06/07/2026
This Wednesday, June 10th, at 9pm Eastern, Hex Offenders has features a round table of authors, elders, and military Witches and Pagans, including Oberon Zell, A.C. Fisher-Aldag, Tepintzin Ruiz, Cassandra Cordeau Campbell, Star Fitch, who join cohosts Shannon Marie Daoust and Christian Day to talk about the recent military code changes that have sought to further marginalize recognized minority religions in the United States. I hope folks will listen in, chat, and maybe even call in themselves!
One of the most important things to me in this, especially after seeing some of what I've seen across the socials this past few days, is to accurately assess the damage amidst so much misinformation.
People on social media are saying left and right that we can't have pentacles on headstones anymore, which is untrue because that was won by court ruling and Hesgeth cannot change this. Also, there were Pagan ceremonies on military bases long before these codes were expanded—which were only expanded rather recently under Trump's last administration in 2017. While I'm no great fan of Trump (and that's being kind), the recognition that came with those codes is quite recent in military history, and were expanded under his watch. This could be his petty retaliation for who knows what, driven by the ghastly Hegseth, or something else entirely. We want to explore the real intent and potential affect of this to help everyone articulate the message to remind folks that Witchcraft is a recognized religion in the U.S. (Dettmer v. Landon, 1986).
Yes, I realize that an increasing number of people today do not use the word religion to describe their practice of the Craft and, for decades, I was one of them. I no longer am because, even though the word religion often conveys ideas that I don't necessarily subscribe to, American law—and the law of many other countries—make special exceptions for people whose worldviews are classified under the heading of religion. If one of you reading this is fighting, as many did in the 80s, for custody of your children in a divorce, calling your practice "a religion" increases your chances of winning exponentially under American law. So these days, I suck it up and use the word religion.
There is clearly an agenda here, especially given how Hesgeth made sure he treated the Mormons as non-Christian and even rumors I'm hearing of Jews and Muslims being proposed for exclusion at one point as well. There's clearly an overarching goal to minimize Witches, Pagans, and other minority religions given how much of a Christian nationalist Hesgeth clearly is, but I want to make sure we aren't so far from the actual facts that we don't sound like we aren't approaching this seriously, our kitschy thumbnail notwithstanding.
And yes, our show thumbnails (and opening) are cheeky fun that go with our irrelevant theme. We are very uncensored, snarky, and funny, but this is also a serious issue with many potential people who have served our country and put their lives at risk for us now at risk for egregious mistreatment.
Be sure to set a YouTube reminder.
At 9pm Eastern Time, Wednesday, June 10th, 2026, join Witches Chris...
