You say "pagan" like it's a bad thing

A few days ago, Mike Hein, of Maine's so-called "Christian" Civic League, took a break from picking on gays to try his hand at picking on Pagans. The back-story is that a darling of the religious right, Penelope Morrell, an anti-abortion candidate, lost to Deane Jones, a pro-choice candidate, in a recent election for an open seat in the state house. The chair of the Kennebec County Democrats, Rita Moran, was prominent in the campaign. Obviously unhappy that the Dems have some effective leadership, Hein demanded that the Democratic party fire Moran from her elected position on the grounds that she is a Pagan. At the same time, he fired off a "news" story about her involvement in "underground" Pagan activity. The fact that the Pagan group in question has a website, a published location, and is involved with numerous public Pagan activities, seems to have been lost on Mr. Hein. Underground?
When the responses reached over eighty, and nearly all of them chastised Hein for the article, the League stopped printing them, and stopped accepting more. It looked as though Hein had misjudged the public's reaction to his "news". Maybe that would be the end of it?
No way. Today, the League (Exactly who are they in league with? One wonders.) took another shot, this time targeting Edward Lachowicz. News flash: if you're going to "out" somebody, pick somebody who's actually "in" a closet.
This time there are pictures--oh, no! There's a bench! And a statue showing a woman's face! Is that Hecate? I bet she's bad, like so many wars have been fought in Her name, right? No? Well, moving on, oh look, there's what must be some kind of outdoor fireplace! Dear God, have the godless heathens discovered FIRE?!
Okay, enough poking fun. Here's why this pisses me off. These are the people who think the first amendment is all about protecting people's right to be CHRISTIAN. They think it's just fine to discriminate on the basis of religion if someone has the bad taste to believe in Ganesha, Zeus, or Allah. Free rein for Christians, everybody else watch out. This is so contrary to the American way, that I can't find the words for my outrage. This is not what I expect from Christians, and I hope some of them step up and tell Mr. Hein what an embarrassment he is.
The League is looking for money. There's shocker, right? God forbid they have to work for a living. Anybody who sends them some will be standing up AGAINST the freedom of religion, a core American value. Think about it.
Andy><> ><>