ExWitch Ministries

Thanks to NYPaganChick for the heads up on this site!

While looking over the content at ExWitch Ministries, I came to the conclusion that these people had no clue about what they were saying. Yeah, they seem to know the basics (doesn't everybody these days?) but yet somehow get it mostly wrong. Take this passage for example:

And for those Wiccans, Witches, Pagans, and occultists reading this article, please consider: God loves you and is warning you away from the occult for good reason. Just because something feels good does not make it a good thing – crystal meth and cocaine feel great until they take over your life. Alcohol’s wonderful but getting to where you “feel good” leaves you hung over. An illicit affair feels good at the time but can destroy your marriage, your self-worth, and leave you with a lifetime to consider the specter of AIDS and other diseases. Never allow “feeling good” to be your guide, because feelings are too subjective to be good leaders. (If you doubt me, consider - when was the last time you felt like going to work? What if you let feelings be your guide in your marriage? You'd be divorced by week's end.)

Now, comparing a religion (that they allegedly used to be apart of) to drugs, sex, divorce and AIDS - well, doesn't that seem a little underhanded to you? If they were really Pagans at one time, you would think that they would try to say "Hey! Here's what Pagan practice is. Now this is what I think you should look at to rethink your decision." Instead, they are just propagating more myths about a religion they try "prove" that they "know." As if the only reason people become Pagan is to "feel good." (And then imply that those "feel good" situations are all bad.)

Here's another thing I want to mention:

Jesus is God.

This is something that I saw a few times on the site and, of course, it is something that is fundamental to Christian belief. Do you know where that belief came from? (Because Jesus didn't say that himself.) No? St. Paul. In case you didn't know, he was also the one who created the myth that Jesus was sacrificed to "atone for our shared transgression - that is, original sin." (Hergenhahn, 2005) Why do I mention this as most people know that Christians believe this? Because most Christians don't seem to know WHERE this particular belief came from.

From a letter addressed to Pagans regarding the use of the site, we get this:

Generally, unless you’re really sure of it, please leave the teaching of Christian doctrine to Christians. If you’d like to say something but you’re not 100% sure of what might be biblically accurate – say it to the effect of, “doesn’t the Bible say” or “When I was in church, I remember that they…”. That leaves communication flowing without giving someone the mistaken impression you’ve become a Sunday School teacher – or worse, an inaccurate Sunday School teacher!

Oh, please! In other words, "Don't tell us about our religion on your terms, but that's what we get to do to you!" If they were really concerned about portraying Paganism as fairly as they claim, they would allow Pagans to write about their own beliefs on their site considering the above. What this says to me is that they are discrediting Pagans as being unable to think rationally about another religion. Umm - there are plenty of Christians that don't know the magnitude of their own beliefs, either.


And one more example of the innane nonsense on this site, this time from the bio of a staff member:

Joy, known as Butterfly on the ExWitch forums, is a young mother, happy wife, and thrilled-to-tears Christian. She was involved in Witchcraft/Paganism for 7 years, 3 of which were spent as a Pagan married to a Christian (try explaining *that* to your Pagan friends!). She stopped running away from the Lord in January of 2003, and has not looked back since.

A "thrilled-to-tears Christian?" My Gods, honey, stop crying and get on with your life! Why should we try explaining a normal occurrence of marriage to a Christian to "our Pagan friends?" Umm, that's something that is not a rare occurrence. The few Pagans I know are married to Christians and it works for them.


Well, I could go on and on posting different oddities from the site that show that they really haven't a clue. They try really, really hard to convince their audience that they are trying to be nice to Pagans but yet bring them to Christ. They seem to think this works by saying that they want to get rid of the bad myths that have be propagated by Christians, but the convincing falls flat. Come on, ExWitch! you imply on your site that Witches believe in the "Burning Times." If you read some non-fluffy sites about Wicca, you would know that this is a claim that is refuted by Witches themselves.

As NYPaganChick says at the end of her post, "it never hurts to check out what the fundies are saying about us."



References

Hergenhahn, B.R.; An Introduction to the History of Psychology; Thomson-Wadsworth; 2005