Does Facebook ignore hate speech against pagans and wiccans?

Troll cat issues a warning that I might get burnt at the stake.

Lately, there seems to be a rash of hate pages on Facebook promoting violence against pagans, Wiccans, and witches. One even includes the words "should be burned." And Facebook has basically stated that they do not see the harm in such pages...because it is ok to joke about burning people who are not Christian (hey, it is a theory--and Facebook has not given me any indication that my theory is wrong). Furthermore, despite people reporting such hate pages, Facebook has left them up for all to see.

But I betcha that if you put up a page calling for the burning of Christians (even just the heretics) that Facebook would be taking down the page, and ban you in a heartbeat for your hate-filled joke.

And why? Because we all know that when your religion controls the largest percentage of people in the country that you can pretty much say what you want without any blowback while claiming that your religion is under siege by those silly and completely false religions that represent less than five percent of the population. (I am always amazed how quickly the Christians fundies seem to be able to get people and pages removed from Facebook, but us pagans can't get the time of day from FB.)

[The following is for the United States...which is probably half of the Facebook users in the world--yes, I know, more research is needed...but I am a blogger; I don't deal in facts!]

The smaller your slice of the religious pie, the more likely you are to be burned at the stake for defending your religious views.

As for the defense that such pages are meant as a joke, well there is a small fly in the ointment.

And that is--some people really believe that witches should still be burned at the stake because their god tells them to do so (in what has to be one of the most hate filled books of all time--aka the Bible).

I have met some of these people. And they have said this nonsense to my face. Even knowing that I am a witch. And worse, when I protest, they say, "We don't mean you--you are one of the good ones." Shades of Nazi Germany alive and well in the freedom loving United States--of course, I imagine that the 1938 version of FB probably would not see the harm of Hitler and his followers either and their jokes about the hated Jews; after all, the Nazis were a big percent of the audience back then, and you can't go against the majority--or at least, that seems to be the rule on Facebook.

Remember that it is ok to believe such nonsense and hatred aimed at pagans, Wiccan and witches because it is right there on Facebook (and if it still up, it does not violate FB's rules of usage, including the anti-hate speech clause).

For those who haven't signed it yet, there is a petition on Change.org calling for Facebook to quit ignoring pages that promote hatred and violence against pagans, Wiccans, and witches.

Everyone is nuts!

Troll kitty presents his proof that everyone is mentally unstable.

Last night on another blog, I presented a rule of thumb...in a rather unclear post...about the use of godforms in ritual. Nick Farrell responded by saying that one should not create rule of thumbs...again the post was unclear...especially about how doing certain things makes people mentally unstable. In my defense, I would like to say that it was merely the explanation given to me by someone else...my crime is that I used the explanation to shore up my own rule of thumb for newbie magicians.

I am quite sure that Nick would be appalled by the rules of thumb that I actually operate under. But considering that the subject came up (and I need something to blog about that does not bore me to tears), it is as good as time as any to talk about a couple of the rules that I operate under. My rules of life, so to speak.

The first rule is that Everyone is nuts!

Yes, that is right. Deep down, I think that everyone is a touch unstable. More or less. My proof--well, the entire human race.

Therefore, I am more interested in figuring out exactly how mentally unstable they are, and trying to figure out what might send them further into the deep end.

And whether or not, they are the fun type of mentally unstable. In other words, do they entertain me?

It makes life a touch simplier when you assume that everyone is nuts. For instance, when it comes time to vote on new applicants for the local lodge, it boils down to whether I can tolerate their particular brand of lunacy. Everything else is pretty much just the nuts and bolts of the lunacy.

It also makes issuing magical instructions and performing initiations a touch more easier. If someone is already broken, all bad instruction or a messed-up ritual does is make them more broken. You are not responsible for breaking their little mind; you are just responsible for making it worse.

Yeah, I know--it is not really a difference except in my own mind. I suspect that I am a subset of everyone.

My second rule of thumb is that No one ever listens to my advice.

I can make up all the rules of thumb I want. I hear how other Orders actually have members who follow the advice of the teaching staff...and I have never been a member of such an Order. I did not obey instructions to the letter while I was a student. I have not seen anyone I have instructed obey the instructions to the letter either. I suspect that no one obeys instructions to the letter ever...except to annoy other people.

Therefore, I can advise Adept Minor Neophytes to only actively use one godform per ritual, knowing full well that some newbie magician will decide that a ritual just begs to have 37 godforms actively used. In fact, occasionally I put forth advice knowing that the person I am talking to is promptly going to go out and do the exact opposite. People tend to do what they want to do, no matter what you tell them.

This leads back to me being only interested in the fun type of the mentally unstable. I figure that everyone is going to become more unstable over the course of their magical career, no matter how good or bad the instructions they were given, so the question is Will your insanity amuse me?

Proof that I am a troll!

Troll cat reminds you to only eat children who are cooked with bacon.

There is finally proof that I am a troll. Monday, I went to Chilis with my wife. We just came from picking up cat food and other supplies for the darlings. We were talking business...mainly it was me justifying a decision that I had already made (I do things like that). After awhile, my wife gets up and goes to the bathroom.

Now, we got seated in the family section. And there was this family sitting across the aisle from us with a fat little boy (maybe six months old). He was all smiling and bubbly. I noticed him looking at me. I smiled and said, "Hi. How are you?"

And he bursts into tears.

That is probably fair proof that I am a horrible troll, isn't it?

But I think that the boy's family might be trolls also...because they thought it was funny.