Conservative and evangelical Christians seem to like to whine about how they are persecuted in society; in reality, though, it is they who are more likely to do the persecution of religious minorities - Wiccans in particular. Darla Wynne moved to South Carolina to be closer to her mother and ended up in the middle of controversy.

The Greenville News reports:

The ruling of a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Wynne at first "stood and bowed her head during the prayer" at council meetings along with her neighbors. A regular attendee at meetings since 1999, she eventually stopped standing and bowing during the prayers, the ruling says. At a meeting in 2000, she addressed the council and objected to the use of the name of Jesus in the prayers and suggested that members of different religions be invited to give prayers, the record shows. The mayor responded "to the effect that: 'This is the way we've always done things and we're not going to change,'" according to the ruling.

When she decided to arrive a few minutes late at a council meeting to avoid being there for the prayer, she was stricken from the agenda and not allowed to speak, the ruling says. At another meeting, when Wynne announced to the council that she had canceled plans for a Pagan Pride Day, a councilman replied that "the Christians of Great Falls should be proud this day because they defeated the pagans," she said.

According to Brian Givens, the town attorney, when the council stopped Pagan Pride Day as a victory for Christians and when she was kept from speaking at a council meeting because she avoided being there for the prayer, none of that qualified as having “deliberately excluded her or tried to hold her out or ostracize her for not participating.” Hello? I’m surprised that even an attorney could say something so manifestly false with a straight face. Does the man have no shame?

Others in the community went after Wynne as well:

Wynne ... said her home has been vandalized and townspeople have tried to forcibly "exorcise" demons out of her, poisoned her cats and threatened to burn her house. "They flipped over my refrigerator. They squirted ketchup and mustard everywhere. They've written 'Die, witch.'"

What a lovely community — just the sort of tolerant, generous attitude that Christians in America have become known for around the world.

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