Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Covenant of the Goddess' Response to the Witch Hunt Facebook Pages




The Covenant of the Goddess 

PO Box 12193, San Bernardino, CA 92423-2193



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


DATE: August 20, 2013
CONTACT:  Heather Greene, National Public Information Officer 
EMAIL: pio at cog dot org
WEBSITE:  www.cog.org    


Covenant of the Goddess reacts to Witch Hunt Facebook Pages

Over the past week, there has been an outcry within the Pagan community regarding two African-based Facebook pages that call for the death of witches and wizzards [sic].  The Covenant of the Goddess (CoG) has been contacted by many of its concerned members as well as other community supporters, all of whom are looking to have these pages removed from Facebook. The pages include:


Since last Thursday we have been monitoring the pages and working behind-the-scenes to find positive and effective ways of negotiating this difficult situation. Our most recent efforts have included interfacing with other national Pagan organizations such as Lady Liberty League and Circle Sanctuary

Of course, we all want to see these Facebook pages taken down due to the derogatory use of "witchcraft" language. However  the situation is more serious than just a case of hate speech and religious bigotry. These above-mentioned pages are calling for the murder of human beings. In many African nations, there is a dangerous climate of violence that uses witchcraft as its scapegoat. The above-mentioned pages are feeding that frenzy - one that has already led to the deaths of many African people, including young children. 

The Covenant of the Goddess supports freedom of speech, open dialog and religious expression. We do appreciate that Facebook, as a corporation, holds a similar philosophy in this matter.  However, we cannot condone a public call for the death of any one person or group regardless of religious affiliation or lifestyle choice.

We have advised our members and the greater Pagan community to avoid all personal interaction with the either of these two social media pages and ask that all complaints be sent to Facebook through its abuse and complaint system.  

We will continue our efforts and stand ready to act as needed.  

Please stay tuned to the CoG Facebook page for updates.

#     #     #


16 comments:

  1. Thank you COG, Circle Sanctuary, and ady Liberty League. People are being murdered in other countries, and I am greatly concerned about this blatant exposition of hate and murder on facebook pages. Thankyou!!!!!


    ReplyDelete
  2. This was posted on the Witches must die by fire by force page. So is the Lady Liberty League helping or not? Is this taken out of context? Because it is making it sound like the page is valid and should be left alone. In short, this page is using the words of the Lady Liberty League to validate killing witches.

    Valkyrie Pierce writes "I had a very long discussion with the Lady Liberty League after doing some research. Ok I contacted the Lady Liberty Leauge and talked to Florence Edwards-Miller. The Witches Must Die by Fire has validated some fears here. The truth is, the page was formed by "missionaries" in Africa where witch trials and executions are very very real. They actually are on a holy crusade to "kill witches". It's not a joke. It's not a troll.

    Nigerian laws along with Saudi Arabia, other parts of Africa and the Middle East take full belief that "witches" are causes to every day problems. They go as far as executing and / or exorcising people as young as 2 years old for witchcraft and sorcery. Even the most positive and educational posts we make on that page proves to them that witches are very real. It can very well in fact result in some human being who is innocent be killed or maimed because of this crusade that these "Christians" in Africa are on. It sounds very "Lord of the Rings" but in their world ... it IS a battle between good and evil".

    Dear Valkyrie
    I was in Edinburgh last year. As you may or may not know, Edinburgh is the capital city of witchcraft in Europe, the home of the coven called Freemasonry, which uses a black raven as a symbol. There is a network of tunnels underground the city of Edinburgh. Its like you are in a city of its own, but underground. I was on an undercover mission of my own, to see for myself white witches in action. By this time, I had reached certain conclusions about witchcraft, but I was not hardcore opposed. I befriended a girl called Cindy. I pretended to be really interested in joining and knowing everything. To get to the point, one day Cindy decided it was time to show me something. She began to transform into a snake. This is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before God. Her head changed into a snake head before I sped off from her place and ran straight to the police. A lot of people in UK know this story. Sounds fiction,but God is my witness. I hate to admit it, but fear alone nearly killed me. About 6 months after, I was lying in my own bed. I opened my eyes, and there was a big, massive snake, poised and aimed to bite my head.. Something came over me, and I started to chant repeatedly, saying "I plead the blood of Jesus, I plead the blood of Jesus, I plead the blood of Jesus, I plead the blood of Jesus.. slowly, the snake withdrew, moved away, and left.

    Glory be to God, from that day, something came over me. Its like I feel formidable, fearless, even to the point of being dangerous to witches myself. Do not fool yourself, witches are witches. Black or white, witchcraft is not a game. Its satanic practice. A very dark, nasty art.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

    Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion this right includes freedom to change his/her religion or belief and freedom either alone or in community with others and in public and private to manifest his/her religion or belief in teaching practice worship and observance.

    I think that these hatemongers need to know the above includes all religions and belief systems not just Christianity

    ReplyDelete
  4. People must also take care if they go on holiday to these places, any symbols worn could cause their deaths! Take care my friends. BB

    ReplyDelete
  5. And Facebook refuses to do anything about it, or so I'm told.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have already complained - Facebook refuse to remove the offending pages.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a well written piece and I too have complained about these sites, they are certainly advocating murder and violence towards a peaceful and loving community and should not be allowed by facebook to continue to spout their hatred. BB

    ReplyDelete
  8. not cool ,especially if they call for murder..

    ReplyDelete
  9. It is very sad that still today people act that way....me and my husband we find that discusting
    than you for pursuing the fight against those bad ones. My thoughts and my energy i send to you. Blessed Be )O( Angel Divine )O(

    ReplyDelete
  10. Quite a few polytheist group members have been submitting complaints on this as well, even though most of use don't identify as witches.

    I'm glad to see that some negotiating skills are being brought to bear on this one! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I don't understand why so many witches have "liked" this page just to argue. Without all of us they wouldn't have a page. We cannot continue to respond with reason to someone who is not listening. Please any who have liked these pages, UNLIKE!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have reported pages calling for the death of witches and FACEBOOK refuses to do a single solitary thing about it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. we are just giving them too much of our energies. starve them of their attention and they will dry up and blow away. this seems like the ploys of a psychic vamp. quit giving this nonsense free room in your heads.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think your advice is spot on. Constant posting is just creating more views and more likes of the page. They were pretty constant on 20 likes before they came to the attention of the wider Pagan community and now they are on 300+

    ReplyDelete
  15. I checked these pages about 10 min. ago and neither would open.
    Was just checking to see if facebook had removed them.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I filed reports with Facebook on the group for Hate speech/symbols, and on the page for harassment. They initially denied both and I gave feedback on the page judgement saying that perhaps I miscategorized the complaint--I labeled harassment as best of the limited options available, but I'm a member of the religious group being targeted by hate speech by this page and they're advocating for and threatening violence.

    I just came home to find that they've revised the decision and removed the page.

    ReplyDelete