So once again a scandal has rocked the Pagan community, and once again I am fucking appalled by the response from our local Pagan community.
My friend and I are perhaps more internet savvy than most... or at the very least, we just read a lot online. So perhaps it's not surprising that we were the first in our circle of acquaintances to break the news about the Kenny Klein scandal, and now this most recent Christian Day bullshit. But apparently we're also the only people who take this shit seriously.
The Kenny Klein thing was bad enough. The local Pagan collective and their ineffective, sexist former leader pretty much defended Klein to the death... or at least until arrests were all over the news and impossible to ignore, which is when they slinked away from the conversation. I do give their actual (and current) leader credit for being on the right side of things, even if I wish she had said more and said it even more forcefully.
You would think people would have learned their lesson from that incident, but apparently not.
My friend and I broke the news, as usual, and were just thrilled to receive pretty much no response. And then, finally, a response from the leader of a splinter group, who thought the whole incident was fucking made up. Seriously. He claimed that if it were real then lawyers would be having a field day with this. I shit you not.
OK buddy, maybe that's how things work in your world... but here in the real world we know that someone revealing your name online and then making a few shitty comments about you and your stalker is not actually breaking laws. It's just about being a shitty human being.
He went on to say that all the pagan blogs and screen caps weren't enough evidence and only the Wild Hunt was a legitimate Pagan news source.
Right.... so I posted the Wild Hunt's article. Unfortunately, the Wild Hunt chose to address the topic at large rather than "name names" and repost screen shots. The article serves a purpose, and it does acknowledge the incident and direct you to other articles on the incident, but I think it's also an easy way to avoid taking a firm stand and getting half your readers pissed at you. The Kenny Klein incident was in some ways easier to deal with. There were actual laws broken and arrests made, so it was reasonable for bloggers to take a stand against him and his actions. With Christian Day, the issue is more nebulous, lurking in the dark bowels of internet drama.
Let's be frank - both parties were at each other's throats, and the woman in question has admitted this and acknowledged screen caps showing the fight. But nothing she did deserved rape threats or encouragement for her stalker. Not knowing the history between Christian Day and this woman, I can't be sure what he knew ahead of time, or if he knew how revealing her name might impact her life. He probably didn't, in which case he should have been super apologetic, diffused the fight, and offered assistance. And when her anger didn't go away after this first lackluster apology? He should have let her vent her frustrations, listened, and apologized again. That's how it works when you inadvertently endanger someone's life. What you don't do is double down and publicly announce that you hope their stalker rapes them so they can scream your name during the rape.
So naturally I was disappointed that this male leader was coming to Christian Day's defense and being unreasonably skeptical despite all the evidence we were throwing his way. And naturally I was disappointed that the other pagan group was maintaining radio silence on the incident. And goddamn was I disappointed when I saw a prominent woman from a third group we had just made friends with "like" Christian Day's status about "haters gonna hate." THIS is what the local scene has to offer us?! J.F.C.
So yes, it's the Kenny Klein incident all over again except this time everyone can claim plausible deniability since the incident isn't making the "real news." They can bury their heads in the sand or brush it aside as just another internet fight. Because god forbid we knock these jackasses off their pedestals. God forbid we put the victims first.
When the Kenny Klein incident happened, a certain jackass was policing threads on their group page to prevent people from posting "hearsay", which was basically defined as any blog post or personal account detailing people's run-ins with the man. A lot of victims who had been to scared to speak, or who had spoken previously but been ignored, were coming forward with their tales. This should have been a time for the community to share these stories and heal. Instead, we were being forced into silence... and for what? To protect the "good name" of a fucking pedophile? This incident even caused a rift in my own group because certain people (particularly one of the male sex) couldn't (or wouldn't) understand the gravity of the situation, even going as far as to accuse me of being petty. Look, dude - I actually take feminism and rape culture seriously. Sorry, not fucking sorry.
Those are the same bullshit attitudes that are front and center right now for the Christian Day drama. Deny (the accusations), Defend (the abuser), Silence (the outspoken). I'm fucking sick of it. The Pagan community isn't so goddamned fragile that it will collapse overnight if we call out the scum lurking amongst us. In fact, we should be the ones leading the charge, instead of looking the other way until mainstream media picks up the story.
So as for Christian Day? I think he owes his victim and the community as a whole a sincere apology. In fact, I would like to see him actually offer aid to her and her family for whatever legal or moving expenses she's incurred while trying to stay safe from her stalker (both before and after this incident). Hell, I would like to see him actually promote education about domestic violence, violence against women, rape culture, and harassment. I would looooove to see this. But I'm not holding my breath. In the meantime, I refuse to acknowledge him as part of my Pagan community. Consider yourself shunned, asshole.
Further reading:
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/03/new_orleans_man_booked_on_chil.html
http://wildhunt.org/2014/03/allegations-emerge-after-pagan-author-charged-with-possessing-child-pornography.html
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/themediawitches/2014/03/prominent-pagan-arrested-for-child-porn/
http://cowardlychristianday.tumblr.com/
http://polytheist.com/a-stand-against-abuse/
http://krasskova.weebly.com/blog/appalling-offensive-and-intolerable
http://thehouseofvines.com/2014/09/03/another-day-another-bnp-behaving-badly/
http://www.reddit.com/r/pagan/comments/2fbt1g/christian_day_rape_threat/
http://fromthelabyrinth.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/beware-christian-day-pagan-predator/
http://wildhunt.org/2014/09/editorial-addressing-outings-and-community.html
My friend and I are perhaps more internet savvy than most... or at the very least, we just read a lot online. So perhaps it's not surprising that we were the first in our circle of acquaintances to break the news about the Kenny Klein scandal, and now this most recent Christian Day bullshit. But apparently we're also the only people who take this shit seriously.
The Kenny Klein thing was bad enough. The local Pagan collective and their ineffective, sexist former leader pretty much defended Klein to the death... or at least until arrests were all over the news and impossible to ignore, which is when they slinked away from the conversation. I do give their actual (and current) leader credit for being on the right side of things, even if I wish she had said more and said it even more forcefully.
You would think people would have learned their lesson from that incident, but apparently not.
My friend and I broke the news, as usual, and were just thrilled to receive pretty much no response. And then, finally, a response from the leader of a splinter group, who thought the whole incident was fucking made up. Seriously. He claimed that if it were real then lawyers would be having a field day with this. I shit you not.
OK buddy, maybe that's how things work in your world... but here in the real world we know that someone revealing your name online and then making a few shitty comments about you and your stalker is not actually breaking laws. It's just about being a shitty human being.
He went on to say that all the pagan blogs and screen caps weren't enough evidence and only the Wild Hunt was a legitimate Pagan news source.
Right.... so I posted the Wild Hunt's article. Unfortunately, the Wild Hunt chose to address the topic at large rather than "name names" and repost screen shots. The article serves a purpose, and it does acknowledge the incident and direct you to other articles on the incident, but I think it's also an easy way to avoid taking a firm stand and getting half your readers pissed at you. The Kenny Klein incident was in some ways easier to deal with. There were actual laws broken and arrests made, so it was reasonable for bloggers to take a stand against him and his actions. With Christian Day, the issue is more nebulous, lurking in the dark bowels of internet drama.
Let's be frank - both parties were at each other's throats, and the woman in question has admitted this and acknowledged screen caps showing the fight. But nothing she did deserved rape threats or encouragement for her stalker. Not knowing the history between Christian Day and this woman, I can't be sure what he knew ahead of time, or if he knew how revealing her name might impact her life. He probably didn't, in which case he should have been super apologetic, diffused the fight, and offered assistance. And when her anger didn't go away after this first lackluster apology? He should have let her vent her frustrations, listened, and apologized again. That's how it works when you inadvertently endanger someone's life. What you don't do is double down and publicly announce that you hope their stalker rapes them so they can scream your name during the rape.
So naturally I was disappointed that this male leader was coming to Christian Day's defense and being unreasonably skeptical despite all the evidence we were throwing his way. And naturally I was disappointed that the other pagan group was maintaining radio silence on the incident. And goddamn was I disappointed when I saw a prominent woman from a third group we had just made friends with "like" Christian Day's status about "haters gonna hate." THIS is what the local scene has to offer us?! J.F.C.
So yes, it's the Kenny Klein incident all over again except this time everyone can claim plausible deniability since the incident isn't making the "real news." They can bury their heads in the sand or brush it aside as just another internet fight. Because god forbid we knock these jackasses off their pedestals. God forbid we put the victims first.
When the Kenny Klein incident happened, a certain jackass was policing threads on their group page to prevent people from posting "hearsay", which was basically defined as any blog post or personal account detailing people's run-ins with the man. A lot of victims who had been to scared to speak, or who had spoken previously but been ignored, were coming forward with their tales. This should have been a time for the community to share these stories and heal. Instead, we were being forced into silence... and for what? To protect the "good name" of a fucking pedophile? This incident even caused a rift in my own group because certain people (particularly one of the male sex) couldn't (or wouldn't) understand the gravity of the situation, even going as far as to accuse me of being petty. Look, dude - I actually take feminism and rape culture seriously. Sorry, not fucking sorry.
Those are the same bullshit attitudes that are front and center right now for the Christian Day drama. Deny (the accusations), Defend (the abuser), Silence (the outspoken). I'm fucking sick of it. The Pagan community isn't so goddamned fragile that it will collapse overnight if we call out the scum lurking amongst us. In fact, we should be the ones leading the charge, instead of looking the other way until mainstream media picks up the story.
So as for Christian Day? I think he owes his victim and the community as a whole a sincere apology. In fact, I would like to see him actually offer aid to her and her family for whatever legal or moving expenses she's incurred while trying to stay safe from her stalker (both before and after this incident). Hell, I would like to see him actually promote education about domestic violence, violence against women, rape culture, and harassment. I would looooove to see this. But I'm not holding my breath. In the meantime, I refuse to acknowledge him as part of my Pagan community. Consider yourself shunned, asshole.
Further reading:
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/03/new_orleans_man_booked_on_chil.html
http://wildhunt.org/2014/03/allegations-emerge-after-pagan-author-charged-with-possessing-child-pornography.html
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/themediawitches/2014/03/prominent-pagan-arrested-for-child-porn/
http://cowardlychristianday.tumblr.com/
http://polytheist.com/a-stand-against-abuse/
http://krasskova.weebly.com/blog/appalling-offensive-and-intolerable
http://thehouseofvines.com/2014/09/03/another-day-another-bnp-behaving-badly/
http://www.reddit.com/r/pagan/comments/2fbt1g/christian_day_rape_threat/
http://fromthelabyrinth.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/beware-christian-day-pagan-predator/
http://wildhunt.org/2014/09/editorial-addressing-outings-and-community.html
