Huffington Post on 'Mother Goddess'

I was compiling this month's "Buzz Coil" when I came upon a post, "Mother Goddess, Ascending" by Michael Vlahos posted on Sept. 23 in the Huffington Post, and felt that my response to it couldn't wait until I compiled the Coil. Vlahos begins by seducing us with a large pic of Venus of Willendorf and a reasonable presentation of Mother Goddess in prehistory and the transformation of Goddess imagery in early Christianity in the images of Mother Mary and Joan of Arc. But his viewpoint becomes distorted as he begins to tie nationalism in later centuries with Goddess veneration calling this "the Goddess of religious nationalism," which he portrays in very negative terms. He then twists the search for, or resurgence of, Goddess into being something that grows out of fear (I'm not making this up!), discusses what he thinks Americans are afraid of, and why a Mother Goddess would calm their fears. He gives Evita Peron as an example of a woman who became to be viewed as a goddess because of similar needs and fears and then proposes that Sarah Palin serves the same need. No, I'm not kidding!

He, himself, stirs up fear with this piece that ends with this:

We are not there just yet, but be forewarned: We may soon in the impoverished years that lie ahead become increasingly impatient, restless, and afraid. We will be weak and so all the more inclined toward the mercies of the steely-eyed, those who would take us toward the Goddess who is loving but also stern. Then we will cry out for the rebirth that comes with blood, and redemption that breathes only after sacrifice. And when we cry out to her it will be as well for a very different America.

He totally disregards the views and reasons for the contemporary Goddess movement, its ties to feminism, which have nothing to do with nationalism and war and everything to do with peace, cooperation, equality, and care for Mother Earth. Either he has a axe to grind and is using "Goddess" to sharpen it, or he simply disregards or is ignorant of the actual Goddess movement, which is now international in its scope and membership. Some people have left comments on this Huff Post piece expressing their disagreement and trying to inform him of his errors. To me, where this piece leads is a place of sickening distortion, and can only serve to make people (even more?) suspicious of Goddess religions.