Sometimes the difference between causing offense and speaking directly can lie in the timing. Cecil has complained of the massive amount of hate mail he has received from Wiccans after questioning the antiquity of their faith and their claims of maintaining continuity with the original Pagan traditions [November 12]. Late in the article he acknowledges that some Wiccans freely acknowledge the lack of evidence for a pre-Gardnerian origin of Wicca, and, as he states, point to the invention of ritual by those practicing it, as one of Wicca’s strengths. This observation appears, almost as an afterthought, after Cecil complains at length about the flaming he got. The implication is that these people are a rational minority among a majority who adhere to a position that Cecil then ridicules with the comment “This be wack, Jack.” There is a word for what Cecil is doing, here. Off-line, it is known as “needling” people. On-line, it is called “trolling.”
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Cecil Adams replies:
