Features

Readers Respond to Pagan Parade Coverage

Tuesday June 01, 2004

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I appreciated that your paper’s coverage of the Berkeley Pagan Parade (“Pagans on Parade Cavort in Downtown Berkeley,” Daily Planet, May 18-20). However I felt that focusing at least half of the article on a little Christian group giving out water, and not on the actual Pagans (which, by the way, should be capitalized out of respect, just like Christianity and Hinduism) and what their parade was even about. Turning one of the few times in a year that (minority) Pagans can come into the spotlight into yet another excuse to write about (dominant) Christians is very unfortunate. Not only that, but the article not-so-subtly compares the gentle Christian act of giving water to hypothetical Pagan orgies and animal sacrifice; this is downright insulting innuendo, and utterly unprofessional in the extreme.  

Also, why must Pagans “cavort” when they have a parade? If it were a Catholic parade, would your journalists say they were “cavorting”? Or imply that one should expect to see Jews being tortured (as they were by Catholics centuries ago)? Of course not! And why? Because such innuendoes would be very offensive and insulting to Catholics. Yet your paper seems to think it’s perfectly fine to say and imply similar things to Pagans. 

Please show our religion the same respect you show the dominant ones in our country and keep these things in mind when your paper next covers a Pagan activity. 

Brett Lowry 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I assume Richard Brenneman’s article on the Interfaith Pagan Pride Parade and Celebration was an attempt to narrate a visitor’s experiences of the festival. However, Mr. Brenneman did resort to gratuitous negatives and common biases in order to define the event. I quote “paganism... nowhere defined in event literature,” “no animals (or humans) were offered up as sacrifices,” and “no temple prostitutes and no orgies” and “only equivalent of the “All-Seeing Eye was the tripod-mounted video camera... atop the tower of old city hall,” and “promoters of ...legalized prostitution (itself a fine old pagan tradition) were restricted to...the elevated plaza...” 

My impression of the event was entirely different. I read the program guide and found a wealth of information. I saw a wholesome celebration of interfaith groups, good selection of arts and crafts, plus marvelous music performances. The “all-seeing eye” happened to be Berkeley Community Media, Berkeley’s own cable TV station, which filmed the festival from various locations including the old city hall tower. Also, proponents of the Berkeley ballot measure on prostitution were not part of the approved pagan pride event, though I did see one unauthorized petition gatherer walking from the adjacent Farmer’s Market into the festival.  

There is already too much divisiveness in the world to add “paganism in Berkeley “ to the roster. I hope the Berkeley Daily Planet will do a followup story, an interview with an event representative, or a retraction regarding the above article. A follow-up would be an ideal opportunity for Berkeley’s premier voice to dispel prejudice and inform the public about modern neo-paganism. 

Gianna Ranuzzi 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

My father, Phillip Potter of the Balitmore Sun, brought me up to respect the profession of journalism, and used to revile “yellow sheet journalism” as an insidious betrayal of the public trust. Your recent article, “Pagans on Parade Cavort in Downtown Berkeley,” is a fine example of the worst sort of journalism. I was there for the entire day, and note that almost every word of Richard Brenneman’s article was spurious, inciteful, and devoid of truth. In this day and age of Christian and Islamic fundamentalism, hate mongering and violence, the last thing we need is journalistic religious intolerance. You owe the organizers of the event, the participants, and the community an apology. Shame on you. 

Susan Potter 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a dedicated reader of the Daily Planet I’m ashamed, disgusted and most of all insulted by your horrible, poorly researched article about The Interfaith Pagan Pride Parade. As an independent paper you require the support of your community, and you managed to disrespect a large number of us with this article. If you continue to publish this kind of garbage your going to see your support base start slipping away. I will never read the Daily Planet again, you are a disgrace to Berkeley and all that it stands for. Fundamentalist would be (and I’m sure are) proud! 

With regret and disdain, 

Caitlyn Powell 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am personally offended by the article by Richard Brenneman on Pagan Pride Day in Berkeley. I am a Pagan myself and attended the event. I found it peaceful and a celebration of religions that are fairly new and religions that predate Christianity and not the prostitution peddling festival of tax evasion evil that Mr. Brenneman made it out to be. The way the article was written reveals his ignorance and bigotry of the pagan community. 

I was really offended by his contrasting of the Christians who dispense free water (which was much appreciated) and the vendors at the event. He made no mistake portraying the scene like the pagans are a bunch of tax evading, religion peddling misfits and the water dispensing Christians as an island of righteousness in a sea of sinfulness. 

I will not put up with this and will be distributing the article among other pagans as far as I can reach. I will be encouraging them to not read the Berkeley Daily Planet and it’s affiliates until a full page apology is made. 

I have to congratulate Mr. Brenneman and the Berkeley Daily Planet on offending an entire religious community that practices nothing but love of each other, the earth and love of peace with his venom. If that’s what was intended, it has been done. 

Stephanie Jones 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding your article on the Pagan Parade: What a poor excuse for journalism. And, to assign blame where blame is due, what a lazy, irresponsible editorial choice to allow this story to run as written. Certainly the cynical, world-weary, sarcastically tongue-in-cheek ap-proach to writing has its place, and one has to look no further than the East Bay Express and the Bay Guardian to find countless examples of this style, in which informative content is wholly subsumed by attitude. Until now, I’ve viewed the Daily Planet as a publication with a sincere interest in serving the Berkeley community. Mr. Brenneman’s approach to his reportage of the parade, however, reveals a complete lack of interest in his subject matter, as well as an arbitrary, mean-spirited willingness to cast the volunteer efforts of a large group of community-minded participants in a negative light. 

As someone who has regularly volunteered my own time as a professional musician to help with fundraising events for the Parade, it pisses me off no end to see the efforts of a talented, hard-working community of people dismissed out of hand as nothing more than selfish, immoral, parasitic indulgence. I pity the journalist who refuses to do even the minimum of research on his subject in order to free his sarcastic “wit” to function unencumbered by the facts. Brenneman is no Steve Rubenstein or Dave Barry, but if that’s the type of writing he aspires to, maybe you should give him a column — that way, your readers won’t mistake him for an actual reporter. 

Mark Ungar 

San Francisco 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I found your article “Pagans on Parade” by Richard Brenneman to be really lame and disrespectful. Why does he delight in criticizing the hard work and positive energy of others? Here we have a group of people singing, dancing, drumming, and adding beauty to Berkeley, and the only good thing he has to say is about someone who wasn’t part of the event (the Christian dispersing water). As a pagan, and a druid, I found his denegration of the celebration of my faith to be completely inappropriate. Does he walk by Bar Mitzvahs and find things to mock about the celebrants? Get a clue, dude! 

Here’s hoping he sleeps well at night with the comforting thought that 1,500 witches are pissed off at him. 

Sweet dreams! 

Kira Westfall 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was shocked that a city with the reputation for fairness that Berkeley used to enjoy would cover an event as all-inclusive and supportive of minorities as the Pagan Pride Parade with such poor journalism and unfairness. 

A large portion of the feature was devoted to how Christians were dispensing “the living water” of Christ, while nowhere did the Planet’s intrepid reporter get to the heart of what paganism is all about. 

An article of this nature might have been appropriate on the op-ed page, or better yet in a Christian newspaper. The Planet is apparently turning Moonie. 

John Koenig 

former Berkeley resident 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was extremely disappointed by the May 18 article by Richard Brenneman entitled “Pagans on Parade Cavort in Downtown Berkeley.” I have never attended the parade. I heard about the event on KPFA and in the SF Bay Guardian. I support events that attempt to build bridges between spiritual communities, particularly in these extremely troubled times. I was hoping to read a comprehensive article in your paper describing the events of the day. Instead I found an article that was heavily biased and extremely disrespectful in tone. 

Except for his section on the Christian group, Mr. Brenneman repeatedly utilized gross stereotype to frame his so-called report. I was touched and enjoyed the reporter’s description of the Christian group offering water. Curiously there were no other attempts to personalize other less mainstream participants at the parade. I can only assume that Mr. Brenneman was unable to maintain the objectivity required of a reporter when he went on this assignment. I am puzzled that his editors were unable to recognize the manifest problems with this story. I hope that in the future the Daily Planet will be more careful about whom they assign to write and edit such stories. Please let me know how the Daily Planet intends to proceed in this matter. Thank you. 

Megan Evart 

Concord 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

Becky O’Malley’s editorial, “Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us” in the May 25 edition, cuts to the crux of the matter. The point of Richard Brenneman’s piece “Pagan’s Parade...” in fact was to “poke gentle fun” at those with whom your paper does not purportedly agree on a religious basis. But his piece—however innocently intended—had missed its mark, as did her support for it. 

What makes Garrison Keillor’s prodding at Lutherans, Unitarians, Catholics, etc., humorous and effective is that Keillor makes his living as a humorist. Perhaps more importantly, Keillor makes clear his own beliefs in God, and with his one foot on that ground, he allows an audience or a reader see him as a part of his joke, rather than apart from it. 

Mark Twain’s letters regarding Mormons and Christian evangelicals to the journal Alta California were simply that: letters.  

While objectivity is a goal difficult to achieve by any writer, it is the goal of a journalist. Based on previously authored articles, I’ve been under the impression that Mr. Brenneman is a journalist, and therefore, follows basic journalistic principles. One of which is to offer a fair and balanced report. 

Brenneman’s Pagan article had other intentions and was inappropriate for the main body of your newspaper. Its placement did nothing short of alienating a harmless group of people at a harmless gathering. The article would have better served the readership as an editorial opinion, a review or column. 

For Brenneman to willingly show bias in an inappropriate format is self-indulgent. To then to be supported by a top executive, whose tone is to trivialize the matter, is patronizing, and it leaves the Berkeley Daily Planet and its journalists suspect in their endeavors to serve the community as something more than just a self-aggrandizing vehicle for advertisers. 

Bob Ferrer 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read an article that greatly disturbed me, and I wanted to bring this to your attention. 

There was a gathering In Berkely, and it was covered and written with such disdain for the Pagan Society, I and my fellow sisterhood and brotherhood of witches and pagans are appalled, that you would allow this inflammatory article to be written. I understand freedom of speech, however this goes far beyond that, and I would only hope you will take a closer look at this article and justify why you would think this article was written fairly and without prejudice. 

I am proud to call my self a Witch.. I am Pagan, and I for one take extreme exception to your article sir. Who ever wrote this should indeed be careful that they have not set them selves up for slander and libel. 

Freedom of Religion, means all religions... 

Safyre Witch 

 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m certainly enjoying the flap over the humorous coverage of the pagan/interfaith parade. I believe we readers are entitled to assume that the pagans, if sincere about defending their dignity should insist that the writer, Richard Brenneman, be either ritually cursed, sent to hell, or burned at the stake. 

Carol Denney 

 

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