Ok, so the first question I'd probably end up addressing is, "what do you mean, Us vs. Them?" Well, honestly the first thing that comes to people's minds upon understanding that this is a Pagan blog is the whole argument of Pagans vs. Christianity, but that's not what this is about. This is about a civil war right within our very own Faith.
I am always browsing through Facebook and Blogspot looking for interesting articles on things going on in the Pagan Community and looking for shared experiences and opinions on the different daily things going on in our lives. One thing I commonly come up against is the "Us vs. Them" equation. "Real' Pagans vs. "Fluff Bunnies."
I'd like to take this time to point out to anyone who may just so happen to be of a Traditional branch of Witchcraft/Wicca--if you happen to be one of the offenders of this equation--let me remind you that once upon a time, your tradition was considered to be the "fluff bunny" of Witchcraft. Now take a look at your tradition: currently considered to be one of the most knowledgeable and common forms of Witchcraft in the US today.
We all had our start somewhere. We should never forget our roots. I recently read a blog aloud to my High Priestess. The blog was about a young 16 year old boy who had been ordained as a Minister and claimed to be Wiccan over Twitter, however he did not conduct himself in a manner befitting the mantle of responsibility taken on by Ministers, nor did he know much about Wicca. The Pagan who chose to call him out has been known to troll for what she considers to be "fluff bunnies" and calls them out in a public forum. Instead of asking them why they believe the way they do, and trying to guide them with her 20+ years of experience (she herself being around 40, I believe) she decides to challenge them in a manner which proves that they have no clue what they're talking about, and then blames some of it on parents allowing their children to read Llewellyn books. The whole thing is always done in a very patronizing manner not befitting of a Priestess of the Goddess.
I felt the need to speak up on behalf of the 16 year old boy (as I myself was ordained very young, though I conducted myself much differently and was taken much more seriously.) My response to the woman's blog is below:
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Ok, I do feel the need to respond to this one, especially after having read the blog entry of “All Pagans stop posting this Us vs. Them shit on your timeline!” True, many Pagans have the mentality of it’s Paganism vs. Christianity, but are we ourselves not perpetuating the very same thing in the Us vs. Fluffy Bunnies?
We are not here to call out every Fluff Bunny out there. We’re here to help guide and educate those who have a real interest in walking the Pagan Path regardless of which Tradition.
I feel as though this situation could have been handled better. Some things to take into consideration are that so long as you understand your Faith and can conduct yourself in the appropriate manner, you are never too young to be a Minister. You can’t legally perform ceremonies according to US Law until you’re over the age of 18, but that doesn’t mean you can’t preach or spread knowledge on your faith. His being 16 and a Minister should not have raised even a single hair on someone’s eyebrow until he began to show that he did not, in fact, know what he was talking about. Some children are far older spiritually than they are physically–old souls, so to speak. We shouldn’t be too hasty to judge. If they prove themselves to be evident of misinformation then we should attempt to set them straight in a non-patronizing manner.
I grew up reading Llewellyn books and they never did any harm to me. They helped to educate me on the various topics and traditions and even movements going on in the world around me. Wikipedia is a decent source to go to as well, as it is primarily Pagans and Wiccans who edit the posts there and add to the information. Having practiced for 13 years, I am able to weed out correct and incorrect information without having to do much research, so I don’t usually have to worry about it. However that also places me in a situation where if I do see misinformation on a wiki site, I can correct it. Most of the time I don’t have to correct it as there are thousands of Pagans viewing it regularly who make sure it is up-to-date and as accurate as they can possibly make it. NO source of information is ever a bad source–no matter how reputable a source may be, we should be smart enough to always cross-reference the materials just to make sure that what we are reading is not just a biased viewpoint of one single author. It’s common sense in the world of research.
As I have so often heard in the Community and from my own High Priestess–we as a community are only as strong as our weakest link. Instead of calling “fluff bunnies” out publicly (who are indeed being looked upon by those who judge us just as equally as we are) why not help to elevate them to a higher level of understanding? We have the power to set things right—why use that same power to beat people down?
We are all put here for a reason, even the fluffy bunnies.
As the Dalai Lama once said, “There are many paths to walk in the world. Just because someone is walking a different path than yours, does not mean it is the wrong path.”
In love a light,
Rev. Jonathon S. Lowe; HP-----
The blog didn't make me as angry as it did sad. Sad that Pagans are busting the balls of other Pagans and doing the same thing to ourselves that we've been doing to Christianity. Why does it have to be "Us vs. Them?" After reading the blog and my response to my High Priestess, she made a post on a public forum (as she does not currently have her own blog to write about these things.) The message read as follows:
Why is it better to divide the Pagan Community rather than to teach and provide council? It is amazing how many of us there are out there and how few of us really take the time to teach, to reach out and to help others. EVERYONE connected to the craft is here for a reason. "Fluff Bunny" or not. I realize you can't teach everyone all the time, but why do we feel the need to call people out publicly? Is it to prove how much more advanced we are in the craft? If you have to do this, people, you made a wrong turn somewhere in your spirituality. You make more of an impact with most people when you are less confrontational and more like mentor. Let's try to avoid the whole us and them thing within our own community. We already fight the us and them thing with other religions, why do this to ourselves? Remember, just because you are more educated in the craft does not mean you cease to be the student, too. Learn humilty. Uplift, don't tear down. I'm just saying..........
I chose to reply back to her post after sharing it with others--as food for thought--and my reply was as thus:
Why the "Us vs. Them" mentality right within our own religion? Elitist, Common, Fluffy Bunny...who cares? We are all teachers and students, we're all here for a reason. Uplift, don't stomp out. Does "In perfect love and perfect trust" not mean anything anymore? Just saying...
So, what do you think about all of this? Does "In perfect love and perfect trust" only mean something when you choose for it to, or does it always apply to all practitioners of the Craft? Does it apply anywhere in the world other than directly involving the Craft? It seems to me we're having another civil war right within our own Faith. If we don't stand strong together, then we stand divided individually and are that much easier to pick off one by one. We don't get anything accomplished that way. We serve society and the community much better if we stand together and help to life one another up rather than beat one another down.
How do you feel about this?
We are not here to call out every Fluff Bunny out there. We’re here to help guide and educate those who have a real interest in walking the Pagan Path regardless of which Tradition.
I feel as though this situation could have been handled better. Some things to take into consideration are that so long as you understand your Faith and can conduct yourself in the appropriate manner, you are never too young to be a Minister. You can’t legally perform ceremonies according to US Law until you’re over the age of 18, but that doesn’t mean you can’t preach or spread knowledge on your faith. His being 16 and a Minister should not have raised even a single hair on someone’s eyebrow until he began to show that he did not, in fact, know what he was talking about. Some children are far older spiritually than they are physically–old souls, so to speak. We shouldn’t be too hasty to judge. If they prove themselves to be evident of misinformation then we should attempt to set them straight in a non-patronizing manner.
I grew up reading Llewellyn books and they never did any harm to me. They helped to educate me on the various topics and traditions and even movements going on in the world around me. Wikipedia is a decent source to go to as well, as it is primarily Pagans and Wiccans who edit the posts there and add to the information. Having practiced for 13 years, I am able to weed out correct and incorrect information without having to do much research, so I don’t usually have to worry about it. However that also places me in a situation where if I do see misinformation on a wiki site, I can correct it. Most of the time I don’t have to correct it as there are thousands of Pagans viewing it regularly who make sure it is up-to-date and as accurate as they can possibly make it. NO source of information is ever a bad source–no matter how reputable a source may be, we should be smart enough to always cross-reference the materials just to make sure that what we are reading is not just a biased viewpoint of one single author. It’s common sense in the world of research.
As I have so often heard in the Community and from my own High Priestess–we as a community are only as strong as our weakest link. Instead of calling “fluff bunnies” out publicly (who are indeed being looked upon by those who judge us just as equally as we are) why not help to elevate them to a higher level of understanding? We have the power to set things right—why use that same power to beat people down?
We are all put here for a reason, even the fluffy bunnies.
As the Dalai Lama once said, “There are many paths to walk in the world. Just because someone is walking a different path than yours, does not mean it is the wrong path.”
In love a light,
Rev. Jonathon S. Lowe; HP-----
The blog didn't make me as angry as it did sad. Sad that Pagans are busting the balls of other Pagans and doing the same thing to ourselves that we've been doing to Christianity. Why does it have to be "Us vs. Them?" After reading the blog and my response to my High Priestess, she made a post on a public forum (as she does not currently have her own blog to write about these things.) The message read as follows: