Re: may acorn, g&pd 6 (somewhat inflammatory)

[David Schroeder <ds4p+@andrew.cmu.edu>]

Excerpts from mail: 2-May-95 Re: may acorn, g&pd 6 (some.. by "Thorpe,
John"@greenvill 
> I agree, I don't want someone passing themselves as an ecclesiastic
> leader of some sort, but I also don't want the public to get the impression
> that we are members of a cult/coven/etc.  A lot of what people think is
> influenced by the TV and newspapers, and the reality is that TV portrays
> people in black cloaks (that aren't preachers) as the "bad guys".
> Master Thomas does not FORBID anyone to wear black, he just asks
> us to avoid wearing it to demos.
> 
> %     And as far as telling ANYONE they can't wear or display a cross or any 
> 
> %     other personal religious object, Brother, you better be ready for the
> %     lawsuit--in America, that's "freedom of religion". You'll get to meet
> %     the ACLU in an OFFICIAL capacity. Atlantia needs THAT a LOT less than
> %     I can ever say.
> 

  You know, running around in black robes in some southern small towns
  might get you mistaken for a Catholic clergy-type, rather than a cultist.
  (I can say this because I grew up in the Appalachian Bible Belt, though
  a bit farther north, in the ridges and valleys of Pennsylvania...).
  Which is not to say that appearing to be CATHOLIC might not be a 
  problem in some small towns.  Remember that the KKK was originally
  anti-Catholic as much as anti-Semitic and anti-black.

  To my mind, learning that the people of the SCA aren't cultists,
  may just be your neighbors, are a heck of a lot of fun, and yes,
  indeed, *are* re-creating mediEVAL times would be an excellent
  learning experience for many people in rural/southern/whatever
  PC-term you want to use for backward and intolerant places in
  America.  Most small towns have _plenty_ of weird people...
  Not as many as Cicely, Alaska, mind you... but lots just the same.

  My small-town boy best -- Bertram