I don't do public pagan events very often.  I haven't found one yet that was worth my time.  Case in point: the Milwaukee Pagan Pride Day.  I attended a few years ago, and it was mostly a vendor room...and much of what was being sold was fashion, not religious, (Celtic patterned bags and dresses, for example) and pretty much all of it I could get at any half-decent New Age store.

Got invited to the event again, and just for shits and giggles, I decided to check the schedule as posted on Facebook:

12noon Lady Valley Opening Ritual - Rev. Tyson

(The vagueness suggests this will attempt to address all forms of pagans present, which invariably results it in not addressing any...at which point, why do we need a "ritual"?)

1-1:50p Dr. Paul McDowell Tactics & Secrets for Increasing Your Personal Power

(A quick Goggle search tells me this person has written a book called Dark Lords - The Power Within, which is a "controversial journey that sheds light on the world of dark mind magic and secret alchemy used by the world's top businesses and wealthiest families.  Nothing is held back as a "Master Dark Lord" is your guide through this world of advanced business strategy, covert processes and unpalallelled [sic] entrepreneurial power. Learn how to apply these amazing tools in your business."  Sounds totally legit, right?)

2-2:50p Corin White - How to Avoid Getting a Flesh Eating Curse.

(I'm sorry...WTF? A PDF document from the event gives a different title: Graveyard Magic...which at least is a more useful title...but seriously?  Are you catering to the uber-goths?  Because last time I was there, the atmosphere turned decided chilly when three goth teens entered.  No one there wanted them.  It was tangible and ugly, and the teens weren't doing anything negative at all.  They were just checking the place out.

2-3:50p Karen Pauli - Animal Rescue-Adopt a Pedigree!
 
(Ok, puppies are cute, but this has what to do with paganism?)
 
3-3:50p Jeanie Dean Egyptian Culture & Myths
 
(Wow, an actual legit pagan topic. Ms. Dean.  Ironically, this event doesn't show up on the PDF advertisement at all.)

4-4:50p Barbara Kruck Animal Communication through Your Totems< (Uh...right. Ok.) 4-5:50p Dr. Joanne Flanagan - Power of the Equilibrex Pendant (If this sounds suspiciously like an infomercial, it's because it IS.  The Equilibrex Pendant " is a Bio-energy enhancer designed to strengthen your resistance to the effects of both stress and electromagnetic fields (EMF),increase your energy level, and improve your mental performance."  Normally $179.95, you can buy yours right now for $89 here. (oh, please visit, just to see how hokey this item looks))

5-5:50 Lisa Howe Underground Allies: Connecting to Marcus Maichle Earth Spirits & Earth Stewardship thru WormFarm (composting)

(In the PDF, it had a more useful title: "Our Underground Allies: Basics of Vermiculture (Worm Composting)".  Not religious in the least, but at least the title tells you something.  Now we're talking about "WormFarm" (which sounds like a brand name) and we've decided to sound more New Agey by adding a discussion on Earth Spirits.  Seriously, understanding Earth Spirits and learning to compost in the same panel?

A quick Googling tells me that Marcus Maichle gives presentations on elemental spirits.  Is Marcus actually going to be there, or is Lisa just borrowing his stuff?)

6:00pm Lady Valley Closing Ritual - Rev. Tyson  (I'm not sure I trust anyone who claims to be a Reverend but doesn't state what he or she is a Reverend OF.  I can technically call myself one, because I'm ordained online through the ULC, but I DON'T, because it doesn't actually confer any meaning (other than I can legally perform weddings in Wisconsin))

There's practically nothing (once again) at this Pagan Pride Day that's actually pagan.  Sure, some pagans are interested in composting, but plenty of non-pagans are too.  It's not pagan.  And there are time and places for these things, but why at a Pagan Pride Day?  Is this the best the pagan community can offer?  Then I don't have a lot of pride in it.  This is more like Eclectic New Age Day.  Pagan does not equal New Ager!

Hanging around on Yahoo!Answers, I come across of a lot of claims that Christianity is pagan, or at least questions of "Is Christianity pagan?"

People need to start learning the meaning of words, because no matter where you think Christian ideas originate, claiming that Christianity is non-Christian is a nonsensical statement.

As for the claim itself: sure, Christianity borrowed from pagan culture, because it was the only culture from which to borrow! New ideas always build upon old ideas.

But many of the specific examples commonly given are grossly exaggerated or even outright wrong. And, regardless, borrowing pagan ideas doesn't make something pagan. Christianity borrowed a TON from Judaism, but no one suggests that Christianity is really Jewish.

Isaac Bonewits passed in his sleep this morning after a long battle with colon cancer.  He was 60 years old.  Bonewits was a  highly respected member of the neopagan community, where he has been influential for decades...Read more at my Alternative Religions blog.

A Beliefnet article by Gus diZerega was promoted on CNN today. Entitled "10 Bad Portrayals of Witches and Pagans in Movies and TV," is is the result of a poll conducted by diZerega about movies "that most drove [Pagans] up a wall, limiting my request to those depicting witchcraft and NeoPagans."

The resulting list is largely comprised of movies about witches, which the article complains repeatedly depict witches as evil, murdering, and selfish.

Just how long are we going to continue perpetuating this nonsensical equation of modern witchcraft and historical folk belief?  For many hundreds of years, "witch" denoted precisely what these movies depict: a person, generally a woman, working highly malevolent magic against the community either for her own ends or else simply to make everyone else's life terrible.  These movies have nothing to do with the neopagan movement, and continuing to take folklore depictions and then claim they falsely depict modern witches is just disingenuous.

Of his entire list, I find only a few should even have gotten consideration:

• The Wicker Man (original, apparently the new version is too absurd to invoke outrage) - This film plays to a lot of stereotypes that were circulating in Britain in the 1970s when the film was made.  Ironically, I don't find most neopagans object to this movie.
• The Dark Secret of Harvest Home - I've never seen this one, so I'm going to just have to trust diZerega's comparison between it and The Wicker Man.
• The Craft - This film follows four high school girls who start following a witch religion.  Some of them become selfish with their power, while others struggle to discover the responsible path.  While this film never mentions Wicca, many elements are clearly derived from Wiccan ritual.  On top of which, this movie has long been credited by many pagans for glamorizing witchcraft/Wicca and attracting the Wicklets to us in droves.  I therefore understand why this film annoys neopagans, even though I don't really blame the film itself.
• Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost - This is the only film I personally find offensive.  Again, I haven't seen it, but apparently Wicca is not only mentioned, by a character flagrantly misuses it, claiming to be 1/16 Wiccan.  Bad research annoys me.

The mention of TV show Supernatural on this list I think deserves special mention. Again, it's here primarily because it depicts witches as bad, and again I have to remind folks that this is the historical use of the word.  Here I find the complaint doubly annoying because for five seasons this show has made it clear that in their world, practically everything supernatural is malevolent: demons, witches, ghosts, gods, shapechangers and even most psychics.  Heck, even angels are jerks.  While not specifically malevolent, most of them really don't care what happens to humanity and tend to trample them to achieve their own goals: which is, incidentally, the Apocalypse.  The world of Supernatural is dark for those in the know, full of terrors with very few bright spots.

The only valid complaint I see against Supernatural is the episode in which witches summon the god "Sam Hain."  Again, bad research annoys me, especially when the only place I head about the god Sam Hain is anti-pagan conservative Christian rhetoric.  So I've had a problem with one episode.  Again, it didn't personally offend me, but I don't like the repeating of blatantly bad information.