SC - Pumpkins and such...

[Etain1263@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/25/00 8:19:15 PM US Mountain Standard Time, 
vongraph at earthlink.net writes:


> .  I have
> noticed one thing as a follower of Odin and the true Gods a very large
> number of the folks who claim these relegious/phylosphicial views are full
> of BS :) It seems that they read one book, listen to one conversation and
> their Pagan,Wiccian etc, , they mostly get together for excuse to run around
> 

I believe, that you find this kind of behavior in all persuasions of a belief 
in a higher power, whether it be Earth bound, Asgard bound, or Heaven bound. 
Religion is a personal matter to most, and to some nothing more than a good 
means to an end. I have a son who is Bhudist, I myself am recovering Mormon 
with a strong bent toward acquiring statuary of Egyptian Gods. But I think it 
is because I like the workmanship, not necessarily because I am a follower. I 
was raised to find my own way by my mother, and I have a strong belief that 
God exists in all living things, which more or less mirrors my Grandmother's 
Native Indian beliefs rather than anything else I've ever seen. However I 
believe in the Father **and** the Mother of creation, and I've not yet been 
introduced to anything that mirrors that concept as yet. Some people try 
religion on like they would try on clothes, which is not a bad thing, 
actually. Each of us are different and sometimes we need different fit than 
the person next to us. But I have noticed that most people who are 
comfortable with their own fit do not need to try to get others to have the 
same, and are more tolerant and accepting of others beliefs. I have a very 
good friend who is Jewish. She attends lots of events with me, including 
Christmas and my son's Temple. One day I asked her if she found it offensive, 
and she said, "No. God answers to a lot of names. Although he must have a 
devil of time keeping his calendar straight." Now, that is someone at peace 
with their place in the cosmos!

So, people who are obviously playing at religion are not really demonstrative 
of the belief, I don't think. I do agree that more and more recently we have 
seen more of the beliefs considered "offshoots or alien" become acceptable. 
Years ago saying you were Asatrue (is that right?) would have gotten you 
punched; a Druidic friend of mine was fired from her job because they didn't 
like the idea she was witch. Which she wasn't. She didn't even consider 
herself Wiccan. Different. That was 1972. In 1999 her niece was hired by same 
firm without batting an eye over her wearing pagan emblems, including a 
pentogram,  or having a bumper sticker that says, "Lifes a witch and then you 
fly". 

I do notice that in the SCA we have a higher ratio of unusual and different, 
non mainstream beliefs, than are acceptable in other areas of work/play. I 
wonder if that is because we tend to be an activity that draws professionals 
and educated individuals interested in history, so therefore more open to 
other avenues of thought and belief, than, say, would be drawn to a rifle 
club or hunting club, or swimming club?

I think we as a people have come a long way since the uproar over JFK being 
Catholic was such an issue during his presidential campaign. But I think it 
will be still a longer time before we would not make an issue of someone 
being an offshoot of the mainstream religions in political arena. I can say 
this, though, politics is the last place that will be affected. So, when we 
see it happen, we will know that whatever the discipline followed, it will 
have become mainstream when a political runner claims to be of that belief.

Okay, climbing down now.

Lars