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As Pop Culture Lures Kids Toward The Occult, Neutrality Toward Witchcraft Isn’t Enough

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In a recent New York Times editorial, Ross Douthat called into question the naive, materialist readings of the new statue of a female pagan deity that was installed outside the New York courthouse. To those who think experimenting with “magic” and “spirituality” is a mere form of “playacting,” he warns of certain dangers that are “skated over in a lot of American spirituality,” urging people who think the statue is a mere ode to female empowerment to be “really careful in your openness and not just taking the beneficence of the metaphysical realm for granted.”

As someone who dabbled in witchcraft as a teen and has since “seen the light,” I found that Douthat’s words resonated deeply. I wonder how my own path may have turned out differently had I read his piece 20 years ago.

I got involved in witchcraft and occult practices after reading “Harry Potter” when I was about 10 years old. That said, I’m not the kind of Christian who thinks reading stories about witches and spells is intrinsically evil and that “Harry Potter” should be totally banned (book bannings usually end up having the inverse effect, anyway). But as Douthat indicates, the American materialist ideology that deems books like “Harry Potter” to be “neutral” and the stuff of pure fantasy overlooks the spiritual realities that the book taps into and the risks they carry with them.

For context, I grew up in a Greek family that is culturally Orthodox Christian and dabbled in folk witchcraft.

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‘Never Seen This Before’: Georgia GOP Eyes Comeback With New Strategy After Biden’s 2020 Win

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For the first time in 28 years, Georgia elected a Democrat as president in 2020, with President Joe Biden winning the state by 11,779 votes. But on-the-ground Republican leaders told The Federalist they hope this year will be different — and that the campaign’s operations are like nothing “seen … before.”

Axios reportedly obtained a copy of Trump campaign training materials that describe the campaign’s 2020 efforts as “inefficient.” The materials reportedly prioritize focusing on “hard-to-reach, low-propensity voters.” The Trump campaign confirmed to The Federalist its efforts to target low-propensity voters and encourage voters to vote early.

“Team Trump is doubling down on our efforts to reach voters where they are at and share President Trump’s plans to make America prosperous again,” RNC Battleground States Communications Director Rachel Reisner told The Federalist in a statement. “Team Trump continues to build out the most sophisticated and modern approach, ever.”

And Republican county chairs are attesting to the new efforts.

DeKalb County

DeKalb Republican Party Chairwoman Marci McCarthy told The Federalist that current operations are “really different from their 2020 operations. I’ve actually never seen this before.”

“We feel like we’re getting great support from the Trump Force 47 team,” McCarthy told The Federalist. “We’re having training in the field offices twice a week, they’re doing phone banking, they’re teaching them how to utilize the technology, how to engage with voters. They’ll do some training with canvassing, and then they’ll take volunteers right out to do canvassing. They also encourage them to

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Conservative PACs Plan To Put New Mexico In Play This Fall

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No Republican has won statewide in New Mexico for 10 years. A series of ad buys from multiple political action groups aims to change that this November.

Earlier this month, the Piñon Post, a conservative state paper, reported on a new commercial campaign attempting to spoil Democrats’ expectation to maintain the state’s five electoral votes for Kamala Harris and reelect Sen. Martin Heinrich. The ads from a group called Election Freedom, Inc., attack Heinrich and Harris over inflation and the incumbent border crisis.

Derek Dufresne, a consultant for the 501(c)(4) political advocacy group, told The Federalist the New Mexico campaign was “a significant, seven-figure investment,” but did not provide an exact total.

“We are running an aggressive, complete, issue-based campaign focusing on the significant policy failures of Kamala Harris and Martin Heinrich, which will continue through November,” Dufresne said.

The ads highlight high food, energy, and mortgage costs in a border state overwhelmed by migration.

Another ad campaign from the group Frontiers of Freedom Action (FFA) targets Heinrich as one of three western senators hit by a multi-state media blitz highlighting Democrats’ anti-Catholic bigotry. The ads aired in both English and Spanish to target southwestern Hispanics disillusioned by the Democrats’ extremism, which conflicts with religious liberty.

“When Hispanic voters — especially Hispanics who attend Catholic Mass — come to learn about their senator’s record of anti-Catholic bigotry, they are going to be stunned,” George Landrith, the group’s president, said in a press release.

“Republicans too often forget

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Oklahoma Removes 450,000 Ineligible Voters From Rolls, Including Over 5,000 Felons

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Oklahoma election officials have removed more than 450,000 ineligible voters from the state’s rolls ahead of November’s election.

“Voting is our most sacred duty as Americans — and every Oklahoman wants to know their vote is securely cast and properly counted,” said Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt in a press release

State election officials have removed 453,000 total ineligible voters since 2021, Stitt’s office announced Wednesday. 

As part of “routine voter list maintenance,” the state has removed 5,607 felons, 14,993 duplicate registrations, 97,065 dead voters, and 143,682 voters who moved out of state, according to the release. During address verification, officials also canceled 194,962 inactive voters.

We all need an ID to fly, buy alcohol, cash a check, etc.

There’s no reason a state shouldn’t have strict voter ID laws. It’s just common sense.

In Oklahoma, our laws require proof of identity for every voter, regardless of whether you’re voting early, absentee, or in-person.

— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) September 18, 2024

Stitt’s office has been working with legislators, the state election board, and the secretary of state on voter list maintenance. Officials are using technology like artificial intelligence to “protect our elections,” said Secretary of State Josh Cockroft in the release.

“We’ve aggressively pursued policies to ensure voting is secure and accurate,” Cockroft said. “Every eligible citizen will have their vote counted and their voice heard.”

Oklahoma allows “only eligible voters” to take part in elections, according to the release. The state’s June primaries had a “100% voter verification match,” KOSU

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