{"id":886,"date":"2016-09-09T08:32:58","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T22:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/?p=886"},"modified":"2018-01-24T13:32:14","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:32:14","slug":"pagan-misconceptions-and-why-i-hate-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2016\/09\/pagan-misconceptions-and-why-i-hate-them.html","title":{"rendered":"Pagan Misconceptions and Why I Hate Them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Probably
By Frank Thayer Merril [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>We have a lot of misconceptions in Paganism, and I am not talking about what non-Pagans believe about us, I am talking about what we believe about Paganism.\u00a0 I am talking about things like millions of people died in the Inquisition, or when we say those killed in the Inquisition were witches and Pagans.\u00a0 When we say that every Pagan follows the rule of harm none, or the threefold return or even just karma \u2013 and then there is the whole thing where karma is, what goes around comes around in a few days time, rather than it being a force that controls reincarnation.<\/p>\n

So many misconceptions, I can\u2019t possibly list them all here (but I may make a post about them another day, because, fun).\u00a0 They are pretty much my biggest pet peeve \u2013 and I have a few pet peeves, but when it comes to people spouting misconceptions, it takes a lot of effort on my part to not charge in with a, \u201cWell actually<\/em>!\u201d\u00a0 I fail most of the time to be honest.<\/p>\n

But why? Beyond the obvious, they are misconceptions and as such are stupid and need to be destroyed, why do I hate them so very much?<\/p>\n

All Real Pagans<\/h2>\n

I have spoken of this one before<\/a> of course, though a bit tongue in cheek and self-deprecatingly.\u00a0 A lot of the misconceptions within Paganism are used to perpetuate some kind of grand unified Paganism, where if you don\u2019t fit the prescribed misconception, then you obviously aren\u2019t a Real Pagan.\u00a0 Harm none is the most common of these, of course.\u00a0 I have been attacked, online, many a time and viciously, because I am no follower of the idea of harming none.\u00a0 Good thing my feelings aren\u2019t easily hurt, else I would have to point out that those attackers are breaking their own rule and are so not Real Pagans either!<\/p>\n

The misconceptions that lead to the All Real Pagans fallacy are mostly amusing, I have to be honest.\u00a0 But they are also damaging to people who don\u2019t have the same odd sense of humour that I have.\u00a0 And they are damaging to the Pagan community in general, online and offline.\u00a0 On a personal level it can lead to the seemingly basic hurt feelings, anxiety and religious doubt in a big way (which isn\u2019t fun).\u00a0 It can also lead to people forcing themselves to do things and believe things that actually make them extremely uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

On the community level, well one only need look at the kerfuffles in the blogosphere for an example and they can get pretty nasty. This can translate into real life where some people avoid certain gatherings for fear of being attacked as not a Real Pagan.\u00a0 It can create some pretty bad problems within smaller groups, covens and the like when one person has a very different idea of Real Paganism than everyone else.<\/p>\n

Liars Can\u2019t Be Trusted<\/h2>\n

When our misconceptions get exposed for the lies that they are, we then become untrustworthy as a whole.\u00a0 When people realise how much shit we have created with lies about the Inquisition and how every society was matriarchal, the truths we want to reveal become suspect.\u00a0 Who is going to believe what we say when some of our most shocking revelations were actually bullshit?<\/p>\n

Yeh, no one.<\/p>\n

Paganism is a Joke<\/h2>\n

Following on from liars not being trustworthy, we also become objects of ridicule and our religions just can\u2019t be taken seriously. All we really are is a bunch of disgruntled Christianity haters, everything we say is stupid.\u00a0 And so is everything we believe.<\/p>\n

This may not seem like a problem \u2013 after all, who cares what other people think of us, right? But in truth it is a problem when we have governing bodies ready and waiting to make laws that may not go in our favour.\u00a0 We want to be taken seriously so that our voices in the world can make a difference.<\/p>\n

I personally don\u2019t care what people think of me or how they feel about me, however I also do recognise that I am a representative of Paganism as a whole, also of Polytheism and Hellenism.\u00a0 We are all representatives of the religions, traditions and labels that we follow and take upon ourselves.\u00a0 As representatives we have to consider what effect our actions and words will have on the greater Pagan and related communities.<\/p>\n

Personally,\u00a0I do sometimes feel embarrassed that I am counted as being somehow the same as all other Pagans, when I see so many of them spreading ridiculous misconceptions, lies, ignorance and outright bullshit.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care what people think of me, so long I am the reason they think that way about me.\u00a0 I do not want people judging me based on the actions of some Pagan in the UK or US.<\/p>\n

Your actions do affect me, and I am bloody sick and tired of people assuming I am Wiccan because I am a witch and a Pagan.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually a worse assumption than the devil worship one that outsiders accuse us of.\u00a0 Not because Wicca is comparable to devil worship, but because it\u2019s actually easier to convince people I don\u2019t worship the devil than it is to explain how I am a witch but not Wiccan.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So please.\u00a0 Before you share that meme, that \u201cenlightening revelation\u201d article or status, check the truth first.\u00a0 Check if it is real, if it is true, if it is backed up by anything resembling integrity.\u00a0 Realise that just because another Pagan said it, that doesn\u2019t make it true.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Lies,
Public domain via Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before you share that meme, that “enlightening revelation” article or status, check the truth first. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,11],"tags":[18,31,20,32,29,25],"class_list":["post-886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-pagan-community","tag-debates","tag-misconceptions","tag-opinion","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism","tag-religion"],"yoast_head":"\nPagan Misconceptions and Why I Hate Them<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Before you share that meme, that "enlightening revelation" article or status, check the truth first.\" \/>\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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