I think "Pit of Blackness" would make a wonderful name for a store.
If this is the store a friend told me about, zoom on over. Everything is half-off! Cha-ching!
A related trend is what has happened with Venus magazine.
Formerly a publication for black gay and lesbian community, it's now a magazine designed to:
" ... encourage, educate and assist those who desire to leave a life of homosexuality. Our ultimate mission is to win souls for Christ, and to do so by showing love to all God’s people."
If The Advocate or another BGLT publication were to turn "ex-gay," there would be some press coverage of this change outside the BGLT press.
According to my searching on Google News, there is no mention of this beyond the BGLT press.
If you can beat 'em, buy them out.
So I guess if running a New Age book store makes you go deaf, then I suppose running a porn shop makes you go blind?
Oh well, I would cut her some slack. Going deaf is no fun... look what it did to Limbaugh. She has worse things to run to for comfort than Christianity.
You know I have nothing against the woman for changing her beliefs.
But you can get a huge selection of Christian books at Barnes & Noble and Borders and such, but not very many Pagan books, especially if you're looking for something other than Wicca 101.
And besides there are a lot of New Agey Christians- one of our local metaphysical stores has a whole section on Christian/Jewish mysticism, Gnosticism and such. But I think a lot of churches and Christian orgs don't know how to cater to them, or assume they're "wrong".
I live in clarksville. I used to shop here. I will never set foot in the store again after reading the articles. If you want to know how some of the pagans feel, check out the new reviews at yahoo local:
http://local.yahoo.com/details;
_...scb=KY2A.FW7cri
After the article came out, most of us went and changed our reviews to reflect the emotions generated by the article. I think that the article was crap and her attitude is one of the many reasons that apparently the Inquisition is not over. Implying that associating with and selling to Pagans caused her illness...what's next, I caused the cow to run dry? Anyways, almost every single Pagan I know now refuses to shop here for any reason and our friends Pagan, Christian, or other have chosen to do the same.
The old store, before it was bought and turned into a cafe/store had the right way of things. I never could feel comfortable in the new store because it felt unbalanced. I am glad that Ms. Clark has found what she believes is her path and it makes her happy. I hope her life improves and she is happier then in the past.
I just wish some of the words in the article that was written wasn't so hurtful to a community and a belief system. It's equally upsetting to have her state that her Christian friends excepted her when she went on her spiritual journay but now she has found God, the non-Christian friends (i.e. pagans, wiccans, witches) are being upset about the changes of her and the store. I hope someday she realizes it's not the religion or the store that has people hurt. It's the words and her actions towards them. No one likes to be hinted at being negative and wrong and then they are told they are uncaring. No one likes to have someone tell them one thing on the reason of changes and then state something different for the whole city in the paper..people are hurt and betrayed by her words..not by her religion or her store.
Really sad how this once lil' store that made a bridge between beliefs is now a center of this hub-bub.
It is sad that a local store would change over. Having been a patron, it was nice to have a handy place to shop, but most importantly, a nice place to congregate. There is an alternative to driving to Nashville in Gaelic Dreams in Hopkinsville, KY that has supplies and books and there is the plethora of on line sites to shop at. Having a nice place to do classes and meet will be what is missed most.
As a wiccan still working in ‘the store’ as a software consultant and office systems person, and being a transsexual, I have not had any negative comments or actions.
As with most changes there has been bad things said on both sides of the religious boundaries. We need to respect the decisions of others and move on. Lets not give in to our emotions and hold true to our principles. Set the example of tolerance and let the other side show their stereotypes.
Blessed Be Amber
For awhile we frequently drove to Clarksville from Paducah, KY, to shop at Body, Mind, & Spirit because we have no New Age or Pagan stores in our area (overrun with fundamentalist Christians). The last time I went in, I knew something was different; it felt so oppressive in there that I knew there had to be a Holy Bible around somewhere. What a shame that Suzie really thinks hanging around with people who practice natural healing methods, worship the creative force, and hold dear the vow to "harm none" are dark. She'll be hard-pressed to lure them away from bigger stores like BAM, Barnes & Noble, and Lifeway. Good luck, Suzie. We wish you no harm, but I fear you've cut off your nose to spite your face.
pagan has break down becomes christian at the end result celebration and news articles,,, Christian has breakdown and at the end result becomes pagan, exorcists are called.....Strange the way the world works
If anyone is still interested, there is a whole new blog from March 25 that was posted on this same subject, with an entry by me - Annette Cunningham's daughter. If anyone out there cares to know what our family might think of this, check it out:
http://www.wildhunt.org/2007/03/...ning-
dream.html
Or the letter directly from me, to anyone ever involved:
http://www.wildhunt.org/
andiecun...cunningham.html
Thanks!
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