Christian Day is at it again. Day is a self-styled witch who runs an annual fair in Salem around Halloween. Apparently some of the fortune-tellers in town don’t like the fact that he’s bringing in out-of-town charlatans to fleece the gullible out of their money by purporting to tell their future. That’s their racket. So they asked the Salem City Council not to hand out licenses (yes, fortune-tellers must be licensed, if you can believe it; preventing fraud and all that) to Day’s out-of-towners.
So now the Salem fortune-tellers claim somebody dismembered some raccoons and left them on their doorsteps. Day says he is shocked, shocked! that anyone would do such a thing. He called it “absolutely disgusting.”
Yeah, right.
I’ve head dealings with Day.
“Puppets”
In 2004, a “vampire” group planned to hold a Vampire & Victims Ball at the Salem Knights of Columbus Hall complete with bondage and bloodletting and blasphemy of the Cross. Day sent me an email under false pretenses, to get the local Catholics riled up against it. It wasn’t that he was concerned about the offense to Christians. He was angry that the “vampires,” his competitors, got the hall and he didn’t. So he used me and you to accomplish his ends. That it also coincided with my own values didn’t matter to him a whit.
In his email to me on 10/18/04 he wrote:
I waited, and now the Knights of Columbus has served my purposes by removing an unnecessary mosquito on the skin of my own events by taking out the Vampire and Victims Ball, which had been causing us such consternation. I thank you for being my puppets. You played your role well.
In a later email dated 12/11/05 he wrote:
And people wonder why Christianity gets such a bad rap these days. It’s because everyone knows how quickly it’s adherents are willing to lie for their cause.
As opposed to the witches, I guess.
Fomenting intolerance
Salem
Halloween
witches
fortune-tellers
That guy sounds creepy.
Yet another advantage of small-town living. There aren’t enough people to produce that one-in-a-million weirdo.
On licensing Fortune Tellers and not giving out licenses to outsiders:
There is a Christian group that goes to Salem at Hallowe’en and set’s up a tent. They give “Word’s of Knowledge”, “Prophecy”, etc… and try to lead people to Christ.
Perhaps, this is the group he is worried about… not so much the competition from outsiders.
Dom, you live in Salem, there is probably more demand for fortunes to be told than there are tellers to tell them at that time of year. Mr. Day is targeting the Christian’s under the name of protecting one of Salem’s core businesses.
Isn’t that right, Goodman Day?
Joe, you have it backward. Day wants to bring in the outside fortunetellers. It’s the homegrown fortunetellers who oppose him that oppose the outside tellers.
Maybe instead of setting up a tent to compete with the fortune-tellers, that group should have a rosary procession around and away from the tents and toward the nearest church! This whole thing is 2 weird 4 words!
My parish does a “Saint Fest” on Halloween itself with Eucharistic adoration in the church and live music outside in the parking lot. We’re right in the middle of the craziness of Salem. But keep in mind that Halloween is the whole month of October in Salem.