QOTD
from Elf, in her post here:
"I can't honestly say to the nonPagan public, we are safe; we are not harmful to our members. Because we put our members through hells, dredge their psyches for pain and force them to swallow it and then tell them to ask for more. We dance with demons. Almost always, metaphorical ones. People who get into this stuff the wrong way, or without being balanced just right, or at a rough time in their lives--lose their partnerships of years, lose their jobs, lose their sanity, lose their connection with humanity. They go to jail or turn up homeless. Sometimes, they commit suicide.
While I'd love for us to have a statement we can agree on, decrying sexual abuse, decrying the abuse of minors, phrased in a way to be a useful resource to the media or to members of our community... a lot of the people involved in the discussion don't seem to want that. Or they don't seem to want *just* that. They want a statement that says "we are GOOD and you can TRUST US!"
And you can't. We hurt people. The ones we love and respect most, we demand the most of; they give up *everything* for their spiritual paths. Done right, religious witchcraft *shatters* the lives of its practitioners--and the really talented ones put together a beautiful mosaic out of the pieces. The rest... don't.
I want to look at all those nice curious teens who heard about Wicca on a blog somewhere, and tell them, "go away; there be dragons here." I don't want that message diluted with statements about our ethics, even accurate ones. I really don't want it diluted with feelgood platitudes that imply that all of Pagandom is gentle and supportive and people who get involved with it should never be disturbed at what's going on around them.
Thou Shalt Not Eat Poisoned Bait. If You Do, Don't Come Whining To Me About It."
This entry was originally posted at http://sanacrow.dreamwidth.org/3625.html.
"I can't honestly say to the nonPagan public, we are safe; we are not harmful to our members. Because we put our members through hells, dredge their psyches for pain and force them to swallow it and then tell them to ask for more. We dance with demons. Almost always, metaphorical ones. People who get into this stuff the wrong way, or without being balanced just right, or at a rough time in their lives--lose their partnerships of years, lose their jobs, lose their sanity, lose their connection with humanity. They go to jail or turn up homeless. Sometimes, they commit suicide.
While I'd love for us to have a statement we can agree on, decrying sexual abuse, decrying the abuse of minors, phrased in a way to be a useful resource to the media or to members of our community... a lot of the people involved in the discussion don't seem to want that. Or they don't seem to want *just* that. They want a statement that says "we are GOOD and you can TRUST US!"
And you can't. We hurt people. The ones we love and respect most, we demand the most of; they give up *everything* for their spiritual paths. Done right, religious witchcraft *shatters* the lives of its practitioners--and the really talented ones put together a beautiful mosaic out of the pieces. The rest... don't.
I want to look at all those nice curious teens who heard about Wicca on a blog somewhere, and tell them, "go away; there be dragons here." I don't want that message diluted with statements about our ethics, even accurate ones. I really don't want it diluted with feelgood platitudes that imply that all of Pagandom is gentle and supportive and people who get involved with it should never be disturbed at what's going on around them.
Thou Shalt Not Eat Poisoned Bait. If You Do, Don't Come Whining To Me About It."
This entry was originally posted at http://sanacrow.dreamwidth.org/3625.html.