Synnen
Jan 14, 2009, 05:49 PM
I don't know how many of you are fans of this show, but last night's episode was very offensive to me.
Talking to many people about it today, it seems that what was portrayed in the episode last night about Wicca, Witches and Witchcraft seems to be what the general public accepts to be true.
To sum it up, one of the suspects last night was a Witch, a practitioner of Wicca. Pretty much everything in the episode was wrong (pagans come from troubled childhoods, the pentacle is a symbol of evil, witches cast spells that affect free will, or that will cause harm, that people can be bound against their will, that Witches will start covens to convert minors in secrecy, heck, even the rites shown were completely unrealistic!).
To me, it feels like once again the stereotype is all that people think of, and that the reality of the pagan religions will forever be treated as a joke by society.
I guess my discussion question is this: What do you KNOW about pagan religions, and what do you BELIEVE about them? Do you think this episode could have even aired had the woman been presented as an unusual sect of Christianity, yet all of her actions were those of a Satanist? (Yes, by the way, that's how abhorrent the actions of the "witch" in this episode were. What she did was evil, and crazy in a lot of ways--and would NEVER be countenanced by a real Witch).
What do YOU think?
Talking to many people about it today, it seems that what was portrayed in the episode last night about Wicca, Witches and Witchcraft seems to be what the general public accepts to be true.
To sum it up, one of the suspects last night was a Witch, a practitioner of Wicca. Pretty much everything in the episode was wrong (pagans come from troubled childhoods, the pentacle is a symbol of evil, witches cast spells that affect free will, or that will cause harm, that people can be bound against their will, that Witches will start covens to convert minors in secrecy, heck, even the rites shown were completely unrealistic!).
To me, it feels like once again the stereotype is all that people think of, and that the reality of the pagan religions will forever be treated as a joke by society.
I guess my discussion question is this: What do you KNOW about pagan religions, and what do you BELIEVE about them? Do you think this episode could have even aired had the woman been presented as an unusual sect of Christianity, yet all of her actions were those of a Satanist? (Yes, by the way, that's how abhorrent the actions of the "witch" in this episode were. What she did was evil, and crazy in a lot of ways--and would NEVER be countenanced by a real Witch).
What do YOU think?