Recently there was a Progressive Faith Blog-Con. The purpose was to make connections with progressive bloggers of faith. While the conference was (understandably) dominated by the Abrahamic faiths, there was at least one (perhaps the only) Pagan in attendance. After the conference, another Pagan blogger noticed an article about the conference that caught her eye.

“Jews and Christians, Buddhists and Muslims, and at least one self-proclaimed pagan will gather to continue in person the kinds of conversations they wage on-line as authors of blogs, the Web diaries that range from the queasily personal to the politically influential.”

This brought up some concerns over identity and recognition.

“…why say ‘one self-proclaimed pagan’? Would you say ‘one self-proclaimed ____’? I’m sure the author meant no (deliberate) disrespect but I think he should be conginizant of faiths outside of ‘the norm.’ I’m trying not to be insulted by this. But it seems to me that many in the larger world-religious or not-don’t take Pagans seriously. And that’s too bad.”

This back and forth prompted a response from the blogger who attended the conference, and brought forth a bit of sublime wisdom.

“I have to be self-proclaimed, where other faiths can take it for granted that their affiliation will be clear. I have to sing myself, shout myself as a Pagan, because otherwise…well, who will?”

Modern Paganism is a faith of the self-proclaimed, the inspired, the moved, and the called. Being a part of a minority faith will never be easy when the faith of the majority deny your truths (just ask the early Christians). Until such time as modern Pagans are common as crabgrass, we will have to walk proclaiming ourselves and our faith. Let us wear the tag “self-proclaimed” with pride, this is a reclaiming.

Tags: Paganism