Posted on 11/28/2001 5:56:58 AM PST by Cagey
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (Reuters) - A Kansas retreat that caters to witches and pagan rituals is fighting for survival amid community talk that naked witches may be weaving magical spells in the moonlight.
The owners of the Gaea Retreat Center, a 168-acre camp west of Kansas City that is home to such annual events as the Gaea Goddess Gathering and a "Heartland Pagan Spiritual event" filed suit on Monday in Leavenworth County District Court after county commissioners effectively put the retreat out of business by denying it a renewal of its land use permit.
"They say they're afraid of us, what we do here, the sound of drums. ... They don't know how lucky they are to have us as their neighbors," caretaker Wanda Roths said. "We're very quiet, very peaceful. There has never been any trouble out here."
The Leavenworth County commissioners denied the renewal for the permit, issued six years ago, in late October after a community petition raised accusations that the retreat fostered public nudity, pedophilia, and illegal drug and alcohol use. Neighbors also expressed concern about devil worship.
The suit claims the commissioners' denial is illegal and unconstitutional, as well as violating laws protecting freedom of religious expression and practice.
Lawyers for the county declined to comment.
The retreat denies any illegal activity, and county officials say there is no evidence of any.
Roths said there are "clothing optional" locations on the retreat grounds, and witches, Wiccans and other pagans do sometimes hold nighttime meetings around bonfires. But the retreat at times also attracts more traditional religious followers, she said.
Gaea, which means "Mother Earth," offers sanctuary to a variety of alternative religions and lifestyles, according to Roths. "We accept anybody," she said.
Before its current incarnation, the sprawling site was a church camp.
Maybe not. It could be the purchase of a former church camp was happenstance -- in which case you would be right.
It could be, however, they were trying to make some kind of point -- in which case it would mean they were looking for a fight. In which case they got one.
OK, I see what you were saying. I misunderstood that you were saying the belief itself was supression.
There seems to be some concern that they did. I've become more intolerent over the past two months. If a group of people hold a particular philosophical view which declares acceptible behavior I feel is evil -- sodomy, torturing animals, pedeophilia, bombing buildings -- I think the government should use whatever tools on hand to rake them over the coals regardless how much they claim their lifestyle is a religion.
I think they are, actually.
Throw in a little religion and it will always break 300.
I think I'm rooting for the county though. As I said, I've become more intolerant.
That's a point. But if (when) the culture stops being Christian the rules are going out the window and we Christians can expect persecution. Just consider the things the gay rights activist say (and do) concerning Christianity, and just imagine them being in charge.
I may have been a little harsh concerning these Wiccans. All I know concerning this matter comes from the article posted. They have every right to believe what they want, to practice their religion as they want and to proseltyze.
But if they crossed the line -- if some 15 or 16 year old snuck out to one of their naked fire ceremonies and they welcomed them-- their permit should go.
What if Christianity falls out of favor or becomes less mainstream?
It's a constant fight. Remember the Dems tried to declare witnessing in the workplace a form of harrassment in the first year or two of Clinton. But the points you raise about the Wiccans are good. Truthfully, no conclusion can be reached based on this article.
Well said.
The first harm -- in my example -- would be a group of adults failing to respect the parental perogatives of other adults.
The second harm would be the not unreasonable presumption that said teens somewhere without parental permission, unsupervised by persons trusted by their parents and confronting naked people late at night would be targets for seduction -- especially if the naked persons have a value code which frowns on sexual taboos.
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