Buffy works for the Devil!

[Themightytom]

I thought this article was hysterical but relevant, it touches upon a lot of the issues commonly discussed here, such as the prominence of women in religion, personal relevance, etc.

Buffy’s unholy alliance

By Melissa Hank


2008-08-26

‘Vampire Slayer’ made women abandon church
Not only did Buffy Summers slay vampires with the greatest of ease, but she also decimated Britain’s female church-going population – at least, so says a new study.

According to a British report cited in the Telegraph, an estimated 50,000 women are quitting the church each year because of the sci-fi series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The study claims that during the past 20 years the women deserted their congregations because they feel that the church was no longer relevant to their lives.

Instead, women are turning to the pagan religion Wicca, in which females are prominent. Wicca has been portrayed positively in the past decade through media such as the TV series Charmed (1998-2006), the film The Craft (1996) and the Harry Potter franchise.

Heck, even the 1960s TV series Bewitched made Wicca seem enchanting, what with its simplistic plots, cheery laugh track and adorable baby witch, Tabitha Stephens.

“Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” said the report’s author, Dr. Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby.

"Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church.”

The report comes at a key time for Christians in Britain. Last month their ruling body voted to let women become bishops for the first time, but traditionalists warn that the move will devastate the church population if it goes ahead.

“Women’s ordination, as priests and now bishops, has dominated debate and headlines – but while looking at women in the pulpit we have taken our eyes off the pews, where a shift with more consequences for the church’s survival is underway,” said Aune.

Her research, published in the book Women and Religion in the West, cites an English Church census which found more than a million women have abandoned churches since 1989.

What’s more, it claims women have bid churches farewell at double the rate of men in the past decade.

The Church of England declined to comment.

Sarah Michelle Gellar played the titular character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 1997-2003.

[Themightytom]

bleh i forgot to add the "I don't care" option

[Darth Wong]

Where's the source?

[Lagmonster]

Not that it makes a religion any more or less ridiculous, but I say people learning about Wicca from episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is only the first step in a broader amusement. Let's start equipping missionaries with copies of Arnold Schwartzenegger's End of Days to teach people about Christianity, too.

[General Zod]

It's hilarious that they're blaming the reduction of church-goers on a TV show rather than actually admitting that it just might be their own abrasive or restrictive policies that are causing it and simply can't retain members.

According to a British report cited in the Telegraph, an estimated 50,000 women are quitting the church each year because of the sci-fi series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Minor nitpick, since when is Buffy Sci-fi?

[Alerik the Fortunate]

When religious fairy tales are considered the equivalent of science.

[Themightytom]

Where's the source?

Whoops my bad:
http://tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca/TVNews/ ... s_women_MH

incidently when I googled enough of the article to find it again I found it on Bureau42, their title was "Buffy the Anglican Slayer"

[Themightytom]

Minor nitpick, since when is Buffy Sci-fi?

Sci Fi is starting to include a LOT of wierd stuff, Dragons (Thank you Anne McCaffrey, and more recently Animal Planet??) Ghosts (Ghostbusters) and Vampires (Blade)

I think at some point the Sci Fi Channel recalibrated the genre for us when they add anime, Fantasy movies, Wrestling, ghost hunters and of course anime.

At least Ghost Busters made a reasonable attempt at approaching the occult from a scientific perspective, but it still generated a humorous tongue in cheek universe. Blade tried it a little more seriously with the virus and what not but fell short of explaining a host of other things, and the Anne McCaffrey universe is more wishful thinking sci fi that masquerades as fantasy at first.

Entertainment media has a pretty amazing ability to alter our standards and perceptions, thats why I added the "Fiction IS religion" option. people following crap like charmed, Smallville or the harry potter movies get REALLY into it, and start doing little ceremonies and such.

[Dorsk 81]

Where's the source?

A quick google points to TVGuide.ca and the original article at Telegraph.co.uk. As for the actual report, I can't seem to find it.

Both articles sound pretty stupid though. Buffy's not the reason, Harry Potter (which I'm pretty sure has fuck all to do with Wicca anyway) isn't the reason, nor is Charmed. It's that they feel the church isn't relevant to their lives, it's oppressive nature, and probably the lack of judgemental hellfire & brimstone bullshit in Wicca. Although I can't see an article entitled "Women Leave Church Because It's Irrelevant, Oppressive And Misogynistic" going down to well.

[Molyneux]

Instead, women are turning to the pagan religion Wicca, in which females are prominent. Wicca has been portrayed positively in the past decade through media such as the TV series Charmed (1998-2006), the film The Craft (1996) and the Harry Potter franchise.

Heck, even the 1960s TV series Bewitched made Wicca seem enchanting, what with its simplistic plots, cheery laugh track and adorable baby witch, Tabitha Stephens.

No. No, no, NO, no, fucking NO! How wrong can you get? Those two series have less to do with Wicca than they do with green skin and a severe fear of water.

[Zixinus]

An idiot raving idiotic things. Nothing new here people, move on.

According to a British report cited in the Telegraph, an estimated 50,000 women are quitting the church each year because of the sci-fi series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Buffy? A sci-fi series? What the fuck is this guy smoking?

"Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church.”

Since when were they imagined?

Both articles sound pretty stupid though. Buffy's not the reason, Harry Potter (which I'm pretty sure has fuck all to do with Wicca anyway) isn't the reason, nor is Charmed. It's that they feel the church isn't relevant to their lives, it's oppressive nature, and probably the lack of judgemental hellfire & brimstone bullshit in Wicca. Although I can't see an article entitled "Women Leave Church Because It's Irrelevant, Oppressive And Misogynistic" going down to well.

Pretty much my opinion, what I just want to add: they want to blame it on Buffy, Charmed and Harry Potter, because if they don't, they would have to find fault within the Church. You can guess how that well would work.

[General Zod]

No. No, no, NO, no, fucking NO! How wrong can you get? Those two series have less to do with Wicca than they do with green skin and a severe fear of water.

Most people know about as much of Wicca as they do Christianity anyway. Which means they wind up assigning whatever feel good bullshit they think sounds pleasant to it that may or may not be true in order to convince themselves they're a member of that belief system.

[CorSec]

According to a British report cited in the Telegraph, an estimated 50,000 women are quitting the church each year because of the sci-fi series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The study claims that during the past 20 years the women deserted their congregations because they feel that the church was no longer relevant to their lives.

Major nitpick: Women have been leaving the church since before Buffy was a reality. (Motion picture, 1992, series 1997.)

And to call Bewitched "wicca" is laughable. That show had as much to do with religion as Tool Time had to do with tools. (Show within a show reference intended.)

Women are leaving the church for the simple reason, as stated in the article: "Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church." The Anglican church is not meeting their needs, is not keeping up with the progressive march of the secular society. American Christian booksellers are bending themselves in knots to make the message of Christ relevant to the modern woman while at the same time suggesting that they are wrong.

[mr friendly guy]

I find it interesting people switch because of its restrictive policies (understandable, but not completely logical) more so than because they don't believe in its deity. After all, if you believe in Gawd but want to leave his chosen church, doesn't that just set you up for one way ticket to hell.

This type of thinking smacks of an appeal to consequence fallacy to me, but I guess since people happily apply this line of thinking to science (I don't like being related to apes or if global warming is real we would have to stop polluting as much, so its fake), I guess I can find amusement in that this pseudo logic is being used against religion as well.

[Invictus ChiKen]

No. No, no, NO, no, fucking NO! How wrong can you get? Those two series have less to do with Wicca than they do with green skin and a severe fear of water.

It doesn't help the Oberon Zell-Ravenheart one of the founders of modern Wicca as we know it as founded the Grey School of Wizardry. http://www.greyschool.com/]Link

Complete with four Houses and four Lodges. Just look on there page and tell me you do not see Hogwarts four Houses reflected there.

They publish a Grimore that blatantly plagiarizes Rowling. An while claiming to be just about magic without a religion the Wiccan bias is impossible to escape.

Wiccan Holidays, Wiccan interpretation of the Runes, Gods and Goddess that are most popular among Wiccans ect.[/url]

[General Zod]

It doesn't help the Oberon Zell-Ravenheart one of the founders of modern Wicca as we know it as founded the Grey School of Wizardry. http://www.greyschool.com/]Link

Complete with four Houses and four Lodges. Just look on there page and tell me you do not see Hogwarts four Houses reflected there.

They publish a Grimore that blatantly plagiarizes Rowling. An while claiming to be just about magic without a religion the Wiccan bias is impossible to escape.

Wiccan Holidays, Wiccan interpretation of the Runes, Gods and Goddess that are most popular among Wiccans ect.[/url]

What the fuck? Where the fuck are you getting your information from? Gerald Gaerdner is generally considered the primary influence of modern Wicca, which has been around in some form or another since the 1920s. The clown in your link sounds like some lameass "neo-pagan" wannabe and their site comes off as a joke.

[General Zod]

It doesn't help the Oberon Zell-Ravenheart one of the founders of modern Wicca as we know it as founded the Grey School of Wizardry. http://www.greyschool.com/]Link

Complete with four Houses and four Lodges. Just look on there page and tell me you do not see Hogwarts four Houses reflected there.

They publish a Grimore that blatantly plagiarizes Rowling. An while claiming to be just about magic without a religion the Wiccan bias is impossible to escape.

Wiccan Holidays, Wiccan interpretation of the Runes, Gods and Goddess that are most popular among Wiccans ect.[/url]

What the fuck? Where the fuck are you getting your information from? Gerald Gaerdner is generally considered the primary influence of modern Wicca, which has been around in some form or another since the 1920s. The clown in your link sounds like some lameass "neo-pagan" wannabe and their site comes off as a joke.

Ghetto edit: On further reading it seems he has been around for awhile but holy shit he comes off like a fuckass.

[Invictus ChiKen]

Ghetto edit: On further reading it seems he has been around for awhile but holy shit he comes off like a fuckass.

Yeap as I understand it the big founders of Modern Wicca as we know it are Gardener (supposedly founded the religion as a secret members only deal like the Freemasons)

Raymond Buckland that brought it to America.

Oberon who founded the Church of All Worlds and the magazine Green Egg.

Isaac Bonewits founded the ADF and started the Druid revival.

Well there is a lot more and I'm not even touching on the big female names because I get them mixed up as at least the ones I know have very similar names.

[Invictus ChiKen]

Ghetto Edit:

It was Buckland or Alexander Sanders who opened Wicca to the general Public and Scott Cunningham that started the solitary Wiccan thing.

[sketerpot]

So, the media are finally catching on to the fact that Wicca is actually about stabbing/kissing vampires and saying "wingardium leviosa" and whatever the hell Charmed is about. I fear we won't be able to keep the secret under wraps much longer, unless we make a bluff check.

Quickly, Bloodwolf Færiethorn! Fetch the 20 sided dice and a Drought of Slightly Increased Angst!

[Johonebesus]

Not that it makes a religion any more or less ridiculous, but I say people learning about Wicca from episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is only the first step in a broader amusement. Let's start equipping missionaries with copies of Arnold Schwartzenegger's End of Days to teach people about Christianity, too.

It's more amusing that Harry Potter and Bewitched are cited as positive examples of Wicca. It's up there with saying D&D manuals provide instructions for summoning demons and casting real spells. This is obviously a written by a reactionary kook.

[Kitsune]

On the religious argument side, how many people are probably attracted by those books or movies into Wicca. Makes them see magic as something attractive. That might be their argument.

[Dorsk 81]

Both articles sound pretty stupid though. Buffy's not the reason, Harry Potter (which I'm pretty sure has fuck all to do with Wicca anyway) isn't the reason, nor is Charmed. It's that they feel the church isn't relevant to their lives, it's oppressive nature, and probably the lack of judgemental hellfire & brimstone bullshit in Wicca. Although I can't see an article entitled "Women Leave Church Because It's Irrelevant, Oppressive And Misogynistic" going down to well.

Pretty much my opinion, what I just want to add: they want to blame it on Buffy, Charmed and Harry Potter, because if they don't, they would have to find fault within the Church. You can guess how that well would work.

I may have been wrong about that, the worrying about offending the CoE bit anyway, it might not be the only reason why the Telegraph article at least mentions Buffy before what the study was really saying. I've just been browsing through some of Charlie Brooker's columns from a month of two ago when I read this little snippet from one about online marketing:

For instance, according to the latest Private Eye, journalists writing articles for the Telegraph website are being actively encouraged to include oft-searched-for phrases in their copy. So an article about shoe sales among young women would open: "Young women - such as Britney Spears - are buying more shoes than ever."

So, provided Private Eye's right, it just looks like the original article at the Telegraph popped in mentions of Buffy to get more hits, then the TVGuide website just copied them while laying the blame on more magic related pop culture, regardless of whether it has anything to do with Wicca or not.

[Themightytom]

So, the media are finally catching on to the fact that Wicca is actually about stabbing/kissing vampires and saying "wingardium leviosa" and whatever the hell Charmed is about. I fear we won't be able to keep the secret under wraps much longer, unless we make a bluff check.

Quickly, Bloodwolf Færiethorn! Fetch the 20 sided dice and a Drought of Slightly Increased Angst!

Wow you hsve a talent for hitting all of the nerspots at once, though i'm surprised you didn't through a magic cards reference in for good measure