions.
Seriously, I thought by now this was common knowledge. Very sad.