Empathy Over Universalism: Sharing Faith Without Compromising Values

I love Southern gospel. It is not unusual to find me belting out “I’ll Fly Away” behind the wheel of my car. No, I’m not Christian, but I can empathize with the feeling of faith that gospel music evokes.

Recently in the comments of another post there was some discussion over Universalism and how disrespectful that worldview can be. To tell a Christian that Jesus is just Horus is as disrespectful as being told Odin is merely a foreshadowing of Jesus. When Universalism comes from people of other faith traditions our hackles raise and we bare our teeth, but when it comes from inside the Pagan community no one usually bats an eyelash.

I have a close relationship with and a deep abiding love for Manannan Mac Lir. He is my beloved Uncle Manny and a pillar of strength in my dark hours. He is not Heimdall. He is not Janus. By the same vein, Selu is not Demeter or Freyja. It’s disrespectful to simply say my Gods are actors playing cosmic roles in an endless play.

I think it was Marion Zimmer Bradley in Mists of Avalon who coined the phrase “All Gods are one God; All Goddesses one Goddess.” People who quote it mean well. “Despite our differences, we are the same on a very basic level.”

The truth is though, that’s a way of seeking common ground that does a disservice to all parties. Instead of saying “We essentially worship/do the same thing” how much better is it to say “Though we worship differently, we recognize the joy we each find on our respective paths”?

When I sing “I’ll Fly Away” by no means am I worshiping a Christian Deity or saying that the Christian God is another version of my Gods. I’m simply connecting to the joyous feeling of worship in that song. I get the same thrill from “I’ll Fly Away” as I do from singing “Freya, Shakti”. While they don’t represent my faith and theology, they do capture the joy I feel when connecting with my Gods.

I attended the ordination of a friend of mine. She’s an Evangelical minister and one of the most fabulous women I know. I don’t believe in her God, her scripture or her commission to convert souls to Christianity, although I respect those things as being important to her. What I do believe in is the joy, comfort and inspiration her faith brings her. That spark in her soul is similar to the spark in mine, and I revel in it. Seeing the joy in her face as she ministers is like a reflection of the joy I experience chanting in a starlit circle.

It was my goal to be the inclusive Pagan voice on this blog and find fabulous opinionated folks to present other viewpoints. After some reflection, I think I’ve been doing a disservice to my readers by being Universalist rather than empathetic. So going forward I will not attempt to provide a pan-Pagan viewpoint, but I will attempt to reflect the fire burning in each of our souls.