Great News!?

Question

Yay! i found other Wiccans in my small town in rural Illinois!
although it's only two others i'm sure there are more (and one is a Wiccan Mother! ^_^ she has cute little kids) still it's cool that i'm not the only wiccan in Flora.

Now i was wondering how i can start a Pagan Pride Celebration in a christian community???

See every year this town is host to a HUGE celebration called "Jesus Day" and i thought since we can have a christian day then we should have a pagan day too, right?

so how could i get this started? (and i have all of this year to plan, it's too cold to have a celebration now)

I am serious, and i'm NOT trying to tick anyone off.

I would like to have a pagan pride day because i have found over 200 people in my town that claim a 'Pagan' religion.
(I talked about three wiccans, i said nothing about only three pagans)

There is over 1500 people in my town, and i KNOW that we have to have more than just 200 pagans.
I would like to bring them into the light, they should be proud of their religion.
besides from the people that i have talked to allot would like to have some type of pagan event here.

Answer 1

Contact your local chamber of commerce and apply for a parade permit. If your town is too small for a chamber, contact the sheriff's office.

Are you going to hire the ACLU and sue when people show up to protest, too? Then the ACLU will throw tons of money and fancy lawyers at this small town and the town will be forced to either fund parades for every religion in the world or cancel Jesus Day. So the huge celebration, which is a cause for much joy and happiness in this little town will be canceled. And then everyone in the town will have their traditions and wishes and good times trampled on by two Wiccans who wanted to have a parade.

Did I sum it up well enough?

EDIT - The nature of the question as I understood it dictated a snide answer. I don't think he's really interested in actually having a pagan pride day, I think he just wants to upset and tick off the people in his town and the people on this board. So I simply carried his rant to the next level.
If you are serious about planning an event, why include the information about Jesus Day?

EDIT EDIT - If you're serious, then I apologize. I was earnest in my beginning suggestions, you're going to need permits if you want to have a parade in any incorporated area or state highway or public land. I think you should be welcomed to celebrate what you believe, as long as you allow others the same freedom.

Answer 2

Ignore the people who are putting you down.

To me, the biggest problem is that with only three Wiccans, you simply don't have the staff to run a Pagan Pride day (and Pagan Pride days are run in LOTS of other towns without the confusion and calamity that Last Ent Wife is so snidely suggesting would come about). You might try finding still more Pagans in your area through the Witches of the World section at Witchvox:

http://www.witchvox.com/xvn.html

Just use the pull-down menus on the left to find individuals, groups, shops, and events in your area.

Best of luck to you! :-)

EDITED TO ADD: If in a town of 1500 people you have 200 Pagans, you are WAY above the per capita average already.

I mean way, WAY above. I live in a city of 650,000 people, and our Pagan Pride days pull out 400, tops.

Answer 3

From what I've seen there are some christians who think it's just fine for politics and religion to mix, as long as it's their religion.

Having "Jesus Day" opens the door for all other religions, including yours. If you have to involve outside help, go for it. With any luck, they'll do away with "Jesus Day." If not, your "Pagan Pride Celebration" might bring more pagans to your town because they'll feel welcome.

Answer 4

Be ready for a massive ammount of BS comming your way, including the impact it may hav on your job, family, it really happens ya know :)
first find out if theres more than like 3 of you, then ask them all if there willing to put them selves in that kinda spot light.
after that contact the Yarrow coven they run the st louis pagan picnic they might have a lot of good advice for you.
good luck
and if nothing else have a privet pagan picnic celebration.

Answer 5

The april 1st jokes remind me of the parable of the flanders'.
now whose laughing, now whose laughing. - pagan Simpson family

Go pagans, fight the power!!!.
Learn from the Darwin <><(Evolve)

Answer 6

sooner or later a poor old lady got here across a dollar and with that dollar she offered a lottery value ticket. She won the lottery! She offered a house and a canine. She mentioned to herself, "What ought to I call my domicile?" and she or he regarded around and she or he observed a guy mooning her so she desperate to call her domicile "Butt" Then she mandatory a recognition for her canine. So she regarded around and observed a crack domicile so she named her canine "Crack". sooner or later a pair of month later she awoke and could no longer discover her canine. She regarded everywhere in the domicile and she or he could no longer discover it everywhere! So finally she pronounced as the police officers and mentioned, "Police please help me i've got regarded throughout my Butt yet i can not discover my Crack!" :P

Answer 7

:)

I think between 22 -25 December is the good one.


peace

Answer 8

Here you go, Bobby:
http://www.paganpride.org/

Answer 9

April 1st. You know ALL FOOLS DAY.
For the fool has said in his heart there is no God.<><

Answer 10

April 1st is a good day to have it!