The Writing on the Wall: Religious Intolerance Alive and Well

COHOES, NEW YORK – On May 4th a Cohoes woman living on Sergeant Street was approached by her upstairs neighbor and asked if she had seen the writing on the wall in the alleyway of their apartment building.  A few moments later, Patricia Gardner, the high Priestess of a Wiccan coven, The Dragon Warriors of ISIS and the cofounder of ISIS Paranormal Investigations, discovered that she was the victim of a religious hate crime.  Penned in meticulous hand, in permanent black magic marker appeared a lengthy slur against Patricia and the coven members that meet in her home each week:


“My Lord Heavenly Father, You are our creator, there is no greater than you. Please My Lord, move Satan from this place, protect us from evil. The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.  He leadth me beside still waters, He restoreth my soul. He leadth me on the path of righteousness for his namesake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of shadows of death, I will fear no evil, For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointst my head with oil, my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the lord Forever, Amen. In the name of Jesus Christ, no evil witch or spook can attack my family. God is our protector, he is our creator, and no one is greater. Please move evil away. Amen.”

Gardner said, “When the message on the wall linked us with evil, and Satan, and wanted us removed, that’s when the message became more than a simple act of vandalism and evolved into an act of intolerance.  Whoever wrote it knows nothing about us, and clearly doesn’t want to.  When someone uses religious text to harm another, its words are no longer sacred, but threatening.”  Gardner was also surprised at the amount of time someone had spent writing the message on the wall, and was disturbed that someone would use the cover of darkness to air his or her intolerance.   
                                                                            
Patricia and the group of fifteen coven members practice Wicca, a polytheistic earth-based religion that celebrates the seasons and the changing of the moon phases.  The members of the coven are also known as witches, so the bigoted remarks appearing on Patricia’s home are more than mere graffiti, having marred the home that the members consider a sacred meeting place, as well as having upset the coven members.  The group is diverse, consisting of pre-dedicates, dedicates, initiates, and coven elders, all living in various counties and all of which were emotionally distraught by the unwarranted attack.

Gardner states, “When I first saw the slur, I felt frightened, then I felt violated, then confused and angry.  Our group doesn’t bother anyone, we don’t believe in Satan, and our one commandment is ‘If it harm none, do what thou will.’  I just don’t understand it.” Angela Kaufman, a priestess in the same organization stated: “It just doesn’t make sense. We are activists in the community; we led the march several weeks ago to increase the awareness of global warming; we are involved in community projects to protect the earth, and one of our members recently launched a campaign against unfair child labor practices—we don’t understand why anyone would consider us evil.” According to Kaufman, several members of the coven are also active members of the paranormal research community. The ISIS group provides free investigations into paranormal occurrences and the group offers assistance to those individuals that are experiencing paranormal events.

Dayna Winters, priestess and cofounder of ISIS, equally disturbed by the vandalism, asked: “When thoughts turn to deeds, what’s next?  We shouldn’t have to be afraid to express ourselves openly and we are proud of who we are.”  The vicious vandalism is eerily similar to another hate crime having recently occurred in the nearby town of Troy; On April 18, 2007 Erin Davies, a Russell Sage graduate, had hateful anti-gay remarks spray-painted all over the front and side of her Volkswagen beetle. Yet, Davies took a bad experience and made it into something truly positive: the young woman intends to drive the car cross-country and to show everyone that hate crimes still happen.  Davies refuses to remain silent, and has established a website in her effort to create awareness about the issue.

Like Davies, the members of the Cohoes coven realize that silence is acceptance. The group intends to make the negative experience as positive as possible, by using the event to teach others about religious hate crimes and the horrific effects of intolerance.  “Our first step is to get the word out there, that hate crimes are still happening, and that they are occurring right here in the capital district. Despite the Constitutional right to freedom of religion, we still fear religious persecution.” Gardner stated. “The first measure in ending religious intolerance is revealing how hideous the act is. We are proud pagans, we are not hateful, we are not evil, and we will not be silent.” 

The Cohoes police department is currently investigating the crime.  Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the department.

For comments or questions contact:
ISISINVESTIGATOR@aol.com

UPDATE:

We are extremely grateful for the assistance of the members of both the paranormal and pagan communities.  After the news reached people via the web, radio, and newspapers, many people contacted our team and offered us kind words and any assistance if we required it. To such individuals, our eternal gratitude is offered.

Our group has decided to continue to speak out about religious intolerance.  Here are some thoughts on the issue posed by our coven group members about the issue that occurred in May, 2007:

"I am just stunned by the vandalism, and disappointed that people don't know what Wicca really
is about."  Sathish Sathish Vijayan

"The wall says:'move Satan from this place'. Satan is not a Pagan concept and Wicca doesn't even have a Satan, nor a Devil-like being." Tony Rosencrans

"I am stunned that such a hate crime could occur being that we don't hurt or even bother anyone; this just tells me that someone is not very rooted in their own religion and by such a cowardly act against us this proves it." Jovon Maxwell

"This is a perfect example of how intolerence begins. Opinions are being formed without a clear understanding of all the facts. A true witch harms none." Robin Evans

"Anyone who merely learns enough about any religion/philosophy to respond to it with such ignorance, should not speak about it at all--the coven wants justice to be done, without causing any personal harm or injury. Instead, the situation should be treated as a lesson in hate and misconceptions, and cause those who are in the right to come out above it in the end." Rebecca Smith

"How sad a time we live in today when a group of people are attacked for their religious beliefs.  What ever happened to Freedom of Religion?" Deb Rosen
The Writing on the Wall
by Dayna Winters
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