Pagan America

Sometimes from all the talk about moral values and bringing faith back to politics we forget who that leaves out.

“as a non-Christian I am troubled by these calls for what is essentially the Christianization of American liberal politics. Christianity is not the religion of my birth, not the language of my tongue, or the feeling of my heart. It is an alien faith to me, one that has always seemed potentially threatening in its history of violence and predeliction for authoritarian self-righteousness. Even while I honor the many benefits certain Christianities have brought the world and cherish many individual Christian people, I hear that a Christian makeover of liberal politics to match the Christian co-option of American conservatism heralds the approach of an America where I and my friends and loved ones will be second-class citizens of a sort. I feel confident that a Buddhist would never be allowed to hold the Presidency, not now and probably not ever, no matter what his or her political stance.” – Jeff Wilson

Replace “Buddhist” with Pagan and you have a close approximation of how many of us feel about this current political situation. When I read about (Christian) creationism being taught in schools, or the “right” to have the ten commandments or public prayers to Jesus or nativity scenes on public property I feel chilled and isolated from the mainstream. Much as I suspect early Christians felt in Pagan Rome.

When “pagan” becomes a slur Christian conservatives apply to the “secular left”, when the notion of “domestic terror” starts to overlap with some Christian’s feelings about “the occult” and when Christian apocalyptic religious notions worm their way into policy and as Jeff states when the left try to out-Christian the right it leaves no room for any faith not “of the book”.

Pagans pay taxes, participate in American democracy, serve (and die) in Iraq, heal the sick and protect our streets (and protest in them when we feel the need), in short, they serve despite the lack of respect we are given and the almost total exclusion from consideration when it comes to decisions that affect us.

Once a debate in a political arena focuses solely on what Jesus would do you have already eliminated any other worldview from scores of other faiths (or lack of faith). Which is why Pagans (and most minority faiths) want a clear seperation of Church and State, because without it this wouldn’t be our home and the choice between a born-again Republican or a Catholic Democrat would be no choice at all.

Tags: Neopaganism