KaliSara and RevKess attempted to tackle a very difficult topic tonight, especially in light of the recent news that one of the Pagan community’s most well known elders has been arrested and charged with 25 counts of possession of child pornography. Yes, that topic. The one that is on everyone’s minds and lips right now. Kenny Klein, author, musician, teacher and friend to many has apparently let the community down. He was arrested on Tuesday 25 March 2014 at his home in New Orleans.
Joining your hosts for the show were Shauna Aura Knight, who is becoming a regular contributor to PMPChannel, and Taylor Ellwood of Immanion Press / Megalithica Books. Shauna is an author, artist, and workshop facilitator. Taylor is an author and the editor-in-chief of Immanion’s non-fiction section.
RELATED LINKS
- Oddly enough, back in late October 2013, Shauna Aura Knight wrote an article for PaganActivist.com covering the topics of sex and ethics in the Pagan world.
- T Thorn Coyle on her blog Know Thyself speaks to the issues of abuse and ethics in a recent posting, as well as shares two stories of Kenny Klein and makes reference to a series she wrote in 2009 on Gavin and Yvonne Frost (Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3).
- Cara Schulz PNC-Minnesota was one of the first Pagan media sources to release a story on the Kenny Klein case.
- Jason Pitzl-Waters of The Wild Hunt also reported.
MUSIC
- Celia – Please Bless This Space – Carry Me Home
- Heartbeat – Earth Air Fire Water – Bloodmoon
- Lia Scallon – Walk in Beauty – The Luminous Pearl
- Jenna Greene – Acceptance – Crossroads
- Celia – Metta Prayer – For the Asking
QUOTES from the PAGAN BLOGOSPHERE
- Taylor Ellwood, writing as the Blog Admin for Immanion Press’s website made this announcement on 27 March 2014: “The Flowering Rod by Pagan Author and Musician Kenny Klein is being pulled from our line of Esoteric Non-Fiction books as a response to the recent news that Kenny Klein has been charged of downloading and sharing child pornography. Mr. Klein has admitted his guilt in this matter, and we do not feel that we can, in good conscience, continue to publish his book. We are removing the book from our line-up effective immediately. At Immanion Press we do not believe in knowingly supporting acts of behavior that violate the Pagan community or how it is represented to the world by our authors. We are committed to publishing books that help the communities we are a part of, but we also believe that any author is a role model and should behave accordingly. We offer our condolences to people who have been effected negatively by this situation or any other actions Mr. Klein has done.”
- Writing about the core values of Immanion Press, Ellwood had this to say: “Our fourth and final responsibility is to ourselves, to make a reasonable profit in publishing books, while also staying true to our values and to the services we provide the communities we are a part of. Our profit should never come before the service we provide our readers, community, or authors, but rather should come about as a natural result of showing that we genuinely care about the welfare of our readers, community, and creative authors and artists.” Read the rest of the blog posting for the first three core values.
-
Over on Pagan in Paradise, Pagan activist, minister and member of Lady Liberty League, Peter Dybing addressed the topic in much more general terms: “Frankly, those who engage in these power over relationships, based on wealth, status or influence perpetuate their privilege and support the subjugation of women. Even worse they reinforce the idea that societal power and status is an appropriate currency to purchase sexual relationships. Such actions contribute greatly to rape culture in our communities.
The messages sent to young men are that women are objects to be possessed by those who are successful or influential. Confronting our own privilege means standing up and proclaiming that such power based relationships are not acceptable in our communities.
[…]
Today I call on my fellow “Old White Guys” to confront these beliefs when you witness them in our collective communities. They represent an abuse of power, a perpetuation of un earned privilege and a disregard of the fundamental human rights of women.”
Pagan-Musings Podcast Channel 