From: Morighan Andraste Area: MagickNet To: all 5 Jan 97 00:53:02 Subject: america's most wanted UpdReq Hello to all: This evening, I watched, as I am sure others of you did, the episode of "America's Most Wanted" that featured the supposed "vampire cult" from here in Florida. For those of you unfamiliar with the case, a group of 5 teenagers (none of which are above of 16) beat to death the parents of one of the cult members. After the deaths, they fled to Louisianna in a stolen car where they were picked up and extradited back to Florida. Four of the five had recently moved from Kentucky where 2 of the kids had stomped to death one dog in a humane's society, and then cut the legs off another dog in a "ritualistic" manner. In this episode of "America's Most Wanted", they told of this case not to find the murderers, but to give parents the warning signs that their child might be a member of a vampire cult, or might believe they are a vampire themselves. Some the warning signs included "wearing strange black clothing", being "obessesed with vampire novels or movies", "activity in a role-playing game called Vampire: The Masqurade", "belief in demons/demon possesion", and, though not directly stated, being a member of, or the belief in the occult. Above all the other "symptoms", the one that gave me the greatest concern was the implied statement. During the segment on the warning signs, the showed a document (though they did not state what the document was) that, in bold letters, showed "alchemy", "spirits", and "wicca". It is my belief that they were attempting to lump in such things as alchemy and wicca with the belief that it is one of the "warning signs of your child being in a vampire cult." I am outraged that such a program, that had been extremely beneficial, would stoop to such a level. Since coming back on the air, "America's Most Wanted" has tended toward the sensationalism side of journalism. But the sensationalism now, in my opinion, has gone too far. Too many people can be affected by something like this. There are many teens that have a genuine interest wicca in all it's varying forms. Teens that are coming up into wicca have a hard enough time with their parents. I know. I've been there. It is my fear that parents who saw this episode will give their children a hard time, if not more, if they find a book on wicca or the occult. People must be educated, not taught to fear wicca and think their kids are being sucked into some weird cult. My fear also bleeds over into the adult side of things. Those of us who hold jobs, have children, pay rent, or own homes have a hard enough time with the rest of the world. Too many jobs and homes have been lost, and too many children taken away from decent parents to let this sort of thing go un-noticed. There is too much ignorance on the part of people who don't know what wicca is about to let this sort of thing go on. With this episode, "America's Most Wanted" has gone over the line. Wicca and the occult in general is not a part of vampirism, imagined or real, and the document that they showed should not have been included in that segment. It is my belief that it was either extremely poor judgement on the part of the writers and producers, or a blatent attempt at getting the public to believe that Wicca is on the same level as a vampire cult who killed two human beings. I encourage you all, as I am doing myself, to either write or call your local fox affiliate, write or call the network itself, write letters to the show and/or e-mail all of the above. I am in the process of trying to find the e-mail address or the web page for "America's Most Wanted", and will post that as soon as I have it available. Some things that I, myself, would like to know would be: -What document they showed on the segment. -Who thought of the idea to put that document there. -Did they realize the impact that it could have. -Do they realize that the document they showed had NOTHING to do with vampirism/vampire cults and/or warning signs of such activity. With this post, I am only attempting to help stop some of the ignorance that seems to abound with regards to Wicca, and to let my voice be heard, not only here, but at all levels of the network as well. I hope you will join me in this attempt to get them to retract that document from the show, and perhaps either an apology from "America's Most Wanted" or at least a statment that the document they showed really had nothing to do with the subject they were reporting on. Blessed Be- Morighan Andraste 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Khephera Area: MagickNet To: All 5 Jan 97 06:41:10 Subject: America's Most Wanted UpdReq Just an update to the information given by my wonderful girl on America's most Jerky. Email address is to: Feedback@amw.com Please write to them- it takes only a second- and voice your concern and outrage. I have alreday done so, and I am also including a copy of Morighan's post, AND a copy of my lengthy "What is Wicca" document. However, PLEASE write them yourself. The only way this kind of idiocy will be stopped is if we make a lot of noise. Only two or three of us can't do it alone. Remember, it could be you who is attacked in the future thanks to such TV foolishness, or your child who is taken. Blessed Be, may Yahweh and His Asherah guide and keep thee, Ar ReX Em SeXem Eref Neter Au-a Rx Khephera 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: MacFinn Area: MagickNet To: Thanatos 5 Jan 97 17:25:08 Subject: bardic magic UpdReq T> Has anyone here ever hear of Bardic Magic... and if so, T> is it real and how often does it occur? T> Also... how would one tell if he/she had Bardic Magic? T'would be the gift of jest, I guess(t). (Also see Eris & Moo Too, all hail Discordia) 93 =M= 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718