{"id":15081,"date":"2019-07-18T03:00:43","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T09:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=15081"},"modified":"2019-07-17T07:27:35","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T13:27:35","slug":"why-pagans-dont-proselytize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Pagans Don\u2019t Proselytize"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sunday\u2019s post Dealing With Door Knockers: A Pagan Guide to Engaging With Proselytizers (Or Not)<\/a> included one short but very important line that virtually all Pagans agree with, but that we rarely discuss: \u201cPaganism is not a proselytizing religion.\u201d We giggle at the memes asking \u201chave you accepted Pan as your lord and satyr?\u201d but the idea of seriously having that conversation borders on nonsensical. I think it\u2019s worth exploring why that is.<\/p>\n

I usually avoid disclaimers, but I\u2019ll add a couple here. Paganism is many religions, not one. My polytheist Paganism is one version, not the only one. If some of these reasons don\u2019t resonate with you, then they don\u2019t \u2013 that doesn\u2019t mean I think you\u2019re wrong. If you have other reasons, by all means articulate them in the comments section \u2013 more is good.<\/p>\n

And with that out of the way, let\u2019s look at why Pagans don\u2019t proselytize.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

What is proselytizing, anyway?<\/h1>\n
The dictionary definition of \u201c proselytize<\/a>\u201d is rather neutral: \u201cto recruit or convert especially to a new faith, institution, or cause.\u201d But there\u2019s a big difference between simply having a presence in the \u201cmarketplace of religions\u201d and the kind of high-pressure, fear and guilt based sales pitches of the conservative versions of Christianity and Islam.<\/p>\n
Cable TV companies advertise on broadcast TV, on the internet, and in other places where they can be seen. \u201cThis is what we offer, isn\u2019t it great?\u201d If you want cable TV, you can call them up, ask for their prices, and if you like what you hear, sign up for their service. That\u2019s rather different from someone knocking on your door, launching into a sales pitch, and promising you a \u201cspecial deal\u201d but only if you\u2019ll sign right now.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re interested in a particular religion, you\u2019ll have no trouble finding information about it. That\u2019s one of the reasons I like being a part of Patheos \u2013 it puts Pagans on the same platform with everyone else. But researching a new religion at your own pace is one thing: having someone show up at your door telling you to convert to their religion or burn in hell is quite another. Even if they don\u2019t put it that way, it\u2019s clear that\u2019s what they mean.<\/p>\n
Proselytizing, then, isn\u2019t just religious recruitment. It\u2019s aggressive religious recruitment that relies heavily on manipulative sales techniques, something Pagans find abhorrent.<\/p>\n

Paganism isn\u2019t about believing the \u201cright\u201d things<\/h1>\n
The idea that religion is all about believing the \u201cright\u201d things so you can end up in the good afterlife and not the bad afterlife is a very recent, very Western idea. For most people in most places throughout most of history, religion was and is about what you do, who you are, and whose you are.<\/p>\n
There is no \u201cright\u201d religion \u2013 there are only different religions.<\/p>\n
Which is not to say that all religions are the same, or that they\u2019re all equally right. Clearly that\u2019s not the case \u2013 there\u2019s not much that\u2019s right about the religion of the Westboro Baptist Church.<\/p>\n
But how can we make an objective case that Evangelical Christianity is better than Zen Buddhism<\/a>, or that Sunni Islam is better than Gardnerian Wicca? That\u2019s not comparing apples to oranges, it\u2019s comparing apples to okra \u2013 they\u2019re both foods from plants, but that\u2019s where the similarities end. Some people are a better fit with one, some with another\u2026 and some with none.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Religious coercion is unethical<\/h1>\n
Most religions at least pay lip service to the idea of religious freedom. The Quran says \u201cNo compulsion is there in religion\u201d (Surah 2:256). The mythology of the United States begins with the Pilgrims coming to America so they could worship according to the dictates of their consciences.<\/p>\n
But the context of \u201cno compulsion\u201d in the Quran makes it clear that everyone should<\/em> be a Muslim. And the Pilgrims fled religious persecution only to outlaw all religions except their own form of Christianity.<\/p>\n
Telling someone they should change their religion is like telling them they should change their family, their nation, or their language. It\u2019s part of who and what they are \u2013 we have no right to impose our ways on others. If they freely choose to change, that\u2019s their right. But such a choice must be truly free, not made at the point of a gun \u2013 either literally or metaphorically.<\/p>\n
Religion is inherently uncertain<\/h1>\n
Religion is humanity\u2019s attempt to deal with the big questions of life: where do we come from? Why are we here? What happens after death? How should we live?<\/p>\n
Notice I said \u201cdeal with\u201d and not \u201canswer.\u201d For all our experiences of death, our thoughts about death, and our conversations with the dead, ultimately we don\u2019t know what happens after death. Different religions and cultures have different ideas. I have my own ideas<\/a>. But we have no way of knowing<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Our virtues and values tell us what is good in life, based on generations of experience and collective wisdom. But many times we find ourselves forced to choose between competing virtues, with no clear answer. Our desire to make things simple, to make them black and white, has resulted in a flood of laws, rule, and cultural norms that are helpful to some but harmful to others \u2013 and that are easily exploited by those seeking power for themselves.<\/p>\n
Religious questions have no certain answers and they never will. Pagans understand this \u2013 proselytizing religions don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Many Gods, many ways<\/h1>\n
The reasons described above could apply to almost any religion, at least those who aren\u2019t sure they have sole possession of the One True Way. But Pagans \u2013 especially those of us who are polytheists \u2013 have other reasons as well.<\/p>\n
If there was only one God, perhaps it could be argued that everyone should understand and worship that God in the same way. But for those of us who acknowledge the reality of the Many Gods, such an idea is unthinkable.<\/p>\n
Different Gods call different people to worship and work with Them in different ways. I worship Cernunnos and I worship the Morrigan. They share many of the same values, but ultimately They are different deities with different priorities. I have an occasional but long relationship with some of the Gods of Egypt. They are very different from Cernunnos and the Morrigan. They want different things from me and They teach me different things in return.<\/p>\n
The people of ancient Egypt and the people of the ancient Celtic lands did not relate to their Gods in the same way. Modern Pagans do the same.<\/p>\n
Many Gods, many ways.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n
Publicize, don\u2019t proselytize<\/h1>\n
At some point, the ethical concerns around proselytizing give way to demographic concerns. Put simply, conversions are the lifeblood of any religion, at least in the contemporary West. Population growth is slowing (which is a good and necessary thing) \u2013 any religion that counts on childbirth for its survival is doomed.<\/p>\n
Conversion is a fact of religious life. Some of our Pagan ancestors were forcibly converted to Christianity, but for many, a few here and a few there converted voluntarily, and after a while there were no Pagans left. As historian Ronald Hutton said<\/a> \u201cthe more aggressive, determined and monopolistic religion had the edge over its rivals, simply because it cared more about winning.\u201d<\/p>\n
If we do not participate in the marketplace of religions, we will never reach a critical mass \u2013 the numbers required to insure continued existence.<\/p>\n
And that urgency is still no ethical justification for proselytizing.<\/p>\n
So we publicize. We write books and blogs. We record music and make videos. We hold public rituals and we talk to anyone and everyone who asks questions. We let people know \u201chere we are \u2013 you\u2019re welcome if you want to join us.\u201d<\/p>\n
[Yes, some Pagan traditions are still secretive, and I\u2019m not saying we should change that. Not everything is for public consumption. But some things are.]<\/p>\n
But we leave the aggressive, invasive, fear-and-guilt based, religious salemanship to others. It\u2019s simply not a part of Paganism.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Telling someone they should change their religion is like telling them they should change their family, their nation, or their language. Everyone has the right to choose their religion, but such a choice must be truly free and never coerced. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":15093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4,5,8,425,1905,66],"class_list":["post-15081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-practice","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism","tag-proselytization","tag-proselytizing","tag-ronald-hutton"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Pagans Don\u2019t Proselytize<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Telling someone they should change their religion is like telling them they should change their family, their nation, or their language. Everyone has the right to choose their religion, but such a choice must be truly free and never coerced.\" \/>\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\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Pagans Don\u2019t Proselytize\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Telling someone they should change their religion is like telling them they should change their family, their nation, or their language. Everyone has the right to choose their religion, but such a choice must be truly free and never coerced.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-18T09:00:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-17T13:27:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2019\/07\/09-192-Ring-of-Brodgar.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html\",\"name\":\"Why Pagans Don\u2019t Proselytize\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-18T09:00:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-17T13:27:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Telling someone they should change their religion is like telling them they should change their family, their nation, or their language. Everyone has the right to choose their religion, but such a choice must be truly free and never coerced.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Pagans Don\u2019t Proselytize\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Pagans Don\u2019t Proselytize","description":"Telling someone they should change their religion is like telling them they should change their family, their nation, or their language. Everyone has the right to choose their religion, but such a choice must be truly free and never coerced.","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\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Pagans Don\u2019t Proselytize","og_description":"Telling someone they should change their religion is like telling them they should change their family, their nation, or their language. Everyone has the right to choose their religion, but such a choice must be truly free and never coerced.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html","og_site_name":"John Beckett","article_published_time":"2019-07-18T09:00:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-17T13:27:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":404,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2019\/07\/09-192-Ring-of-Brodgar.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Beckett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Beckett","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html","name":"Why Pagans Don\u2019t Proselytize","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-07-18T09:00:43+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-17T13:27:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad"},"description":"Telling someone they should change their religion is like telling them they should change their family, their nation, or their language. Everyone has the right to choose their religion, but such a choice must be truly free and never coerced.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/07\/why-pagans-dont-proselytize.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Pagans Don\u2019t Proselytize"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/","name":"John Beckett","description":"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad","name":"John Beckett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Beckett"},"description":"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}