{"id":2645,"date":"2015-05-18T07:36:29","date_gmt":"2015-05-18T15:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/?p=2645"},"modified":"2017-04-05T15:13:06","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T23:13:06","slug":"paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/","title":{"rendered":"“Paganism is Not Political”: A Rebuttal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"G&R's<\/a>
G&R\u2019s logo, by Alley Valkyrie. I love this logo. It speaks to me of Black power, feminist power, earth power \u2013 and now Pagan power.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Last week I posted a resource list for more information on Paganism. <\/a> In the list I included a link to Gods & Radicals, <\/a>a relatively new website for Pagan anti-Capitalism. A certain colleague who shall remain unnamed told me \u201cPaganism isn\u2019t political,\u201d a statement with which I whole-heartedly disagree.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why: The personal is the political.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, there is no political litmus test a person must pass to be Pagan. I know Pagans who are Libertarian, politically conservative, Democrat, anarchist, and a variety of other persuasions. The only type of Pagan I\u2019ve never met is a social conservative, though I\u2019m sure those exist too. Paganism doesn\u2019t have a set of political views that one must subscribe to in order to be \u201cauthentic.\u201d If anyone suggests as much, FLEE.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. You don\u2019t have to get on board with the socialist, anarchist, anti-Capitalist view points of Gods & Radicals to be a Pagan.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to think that the legalization of marijuana or same-sex marriage is a good idea (though I genuinely can\u2019t understand why you wouldn\u2019t). You don\u2019t have to believe that global warming is real (though I really can\u2019t understand why you wouldn\u2019t). For every political stance someone somewhere can probably find a Pagan precedent.<\/p>\n

What I can understand is the reluctance to blur religion and politics the way the Religious Right has done in the United States, particularly since the 1970s and the rise of the Moral Majority<\/a>. Elections are a nightmare for people who refuse to be taken in with \u201cvalues voting\u201d and distraction tactics. Political discourse in the US has been dumbed down and we end up arguing over just how finely we should regulate women\u2019s bodies or rehashing the same \u201cvalues\u201d debates from years past.<\/p>\n

Not a single Pagan I know \u2013 liberal, conservative, or any other political flavor \u2013 wants to be compared to a fundamentalist or Christian conservative in any way.<\/p>\n

So I can see the reluctance to appear political and Pagan in the same breath.<\/p>\n

But make no mistake, my friends: the very act of being Pagan is political. I\u2019ve said it before (on Facebook) that the very act of my being female, educated, and opinionated is a political act. Throw in witchcraft and \u2026.. well, I\u2019m very much what the Religious Right hates. You\u2019d better believe that my speaking out is political!<\/p>\n

As a radical feminist* I think that every decision I make is a political decision: how many children to have; whether I should have children at all; how much and what kind of education to get (I am well aware that my extensive education in theology is a privilege and that, as a woman, it has generally only been possible from the mid-20th century on); what kind of sex I have \u2013 or don\u2019t have; to stay at home or work outside of the home; to speak up and to whom about what; what kind of birth control I use or don\u2019t use; and so on.<\/p>\n

I can hear some one out there saying \u201cBut Paganism isn\u2019t feminism either!\u201d And that\u2019s true (though I can\u2019t understand that, either). You can be a Pagan and not be a feminist \u2013 there is precedent. But why wouldn\u2019t you want to be one?<\/p>\n

Why wouldn\u2019t you, as a Pagan, want to work for something different<\/em> than the status quo? All of modern Paganism that I can see \u2013 and much of the ancient expressions, as well \u2013 stood in direct opposition to the mainstream monotheist overculture.<\/strong> This is particularly true of the way Neo-Paganism developed in the US in the 1960s on. It is also evident in the \u201cback to nature\u201d, Classical Paganism of the mid-to-late 19th century as a reaction to the effects of the Industrial Revolution. I\u2019m also going to take a wild intellectual risk here and suggest that magicians like Aleister Crowley weren\u2019t cozy with the status quo either.<\/p>\n

\"By<\/a>
By Rob Bye, Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBeing political\u201d isn\u2019t about which party you vote for. Not really. It\u2019s about how you express your values and virtues in the world. Signing the Pagan Community Statement on the Environment <\/a>is a political statement. It tells me something about your values and the way you wish them enacted in the world. Not<\/em> signing it also is a political act and tells me something about your values. (Not everything, but something.) The very act of being a Pagan tells me something about your values and how you envision the world.<\/p>\n

Paganism is absolutely political. Your expression, like your mileage, may vary.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

*I reclaim this word and refuse to let trans-exclusive radical feminists steal this phrase from me. I am a trans-inclusive intersectional radical feminist. A TIRF! As opposed to a TERF.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Being political” isn’t about which party you vote for. Not really. It’s about how you express your values and virtues in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1300,"featured_media":2647,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,18,40,41,42,45,1,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-feminism","category-pagan","category-pagan-culture","category-paganism","category-politics","category-uncategorized","category-values"],"yoast_head":"\n"Paganism is Not Political": A Rebuttal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Being political" isn't about which party you vote for. Not really. It's about how you express your values and virtues in the world.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Paganism is Not Political": A Rebuttal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""Being political" isn't about which party you vote for. Not really. It's about how you express your values and virtues in the world.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Witch's Ashram\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-18T15:36:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-04-05T23:13:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/397\/2015\/05\/hawkmorguefile.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3264\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2448\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Niki Whiting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Niki Whiting\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Paganism is Not Political\\\": A Rebuttal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-18T15:36:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-05T23:13:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/f486081486af64b0688ce0074b9f957d\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Being political\\\" isn't about which party you vote for. Not really. It's about how you express your values and virtues in the world.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Paganism is Not Political”: A Rebuttal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/\",\"name\":\"A Witch's Ashram\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/f486081486af64b0688ce0074b9f957d\",\"name\":\"Niki Whiting\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bac886fdaf9dbeb576087eb35714a1e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bac886fdaf9dbeb576087eb35714a1e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Niki Whiting\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/myownashram.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/author\/nwhiting\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Paganism is Not Political\": A Rebuttal","description":"\"Being political\" isn't about which party you vote for. Not really. It's about how you express your values and virtues in the world.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Paganism is Not Political\": A Rebuttal","og_description":"\"Being political\" isn't about which party you vote for. Not really. It's about how you express your values and virtues in the world.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/","og_site_name":"A Witch's Ashram","article_published_time":"2015-05-18T15:36:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-04-05T23:13:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3264,"height":2448,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/397\/2015\/05\/hawkmorguefile.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Niki Whiting","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Niki Whiting","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/","name":"\"Paganism is Not Political\": A Rebuttal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-18T15:36:29+00:00","dateModified":"2017-04-05T23:13:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/f486081486af64b0688ce0074b9f957d"},"description":"\"Being political\" isn't about which party you vote for. Not really. It's about how you express your values and virtues in the world.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2015\/05\/18\/paganism-is-not-political-a-rebuttal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Paganism is Not Political”: A Rebuttal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/","name":"A Witch's Ashram","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/f486081486af64b0688ce0074b9f957d","name":"Niki Whiting","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bac886fdaf9dbeb576087eb35714a1e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bac886fdaf9dbeb576087eb35714a1e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Niki Whiting"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/myownashram.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/author\/nwhiting\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1300"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}