I have been lax in my writings as of late.
It's been a rough few months. I lost my job and I'm just now getting to a point again where I can say I'm getting back on my feet. No sooner did I lose my job then I found out a young man I had dated for a couple of years had decided to take his own life. That was - tough. He was young and pretty, and he had a daughter that at one time I believed gave him hope for his future.
I thought that would be the end of my bad news, but this morning I have learned that yet another friend has developed a potentially debilitating disease - counting my father, that makes four people in the last year that I know who have either developed or are on the verge of developing diabetes. Two of those people are younger than me.
I feel I have spent entirely too much time sitting idly by while my friends die or commit gruesome crimes or become horribly ill. What the hell is going on? It's almost as if our entire Pagan community has been cursed, and we are all doomed. I cannot help but feel there is something very wrong with all of this. We need to do something. We need to quit walking around with our noses in the air, pretending we don't see each other and get everyone going in a good direction. But I feel so powerless to do anything. I have zero support from the people around me. Something has to be done, though. Somehow, . . . .
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday, October 15, 2007
Time for a change
Well, just as I figured would happen, I've grown weary of the name-calling, word-twisting, and nit-picking of this unbelievable drama that certain people have insisted on pushing. I've been accused of wanting to cover up criminal activity, even though I said quite plainly that law-breakers are turned over to the police and I have known there to be law-breakers at gatherings. I've been ignored when presenting facts about my upbringing. And now I've been blocked from one blogger's site because -- well, honestly, I don't know why. We had a civil exchange in which he invited me to continue the conversation, then he promptly blocked me from his blog
What does this all mean? Hell if I know. Most likely, it means what I once thought was a flourishing community is actually a festering cesspool of hurt feelings and hidden agendas. I have spent years trying to convince nonPagans in our area (which happen to be the majority!) that we are not evil monsters out to corrupt their precious little children. I daresay, the work that's been done by Mr. Drew has gone a long way towards destroying that. Had this been approached in a rational, mature manner, some truly good work might have happened. Instead, we have mud-slinging on a level any politician would be proud of.
I am in no way condoning the cover-up of criminal activities at Pagan events. As a matter of fact, there's been a number of events I've attended where the local sheriff or police department was invited out to check things out and make sure no laws were being broken. I myself have had the local fire chief visit my Beltane celebration to make sure everything was in order. It was, and we had a great celebration.
And does Mr. Drew have any regrets for placing all of us in a dangerous position with the rest of the world? I'm not sure the man knows the meaning of the word. I'm also not sure he truly understands the gravity of the situation. It's not been that long ago that I had to go to court myself with an attorney who made disparaging remarks about my ability as a mother simply because I'm Pagan. Thankfully, the judge was smart enough to realize that children cannot be taken away from a parent because of religion. Yes, my ex tried to prove I was an unfit mother and that my children were in danger because I had CANDLES in my house! Not the brightest crayon in the box - which is why he's my ex.
Anyway, the longer this goes on, the more I believe it has truly gotten out of hand. What does it benefit to call people names and accuse them of horrible crimes, especially when there is no proof whatsoever? Who looks the bigger fool then? If you are against pedophila and child rape, then wonderful. You'd be insane not to be, and I applaud your stance. If you want to do something about it, even better. Be the champion. If you know that someone is a pedophile, or if you have reason to suspect someone, please take your proof to the police and turn them in. If there are pedophiles running about, then they need to be taken off the street. Wouldn't you agree? I know that if I thought my children were in danger, I most certainly would do everything in my power to protect them.
No good can come of this circus. Any unbalanced individual can claim a book or a passage from a book compelled them to harm a child or a loved one. What about the people that commit atrocities in the name of the Bible? What about the kids that get their hands on some of the subversive literature from the sixties with instructions on creating bombs? If we are so concerned with the content of one, single book, should we begin censoring ALL books?
When Damien Echols was arrested and charged with the murder of three eight year old boys in West Memphis, AR., he had "The Satanic Bible" and a couple of books on Wicca in his house. By the logic I've seen lately, we should be suspicious of all these books and most likely censor whatever we might find offensive. But as anyone who is familiar with The West Memphis Three knows, that would be utterly ridiculous, for a number of reasons. Of course, that leads me to another question, . . . .
Who among us is capable of deciding what is "right" for reading and what is wrong? Who gets to decide what constitutes "true" Wicca or Paganism? I had always believed that being Pagan meant we think for ourselves, and no one dictates how we worship or think. The whole mentality of "if you're not with me, you're against me" is something Pagans just don't recognize. Or at least, that's what I had always thought.
I do wonder if our spirituality has been watered down by Christianity. We're creating our own Witch hunts now. We don't need anyone else's help to destroy ourselves.
I propose we pull away from this fiasco. I will defend myself, but I will not resort to calling names, questioning mental capacity, or twisting words around to try and imply criminal activity. I would love to see others rise above the immaturity and be a Pagan community again. A house divided will fall -- we should know that by now, and allowing ourselves to be divided will only create chaos -- worse than the chaos we have now.
What does this all mean? Hell if I know. Most likely, it means what I once thought was a flourishing community is actually a festering cesspool of hurt feelings and hidden agendas. I have spent years trying to convince nonPagans in our area (which happen to be the majority!) that we are not evil monsters out to corrupt their precious little children. I daresay, the work that's been done by Mr. Drew has gone a long way towards destroying that. Had this been approached in a rational, mature manner, some truly good work might have happened. Instead, we have mud-slinging on a level any politician would be proud of.
I am in no way condoning the cover-up of criminal activities at Pagan events. As a matter of fact, there's been a number of events I've attended where the local sheriff or police department was invited out to check things out and make sure no laws were being broken. I myself have had the local fire chief visit my Beltane celebration to make sure everything was in order. It was, and we had a great celebration.
And does Mr. Drew have any regrets for placing all of us in a dangerous position with the rest of the world? I'm not sure the man knows the meaning of the word. I'm also not sure he truly understands the gravity of the situation. It's not been that long ago that I had to go to court myself with an attorney who made disparaging remarks about my ability as a mother simply because I'm Pagan. Thankfully, the judge was smart enough to realize that children cannot be taken away from a parent because of religion. Yes, my ex tried to prove I was an unfit mother and that my children were in danger because I had CANDLES in my house! Not the brightest crayon in the box - which is why he's my ex.
Anyway, the longer this goes on, the more I believe it has truly gotten out of hand. What does it benefit to call people names and accuse them of horrible crimes, especially when there is no proof whatsoever? Who looks the bigger fool then? If you are against pedophila and child rape, then wonderful. You'd be insane not to be, and I applaud your stance. If you want to do something about it, even better. Be the champion. If you know that someone is a pedophile, or if you have reason to suspect someone, please take your proof to the police and turn them in. If there are pedophiles running about, then they need to be taken off the street. Wouldn't you agree? I know that if I thought my children were in danger, I most certainly would do everything in my power to protect them.
No good can come of this circus. Any unbalanced individual can claim a book or a passage from a book compelled them to harm a child or a loved one. What about the people that commit atrocities in the name of the Bible? What about the kids that get their hands on some of the subversive literature from the sixties with instructions on creating bombs? If we are so concerned with the content of one, single book, should we begin censoring ALL books?
When Damien Echols was arrested and charged with the murder of three eight year old boys in West Memphis, AR., he had "The Satanic Bible" and a couple of books on Wicca in his house. By the logic I've seen lately, we should be suspicious of all these books and most likely censor whatever we might find offensive. But as anyone who is familiar with The West Memphis Three knows, that would be utterly ridiculous, for a number of reasons. Of course, that leads me to another question, . . . .
Who among us is capable of deciding what is "right" for reading and what is wrong? Who gets to decide what constitutes "true" Wicca or Paganism? I had always believed that being Pagan meant we think for ourselves, and no one dictates how we worship or think. The whole mentality of "if you're not with me, you're against me" is something Pagans just don't recognize. Or at least, that's what I had always thought.
I do wonder if our spirituality has been watered down by Christianity. We're creating our own Witch hunts now. We don't need anyone else's help to destroy ourselves.
I propose we pull away from this fiasco. I will defend myself, but I will not resort to calling names, questioning mental capacity, or twisting words around to try and imply criminal activity. I would love to see others rise above the immaturity and be a Pagan community again. A house divided will fall -- we should know that by now, and allowing ourselves to be divided will only create chaos -- worse than the chaos we have now.
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