(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – The social media platform TikTok, run by a firm allegedly close to the Chinese Communist regime, is “fueling” growing interest in “pagan religions,” the National Geographic magazine has revealed.
The National Geographic report points out that the Chinese video-sharing app promotes “religions” such as druidism and Wicca. The magazine comments on the development “approvingly,” according to a report by Breitbart News.
“Paganism is on the rise… [and TikTok] is fueling interest in this spiritual movement,” National Geographic writes in a lengthy article.
“A resurgence of interest in Pagan practices — crystals and tarot cards, astrology, and herbal magic — has brought Paganism from the fringes back to the center of pop culture, or at least to the top of your TikTok feed,” the magazine states.
It credits TikTok with promoting “witchcraft” using a #WitchTok hashtag. The hashtag is employed by users sharing content on “spellcasting, divination, and ritual practices” and other witchcraft matters.
The report says that some #WitchTok users consider themselves witches, while others seek to learn more about the “witchcraft practices.”
The National Geographic report emphasizes that in 2001, only 134,000 people in the United States identified as “pagans,” but their number has now swollen to 1.5 million.
The magazine cites the expert opinion of Helen Berger, who is described as an author and sociologist of contemporary paganism and witchcraft.”
According to Berger, growth in paganism has to do with “female empowerment, the gay rights movement, the climate crisis, and a desire for a more ‘life-affirming religion.’”
National Geographic particularly dwells on its assertion that the growing paganism trend also stems from “the environmentalist movement, since pagans view the natural world as sacred.”
Its article notes that Earth Day, as well as the winter and midsummer solstices, are celebrated by pagans as their holidays.
Viral video app TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese multinational company founded by Zhang Yiming in 2012 and based in Beijing.
ByteDance also owns Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), Toutiao (a news and information platform), and Xigua Video (a short-form video platform).
While the Communist regime in China wields control over all private companies in the country by default, there have been reports that the three-member board of ByteDance has featured a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party.
US experts and policymakers are increasingly viewing TikTok as a national security risk because the government of Communist China could force its owner to grab user data, censor critical content, or promote content designed to boost conflicts in American society.
Thus, TikTok has been accused of actively showing suicide videos to 13-year-old children in the US.
The US government is seeking to prohibit government and military personnel from using TikTok and to force it to sell its US operations to an American company.
National Geographic reveals in its most recent issue that the Chinese-owned TikTok video-sharing app is on the front lines promoting pagan religions such as Wicca and druidism. https://t.co/T1I18Cy702
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 26, 2023
