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The Ever-changing Pagan
I think it is less common due to the fact that paganism doesn't have a central doctrine to follow like monotheistic religions. I'm sure they're out there though.
Oh, they're out there. "Pagan" originally came from a Latin word that just meant a person of the Roman provinces, usually from a rural area, who practiced a non-state-sanctioned religion (did not worship "official" Roman gods). Later, when Christianity's papal system replaced Rome's ceasar-system, and then when Islam came into being, "pagan" seemed to morph yet again, simply meaning any adherent of a non-Abrahamic religion.
And even later, it seemed to have taken on many other shades of meaning, especially since the advent of Neo-paganism. So, there's a wide variety of folks included under the umbrella term, paganism. There's a lot of bleed-over one from religion to another, many similarities, and they seem to all touch on concepts of fertility and cycles of life, in one way or another. You'd think with these similarities and seeming freedoms that pagans would all be embracing each other, singing Kumbaya around a campfire, and whatnot.
A Crucifix for a Pentacle
Someone on some pagan website wrote an interesting phrase that I never forgot: "traded in their crucifix, for a pentacle." An unfortunate trademark of Christiandom, and other Abrahamic faiths really, is a very dogmatic, black or white, condemnatory attitude toward the faiths and practices of all other folk. And there tends to be an interesting emphasis on guilt, accompanied by a perceived sense of righteousness. It seems to me like people are "guilted" into those religions, and rarely ever drawn toward them.
And here's the clincher: people steeped in that mentality will ostensibly leave their Abrahamic religion (or claim to have never subscribed to such), but will come over to paganism/witchcraft bringing that very mentality along with them! There's the same bullying, the same finger-pointing, the same "I get the last word on this...because my way is the right way!" nonsense that just turns everybody off and shuts them down.
Not only do they preach their inerrant beliefs, but they seem to espouse some kind of implied in-group/out-group dynamic and assume that everyone else agrees with them. I especially don't like it when these folks try to speak for me, saying things like, "we here ALL believe [this]." No, we DON'T all believe [that]. Wrong. And I can speak for myself, thank you very much.
Beat Over the Head with a Bible --Oops, I Meant Grimoire
It's unfortunate when I see people coming on this message board, in pain or otherwise stressed, having exhausted their mundane resources, asking what a witchcraft solution might be, not caring if it's a Wiccan solution, or hoodoo, or Asatru...they just want some help, anything. And instead of getting met where they are, I've see them get practically dogpiled, harangued with this that or the other pagan "law" dictated to them with as much self-righteousness as Christians quote Biblical scriptures. What's the difference? There is none. The net result is that no attempt, whatsoever, was made to actually help that person, while rather zealous attempts were made to preach that person.
Yeah, pagans/witches could be just as nauseating as anyone else. A fundamentalist is a fundamentalist, regardless of creed. Yeah, a pagan fundamentalist may talk about "the goddess," do all manner of magical spells and whatnot, but there are some who essentially "trade in their crucifix for a pentacle," and will proceed to beat you over the head with their set of dogmatic, absolute, universal and inerrant beliefs.
A Simple Fix
For the purposes of this board at least, I propose a simple fix for toning this down, an old standby of Interpersonal Communication Skills 101, yes, the tried and true...."
I-Statements"! It's an oldie, but goodie. These are simple "qualifiers" that could modify our earth-shattering spiritual declarations and deeply-profound pronouncements, and thereby foster an atmosphere of mature, open-minded discussion, rather than of zealous, preachy, nauseating evangelistic pagan fundamentalism.
I-Statements sound like this:
In my opinion...
I think that...
In my experience, I found that...
I was taught that...
In my particular belief system, we believe that...
and so on. They reflect that the author of a post has some semblance of humility, and understands that his or her way is not the right way, nor the only way, but merely one of many ways.
Imagine that, a fix so simple, so Kumbaya-worthy, perhaps it's complicated.
Thanks for reading.
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