May 2017

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... so, in the process of answering my emails today, I wandered over to Witchvox to pull up a link for their 'Trads' page. I saw a whole bunch of articles that looked interesting, and I opened a few to read. One in particular caught my attention.

I Am a Pagan Reject

I read this article to this passage before I start wishing that this was an LJ post so that I could rant directly to the author:

One of the biggest reasons I came to Paganism was because I found acceptance. I don’t want to be Catholic again; I don’t want to be told that I must act, dress, and believe a certain way to be accepted by my community. I like being among people who like me for me, not for what I wear or what I believe.



You know what? If your faith is so weak that having someone, who may not even be remotely the same religion as you, tell you that you are 'weird' is enough to set you running away, then good riddance. If all it takes is a little part of the community being 'intolerant', then you weren't really meant to follow this path to begin with.

Perhaps it is my youth ... I realize that the Pagan community was different in the early days. That people truly felt that all other Pagans were their brothers and sisters. But it isn't like that now. Many Pagan religions have little to nothing in common with each other anymore ... the closest you could come would be that they are all minority faiths.

This is not asking different sects of the same faith to set aside trivial differences for the sake of community. This is asking different religions to set aside their views for the sake of a community that might not be important to them. Would you ask Muslims and Christians to ignore their differences because 'Abrahamic faiths need to stick together'?

There isn't anything wrong with getting together with folks for a convention or a gathering that maybe happens once or twice a year, and having everyone leave their differences at home. But expecting that people will be all accepting of everyone all the time because they choose to call themselves Pagan is more than a little ridiculous. I don't have to think that all Pagans practice a valid faith (while they pull all their spells and beliefs from Charmed and SRW) ... I don't have to accept people who act out in ways that I find inappropriate ... and I am not somehow betraying my Pagan brethren when I tell others that no, I am not like those Pagan idiots that you see on tv.

Your personal faith is just that ... personal. If you spend all your time relying on outward validation, then you need to go and find yourself a new hobby.



--Phae
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