Who is Richard Mellon Scaife, Really
Why does the average Conservative Christian politician take such a harsh view on topics like same-sex marriage, abortion, and changes to education? They seem to take any change to society as personal insult; doing all that they can to keep the status quo even if that means corrupting the values they supposedly stand for. It’s shocking to watch as men like Richard Mellon Scaife, take their religious values and contort them into something unrecognizable just to continue getting their way. Richard Mellon Scaife in particular has taken the Christian values that he rode into office and twisted them into a truly disgusting ball. While supposedly supporting the conservative far right Christian position, focusing on church and state rights, he’s put the first amendment in danger of being destroyed.
The First Amendment of the Constitution clearly states ” Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Scaife has made it clear that he believes that Congress should be able to limit certain religions because they are not “real religions” What exactly is a real religion according Mr. Scaife? That is a question that Scaife can’t seem to fully answer, he’s been on record saying that only a small number of Christian denominations are valid. That wipes out everything from the major denominations of Christianity to small ancient religions like Wicca (Witchcraft).
Wicca is a big sore spot for Scaife who sees its followers as nothing more than dastardly pagans out to undermine the Christian family values that he wants America to follow. What exactly is a pagan or a witch though? Are they actually an underground religion of vile monsters determined to destroy everything that is held dear? We decided to jump into the world of Wicca to find out for ourselves what kind of religion Scaife and men like him have been trying to bury. After taking a swim through the bizarre waters of the Wiccan religion, we can say without a doubt that witches are the last thing that America needs to worry about.
The first thing to keep in mind is that Wicca is actually much older than Christianity; the Pope might be the top dog now but centuries ago people we call pagans were running the show. A show that was filled with a love for nature, communing with spirits, and giving thanks to a wide range of gods and goddesses. You could say that Wiccans were the original tree hugging hippies, they also figured out centuries ago what modern medicine is only now catching onto about the natural world. Learning to use everything nature has to offer to create their potions and salves that could treat all sorts of diseases (spiritual or otherwise)
It wasn’t until Christianity became the dominant force in the Western world that Wicca started being called a false religion or paganism. It was also the point where Wicca and a lot of other religions like it went underground to dodge persecution by what people like Scaife call true religions. Now Wicca is making a comeback in a big way, it’s a fully recognized religion by the IRS even landing itself a tax exempt status. Making it a real religion no matter what conservative Christian politicians might try to tell you, in fact, that witchcraft has all different denominations just like the “real religions” do. Spanning the from the strict Gardnerian Wicca with its initiation rituals to the healing focused Celtic Wicca.
Out of all the different methods of practicing Wicca out there today none of them have proven to be all that dangerous. The biggest thing the average person has to worry about with modern witches is wandering into ritual that is being done Skyclad, where the people involved are naked and dancing. Thankfully Covens, groups of witches who practice together, often do their Skyclad rituals indoors or so far in the woods the average person won’t see them. If you can look past the odd way some witches practice their craft you’ll find that they have a lot to offer, with an extensive knowledge of herbs and spices that can be used to treat what ails you or improve the energies of your home. The average witch can also tell you quite a bit about meditation to help with things like high blood pressure and stress.
