This is so weird that at first, I honestly thought it was a joke from the folks at The Onion or someplace, but no, it's real. There's a fundamentalist group in Texas called Repent Amarillo that has put together a map, complete with little pushpins, so people can see where Really Bad Occulty Stuff is in their area. There's a coffee bar that's on the list because a Pagan meetup group hangs out there, plus the place is popular with the local gay community. A nature center made the list because it's a place where "peacenicks" go to worship in an "earth circle," along with a Reiki center, a couple of gay bars, some strip clubs, and a Hindu temple.

Repent Amarillo seems like a fun group. Here are some of the really evil stuffs they like to protest, according to their Mission Page: Gay pride events (surprise), "Earth worship events such as “Earth Day," breast cancer events like Race for the Cure (because they want to "to illuminate the link between abortion and breast cancer"), and spring break (which we all know is a tool of Satan anyway). They organize "outreaches" as part of their Spiritual Warfare, and go hang out in front of adult-themed businesses, in hopes of saving the sinners. They apparently sneak their members into such places, and if you play around on their website you can see photos of when they Infiltrated Teh Swingerz Club. Oh no! Naughty red walls! Freshly laundered sheets! Oh, the horror of it all... won't someone please protect the children from the Pagan coffee houses?

I think it's clear that humble Amarillo, Texas, is a hotbed of Pagan activity. Next thing you know, it'll spread to... oh, wait. We're everywhere already. Never mind.

If you're one of our Southern Hemisphere readers, you're probably not too concerned about cold right now... in fact, you're in the middle of summer, and the harvest season is approaching. Lughnasadh, or Lammas, is the sabbat that celebrates the beginning of the harvest and honors the spirits of the grain. To get started planning your Lammas rites, you may want to read about Lammas History and Deities of the Fields.

That's what I'm thinking right about now -- it's so cold, even my dog (who LOVES cold weather) doesn't want to go out. Even though the sun is shining, turning yesterday's snowfall into a blinding glittery white blanket, the mercury is hovering just below zero. Honestly, it's too frigid to enjoy being out there. In the spirit of wishing spring was here, it's time for a ceremony to say goodbye to winter. This one is perfect for people with young children, or you can do it by yourself, if you don't mind the neighbors thinking you're a bit strange: Farewell to Winter Ritual

President-elect Barack Obama takes office in just five days (but hey, who's counting?), and already is being inundated with requests from various interest groups. A recent one comes from an atheist group who is asking Obama to turn down the position of honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America. Traditionally, the BSA has offered the role to each incoming American president. However, the group American Humanists is objecting, because the Boy Scouts organization routinely discriminates againsts atheists and agnostics.

American Humanists says that by turning down the position, Obama will send the message to the Boy Scouts and other groups that it's not acceptable to discriminate against people based upon their religion (we won't even go into how the BSA treats gay people, because that's a whole 'nother blog entry). American Humanists' president David Niose says, "President-elect Obama was himself raised by a mother whom he described as a secular humanist, a remarkable woman who was very much a religious skeptic. As such, he surely realizes that, if he were to accept the current Boy Scout standard, he would be endorsing discrimination against the same value system under which he was raised."

Although the BSA doesn't have an "official" position on Wiccans or Pagans, back in 2006 a pair of Wiccan siblings were asked not to come back to their pack when leaders learned of their family's religion. What do you guys think? Should Obama turn down the invite on a matter of principle, or just go ahead and accept it?