Pagans Among Us
I may have mentioned it before but I really wish I could write. I'm attaching something here that is written by someone who writes very well. He his a well known voice of pagans in the Madison area, often on the radio (92.1? down there, MIC?). Anyway, At the end he's going to mention pagan pride days and I want to through out there that if it weren't Derek's birthday this Saturday the 27th, I would be down in Middleton for Madison's celebration. If you happen to be in an area that is having one of these celebrations, I highly recommend stopping by for a peek.
Pagans Among Us: A Fact, and How to Handle It.
by Aldous Tyler
You leave your house, and wave at your neighbor as they tend their front flowerbed. Getting in your car, you turn on the radio and listen to the
traffic reporter. Then the DJ announces what's on next, and the artist plays the song. As you make your way, you give a friendly nod to the policeman sitting in his car, watching over the road. At the gas station, the attendant looks sleepy but smiles as she wishes you a good
morning. Pulling into work, you find your favorite parking space being vacated by someone just as you arrive. You greet several of your
co-workers as you clock in, and you get down to business for the day.
What you don't realize, of course, is that any one of the people you just came into contact with - your neighbor, the traffic reporter, the DJ, the artist, the policeman, the station attendant, the driver leaving your space, any of your co-workers - could be a practicing Pagan. In America, the number of Pagans has risen to the point where more than 1 in 100 adults are practitioners of a Pagan religion. Given that Pagan
religions have some of the most rapid growth rates in the nation, now is the time to figure out how you are going to handle the fact that you
know someone who is a Pagan.
To start with, let's define what we are talking about. A Pagan is someone who practices a Pagan religion. Pagan religions come in quite a
few varieties, but there are some common elements. Firstly, most Pagan religions revere and respect nature to a notable degree, and often build their religious concepts, tenets, practices and holidays around the cycles and events and themes that occur in the natural world, such as the turning of the seasons and the phases of the moon. Secondly, many Pagan religions incorporate or emulate pre-Christian (or non-Christian) religious concepts, practices, icons and deities. The amount of emphasis placed on either nature or pre-Christian religion varies with each Pagan path.
This might seem quite the departure from what you've understood the word "pagan" to mean. You may have come to understand the word "pagan" as meaning "to have no religion", making it mean the same as "Atheist". This use stems from the concept found in some varieties of Christianity that if you are not following the God of Moses, you are not following any God at all. Pagans would generally argue that they follow divinity as much as a devout follower of any other religion does.
Also, "pagan" is sometimes used to denote something that, being apart from the God of Moses, is evil or even aligned with the enemy in
Christian mythology, Satan. Very few people who practice any form of Satanism call themselves "pagan", because they don't want to be mistaken for the kind of Pagan we are discussing here. To avoid confusion, we are capitalizing "Pagan" throughout this article when we are referring to a religious path that respects nature and may incorporate non-Christian religious practices.
So, now we have a rough idea of what a Pagan is, and that people you know may very well be Pagan. The question of how to handle this now depends entirely on you. Are you willing to live and let live? Are you willing to understand that there are people out there who honestly see other ways to join with divinity? If not, then I recommend you consider that these Pagans are more than willing to extend those two basic
courtesies to you.
If you can live and let live, and understand that others may find divinity a different way than you do, and you are curious to know more
about the people you run into every day, visit a Pagan Pride Day. These events occur across the world, with many occurring in the early Autumn, and they are devoted to allowing positive interaction between Pagans and non-Pagans, and would be a great way to see how these others live, laugh and celebrate.
With over 80 Pagan Pride Day events planned to be held in America in 2008 alone, simply searching with Google for your location and the term "Pagan Pride Day" will likely connect you to the website of your nearest "PPD".
Pagans Among Us: A Fact, and How to Handle It.
by Aldous Tyler
You leave your house, and wave at your neighbor as they tend their front flowerbed. Getting in your car, you turn on the radio and listen to the
traffic reporter. Then the DJ announces what's on next, and the artist plays the song. As you make your way, you give a friendly nod to the policeman sitting in his car, watching over the road. At the gas station, the attendant looks sleepy but smiles as she wishes you a good
morning. Pulling into work, you find your favorite parking space being vacated by someone just as you arrive. You greet several of your
co-workers as you clock in, and you get down to business for the day.
What you don't realize, of course, is that any one of the people you just came into contact with - your neighbor, the traffic reporter, the DJ, the artist, the policeman, the station attendant, the driver leaving your space, any of your co-workers - could be a practicing Pagan. In America, the number of Pagans has risen to the point where more than 1 in 100 adults are practitioners of a Pagan religion. Given that Pagan
religions have some of the most rapid growth rates in the nation, now is the time to figure out how you are going to handle the fact that you
know someone who is a Pagan.
To start with, let's define what we are talking about. A Pagan is someone who practices a Pagan religion. Pagan religions come in quite a
few varieties, but there are some common elements. Firstly, most Pagan religions revere and respect nature to a notable degree, and often build their religious concepts, tenets, practices and holidays around the cycles and events and themes that occur in the natural world, such as the turning of the seasons and the phases of the moon. Secondly, many Pagan religions incorporate or emulate pre-Christian (or non-Christian) religious concepts, practices, icons and deities. The amount of emphasis placed on either nature or pre-Christian religion varies with each Pagan path.
This might seem quite the departure from what you've understood the word "pagan" to mean. You may have come to understand the word "pagan" as meaning "to have no religion", making it mean the same as "Atheist". This use stems from the concept found in some varieties of Christianity that if you are not following the God of Moses, you are not following any God at all. Pagans would generally argue that they follow divinity as much as a devout follower of any other religion does.
Also, "pagan" is sometimes used to denote something that, being apart from the God of Moses, is evil or even aligned with the enemy in
Christian mythology, Satan. Very few people who practice any form of Satanism call themselves "pagan", because they don't want to be mistaken for the kind of Pagan we are discussing here. To avoid confusion, we are capitalizing "Pagan" throughout this article when we are referring to a religious path that respects nature and may incorporate non-Christian religious practices.
So, now we have a rough idea of what a Pagan is, and that people you know may very well be Pagan. The question of how to handle this now depends entirely on you. Are you willing to live and let live? Are you willing to understand that there are people out there who honestly see other ways to join with divinity? If not, then I recommend you consider that these Pagans are more than willing to extend those two basic
courtesies to you.
If you can live and let live, and understand that others may find divinity a different way than you do, and you are curious to know more
about the people you run into every day, visit a Pagan Pride Day. These events occur across the world, with many occurring in the early Autumn, and they are devoted to allowing positive interaction between Pagans and non-Pagans, and would be a great way to see how these others live, laugh and celebrate.
With over 80 Pagan Pride Day events planned to be held in America in 2008 alone, simply searching with Google for your location and the term "Pagan Pride Day" will likely connect you to the website of your nearest "PPD".