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(Article on religious diversity, bashing, and a call for tolerance by Brien McCarty.)
In the years since I was 14, I have made it a point to try to become knowledgable or at least
aquainted with the majority of the religions out there, both pagan and otherwise. One of the
tenets that every pagan group that I have ever conversed with has expressed the most was
that of religious freedom. But as I made my decision to practice Wicca and began to
interact more closely with the pagan community at large, a
frightening thing reared its ugly head.
I started seeing newsgroup postings from pagans bashing Christians, Jews, Moslems, and even each other
in increasingly large numbers. Christian-bashing jokes have become very common, and there is even an
ongoing debate over the merits of witches coming out of the broom closet! As the weeks rolled by, I got
more and more upset with what was going on, so I decided to put my thoughts on the web as a way of
possibly helping us all.
In the first place, those who have come out of the broom closet and made their names public on the net
and within their communities are, for the most part, people who share one common desire. No matter
what race, age, or nationality, these pagans want to help bring our religions to the world's attention. They
want to help, in some small way, to make people understand that pagans are people just like everyone
else. There are good and bad among us. We are doctors and lawyers, ditch diggers and sanitation
workers, housewives and grocery baggers. We come from all walks of life. We are just like the people
who worship one of the recognized 'majority' religions.
For the most part, these 'pagan religious freedom fighters' are in it for one reason only...to help the pagan
community. End of story. To accomplish this, they put their jobs, education, even marriages or
relationships on the line. They are harrassed, ridiculed, ostrasized, and sometimes physically attacked for
their beliefs. But still they fight the good fight. Of course, there are some who do this simply for
attention. These are the people who gather together and pat each other on the back and brag about how
they 'give all their time' etc, etc, ad nauseum, to help blah, blah, blah.. You get my drift.
But the vast majority do it for the simple pleasure of knowing that they are contributing something
positive and constructive to a world religious community that is dominated by narrow-minded, bigoted,
so-called eclesiastic headmen. So, when I read a mail or newsgroup message where some self-appointed
high-and-mighty ass starts griping people out because of their openess, I tend to get a bit hostile. My
message to all of you who fit the above catagory..... climb back into your barrel, put your blinders back
on, and shut the hell up. Go back into hiding. No one is asking or forcing you to be open with your
religious practices. Do what you want, but do not presume to criticise those who choose to be vocal and
public. There is a big difference between voicing your viewpoints on the pros and cons of a situation or
action, and criticising a person for their actions or viewpoints.
In the second place, it is not my, or anyone else's place to criticise another's religion. I personally have no
great love for Christian's as a whole, especially Southern Baptists. Being raised in the South and around
them for most of my life, I have found them to be, on the average, a very closed minded group. But I DO
NOT deny them the right to worship however they want in peace. I will fight just as hard to defend the
Baptist church's right to religious freedom as I will to defend my own right to follow Wicca. I don't care
if you worship a paper bag full of rocks, I would still fight for your right to worship that bag of rocks. It
is your religion and you have a right to worship as you please as long as it doesn't hurt someone. Is that
so hard?
But everyday I see email messages from people bashing Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other's from
single-god religions, as well as bickering within the pagan community. Is it that, by bashing others, you
feel important? Maybe you assuage your own insecurities by focusing on other's? Do you ever stop and
see that you are emulating what you profess to detest? You claim injury and opression by the Burning
Times, yet you will condemn others? You will complain about not being able to openly worship, yet you
will harass another for doing just that? If this is how you feel, I suggest that you re-examine your beliefs.
I mean take your soul out and take a long, hard look at it. Because, my brothers and sisters, you are not
practicing Paganism. You are practising hypocrisy.
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