{"id":23,"date":"2016-05-02T16:27:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T06:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2016\/05\/pagan-political-kerfuffle-and-why-i-am-not-in-on-it.html"},"modified":"2018-01-24T13:33:27","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:33:27","slug":"pagan-political-kerfuffle-and-why-i-am-not-in-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2016\/05\/pagan-political-kerfuffle-and-why-i-am-not-in-on-it.html","title":{"rendered":"Pagan Political Kerfuffle and Why I am Not in on it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

I haven\u2019t weighed in on the politics kerfuffle that has been pervading the Pagan and Heathen Blogospheres these past few weeks or more. \u00a0At most I have made a couple comments on posts about G&R;, including the one on Patheos Pagan written by Rhyd Wildermuth of G&R; (Through a Mirror Darkly).<\/p>\n

My contribution was mostly to point out how, when you write something a certain way, adding even multiple caveats is pointless in the extreme.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t really touched the political side of things, nor even the stuff about racism.<\/p>\n

Because I am just not a political person. \u00a0I am not sure if it\u2019s just a Me thing, but I have a feeling that it is partially due to me being Australian. \u00a0Here in Australia we have politics of course, we even have\u00a0that\u00a0sort of politics<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 the one that has nothing to do with our current government, the one to do with ideals and philosophies and whatnot. \u00a0Sure, we have capitalists, fascists, Marxists and on and on and on \u2013 good bad whatever. \u00a0We have all those people, but I guess they just aren\u2019t on the same level as they are in the US and other places. \u00a0Or, maybe they are just not very loud here where Boganism reigns supreme. \u00a0Or maybe I am too bogan to hear them?<\/p>\n

So, I am not really up on all the political jargon and systems and beliefs. \u00a0Maybe I should be? \u00a0But any time I consider reaching into that puddle of crap, I kind of feel like, don\u2019t I have enough to do and research and put together?<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

I homeschool my two older kids, that requires hours and hours of work in lesson planning and writing, drawing up a curriculum, printing and cutting and binding and researching. \u00a0Then I have to teach it all. \u00a0All the while looking after a cat-napping 7month old. \u00a0And running a (admittedly ignored by everyone at the moment) forum for Pagans. \u00a0And running multiple Facebook groups for Homeschoolers and Pagan Homeschoolers. \u00a0And a blog for my homeschooling, and its Facebook page and the Veils Facebook page and now I have this blog. \u00a0And I like to actually DO my religion, and learn about MY religion, as well other peoples. \u00a0And I of course have the usual stuff (which is part of my religion too) cooking and cleaning and mowing the lawns and feeding the bunny.<\/p>\n

Occasionally I like to read a book or watch TV. Occasionally I like to have a bloody shower or sleep. \u00a0Or eat.<\/p>\n

Learning about politics? Yeaaah. No. \u00a0I just can\u2019t bring myself to put in the time.<\/p>\n

All that to say,\u00a0I am not a political person<\/i>. \u00a0I don\u2019t even know all the labels and terms or what they all mean. \u00a0And when I do a quick search to get an idea \u2013 the knowledge of the definition is retained for all of an hour. \u00a0I know I am Left of Centre. \u00a0How far left, I have no idea. \u00a0I have opinions, well-formed ones, regarding certain political issues \u2013 LGBTQI rights, Racism, Sexism, Abortion etc. \u00a0But I am not self-labelled as being a supporter of this-type-of-politics or this-type-of-social-reform.<\/p>\n

So the fact that I haven\u2019t written much, anything, about all this political kerfuffle, doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t care about the issues being discussed. \u00a0It\u2019s just, I don\u2019t have the ability to discuss these issues on such a far ranging scale, because I don\u2019t know enough about it all and can\u2019t know enough at this point in time. \u00a0For me to try to enter these discussions, well, it would be the height of stupidity.<\/p>\n

The other issue is the people involved. \u00a0I haven\u2019t been that active in the Pagan Blogosphere for a year or two, because of my own life crap \u2013 I couldn\u2019t bring myself to care about everyone elses issues, so I stayed away from them. \u00a0I don\u2019t know much about these people or their history. \u00a0Rhyd? Galina? They are no-names to me. \u00a0I have been reading more lately, obviously. \u00a0But prior to this year, I probably heard of them in passing and ignored the passing reference.<\/p>\n

They are names to me now. \u00a0But I still don\u2019t know very much about them, their history in the blogosphere, their beliefs. \u00a0So I am sitting on the sidelines and not passing judgement on any <\/i>of them, as people<\/i>. \u00a0And the problem is, what I have read \u2013 all over the place \u2013 on both sides of the issue, I actually agree with points from both sides and disagree with points from both sides.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tangled mess that I can\u2019t quite unravel. \u00a0Nonetheless, I am finding the whole thing eye opening and instructive \u2013 good points and bad points, it\u2019s all teaching me something.
\nI am coming across new (new to me) bloggers left right and centre. \u00a0And I am following all of them, just to see what I can see. \u00a0I may unfollow some in the future, but for now, I am enjoying \u201cgetting to know them\u201d and learning about all these issues from the periphery.<\/p>\n

So I am not involved in this issue, and I will stay out of this issue, for the moment. \u00a0Reading about these issues is, handily, bringing up some other ideas for me though. \u00a0So I am gaining some writing influence from it all too.<\/p>\n

But if you find me linking to a political post and ignoring much of the political side of the post \u2013 I am not doing it to be perverse. \u00a0I am not showing you that I don\u2019t care or agree or disagree. I am not making a political statement with my link. \u00a0I am merely linking for whatever reason I specify (another topic post for example) and I am sitting back and learning.<\/p>\n

Because learning is what I am good at.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t weighed in on the politics kerfuffle that has been pervading the Pagan and Heathen Blogospheres these past few weeks or more. \u00a0At most I have made a couple comments on posts about G&R;, including the one on Patheos Pagan written by Rhyd Wildermuth of G&R; (Through a Mirror Darkly). My contribution was mostly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[17,18,20,19,16],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pagan-blogosphere","tag-blogosphere","tag-debates","tag-opinion","tag-personal","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nPagan Political Kerfuffle and Why I am Not in on it<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I haven't weighed in on the politics kerfuffle that has been pervading the Pagan and Heathen Blogospheres these past few weeks or more. \u00a0At most I have\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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