The Pyrrhic Victory Of Darla Kaye Wynn

Great Falls South Carolina. Most people have never heard of it, nor have they ever heard of a woman by the name of Darla Kaye Wynn. But the people of Great Falls South Carolina sure know who she is. She is known in fact, as the local practising witch, and something of a troublemaker, and all around pain in the ass.

Miss Wynn took the city council of Great Falls to court for refusing to stop the practice of including in the sessions a Christian prayer which mentioned the name of Jesus Christ. In fact, the prayers actually seem to have been to this deity, a fact that Darla Kaye, being a Pagan, took great exception to. This lead to her ultimate triumph in the courts, followng a round of appeals. It finally made it-almost-to the Supreme Court itself, but the Cout itself refused to hear the case, which meant the decision of the lower Federal Appellate Court would stand. Darla kaye Wynn had won her suit. But not without great personal pain and sacrifice to herself.

She was threatened, on various occassions, and her animals were killed. Coming home one night, she discovered that one of her caged birds had been killed, it’s head ripped off. Still, she persevered, until her final, to me, pyrrhic victory.

I asked her what the point was. She could certainly find a place more conducive to living her life as she saw fit, but she was adamant. Great Falls was her home and she would refuse to leave it, refuse to be pushed out by these Christian bigots. For a while she became a cause celebre’ in the Wiccan and Pagan community, and for a brief time, there emerged the ridiculous spectacle of her supporters from the religious rights group AREN (Alternative Relious Education Network) encouraging Pagans to travel to the city council meetings of Great Falls South Carolina to show their support. It was suggested that, at the end of the prayer in which Christ was invoked by “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, amen”, the Pagans would then stand, and bow, and answer, “In the name of the Goddess and the God, we pray, so mote it be”- but to otherwise not act in a belligerent or a confrontational fashion toward the denizens of Great Falls. As if this incredibly childish display were not confrontational and belligerent. I don’t know how many, if any, actually showed up to partake in this ill-advised foolishness, I know I did not., nor did I donate money toward this on-going charade.

I am glad the court decisions reached the ultimate conclusions that they did, don’t get me wrong. The point is, this was all so unnecessary, even to the point of being foolsih. Should the people of Great Falls South Dakota have allowed the City Council to invoke the Christian diety in a pulic prayer at a public meeting of public officials? Probably not. Was Darla Kaye Wynn right in objecting, and fighting the court battles in all its manifestations and appeals? Well, technically speaking, yes she was correct, and well within her rights to do so. But that still is not the point.

Like I told her, and like I told the members of the AREN Yahoo e-mail group, which I eventually left in disgust, there comes a time when you have to know how and when to choose your fights wisely. This was neither wise,nor was it necessary. It has fomented an even greater wedge between Pagans and the general Christian community than already existed, at least in this segment of the county where it is well known.For example, it is used as a batterring ram against all Pagans, as evidence that we all hate Christians, and are the enemies of Christ and Christianity. Therefore, we are Anti-Christ, and demon posessed, inspired by Satan, and all the other ignorance by which Wiccans and Pagans are confronted on a daily basis. Darla Kaye Wynn did not help to alleviate this problem, in fact, she exacerbated it.

Nor am I the ony one who feels this way, a good many Pagans have assaulted her in moer vicous ways than I ever could, or would. Some have even gone so far as to accuse her of actually being the one to kill her own animals in order to blame it on her Christian enemies. I would never go that far, without evidence, but by the same token,her actions certainly don’t seem to have taken their welfare into consideration. In fact, her lack of concern for them has been remarkable, to say the least.

Wynn has done some good work on behalf of pagans otherwise. As a member of AREN, she has been at the forefront of advocating for the rights of Wiccans and Pagans in prisons to freely practice their religion. That just makes this debaucle,sad to say, all the more unfortunate. In effect, it sems that this whole charade was a grandstanding effort at self-promotion, on the part of Ms. Wynn, and by extension, by the board of AREN.

Thankfully, in a technical sense, it worked out for the best. And to be sure, thee will come a time when Wiccans and Pagans will have to stand firm and stong to assert our own religous liberties. This, however, seemed to be not so much about asserting our own rights as it was about marginalizing those of others, a perceived enemy who has just been given more ammunition with which to disparage us. It was not the right fight at the right time. And in the long run, it may yet end up costing us dearly.