Asleep in the Broom Closet
Wednesday May 16, 2007
The New York Times, our parent company, has finally taken notice of Wiccans, but the resulting story is limp, so completely devoid of controversy or information that it would put anyone to sleep. The media seems to have one standard formula for discussing Wiccans* these days- a quick mention of magic, a description of the pentacle and long-winded discussions about the "broom closet" and the Satanic assumptions of the ignorant (otherwise known as the Satanic disclaimer, second in importance only to the Wiccan Rede). Of course, if I didn't know anything about the religion, I certainly wouldn't learn anything from this article or any of its predecessors. We hear constantly that Wiccans are afraid to be public about their beliefs, but they never do seem to get around to describing those beliefs, which would seem to be the first thing the public would want to know.
*Most other Pagans and witches are ignored, of course.
Comments
Did the photographer have to capture the small broom on the closet door and the woman peeking out from behind the curtain while holding a black (or at least dark) cat?
Can we say “stereotype”…..?
Unfortunately, the public is not very open minded when it comes to religion. For the most part, the public would rather hold on to its misconceptions than learn what Wicca (or any other religion they don’t practice) is really all about.
It annoyed me, too, and for the same reason. There wasn’t so much as a website URL or book recommendation! Plus, there are many out of the closet Pagans. The NYT has room–they don’t have comics, after all. Why not post what we believe?
Then again, in another newspaper, I once saw an article on the Sikh religion that devoted 1,000 words to their hair and beards, nothing else.