NYARBB’s nascent Committee Against Satanic Panics will be distributing literature in the vicinity of the event and, hopefully, doing a little networking.

Summary of relevant dates/times:

• NYARBB meeting before event:   Thursday, September 27, at 7:30 PM
• The Pagan Pride event itself:   Saturday, September 27, at 11 AM to 5 PM
• NYARBB follow-up meeting:   Thursday, October 9, at 7:30 PM

Our literature will have the following aims:

1) To alert Pagans about the “Illuminati” claims (and their accompanying anti-Pagan bigotry, among other kinds of bigotry) and other religious right wing propaganda that is now being spread via pop culture, e.g. in some hip hop lyrics, and within otherwise secular political movements such as the 9/11 Truth movement and the antiwar movement. To invite Pagans to join us in opposing the spread of “Illuminati” claims.

2) To counter the tendency of some Pagans to scapegoat Satanists. (Exactly what we’ll be saying along these lines will depend on who is scheduled to speak at the Pagan Pride event, which apparently has not been finalized yet, according to their website. If the Pagan Pride website don’t announce their speakers within the next few days, we’ll prepare something generic.)

3) Do the above in such a way as to avoid undermining political causes we otherwise support (e.g. the call for a new investigation of 9/11). To those interested, we will also give copies of the literature we distributed at We Are Change’s 9/11 anniversary events.

To prepare for our action at the Pagan Pride event, we’ll be holding a meeting on Thursday, September 25. For details, see the announcement on our Meetup site. If you’re considering attending, please let us know by RSVP’ing “yes” or “maybe” on the Meetup site.

Also we’ll be having a follow-up meeting on Thursday, October 9.

Note: Our action at the Pagan Pride event will be strictly friendly and pro-Pagan. It will not be, in any way, a protest against the event, unless they happen to have a really obnoxiously anti-Satanist keynote speaker such as Isaac Bonewits (whom they had a few years ago). Even then, we will maintain a friendly and respectful attitude toward modern Pagan religions per se, while objecting to the tendency of some Pagans to scapegoat Satanists. NYARBB opposes religion-based bigotry of all kinds.

• NYARBB position against both Islamism and anti-Muslim bigotry
• NYARBB position on 9/11
• NYARBB position against “Illuminati” claims

Comments welcome, here on this blog, in response to all the above position statements.

A major focus of ours, for now, will be on opposing the spread of “Illuminati” claims, which are similar to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion except that, instead of Jews, “Illuminati” claims typically scapegoat Pagans, occultists, “Satanists,” and atheists, and typically also allege that modern social reforms, such as feminism and gay rights, are part of an elite conspiracy to destroy America. Though currently a fringe phenomenon for the most part, we feel that such bigoted claims, in the era of the Internet, should not be ignored, especially when they are promoted outside of the religious right wing circles from which they emanate.

Last week, our nascent Committee for 9/11 Accountability distributed literature at some of the 9/11 anniversary events held by We Are Change. We distributed the following:

• “Support a new investigation of 9/11. But let’s NOT endorse religiously bigoted “Illuminati” claims.” – 2-sided leaflet aimed primarily at people inside the 9/11 Truth movement – all too many of whom are fans of Alex Jones, who recycles a lot of religious right wing hate propaganda with a superficially more worldly populist gloss.
• “Why we need a new investigation of 9/11.” – pamphlet aimed primarily at people outside the 9/11 Truth movement, but also to show insiders that we support their central aim, in the hope that our leaflet against “Illuminati” claims will be taken as constructive criticism. (The pamphlet does not argue that “9/11 was an inside job” but, instead, just points to (1) undisputed evidence of coverups of some kind and (2) some relevant history of the U.S. government’s strange love-hate relationship with Islamist terrorism.)

We distributed literature at some of the events on Wednesday (September 10), Friday (September 12), and Sunday (September 14).

I got into some interesting discussions/debates with various people, especially on Friday. I didn’t do the best possible job of presenting my arguments, but it has been a very worthwhile learning experience, at least.

[This post last updated Thursday, September 18, 2008.]