the only enemies here are the rapists and child-abusers

For suggesting that instead of harassing polytheists a better use of their time would have been for neopagans to deal with the actual threat posed by predatory individuals in their midst and the even more dangerous culture of secrecy that enables them, Alison Leigh Lilly is accusing me of libel to the Facebook:

Sannion, blogger at House of Vines, has posted a libelous and inflammatory blog post accusing certain members of the Pagan community (including myself) of being apologists for child molesters. I have left the following comment on his blog post, but because I cannot guarantee that he will allow it to remain up, I am posting it here as well for anyone to read.

Clearly this is another instance of neopagans projecting their own beliefs and actions onto others. How many times do we have to tell you people that we are not like you?

By this point Ms. Lilly’s methods of handling dissenting opinion are well enough known that I don’t have to go over that tired and nasty old grocery list again but rest assured that I have no intention of silencing her by deleting her comment to my blog, however frequently she herself may do that to others. On the contrary I feel it’s best to let folks’ words stand and speak for themselves, which is why I provide quotations and links so that readers can always follow-up and verify what has been posted.

Granted it is not always pleasant to have what one has written thrown back in their face but if it’s that uncomfortable perhaps people should be more reflective about what they post.

Thankfully not all neopagans are using this as an opportunity to engage in politicking and personal vendettas – C.S. MacCath has written about how evil thrives on secrecy and Lydia Crabtree reminds us that fish rot from the head down.

Nothing to be ashamed of in either of those posts.

So to Ms. Lilly and others I say, hate me if you must – but remember that there are more important fish to fry.

However I have engaged the services of Dr. McInternet, Esq. PhD in Computer Law should she wish to proceed with these libelous charges.