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Sylvan Hearth Pagan Temple High Priestess Lianna
Costantino-Cardon, left, extended her hand to Dean Moore Sunday in
Poteet Park. Moore, a member of the Street Preachers Fellowship and
a leader of the N.C. Bible Believers, refused her offer to shake,
keeping his hand inside the sign he wore. For an hour, during which
time Costantino-Cardon had planned a meeting of her group, Moore
paced the park and shouted passages from the Bible. - Herald
photo by Nick Breedlove
By Carey King
A few minutes before the scheduled 1 p.m. meeting of
the Sylvan Hearth Pagan Temple Sunday (Sept. 7) in Poteet Park,
Sylva Police Chief Jeff Jamison instructed street preacher Dean
Moore to put away his megaphone and "Jesus Saves" sandwich
board.
He also asked the few protestors who showed up at the
park to turn off the Christian music blaring from a car
stereo.
These two actions marked the beginning of Jamison's
hour-long negotiations between Moore, the protesters and Lianna
Costantino-Cardon, high priestess of the pagan
organization.
"I'm here to preach the gospel," said Moore,
member of the Street Preachers Fellowship and a leader of the N.C.
Bible Believers, another street preaching group.
"Freedom of
speech is my right under the Constitution. I've stepped outside
their permitted meeting area, but I will continue to preach the word
of Jesus Christ," he said.
For the remainder of the hour,
Moore paced the park with Bible in hand, preaching loudly. A handful
of other protesters, unrelated to Moore, sat or stood near the
playground and watched the proceedings.
Two other police
officers accompanied Jamison in the park, a scene that remained
primarily peaceful.
Earlier in the week, Costantino-Cardon
met with Jamison and town attorney Eric Ridenour to discuss the
legality of meeting in Poteet Park, one of Sylva's public spaces.
Citing freedom of worship and freedom of assembly, Costantino-Cardon
paid the fee and secured a meeting permit to use the park's covered
shelter from 1-2 p.m.
Temple members planned on using the
Sunday gathering to discuss future plans for a campus pagan group
with students from Western Carolina University. No worship
activities had been scheduled for the afternoon, Costantino-Cardon
said.
About half the dozen people who came to the pagan
meeting left within 30 minutes, saying Moore's preaching and the
presence of the press made it difficult for them to meet. They
relocated to an undisclosed spot to continue.
"People get
murdered, people lose their jobs over things like this," said one
group member who chose to remain unidentified.
The members of
the group who remained at the park discussed upcoming plans. First
on Costantino-Cardon's agenda was to address concerns brought to
Sylva Town Board members Sept. 4 by the Rev. Larry Perry, pastor of
Tuckasegee Baptist Church. During a period of public comment, Perry
presented information on pagan groups that Costantino-Cardon says is
inaccurate.
"He printed something from a Web site that is not
ours. He claimed things about us that are not true. So I'm going to
speak about those misconceptions at the October town board meeting,"
she said.
One of the biggest misconceptions, says
Costantino-Cardon, is that the group intends to attract local
teenagers. "We don't believe in proselytizing," she
said.
Costantino-Cardon is also considering whether to take
legal action against the city after the Sunday event, claiming town
officers failed to enforce state criminal statutes that prevent
disturbance of a religious meeting.
"I will be taking issue
with my attorney about this," she said.
Costantino-Cardon and
her husband, Palugo Cardon, moved to the Sylva area from Colorado a
month ago to establish a local branch of the Sylvan Hearth Pagan
Temple, which already includes five groups around the country.
Pelugo Cardon serves as the group's high priest.
Long before
coming to Jackson County, "Sylvan" has been part of the temple's
name because the word means "inhabiting the forest." One of the most
important elements of pagan worship is its connection to nature, the
two said.
In addition to the temple and the student group at
WCU, Costantino-Cardon said she would like to purchase property for
a seminary and interfaith community similar to ones she led in
Colorado.
Concerning the rift with Moore, the protesters and
city officials, Costantino-Cardon said, "I hope to try to settle
this amicably. I've had problems when establishing groups in other
places, but I hope we can work this out
here." |
