Pagan Soup: Anti-Wiccan Sentiment, Interfaith Violence, and RAP!

Last updated on: January 5, 2011 at 10:16 am by Star Foster

Pagan Soup: Anti-Wiccan Sentiment, Interfaith Violence, and RAP! 2011-01-05T10:16:02-04:00 Star Foster

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Anti-Wicca?

Although I know it’s a bigger issue I just wanted to briefly touch on the topic of anti-Wiccan sentiment in Paganism, which can take a humorous turn. If the conversation turns to things that make us look bad it’s a sure bet that Wicca will be mentioned in some way. Some Wiccans have started to identify as Pagans just because mentioning you’re Wiccan can suddenly make the room go cold in some Pagan gatherings.

Partly this is because Wicca’s popularity ensures it gets the lion’s share of oddballs and lukewarm adherents. Part of this is because Wicca’s contentious history and modern elements make it less valid in some eyes. Part of it is that there are fewer intellectual “brownie points” to be had in Wicca, as being fluent in Saxon English or Homeric Greek may increase your personal rep, it doesn’t do much for your religious rep in Wicca. It’s not that Wicca is anti- intellectual, but that it tends to emphasize the subjective experience.

I think the one complaint against Wicca I take issue with is that it is a magnet for “fluffbunnies”, as I have met Asatru who read a single book, converted and didn’t seek out or even know of the Eddas or other lore. Christianity, Buddhism and other faiths have their own “fluffbunnies”. It’s not a phenomenon confined to Wicca or even Paganism. While Pagans tend to reject outright those who are halfheartedly Pagan, Christianity tends to view half a heart as better than none, so we tend to be the most vocal religious group on this issue.

What are some of the critiques against Wicca that you think are valid?

Jason Pitzl-Waters on Interfaith “Challenges”

The Washington Post asked it’s On Faith panel to comment on the recent clashes between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East, and Jason’s response was spot-on:

These events aren’t mere “challenges to interfaith relations,” they travel right to the heart of various interfaith initiative’s limitations. When you have several powerful faiths that all believe, to differing degrees of fervency, that true peace and harmony will only come after a global conversion to their preferred faith, and that all hold-outs will be punished, either temporally or after death, that is no mere impediment to peace that can be worked out over tea. Peace and tolerance can only come when instruments of political and social control are either out of their hands, or severely limited. Then, when, as Thomas Jefferson said “the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions” you can start to have a real dialog that can produce peace, tolerance, and understanding.

Read the entire response here.

Pagan-ish Rap!

Ask and ye shall recieve… So my call for Pagan rap music got some interesting feedback! Most Pagans live in urban or suburban areas and so you would think that we would find ways to express ourselves in an art form so closely related to chanting and poetry. Here are the artists that were suggested to me:

Kellee Maize

MC Yogi

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