AMARILLO, Texas -- Evangelists denounced the 'forces of darkness' and 'satanism' at a rally Saturday held in a vacant lot behind the motel where a witches' convention was disrupted by a bomb threat.
The convention, sponsored by the Church of Wicca, a religious sect believing in witchcraft, began at 9 a.m. but was halted 25 minutes later when reporters were asked to leave the room and the approximately 70 convention participants were whisked out a side entrance.
The group was moved to another motel, although the location was kept secret from reporters, while police conducted a room-by-room search for the bomb. The convention participants returned four hours later and were undisturbed by the uniformed and plainclothes security people around.
A man Friday night called police and local television stations, claiming a bomb would explode at noon at the motel.
'Those witches killed my brother,' the man was quoted as telling a television station reporter who had asked him why he would plant bombs at the motel.
Bomb-sniffing dogs found nothing Friday night and police searched room by room Saturday.
While officers searched for the bomb, a group of 300 people gathered ina vacant lot behind the motel to sing hymns and pray in protest of the witches' presence.
Evangelist Judy Mamou, who with her husband Jimmy organized the rally, told the group: 'I'm not going to sign detente with the devil. I'm going to fight the good fight of faith and my weapon is the word of God.'
A guest speaker described as an authority on the 'cult and occult,' Dr. Walter Martin of Anaheim, Calif., told the group: 'We are in conflict as Christians against the forces of darkness. When people hear us speak out against witchcraft, they make the assumption we are against them (witches). We are not attacking them, we are defending Christianity.
One of the speakers mentioned the bomb threat and referred to the caller as 'some misguided brother,' offering a prayer 'so God will minister to that brother.'
The Mamous claimed the witches would bring 'demonic forces' to the city and several local churches conducted 'prayer chains' throughout the weekend.
Skip Tarrant made note of the announced religious demonstraton and asked the witches to keep their display of 'craft' jewelry 'to a minimum' in order to 'keep the general static level down.'
Skip Tarrant and Tom Sanguinet, organizer of the seminar, held an afternoon press conference to deny members of Wicca were devil worshippers.
'Satinism is a perversion of Christianity; to be a satinist, one must first believe in Christianity. We do not derive from the Christian faith in any way.'
Wicca literature states witches do not believe in the existence of devil or hell, or that Christ was the son of God.
Among those attending the seminar were Loy and Louise Stone of Dimmitt, who three years ago were charged with the Halloween shotgun slaying of a 15-year-old Dimmitt girl in a pickup on their property. Stone was acquitted in January and charges against Mrs. Stone later were dropped.
The seminar scheduled to continue through Sunday afternoon is in observance of Samain, a witches' New Year, one of eight religious holidays in Wiccan calendar.
