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Common Comments and Responses

I continue to welcome constructive criticism concerning this site. However, the vast majority of complaints submitted to me concern a single page - Why We Despise Silver Ravenwolf - and of those complaints, at least 95% of them are monotonously repetitive. More disturbing is the fact that the complaints don't actually challenge my claims - many writers have actually flat-out stated that they agree with me! They simply challenge my choice to publicly criticize.

Everyone has a right to their opinion.
Yes, thank you for noting that. Ravenwolf has her opinions and I have my opinions of them.

There is no right or wrong opinion.
Point 1: Just because you express something does not make it an opinion. That Wicca is 25,000 years old is not an opinion. That 9 million people were executed as witches is not an opinion. They're facts, and wrong ones at that. You don't get to be creative with history, anymore than you can be creative with math.

Point 2: While a true opinion cannot be "right" or "wrong", it can still be criticized. For instance, my criticism of her portrayal of Christians as "sniveling" was that it was unprofessional. I criticize other Ravenwolf gems as intolerant and egotistical. Because she says we should respect the religions of others, yet repeatedly slams Christianity, I also criticize her as being hypocritical.

Just because you privately disagree with her doesn't mean you should publicly criticize. Can you not see that it is bad promotion for us if there is disagreement between us? How do you think this looks to outsiders?
It looks like we're a community of critical thinkers who are not afraid of debate (which most people consider a plus), that we're educated, and that our religion is not, in fact, about supporting bad history and making a spectacle of ourselves. And I've received emails from numerous "outsiders" that back me up on this. Welcome to Wiccans acting like grown-ups.

Clearly you've never heard of "Harm none."
Point 1: There's never been a rule of "harm none." It's an idiotic soundbyte from people too lazy to read all eight words in the Wiccan Rede.

Point 2: Clearly you've never read Doreen Valiente's point that doing nothing harms everyone.

Point 3: Pointing out problems and being a critic does not cause harm. The world is full of criticisms. It's how we learn and grow. Saying my website causes harm is like saying a teacher that gives a student a bad grade because they did poorly causes harm. It's not harm. It's identifying problems so that they can be corrected.

Real Wiccans don't criticize.
Real Wiccans are responsible for both their actions and their inaction. You do not make the world a better place by sitting back and doing nothing while you know something destructive is going on.

Wicca is about tolerance of other people's beliefs.
Point 1: Wicca is about service to our gods and the understanding of Mystery. Saying Wicca is about tolerance is like saying Christianity is about the ten commandments.

Point 2: Toleration does not call for the acceptance of blatant inaccuracy. When a child believes that 2+2=5, we correct him.

Point 3: What if she said the Holocaust was a good thing? Or that African-Americans aren't real people? Would you so quietly allow people to associate such beliefs, such opinions, with something you love? Would you allow those beliefs to go unchallenged? She's instructing kids to lie to their parents. She's teaching Wicca as superior to other religions. Sorry, but I'm not letting that go unchallenged either.

What gives you the right to judge other people?
The fact that I'm a living, thinking human being gives me that right. Every one of us has the ability, the right, and indeed the responsibility to question what we read, hear and especially what we repeat. Sometimes the conclusion, the judgment, that you come to is that the information in question in wrong or objectionable. Stop being sheeple.

You're judging her when you've never even met her.
I'm not judging her. I'm judging what she has written and released to the public sphere. If you don't want something criticized, you don't publish it - whether in print or on the web.

Would you want people criticizing you?
People DO criticize me. Sometimes they're childish and mean, and I get over it, because I'm an adult. Sometimes it's constructive, gives me a new view on a topic, and leads to a change or an addition to the site.

What gives you the right to slander other people?
Slander involves the deliberate spreading of false information. Bone up on your vocabulary.