Note to self: don't be a hater!

My friend came over last night to talk and we had a good late night chat ( of course SOPA was brought up, but I digress.)  He brought with him a book used currently by police education instructors to show me the chapter on the craft as related to criminal investigations. The chapter is entitled: Satanism, Cults, and ritual crime. The chapter is about 30 pages long and an ode to the sick minds of universe claiming to be satanists and witches. About the only thing it got correct was holidays as celebrated by pagans and Wiccans and a few of the satanic principles as laid down by Anton LeVey. So I sauntered over to the bibliography and it was just as I expected, a who's who of the extreme right wing conservative writers. I think we can agree that maybe someone else should be writing that chapter.

This particular person has been interested in magic and witchcraft for quite sometime but before me  has lacked in someone who has had any experience to talk to about it. He is very well read and very well spoken and not prone to nonsense. He was shocked that I was not surprised by this expose` and even more surprised that I had nothing to rant about the subject. I just laid out a few thoughts and a couple of real life experiences with law enforcement and let the subject lie. The truth is, haters are gonna hate. It doesn't matter what the subject is. Sure, I could be angry about how we are being painted in the police world, but the other side to that is simply there are those who are working within the law enforcement  world who are also pagans and can disspell this kind of misinformation with a wave of their hand and good old fashioned lead by example. Being angry about something that has been going on for thousands of years isn't gonna make a lick of difference and is a colossal waste of my time and energy. There are far better fights to pick. When I find something worth fighting for ( or against) . . . trust me this witchy stands, speaks, and finds a way to make a difference.

We all have our sacred cows and hate to see them butchered. In the throws of  HOW DARE YOU!!! we get our BGPs ( Big Girl Panties) all up in a snit and have an open mouth insert patella moment. I don't think I advocate the business shunning that I have seen for someone who has expressed an opinion contrary to our own. However, when it comes to bad behavior, such as we seen, I think certain business owners should keep in mind that it does affect how people see you and they may veer away from someone who behaves in a volatile manner. They will put you in the hater pigeon hole and find somewhere else to put their money. So put those BGPs on neatly and play nice. Playing nice doesn't mean that you can't have and articulate your opinion, it just means you shouldn't talk about shooting people in the face.

I think that the point of this subject is simply bad behavior is seen from every circle of the world from the Christians who are cursing the girl who stood up for her rights with eternal rape by Satan in Hell to unnamed pagan authors who are emotionally violent with their support of SOPA. While I feel the need to express my opinions and views on things I think that recent anger about certain subjects should be paid attention to for the mere reminder that all of us have a right to our own opinion, but it is better to express that opinion in a cool and collected manner without resorting to demagoguery. Demagoguery apparently does nothing but rile up emotions and  circumvent logic and good debate. So, note to self: don't be a hater!