Do Not Let Paranoia Get The Better of Common Sense
Yes, a totally bigoted judge made a seriously bad call when he told two divorced parents that they were prohibited from teaching their faith to their son. The parents, although divorced, are both Wiccans, and both wish their child to be taught their faith. However, the judge decided that because the child might be confused, since he attends a catholic school, parental rights to teach their religion were trumped and the child would learn catholicism.
Coming on the heels of dire prediction about the horrible Christian conspiracy to take over the country and the world, this could seem like proof of the claim that "they" are out to get "us." Not surprisingly, I don't see it that way.
Judges are human. Many of them are idiots. That is why this country has a judicial system that includes appeals to higher courts. Christianity doesn't have the corner on stupid judges. They come in all religious flavors, both genders, and a large variety of adult ages. As with all professions, stupidity is non discriminatory, and does not constitute a conspiracy.
This particular case will likely be quickly overturned as contrary to public policy before it even hits constitutional arguments. It is legally a non-event except that the parents are now required to pay more to take the case one step further in the process than they would have had to had the judge had a semblance of a clue. However, these parents will very likely have their costs defrayed by various organizations who are totally outraged with the decision. But that isn't the real danger. The real danger is going to come from those who are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is part of the ongoing Christian conspiracy.
Like the McCarthy era, some are seeing a Christian behind every tree. Most Christians don't even know what Wiccans are. Of those who are aware of us at all, they don't care, or certainly don't have the time to enter into a vast nationwide conspiracy. We as a group seem SO much quicker to attempt to blame others for things that we are at least partially responsible for. It is so much easier to pass the blame than it is to examine what we might have done in a given situation to make it better.
And no, I'm not saying here that these parents were anything but victims of a bigoted judge who seems to have been sleeping through his Constitutional Law classes. But maybe, just maybe, this judge saw some of the crazy antics in the news by people who call themselves Wiccans and was as turned off as I was. Now, if I was a person who knew nothing of Wicca, and thought that perhaps it was some strange cult, and the only things I had heard about Wiccans included that a man in Australia is claiming his religious freedoms are being discriminated against because he is in jail for child abuse, I might have to think. If the next thing I saw about Wicca was that a 13 year old child claimed that his religious rights were being violated because he was not allowed to trowel his face full of Tammy Fae Bakker make up to go to school, my opinion might continue to be a poor one. When no Wiccans stood up and put out press releases or got on television or radio saying "no, that is not what Wicca is about" I might certainly get a very bad idea about Wicca's suitability for a child.
The line between cult and religion can be a very precarious one. When you are brought up in a sheltered family with a privileged life in white bread America, anything that is not a "mainstream religion" might be seen as a cult until proven otherwise. And where's the proof? Not in the same media that breathlessly announces that Wiccans condone child abuse and cross dressing, not to mention the general Satanism and Christian hating that many already think of us (which gets more solidified every time someone hysterically announces a Christian conspiracy). If you were a judge, and two parents from Heaven's Gate or from David Koresh's group were divorcing, would YOU allow a child to be indoctrinated by a cult? Obviously, Wicca is not a cult (at least the trads I know) but how would anyone know this if they had only heard the negative.
At one point, there was an attempt to set up a group of Pagans who would field media questions. Unfortunately, interest waned. I think perhaps it's time to rekindle it. I will put some thoughts into it.