Pagan Chaplain Receives International Award

via PNC-DC

Patrick being presented the award by Suhag Shukla. Photo courtesy of the Lady Liberty League.

On Tuesday, September 14, 2010, Wiccan minister Rev Patrick McCollum received the Mahatma Ghandi Award for the Advancement of Religious Pluralism from the Hindu American Foundation (HAF).  The award was presented during the seventh annual Capitol Hill reception sponsored by HAF.  This year’s reception was held in the Gold Room of the US Congress Rayburn Building.  Patrick was one of four award recipients.  Neal Katyal, Acting Solicitor General of the United States received the Pride of Community Award.  Community activist Vishal Agarwal received the Dharma Seva Award.  US Congressman Edward R. Royce (Republican, Orange, California) received the Friend of the Community Award.

“Patrick is not only the first Pagan to receive this award, but the first Pagan to receive an international interfaith advancement award.  This is an important milestone in Pagan interfaith relations,” said Rev. Selena Fox, Senior Minister, Circle Sanctuary.  “I am glad that Patrick and his work to build bridges of understanding and collaboration among those of many faiths was honored.”

In his remarks upon receiving the award, Patrick expressed appreciation for this recognition, and also spoke about the importance of respecting diversity and sacredness of human beings.  “We are all part of the human family and we must learn to respect each other and live in harmony.”

David Salisbury from the Pagan Newswire Collective’s Washington DC bureau will be at tonight’s Lady Liberty League 25th Anniversary Reception, where Mr. McCollum is also to be honored,  so please check out their site for full coverage. Additionally, The Wild Hunt is providing more information on this event throughout today and tomorrow.

Lady Liberty League Celebrates 25 Years Tonight!

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LADY LIBERTY LEAGUE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF PAGAN RIGHTS ENDEAVORS

Pagan Liberty ImageOn Wednesday, September 15, 2010, Lady Liberty League will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary with a reception in Washington, DC. The reception is free and open to the public.

It will be held from 7-9 pm at the Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th Street Northwest, Washington, DC

National and regional Pagan Rights activists, spiritual leaders, and practitioners of many traditions will be taking part in this interfaith celebration. Participants include those from Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin, US Virgin Islands, and elsewhere.

Founded in 1985, Lady Liberty League (LLL) is a national and global Pagan civil rights and religious freedom organization. LLL is coordinated by Circle Sanctuary, an Ecospirituality center and Shamanic Wiccan church that has been serving Pagans worldwide since 1974.

Continue reading →

Minnesota Governor’s Debate Tonight

Tom Horner, Mark Dayton, and Tom Emmer square-off at the Pantages Theater tonight at 7 p.m. While the environment and other perennial issues are sure to come up, the candidates are expected to spend most of their time framing and attacking each other’s plans to fix the state’s $6 billion budget problem.

The debate is sold out, but you can watch the debate and even participate on BringMeTheNews.com

PNC-Minnesota is interested in getting your perspective of the debate.  For those of you who watch or attend the debate this evening, please comment to this story or send us an email letting us know your thoughts on the candidates and their stances on issues important to you.

Editorial – Pagans and Facebook

Facebook has become the preferred method to keep in touch for millions of people. It has surpassed MySpace and other networking projects and is very popular with Pagans. It has great features for promoting events, and connecting with those of similar beliefs locally and around the country. It is easy to use and appeals to our need to feel community. It is especially great for staying in touch with those people we see only a few times a year and helps us to keep in contact and updated with friends who we may not see as much as we would like. I especially like sharing snippets, little thoughts, quotes, or events that mean something to me, and enjoy when they resonate with my friends.

Facebook users, and the new applications for it, are blossoming everyday. Many of the original problems associated with online activity are still there just with this new “face”. There are now countless building and gaming applications to draw you away from your real life. These new applications are particularly insidious because besides sucking up all your free time, many reward getting your friends involved. They give the illusion you are building something real, including a deeper relationship with your friends and co-players. Continue reading →

Community Notes – September 13-19

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TwinCitiesPagans/

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You can serve your community October 10 as the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance gathers to clean up an adopted stretch of I-35E. It is so great that drivers along the interstate see that local Pagans are gathering to clean up a bit of nature.

TC Pagan Pride has lots of new information up at their website. You can now check out their programming schedule, vendors list, and more. It should be a great Pagan Pride event at Lake Harriet Spiritual Community September 25 & 26.

For those of you looking for instruction, and an opportunity for a first degree initiation, the Wiccan Church of Minnesota is about to start a series of classes. Contact TeachersRep@wiccanchurchmn.org for more information.

The local Pagan Newswire Collective bureau has been doing a wonderful job of covering events for the local community. If you have not yet subscribed, it’s definitely worth it.