Last Friday, remarks emerged from an appearance the Delaware Republican made during a 1999 taping of “Politically Incorrect,” in which she acknowledged that she had “dabbled into witchcraft” but “never joined a coven.” O’Donnell immediately distanced herself from the quote, asking whether it was fair to hold candidates responsible for the “questionable folks” they hung out with in high school. The clarification may have been the only sane political move for O’Donnell to make. But it had the side effect of angering an already politically sensitive pagan community.
I’ve promised that I wasn’t going to obsess over Christine O’Donnell..and I really meant it. Honest. I really, really did. It’s just that the silliness and the embarrassing details from O’Donnell’s past just keeping oozing out of the muck. While Bill Maher claims O’Donnell as a personal friend and claims that she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, it’s clear that her views are painting a very different picture. If you ask Wiccans, O’Donnell displays a willingness to defame pagans…and perhaps engage in something close to persecution and oppression.
Yes, her comments took place in 1996, and if I had to be held accountable for something I said 14 years ago…well, Lord only knows what the consequences would be. (Of course, I’m not running for public office….) Still, for someone who purports to love the Constitution, O’Donnell’s comments display a disturbing hypocrisy still reflected in her public statements today. Freedom of religion, something guaranteed by the Constitution, also happens to apply to Wiccans. While you and I may not understand much about Wicca as a religion, those who practice it are held by the Constitution to have the same rights and freedoms to practice their religion as holier-than-thou Christians of O’Donnell’s ilk. In fact, freedom of religion is even more important when it applies to a small minority, because otherwise it might be all too easy for a powerful, intolerant majority to oppress a small group without the resources to defend themselves.
I’m not a fan of digging way back into someone’s past in order to discredit someone, but there are cases when it may be appropriate and an true indication of the totality of a person’s belief system. Something said in 1996 is hardly an indication of what will be said today, but in O’Donnell’s case it helps to flesh out her well-out-of-the-mainstream religious views. While she’s certainly free to hold what beliefs add meaning and purpose to her life, voters should also be free to know the truth about the person who wants to represent them in the US Senate.
Freedom of religion applies to ALL Americans, not merely those who think their religious beliefs vastly superior to any other belief system. O’Donnell’s job as a US Senator would be to protect all Delaware residents, and by extension ALL Americans. Her comments and her religious views raise a legitimate concern: Will she be up to the task? Judging by what I’ve seen and heard thus far, I’d have to say the answer is a resounding “NO!”
Christine O’Donnell may see herself as a culture warrior, but warriors generally engage in behavior that means winner takes all and losers get what’s left. The US Senate is no place for a culture warrior. Period. I hope the voters of Delaware will send that message in a convincing manner that leaves no room for doubt.
