The Pagan City

Jason Pitzl-Waters has posted a fascinating and scary article on The Wild Hunt: Witch Hunts Are Now An International Epidemic. “According to some U.N. experts tracking the issue “at least” tens of thousands have died due to witch hunts, while millions have been beaten, abused, isolated, and turned into refugees.”

In a parallel vein, there is also: “Wave of Homophobia Sweeps the Muslim World.” over at Religion News Blog. “In Mauritania, Bangladesh, Yemen, parts of Nigeria and Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Iran convicted homosexuals can also be sentenced to death.”

Want more?

Hrafnkell Haraldsson’s updates his “Christianity as a Hate Group.”

From the website of Values Voter Summit we had such breakout sessions as:

TRUE TOLERANCE: COUNTERING THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS – CONGRESSIONAL B
Candi Cushman–Education Analyst, Focus on the Family Action

MARRIAGE: WHY IT’S WORTH DEFENDING AND HOW REDEFINING IT THREATENS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY – DIPLOMAT ROOM
Charles Donovan, Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation; Thomas Messner, Visiting Fellow; The Heritage Foundation; Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Founder and President, Ruth Institute

Redefining marriage poses serious threats to the religious liberties of people who continue to believe that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. This understanding of marriage is an important religious belief for many Americans, but the freedom to express it will come under growing pressure as courts, public officials, and private institutions come to regard the traditional understanding of marriage as a form of irrational prejudice that should be purged from public life. This briefing will focus on policy and legal developments, as well as how to communicate the link between marriage and religious liberty.

SPEECHLESS – SILENCING THE CHRISTIANS – CONGRESSIONAL B
Casey Smith, Jr., Executive Assistant to the Chairman and President, American Family Association

Americans are at a greater risk of losing their basic freedoms today than ever before in the history of this nation. Political correctness and the voice of the liberal minority are undermining the morals and values of main-stream America. Christians are being silenced all across America: in the political debate, the public square, the schools, the workplace, and even in the sanctuary of their own churches. Through video, renowned author and commentator, Janet Parshall, takes you on a journey across the country to meet citizens who have been arrested for speaking out at a public rally, students who are being forced to attend classes that require them to recite verses from the Koran and to stage their own Jihad and activists pushing social tolerance to such an extreme that the Bible itself is being labeled “hate speech.”

THE NEW MASCULINITY – CONGRESSIONAL A
Dr. Pat Fagan, Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Family and Religion, FRC; Michael Schwartz, Chief of Staff, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.); Dr. Matthew Spalding, Director, B. Kenneth Simon Center for Studies, The Heritage Foundation

Feminism has wreaked havoc on marriage, women, children and men. It is time to redress the disorder it has wrought and that must start with getting the principles and ideals for a new “masculinism” right. Such a “masculinism” will have its dovetailing counterpart in a new “feminism” for they mutually define each other and, in nature, are meant to be complementary. This panel will begin this exploration.

THUGOCRACY – FIGHTING THE VAST LEFT WING CONSPIRACY – EMPIRE ROOM
Terry Jeffrey, Editor, CNSNews.com; Michael Barone*

“Hate crime” legislation, removal of conscience protections for health care workers, the Fairness Doctrine, groups like ACORN intimidating voters and committing voter fraud, “Card Check” legislation to create a permanent majority – President Obama and the Democratic Party is doing all it can to suppress free speech that they disagree with and that threatens their plans for a “permanent majority” in power. Political pundit Michael Barone calls it a “thugocracy” and “Gangster Government,” how real is this threat and how can we fight it?

DEFUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD – PALLADIAN ROOM
Mark Bucher, Bucher & Palmer, LLP; Lila Rose, President, LiveAction

As many state and local governments are tightening their budgets to weather this fiscal storm, communities are taking a second look at the funding of the controversial abortion corporation Planned Parenthood. Since 1987, Planned Parenthood has taken in $3.2 billion in taxpayer funds. Planned Parenthood has used its money to support candidates who will continue this money stream and to lobby against initiatives such as parental notification laws in cases of minors seeking an abortion. Learn from people, like you, who have successfully stopped Planned Parenthood funding in their communities.

ACTIVISM AND CONSERVATISM: FIT TO A TEA (PARTY) – CABINET ROOM
Jeff Griffith, Pennsylvania Tea Party Coordinator; Amy Kremer, National Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots; Crane Durham, Host, “Nothing but the Truth”

On April 15th, hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered in more than 800 cities to voice their opposition to out of control spending at all levels of government. Organized in all 50 states by Americans from all walks of life, these “tea parties” were a true grassroots protest of irresponsible fiscal policies and intrusive government. The mainstream media could not explain the phenomenon that anyone would be fed up with Washington, D.C. now that the liberals in charge. We will tell you how it happened, why it is still happening and how you can organize your own.

FAITH, POLITICS, AND THE INTERNET: HOW TO CONTEND FOR TRUTH IN A DIGITAL AGE
Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Joe Carter, Web Editor, First Things; Hunter Baker, Author and Professor, Houston Baptist University; Jared Bridges, Director of Online Communications, FRC

The new media has given new emphasis to the age-old, often contentious relationship between faith and politics. A panel of internet activists from across the new media spectrum will discuss what it takes to have an effective voice in the political discussion online while remaining faithful to the things that matter most.