Since I first posted about Pagan podcasters Deò and Mandy, and their transition to atheism, a remarkably vibrant and thoughtful discussion has emerged in the comments section (Nearing 100 comments!). I urge you to take a moment and check it out if you haven’t already. However, my blog is hardly the only one exploring this topic and the issues it raises, here are just some of the posts from some fellow Pagan bloggers, authors, and pundits.

From MetaPagan: Spirituality, Identity and Community (by Yvonne Aburrow).

But is a religious label really about beliefs, or about participating in community, and sharing values and practices? Is it about doing something for the wider community? Or about a quest to understand the world and know how to live in it well? When does identifying with a label become membership in the group? Where and how does membership end? If you were accused of practising your religion in a court of law, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Perhaps religion is really a convincing narrative that helps to confer meaning on the world and our place in it. Even if it isn’t literally true, it’s symbolically true and internally consistent.

From The North West Passage: The Passing of Deo’s Shadow (by Brendan Myers)

I have to admit this affected me greatly, and not just because I was a guest on the show four times. Deo is a friend and a fellow philosopher. Before I moved to Hamilton, I was living only 20 kilometers away from him. He is also a remarkably generous, friendly, fun and kind person. I was dearly glad of someone in the community who has the same background and knowledge in philosophy as I do, with whom I can talk about such things. His departure from the community, therefore, hit me hard. His reasons for leaving it were sound and rational. It made me wonder if I have given much of my adult life to a community that doesn’t care about philosophers, and if I, too, have become merely a spokesperson for a tradition that is ultimately a dead end.

From Letter From Hardscrabble Creek: Pagans are not a Community nor a Tribe — Not Yet (by Chas Clifton)

What we have is a network, not a community nor a tribe. Maybe in a few generations that will change, who knows? (For you anthro and sociology majors, it is the Gemeinschaft / Gesellschaft issue, no?) Everytime I hear someone going on about “the Pagan community,” I say to myself, “Not yet.” Not when you can walk in and walk out so easily.

From Cernunnos’ Path: On the Threshold Between One Life Path and Another (by Mahud)

I have no idea where my path will lead (who knows, perhaps back to Christianity. I’m open minded enough to consider that a valid possibility), but I’m going to take it slow and not rush into this ritual or that magical practice or suddenly start worshipping a pantheon of Deities, just to fit in with the wide world of Paganism. Whether I stay or go, I’ll always have a piece of the Pagan community with me. But the way things are going now, I’ll be sticking around for some time yet.

From Chrysalis: Where Can We Grow From Here? (by Pax)

Well, it seems to me that the Pagan community could really stand to do a lot of work and soul searching on issues of Pride and Community.  I say this as a Pagan and Gay man who has often seen parallels and contrasts between his two subcultural communities. Why do we seem to have so much trouble coming together across lines of faith or Tradition to build community on the local, regional, and national levels?

And that seems to only be the beginning, I’m sure there are even more posts I’m missing out on. If you have commented on the transition to atheism by Deò and Mandy, or the issues it (and subsequent blog commentary) raises in your own blog/journal feel free to share a link in the comments (you can also consider this a “fresh” thread to discuss the topic if you feel a bit overwhelmed by the number of comments on the original post).

Tags: atheism, Blogosphere, conversions, Deo's Shadow, Pagan Blogs, Paganism, philosophy, podcast