Pagan ethics statement project
In response to a couple of recent abuse cases, some Pagans are working to make a "Pagans against sexual abuse" statement, either for the media or for the internal Pagan community or both. Background info is available at The Wild Hunt blog.
Author Brendan Myers volunteered to host the discussion and created a subforum for related topics. The current draft discussion has 30 or so replies, and I'd like it to get a lot more input. I'd like it to avoid the concept that all Paganism is Wicca, or Wicca-and-Druids (which it seems to be okay about, but it hasn't been vetted by many people of other paths to check what unconscious assumptions might be included).
The original draft was over 1200 words; my condensed version is a bit more than 500; the current version is less than 250 and probably close to actually useful. It could use some tweaking, especially some tiny-bits-of-phrasing editing; it should be as close as possible to perfect if it's going to be useful. (Useful for *what*, exactly, is another issue--one that's certainly open for discussion.)
I use OpenID to comment over there. And I'll go ahead and
Pagans Against Sexual Abuse
1) We are a group of spiritual people from many traditions and hearths and paths. We are the Pagans: Druids, Heathens, Wiccans and Witches, shamans and loremasters.
2) We hereby disavow, and categorically reject the practice of all coerced or non-consensual sexual acts, especially when they are labeled as a part of our religious practice or our religious traditions.
3) We believe the the body is a manifestation of the divine, and a home of the divine presence. We believe this aspect of our religious expression engenders a positive awareness of the broad spectrum of human sexuality and sexual identity.
4) We believe sexual exploitation and violence are extraordinary affronts to the divine presence which dwells within every human body. Sexual violence and exploitation harm the victim, and inflict deep wounds upon the sense of bodily identity which all of us hold so dear.
5) Acts of sexual exploitation and violence perpetrated by religious teachers and spiritual leaders under the guise of providing teaching or leading worship are abhorrent to our religious principles.
6) A sexual predator who exploits the relationship of trust that exists between teacher and seeker harms the whole religious community. It undermines the good work of the honorable teachers in our midst.
7) In response to these atrocities, we have prepared this statement to set forth our absolute condemnation of any and all acts of sexual coercion and sexual violence perpetrated by religious teachers or performed in the name of our religions.
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Note: Numbers won't be included on the final version; they're here for easy reference for discussion. Nothing is set in stone; things could be rephrased, expanded, condensed, combined, whatever.
There are comments at Brendan Myers' forum about changing the phrasing in spots.
2nd note: I'm bringing this up for *discussion*, not as a matter of "all good Pagans should get behind this!" I think it's potentially useful, but only potentially; I don't think it'd be harmful to our communities. That said, if people think it's a waste of time or would distract from other useful activities, that's a reasonable take on it. (I'd hope that they'd say something about it.)
Author Brendan Myers volunteered to host the discussion and created a subforum for related topics. The current draft discussion has 30 or so replies, and I'd like it to get a lot more input. I'd like it to avoid the concept that all Paganism is Wicca, or Wicca-and-Druids (which it seems to be okay about, but it hasn't been vetted by many people of other paths to check what unconscious assumptions might be included).
The original draft was over 1200 words; my condensed version is a bit more than 500; the current version is less than 250 and probably close to actually useful. It could use some tweaking, especially some tiny-bits-of-phrasing editing; it should be as close as possible to perfect if it's going to be useful. (Useful for *what*, exactly, is another issue--one that's certainly open for discussion.)
I use OpenID to comment over there. And I'll go ahead and
Pagans Against Sexual Abuse
1) We are a group of spiritual people from many traditions and hearths and paths. We are the Pagans: Druids, Heathens, Wiccans and Witches, shamans and loremasters.
2) We hereby disavow, and categorically reject the practice of all coerced or non-consensual sexual acts, especially when they are labeled as a part of our religious practice or our religious traditions.
3) We believe the the body is a manifestation of the divine, and a home of the divine presence. We believe this aspect of our religious expression engenders a positive awareness of the broad spectrum of human sexuality and sexual identity.
4) We believe sexual exploitation and violence are extraordinary affronts to the divine presence which dwells within every human body. Sexual violence and exploitation harm the victim, and inflict deep wounds upon the sense of bodily identity which all of us hold so dear.
5) Acts of sexual exploitation and violence perpetrated by religious teachers and spiritual leaders under the guise of providing teaching or leading worship are abhorrent to our religious principles.
6) A sexual predator who exploits the relationship of trust that exists between teacher and seeker harms the whole religious community. It undermines the good work of the honorable teachers in our midst.
7) In response to these atrocities, we have prepared this statement to set forth our absolute condemnation of any and all acts of sexual coercion and sexual violence perpetrated by religious teachers or performed in the name of our religions.
-----
Note: Numbers won't be included on the final version; they're here for easy reference for discussion. Nothing is set in stone; things could be rephrased, expanded, condensed, combined, whatever.
There are comments at Brendan Myers' forum about changing the phrasing in spots.
2nd note: I'm bringing this up for *discussion*, not as a matter of "all good Pagans should get behind this!" I think it's potentially useful, but only potentially; I don't think it'd be harmful to our communities. That said, if people think it's a waste of time or would distract from other useful activities, that's a reasonable take on it. (I'd hope that they'd say something about it.)