{"id":3311,"date":"2015-02-17T18:00:37","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T00:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=3311"},"modified":"2015-02-14T15:42:42","modified_gmt":"2015-02-14T21:42:42","slug":"in-praise-of-communities-of-convenience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2015\/02\/in-praise-of-communities-of-convenience.html","title":{"rendered":"In Praise of Communities of Convenience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Last week I saw two blog posts from respected polytheists lamenting \u2013 or at least, questioning \u2013 the compromises those of us on the outer edges of our religious movement must make in the name of peace and unity.<\/p>\n

On Polytheist.com, P. Sufenas Virius Lupus wrote<\/a> about the compromises polytheists make to participate in events like Pantheacon (which Lupus has attended every year since 2007).<\/p>\n

Sometimes, though, these calls for unity of purpose and support of causes serve to be a substitute hegemony that seeks to erase diversity, silence dissent, and to disguise the plurality of our profound and important differences on the ground and in our daily functioning.<\/p>\n

It is often under these kinds of auspice that we are encouraged to attend events like Pagan Pride Days, or large Pagan conventions like PantheaCon. We are told that we, as polytheists, are included under this \u201clarge tent\u201d and the greater \u201cumbrella\u201d of modern Paganism, whether we want to be or not (and, certainly, some of us do want to be, while others do not), but do we do so at a cost that sacrifices our individuality, or elides our differences, all in the interests of peace?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On Under the Owl\u2019s Wing, Hellenist and fellow Denton CUUPS member Conor Davis wrote<\/a> an emotional account of not feeling at home in the UU church, with its emphasis on Christian myths and Humanist sensibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u201d my voice cracked \u201cdon\u2019t feel like I belong anywhere\u201d. He let out a sympathetic \u201cawww\u201d and held me closer. \u201cWhy?\u201d he replied, gentleness tinting his voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I think that maybe, just maybe I\u2019ve found somewhere to call home \u2026 I get reminded that I don\u2019t really belong. I\u2019m just\u201d my words caught in my throat and came out as a whisper \u201ca visitor\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I understand their concerns.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019ve had generally good experiences in the UU church<\/a>, I\u2019m well aware not many UUs share my Paganism, much less my polytheism. An old joke says \u201cUnitarianism is the belief in one god, at most.\u201d\u00a0 We have CUUPS (the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans) and it\u2019s been a great thing for me, but even in my own chapter we have occasional rituals that could best be described as generic non-Gardnerian Wicca.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a full member of the Druid grade in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.\u00a0 I\u2019ve attended six OBOD camps and I\u2019ve taught or led ritual at all of them.\u00a0 But when OBOD Chosen Chief Philip Carr-Gomm was asked if Druidry is a religion<\/a>, he answered \u201cit\u2019s all up to you.\u201d\u00a0 OBOD teaches a set of spiritual practices and techniques that can be used in any religion.\u00a0 That flexibility is one of the main reasons OBOD is the largest Druid order in the world.\u00a0 But it also means that when we presented a devotional ritual to Cernunnos<\/a> there were some who didn\u2019t understand it, and a few who felt it was inappropriate.<\/p>\n

My beliefs and practices are probably most closely aligned with ADF Druidry.\u00a0 While I\u2019m not a member of ADF, I\u2019ve borrowed extensively from their liturgies, and ADF founder Isaac Bonewits<\/a> had more influence on my growth as a Pagan than any other person.\u00a0 Yet while I enjoy my time with the ADF Druids, I wouldn\u2019t want to be limited to their liturgy for every ritual.\u00a0 I want to do the occasional Egyptian Temple Ritual and other activities that don\u2019t really fit with what they do.<\/p>\n

I could try to build my own religious tradition, but sooner or later I\u2019d run into the same problems\u2026 or I\u2019d cause them for someone else when I added this or subtracted that and someone complained \u201chey, this isn\u2019t what I signed up for!\u201d<\/p>\n

The modern Western cult of the individual makes building homogeneous communities difficult.\u00a0 It makes building large homogeneous communities virtually impossible.\u00a0 In tribal cultures<\/a> the desires of the individual are sublimated to the traditions of the tribe.\u00a0 Your primary identity isn\u2019t the Self, it\u2019s the Tribe.\u00a0 You do what your people have always done, because that\u2019s who you are, what you are, and whose you are \u2013 doing your own thing is unthinkable.\u00a0 That\u2019s never going to fly in modern Paganism, and anyone who suggests it will quickly be accused of trying to make themselves the \u201cPagan Pope\u201d even if they have no interest in being in charge of anything.<\/p>\n

But humans are social animals \u2013 we need each other.\u00a0 We need each other so much it\u2019s worth forming and supporting imperfect, heterogeneous communities of convenience.\u00a0 We may not agree on theology, but we can work together to make the world a better place.\u00a0 We may not agree on how to honor the Gods, but we can come together to honor Them, or at least to embody and manifest Their virtues.\u00a0 We may never achieve \u201cperfect love and perfect trust\u201d but we can demonstrate some pretty good love and we can build some very workable trust.<\/p>\n

None of my spiritual homes \u2013 and they are my homes \u2013 fill all my needs.\u00a0 But they all fill some of my needs and I support their goals, so I participate in their activities and I contribute my time and money to their support.<\/p>\n

And for those occasions where I need a very homogeneous group to honor and serve a particular deity, or to contribute to a very specific magical working, or to do some specific thing to honor and care for Nature, I can send out very limited invitations to a very limited project.<\/p>\n

Or I can just do it myself.<\/p>\n

There are limits to communities of convenience.\u00a0 At some point, you simply don\u2019t have enough in common with a group to make participation in their activities a meaningful thing for you.\u00a0 And sometimes there\u2019s one big thing that drives you away \u2013 no matter how much they love Jesus, there\u2019s no place for gay people in the Southern Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n

How much difference can you accept?\u00a0 No one should have to live with abuse to have a family.\u00a0 No one should have to be marginalized to find a community.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t have to have my every belief and practice constantly affirmed in order to participate in a group.<\/p>\n

What can you live with?<\/p>\n

The bottom line on communities of convenience is that they\u2019ve brought me many, many good friends\u2026 just as I still have many good friends from my days as a Christian.\u00a0 We don\u2019t see eye to eye on religious matters, but we still have other common interests and we still enjoy each other\u2019s company.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to be part of a grove of polytheist Druids who draw from many sources, honor a variety of Gods, value good scholarship (but aren\u2019t obsessed with it), love and revere Nature, and work to make the world a better place.\u00a0 Perhaps such a grove exists, somewhere.\u00a0 Perhaps I\u2019ll be able to gather one, someday.<\/p>\n

Until then, I\u2019ll continue supporting and enjoying my communities of convenience.<\/p>\n

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

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