[Ansteorra] Group status changes

[Sir Ian Mac Baird]

Hey folks, I lived in the Temple/Belton/Killeen area for over 26 years before moving to Longview. As a member of the SCA, I've been part of demos for Scott and White Hospital, the Boy Scouts, the Exchange Club, Central Texas College and various and sundry schools, Fort Hood, and have participated in numerous parades and festivals in the area. The Temple Daily Telegram and the Killeen Daily Herald were very SCA friendly in their coverage (could be that a few of us faithful employees were members). 
I tend to think that members of the SCA are as safe in Central Texas as in any other place in the State primarily due to the melting pot effect of Fort Hood.

I don't often discuss religion or religious affiliation as a rule, particularly mine. It has become my personal goal  to remain tolerant of what a person decides to believe even if I tend to see another point of view. However, being more than qualified to speak to the matter, I will proceed. I assure you that the University of Mary Hardin Baylor, in Belton, is not as fundamentalist as one might think. I'm sure you'll run into some uninformed folks in the buckle of the Bible Belt, specifically in Baptist country. I never ran into any real problems in the Central Texas area other than the usual "why are you dressed funny?" questions and the rare uninformed individual who had no idea of what we were about and held such a different activity as suspect. In all fairness to this post I must admit that I have, over the years, run into maybe three people that thought we were some kind of Satanic Cult. Two of these were uninformed individuals and one was a fire
 and brimstone preacher. Like most any religious group, there are hyper-conservative factions lurking in the shadows. Could be that such factions have been instrumental in giving "Baptists" a bad name in Central Texas over the the years. The uninformed can, for the most part, become informed perhaps yielding an opportunity for recruitment. The rest (hyper-conservative factionalists) can run the risk of being ignored as close-minded individuals.

Just some thoughts on the subject...

Sir Ian MacBaird



----- Original Message ----
From: HerrDetlef <herrdetlef at gmail.com>
To: mungentuya at yahoo.com; "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 8:39:00 AM
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Group status changes

Mungentuya,

I have been living in Temple since last August, and something told me
several months ago not to put on any SCA garb until I arrive at the site
where I am going.  After hearing what you said, I'm kinda glad I haven't
done that.

Sounds to me like you've run into a mentality that assumes anything not
specifically "Christian" is automatically "anti-Christian."  I'm not sure
how pervasive that attitude is around here, not having been here longer than
a year, but when I DO run into that attitude, it makes me feel sorry for the
person who isn't encouraged to think for himself and furious at the people
who spoonfeed him such attitudes.

Easy answers are extremely attractive and thus extremely marketable.  A
religion that doesn't require people to think (in fact, some varieties of
different religions do not ALLOW people to think) is very popular.

I've recently read Robert McElvaine's "Grand Theft Jesus", that touches on
this subject at length.  I'd recommend it wholeheartedly <end of shameless
unpaid endorsement>.

As far as the terrorist "thing," I once heard that every member of the SCA
has a file at the FBI because the SCA is listed as a "subversive
organization," for no other reason than that our organization structure is
modeled on a mundane political structure (we've set up kingdoms and
principalities in the United States).  I've never been able to confirm that
claim, so I wouldn't say for sure whether it's true or not.  Some people
just get really uncomfortable when they see something unusual, and the
kneejerk response is to conclude that something unusual automatically means
something wrong.

I was teaching at Westfield High School in Spring when 9/11 happened, and we
had a student who was a devout Muslim.  The school administration allowed
him time to say the prayers that he needed to say while he was in school, so
he kept a prayer rug in his locker, and two or three times a day he would
take that rug up to the library where he could practice his religion in
peace.  One day when I was taking my students to the library, he came up
during my sixth period class, and he laid out his prayer rug in a room in
the back of the library where he would not be readily seen.  One of my
students came up to me, and with a look of panic on her face, told me that
there was a terrorist in the library.  I asked her what she meant, and she
led me to the back to a place where we could see the student saying his
prayers.  No amount of explanation could convince her that "Muslim" didn't
equal "terrorist," but I finally suggested that, if she really believed he
was a terrorist, she should report it to the administrators.

I never heard another word from her about that situation.


On 7/17/08, Mungentuya TirMedoin <mungentuya at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> <I have also had people say stuff to me when wearing garb, not the usual
> "are you in a play?" but things like calling me a Satan worshipper. Heck, I
> even had to deal with that attitude from my family too, for quite sometime.
> It is something that we have to deal with out here. We fight a lot of
> different biases, because as said below, we seem to be less urban and more
> rural.>
>
> I've been working on a resume and I was told to leave SCA and all SCA
> activities out of my resume and interview because of of the satanic
> worshipper stigma that somehow attached itself to the group.
>
> My area (Temple/Belton, or the western area of Tir Medoin) also has a
> Christian university that has strong influence in Belton, and I've run into
> the problems of people thinking that since we (the SCA) don't promote any
> religion, we're automatically satanic. Though I've helped some understand,
> most can't understand the SCA's not promoting religion and have the same
> misconception as the 'no prayer in schools' situation.  You can still DO it,
> but it's not done in a way that makes people who don't want to feel like
> they HAVE to.  At least that's what I'm interpreting from SCA policy and
> what I've seen at the events I've been to.
>
> Also, has anyone else had to deal with people who thought the SCA was a
> terrorist group?  I've been in that situation twice and have been lucky
> enough to be able to explain things and help the person understand that
> we're not here to take the White House one stick at a time.   Has anyone
> else run into this?
>
> Mungentuya
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> Ansteorra mailing list
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>



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þeodcyninga,         þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas         ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing         sceaþena þreatum,
monegum mægþum,         meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas.         Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden,         he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum,         weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc         þara ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade         hyran scolde,
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Beowulf, 1-11
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