Reply #122: Uh, no.

[Chovexani]

Wiccans and other Pagans in the US have repeatedly had children taken away by the state for no damn reason other than being Pagan. I've seen it happen over and over again. Scenario one: Mom and Dad are Pagan, Grandma and Grandpa are bible-thumping fundie Christians and the grandparents spin spurious SRA bullshit about the parents' religion, saying it harms the child. Depending on the locality they're successful in getting the kid taken away. Scenario two: a nosy neighbor peeks over the fence and witnesses a Wiccan ritual, doesn't know wtf it's about and starts freaking out because they've seen too many bad horror movies. CPS is called. An overzealous fundie social worker sees "Satanic" materials in the home and goes ape. Kids are taken away. I can go on and on, but all you really need to do is look on Google and you'll find dozens of cases like that. Or #3, the most common one: Pagan couple splits up because the ex finds Jesus, and talks a lot of shit about "cultic rituals" and the like to paint the Pagan as a bad parent. More often than not, they're believed, and they get full custody. I've personally seen all three of these scenarios play out, and not all of them ended well.

Stuff like this happens less now than it used to, but with enough frequency that it's still a very real fear, especially in the Bible Belt.