I Wanna Be A Witch -- Just Like You! Josette (Reply) (8-02)

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I Wanna Be A Witch
-- Just Like You!
Josette

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We initially suspected this to be a slam against atheism, equating it with witchcraft and the occult, and thus, demon worship (which members of a certain faith tend to confuse with the atheistic philosophy of Satanism). We nevertheless played along.
     Subsequent mail from the same individual verified our suspicion that this letter was intended to be a derogatory slur against atheists. Practitioners of Wicca get this treatment, too, as members of a certain faith often equate them with Satanists, though describing what is actually demon worship.
     Wiccans are polytheists, practicing an Earth religion dating back thousands of years. Demon worshippers think they are worshipping Satan and other malevolent entities. Satanists (of the Anton Lavey variety) are atheistic, not believing in in the existence of a literal Christian Satan or of any gods, but rather using "Satan" as a metaphor for self-indulgence.
     What a tangled web on which they crawl, insulting those about whom they know nothing at all!

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From: josette
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Sent: August 13, 2002 9:15 AM
Subject: Student Atheist Club Meets Resistance

how do i go by signing up to enroll in your classes. i am very intrested in the occult what ever it may be. i wanted to be a real live witch

josette

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From: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
To: "josette"
Subject: Re: Student Atheist Club Meets Resistance
Date: August 13, 2002 10:16 AM

We are atheists, not occultists. Occultists hold a metaphysical world-view that involves the supernatural, whereas almost all atheists are entirely materialistic in our metaphysical world view, seeing no supernatural whatsoever.

Some Christians are dishonest enough to teach that anybody who does not believe the way the Christians want them to believe is a demon worshipper! This is how so many people think that atheist are witches, etc.

The best place I think to learn about Wicca is the Witches' League for Public Awareness, out of Salem, Massachusetts (where the Christians killed numerous people accused of practicing witchcraft: another example of the greed that some forms of monotheism enforce upon us all). They will tell you, just as strongly, that they are not atheists, as we tell you we are not witches.

Cliff Walker
Positive Atheism Magazine
Seven years of service to people
with no reason to believe

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