On September 30, Adirondack Community College (ACC) will sponsor Pagan Pride Day. ACC, located outside Lake George in Queensbury, New York, is part of the State University of New York (SUNY).
Here’s what Catholic League president Bill Donohue had to say:
“ACC Student Association, which is hosting Pagan Pride Day, says the event is free to the public and is designed to be ‘a celebration of religious diversity.’ But nothing is free—New York taxpayers are paying for this event—and a panel on religious diversity that was initially considered will not occur. However, Patricia Telesco will be there, author ofHow to be a Wicked Witch, and so will John Allee, a Satanic priest and founder of the First Church of Satan.
“According to an ACC news release, ‘The purpose of Pagan Pride Day is to support religious tolerance, eliminate prejudice based on religious beliefs,’ and other noble goals. But it is a lie. On the website of the First Church of Satan, Christians are instructed that they can ‘deprogram’ themselves by ‘making fun of religious dogma.’ But before one gets to the FAQ part of the website, a short video pops up on the home page to the tune of Gloria Gaynor’s song, ‘I Will Survive’; a bearded man posing as Jesus dressed in a white robe starts mimicking the words. He then disrobes and struts down a street in a diaper before being hit by a bus.
“Other videos include ‘Gideon Bible Rant,’ a diatribe that shows a picture of the Bible with a sticker on it, ‘Warning! Literal belief in this book may endanger your health and life.’ Then there is ‘Satanic Sexual Vision,’ which features a woman dressed as a nun in a black veil wearing a black bra, black slip and black panties; she is shown masturbating. ‘Do You Take It Up the A–?’ depicts simulated anal sex, but ‘Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis’ is no longer available. This isn’t higher education—it’s an obscene assault on Christianity.”
Contact John J. O’Connor, vice chancellor, john.o’connor@suny.edu, and Thomas F. Egan, chairman of SUNY’s board of trustees, thomas.f.egan@citigroup.com.
