Traveller Probo
19. USA

Talkback radio, Wichita, Kansas

“Well folks, this is the conversation we have been waiting for, that is between Pastor Colin Crabtree of Fighting for the Faith Christian Radio and Sheena Willow of the Children of Eostre, all right here in Wichita, Kansas.

“This is your host, Graham Tuttle, and we’ll start with you Pastor Crabtree.

Colin: “Thankyou Graham, let me start by saying that we aren’t even talking about an organised religion. This latest wave of New Age religious nonsense has constructed a series of cults based on material from the extinct, mystical traditions of a Saxon healer taken from the murky forests of 11th Century England. Her religion died, as do all false Gods and beliefs, before the light of true Christian faith. Remember, God will not be mocked! For he will cast out unbelievers! Surely this is nothing but shamanism, Neopaganism and occultism with a deceptively glossy, modern veneer. In fact, I believe it can be best described as a form of witchcraft.”

Sheena: “We interpret the return of the old ways as significant as most now recognise that modern, traditional world religions just aren’t working. Many, especially the younger generations, are looking elsewhere for their spiritual roots. Every year, more and more who live in nations described as Christian have become dissatisfied with the dogmatic, sometimes even fanatical teachings of modern Christianity. We see this in the growth of Islam, Buddhism and other faiths in what was once predominantly Christian Europe and the USA, while many are becoming atheists as religion in general is seen as the cause of conflict, domestic and international terrorism and intolerance. The visit and teachings of Tatae was indeed heaven-sent because, while some main-stream Christian religions are becoming more tolerant of changing societal norms such as, for example, the role of women, racial equality, or marriage equality, others, especially in evangelical Christianity, are becoming increasingly intolerant, even right-wing. In fact, the advent of the Christian Far Right is another sign of its inability to keep up with the evolving societies in which we all live. In a society faced with the spectre of religious fundamentalism and intolerance, Tatae was the messenger our spiritually deficit world desperately needed. Remember, the Christian Church branded all believers of the old ways as witches and murdered them because, like Islam, Christianity is an aggressive, male-dominated and controlled religion. The old, sacred ways we follow honour the wisdom of women. I’d also like to remind all of our listeners that we aren’t the same as modern Wicca, which Christians like to call witches but we do offer an ancient message; a message of love, of caring for each other, and of becoming one with our natural, spiritual roots.”

Colin: “But you won’t last! You’re just a fad! We know you won’t last, as people like you come and go every day while the teachings of God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ, remain. You don’t even claim a tenet of faith! Someone can just stand up one day and say, “I’m going to start my own pagan following,” and you create your own false church. In fact it’s not a church. It can at best be described as a sect.”

Sheena: “Well Pastor, perhaps we can agree there is a similarity between us. A Christian can nominate himself as a Pastor and start his own church without any semblance of authority or formal education. As long as he, and it is pretty well always men, claims to have been ‘moved by the Spirit’, he can set up his own Church. It’s almost like a franchise and even you will have to admit that Evangelical and Fundamental Christianity is very big business. As long as a Pastor keeps to the broad teachings of your version of the Bible, he can pretty well create his own following, spread his version of bigotry on TV, and make a lot of money at the same time.”

Colin: “You can’t compare true Christian revelation from the Holy Spirit to what you people do! Our faith is based on the promptings of the Holy Spirit and following the true faith as prescribed by God’s word, the Bible. Christian churches feed the sick and care for the poor and offer the good news of Salvation and life with God through our Saviour, Jesus Christ. What you offer to your followers is damnation and an eternity of torment.”

Sheena: “Well that’s according to your male, fear-based belief system. That is of course not our belief.”

Colin: “But it’s in the Bible, God’s word that never changes. Do you even know the Bible, young lady?”

Sheena: “Well, yes, I used to be a Christian. I attended Bible study for a good many years. But here isn’t the place to discuss inconsistencies there. While we respect the freedom of religion as our right in the Constitution, we all know the Bible is simply a collection of writings based on Jewish historical tradition and collated under the politically driven ecumenical decisions of the early 4th Century Christian Church. You will, of course, know that there were many other writings which were rejected because they didn’t fit the vision of the Christian Church of the day. How many of these Apocryphal writings were considered unsuitable, and were as a result discarded, is not known. As we saw with Saxon Traveller, even early 11th Century Christianity was a lot different to what it is today and what was then considered scripture was a lot different to what is contained in any version of the current Bible. Today’s Bible is a document that has been endlessly changed and edited to suit the needs of the Churches and the ruling elite and is still being changed, as are Christian beliefs. The fact we don’t wish to follow the beliefs of the Bible is not meant to suggest anyone cannot or should not follow the Bible if they want to. It just suggests we claim the freedom to follow the beliefs we know are true for us. So, no, the Bible is certainly not important to us.”

Colin: “Oh come now. How then can you claim truth when you people fly in the face of God’s Word? Truth is absolute! There is no room for half-truth or a watered down Truth. God’s Truth is God’s Truth! Period! The Bible has evolved as it has because it has been guided by the hand of God. You people don’t respect the Sabbath, you don’t worship the one true God but have a few false gods you like to refer to, you don’t believe in the sacred nature of the human body or chastity, in fact everything God warned us about in following Satan is encapsulated in your faith. It’s just another religious trend and cult at best. I believe this is all about clever marketing, about offering a false spiritual alternative where free sex and conscience-soothing rites are practiced without any reference to eternal consequence. You, and others like you, are leading a good many gullible and easily led, needy souls to a fiery Hell because you have been fooled by Satan.”

Sheena: “Pastor, I can assure you that I’ve been fooled by no one. Human spirituality is a constantly evolving process but I do agree with you in that humanity needs spirituality. Just because it’s not your version of spirituality doesn’t make it wrong.”

Colin: “Yes we need spirituality but not false spirituality, not the evil you have to offer. Goodness, do you people have no morals?”

Sheena: “Pastor, anything that takes people away from your business, which is your Church, could be considered evil because they’re the actions of a competitor and can erode your agenda for financial, political and spiritual control. So, yes, it is natural that you see us as a threat to your interests. Some of our sacred rites might be construed to be confronting in light of highly conservative and tightly controlled Christian traditions. We offer a less dogmatic spiritual framework that looks at self-acceptance and life-improvement based on one’s own guidelines rather than the threat of a mythical Hell if one doesn’t measure up. We offer equality of the sexes, a religion that is free of financial constraints and also helps others regardless of colour, race, sexual orientation, financial standing or belief system. The fact we meet in a forest rather than a multi-million-dollar mega-church does not, and should not, matter.”

Colin: “Well let me tell you, like I will admonish all the good people out there, to stay away from this latest cobbling of mysticism and false teachings that is wrongly branded as spirituality and religion. This is not religion! Is not of the Spirit! And is definitely not in the interests of your or anyone else’s soul! Turn aside Miss! Return to Jesus! His loving forgiveness will be given, for he waits with open arms. The eternal consequences will be terrible if you don’t return and follow Him!”

Sheena: “Thank you for your kind offer but, to me, your belief system is just not relevant. All we suggest is that anyone interested can talk to us and see if what we have to offer resonates with what you feel is right. Check out our website and, if you like, chat with one of our team. This is an ancient spirituality and a return to the old ways that predates the male-dominated, violent religions of Christianity and Islam.”

Colin: “God have mercy on you miss! Praise the truth of the Lord Jesus! Let his love replace you and may God the Father and His Son, Jesus, have mercy on you.”

“Okay guys, well, we might pause it there. Our special thanks today to Pastor Colin Crabtree of Fighting for the Faith Christian Radio and Sheena Willow of the Children of Eostre of Wichita. This is Graham Tuttle of talkback radio Wichita and we hope you have found this illuminating. We now open our lines for your comments ...”