On June 25th, 2008, Kathy Lee Gifford called Pagans “…the nasty, bad pagans…” on the Today show. Regardless of whether it was Kathy Lee Gifford (a non-respected person) or Katie Couric (a very respected former member of the Today Show, what was said was still rude, thoughtless, tasteless and deserved a public apology ON THE TODAY SHOW, nationally broadcasted. I am a pagan, and I took great offense to that careless remark from that ignorant, washed up, twit Kathy Lee Gifford. If she had made a remark like that about christians, the whole country would be in an uproar, and an apology would have been formally issued the very next Today Show, at the latest, if not during that show. She went past politically correct, through faux pas and straight into INSULT. There was no cause for that remark, and even if she was trying to be funny it failed miserably, touching on such a controversial subject as religion like that.

This “nasty, bad” pagan is quite upset! That is defamation of character, and grounds for a lawsuit against the Today Show. Not only did that upset me, but it hurt me. I have been fighting comments like that for nearly my whole life. My mother is also Pagan, and she was offended as well. Many of the people that I call my friends, people that I talk to are Pagans as well. None of us are “nasty” or “bad”.

If that horrible woman knew anything about Pagans, she wouldn’t have said those things. Unless, as I think is true, she is an opinionated, closed-minded woman with an unjust prejudice against religions other than her own.

Below in the articles, you can find several versions of the video clip of Kathy Lee Gifford’s thoughtless, rude insult to Pagans all across the globe.

Here are some other articles regarding this outrageous insult:

Kathie Lee Gifford owes Pagans an

Apology

Courtesy of: Newsvine

News Type: Event — Fri Jun 27, 2008 2:03 PM EDT
religion
Shirley L.

 

Kathie Lee, you spoke the other day without any regard to the “modern day” Pagan Community. Your comments, at our expense, were completely without merit and flatly and categorically denied by the Pagan Community. Did you even know that there was a modern day Pagan Community? I am filled with great pride and respect for the Pagans who came before me who paved the way for me to write this article in a public forum, for all to see, without fear of retribution.

 

Before you cast aspersions for our ilk, perhaps you may wish to know who we are. We are teachers, doctors, lawyers, common folk. We are Nielson raters, we are consumers, we are boycotters, picketers, and voters. We are your neighbors, your police officers, your service men and women. We cry, we feel, we bleed and we reason. It is unthinkable that you would choose the same words to use toward Christians, even given their violent histories, is it not? Yet, you never batted an eye lash when you chose your words to cast disparaging shadows upon Pagans.

 

Be mindful that we are everywhere and we matter. If not to you, to one another. A sincere apology would be in order, but better still, an education on what precisely a Pagan is, may be a better way for you to make amends. Educate yourself so that you might educate others. Consider who we are before casting your aspersions upon our community. Some of us died for your freedoms. Sargent Patrick Stewart - Brave to the end, died in the war and our government was attempting to thwart his grieving widow’s ability to place a pentacle upon his head stone. Why? For the same reason you didn’t bat an eye lash. Sargent Stewart was not a “nasty” Pagan, when he placed his own life down for your’s and mine, equally. Suppose that were your son, Cody? The shoe on the other foot pinches, does it not?

 

An apology, please.

 

Pagan News: Kathy Lee Gifford’s

“Pagan Comment”

Courtesy of: WordPress

 

I found this interesting. In this video clip , Kathy Lee Gifford , a (minor? I’d never heard of her) American television show host/actress makes a comment about “The pagans, the nasty, bad, pagans…”

 

I have to say, the choice of language is a little… sad. As a NeoPagan, and a proud one at that, I’m agreeing with Jason Pitzl-Waters and saying that, personally, I’m really not offended, and not just because her manner of “insulting” us is by calling us “nasty” and “bad”. If I was, say, four, then yes, perhaps I would be offended. But as it stands, I have to say that I disagree with (and find a little sad) the reaction of the general NeoPagan community, who are stating that Gifford’s comment, clearly not thought out, amounts to “hate speech”.

 

Why are we offended by the remarks of a woman who is clearly of sub-par intellect? Are we really that desperate to “prove” our persecution by secular society that we find it necessary to voice (over)reactionary, knee-jerk responses? Why are we wasting time trying to protest this stupidity, when there are plenty of real cases of discrimination occurring every day?

 

I agree that all discriminatory comments, no matter how stupid they are, are unacceptable. That doesn’t mean I’m going to take to court the next idiot who tells me that my religion isn’t real/valid. There’s such a thing as choosing your battles (I can think of better ones, the case of legal and political discrimination in the UK for a start), and I really don’t think these calls to petition and letter-write in order to try and “make” Gifford apologise to NeoPagans are the best use of our time and effort. We’d be better off fighting the more pressing issues of legal, political or religious discrimination, like that mentioned above, or trying to better our image in the public eye by promoting ourselves as rational human beings, rather than reactionary extremists who fly off the handle at the first signs of criticism (as is true of all extremist factions of any religion). Ring talkback radio shows and point out that perhaps Gifford’s television coaches should provide her with a better vocabulary, since she’s clearly not going to bother learning anything about what she’s talking about.

 

 

Thank You, Kathy Lee Gifford

Courtesy of: WitchVox

Author: Sandy Lareau [a WitchVox Sponsor]
Posted: July 1st. 2008
Times Viewed: 6,185

On Wednesday, 25 June 2008, Kathy Lee Gifford expressed her opinion about pagans. It wasn’t very good. In fact, she called us nasty, bad pagans. At approximately minute 4:40 in the segment, you can hear her reading options off a card and she stated, “Pagans … the nasty, bad pagans believed it was bad luck to carry metal on your right side.”

She called us nasty, bad pagans on the Today show, a nationally broadcast program. I was actually shocked.

You can view it here .

I was so shocked that I wrote an email to the Today staff. I kept it respectful but strong. In my email, I asked that they have Ms. Gifford issue an apology. In another part of my email, I asked what they thought would happen if Ms. Gifford had said, “Jews … the nasty, bad Jews believed it was bad luck to carry metal…” She’d probably be slapped with a lawsuit so hard that her ancestors would say, “ouch!”

I’m worried that the Today show will do nothing.

I’m worried that they will do nothing because we don’t have a public voice. I’m worried that she will issue some lame statement saying that she was referring to some obscure ancient sect or some other nonapology-apology. I’m afraid it will get buried on an obscure Today show Webpage. They can slander us nationally, but they tend to apologize quietly and without ceremony.

Look at what happened last year when the Lady Liberty League won Wiccan veterans the right to have pentacles on their headstones. Nothing that the Lady Liberty League does makes national news, but it should. That win was a huge, huge win for us!

So, how do we stand up to this most recent slander? It’s difficult when so many of us are “in the broom closet.” We’re afraid to stand out and stand up and protest in public because we might lose our jobs. Our kids. Our good standing in the communities in which we live. We are not heard because not enough of us speak out publicly because we are afraid of retaliation and negative retribution. I’m just as guilty as the rest.

I think something is changing, though. I think I’m starting to get more pissed off than afraid. I’m starting to think that maybe being out wouldn’t be so bad. People know me as a hard working, responsible citizen. Without shoving it down their throats, could I also be known as a pagan? Could I make a difference in their opinions of us? When I volunteer at the women’s shelter, should I let my pentacle hang out of my shirt? What if we all did just a little bit?

I don’t know, friends. I’m starting to believe that I’ve been hiding too long. I’m starting to think that we deserve to be out. We deserve to be open about our religions. We deserve to be apologized to when slandered on national television.

I’m starting to believe that it would be OK to lose my job for something I believe in so strongly. I don’t want to lose my job. I can probably get another job. But, I’m really established in my job. Do you go around in circles like this, too?

I’m guilty of hiding. I’m guilty of being afraid.

I WANT to swear to you, that from this day forward, I will hide no longer. I’m afraid to swear it. I want to wear my most tasteful pentacle to work. I’m afraid to wear it. I want to talk openly and casually with my colleagues about everything, including religion. I’m afraid I won’t get promoted when they find out that I am a Wiccan. And what will the customer think?

I’ve been keeping my religion hidden at work so that I do not offend anyone. Why am I doing that? Christians wear their crosses, Jewish men wear their Yamakas, and Shiite men wear turbans and the women veils. None of them worry about offending anyone. They are true to themselves. Why is it not ok for us to be true to ourselves?

I want to be out.

Goddess Mother, please help me find the strength to be out, to be respected for my differences as I respect others for theirs, and to be appreciated for my courage. I want to put my face out there for the whole world to see! Work is just going to have to deal with the fact that they have a witch on staff. That’s it.

I’m going to put my face on my column in the next issue of the magazine. I’m going to wear my pentacle to work once in a while. I’m going to do it, yes, but I’m going to do it slowly. I don’t want shock value, I want acceptance. I’m making a commitment to you, dear reader, and to myself. I’m coming out.

I’m going to get up really early and call the Today show on Monday (they’re on the east coast, I’m on the west coast). I’m going to try to find out just exactly what they plan to do about this, and I’m going to try to get a telephone interview with Jim Bell, the Executive Producer. Why not? Why have a magazine if I’m not going to use it to help the community?

Thank you, Ms. Gifford, for helping me get off my tush and for motivating me to make a positive change, and to stand up to you and people like you. Thank you Lord and Lady for giving me the courage to try to create positive change for the pagan community!

What about you? Will you join me? Will you help me stand up to people like Kathy Lee Gifford? Will you try to be more “out?” Please let me know what you think and what you plan to do by sending me an email: editor@modernwitchmagazine.com.

Blessings and best regards,

Sandy Lareau

 

 

 

If you are even half as

outraged as I am, please

go here to sign the

petition to NBC for a

formal apology. Thank

you.

 

 

 

 

As always, thanks for listening, Y’all!!

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