{"id":4750,"date":"2016-03-04T18:12:21","date_gmt":"2016-03-05T00:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=4750"},"modified":"2016-03-04T18:12:21","modified_gmt":"2016-03-05T00:12:21","slug":"differences-demand-clarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/03\/differences-demand-clarity.html","title":{"rendered":"Differences Demand Clarity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"ECG<\/a>John Halstead has a new blog post that\u2019s 80% excellent and 20% dead wrong. The Dictionary Is Not A Holy Book<\/a> rants against Biblical literalists and dictionary worshipers. I\u2019ve complained against Biblical literalists since long before I became a Pagan \u2013 they miss the point of scripture and myth<\/a>. I\u2019m not fond of dictionary worshipers either. While it can be helpful to define uncommon words and while etymology can add context to an essay, when someone starts arguing from the dictionary my gut-level reaction is \u201cif that\u2019s the best you\u2019ve got your argument must be pretty weak.\u201d Arguing from the dictionary is a form of the logical fallacy of appeal to authority<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most of John\u2019s post is on-target. This excerpt nicely summarizes the 80% that\u2019s good.<\/p>\n

Language is constantly evolving.\u00a0This is why historical usage, while instructive, is not determinative of meaning.\u00a0Meanings are worked out\u00a0in the present<\/em>.\u00a0They are worked out\u00a0in community<\/em>.\u00a0And they arise from consensus, not authority\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This line is simply brilliant:<\/p>\n

In religious matters, rather than saying \u201cwords have meanings,\u201d it might be more accurate to say \u201cmeanings have words\u201d \u2014 the meanings precede our attempts to articulate them, and our words only ever approximate our meaning.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I cannot adequately describe the experience of ecstatic communion with a God. It is powerful to the point of overwhelming. It is humbling and inspiring and terrifying. It is rapturous and it is painful. And none of those words nor the feelings they express come close to being complete. Many of my polytheist friends will not discuss their experiences even with other polytheists, some because they\u2019re too intimate and some because no words can do them justice.<\/p>\n

So when John Halstead says \u201cmeanings have words\u201d he\u2019s absolutely right. But he extends this line of thinking in a direction that is logically unsupported and religiously unhelpful.<\/p>\n

Often, the discussion is about words like \u201cgods,\u201d \u201cdeities,\u201d \u201cpagan,\u201d \u201cpolytheist,\u201d \u2026 Often the motivation behind the turn to the dictionary is not a desire for greater understanding, but a desire for control<\/em>.\u00a0 Dictionary worshipers do not want to understand how others use words; rather, they want to control how others use words<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No, no, no, no, no.<\/p>\n

Language may be constantly evolving, but it evolves within limits. As we discussed back in December, squirrels are not rocks<\/a>. Now, is a pebble a rock? Is a boulder a rock? Is a mountain a rock? Is lava a rock? \u201cRock\u201d is a rather generic word \u2013 saying \u201crock\u201d when you mean pebble or boulder or mountain or lava isn\u2019t necessarily wrong, but it\u2019s not not particularly helpful either.<\/p>\n

\"flowers<\/a>Suppose you tell me \u201cI won\u2019t be home when you arrive. Just let yourself in \u2013 I hid the key under the rock.\u201d If there\u2019s one rock on your front porch, that may be pretty clear. But if you\u2019ve used rocks as a border for your flower beds, or worse, if you\u2019ve got a gravel driveway, I have no clue where to look for the key.<\/p>\n

In both of these examples, if I push you for a more specific answer I\u2019m not trying to control you and I\u2019m certainly not claiming to be a geologist. I\u2019m trying to get some clarity \u2013 I want you to use better words to communicate your meaning more precisely.<\/p>\n

Over at Polytheist.com, Tess Dawson has an essay<\/a> where she talks about three trees near where she lives. They\u2019re not just any trees \u2013 they\u2019re Black Maples. And they\u2019re not all the same \u2013 squirrels nest in one but not the others. One drops branches because of an insect infestation. If you talk to Tess about trees and she asks \u201cwhich tree?\u201d she\u2019s not trying to control you and she\u2019s not trying to impress you with her arboreal skills. She\u2019s just trying to get some clarity around what you mean.<\/p>\n

Tess says:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to assume that all trees are basically alike especially if you don\u2019t know trees well, and it\u2019s even easier to assume that if you\u2019ve seen one maple tree the differences don\u2019t matter much. But, instead of assuming that all trees are just trees, or that all maples are so similar as not to merit further consideration, let\u2019s instead assume each is unique and different.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tess uses this example to make the point that if we encounter two Gods with the same name but with different epithets (such as \u00a0Zeus Olympios and Zeus Chthonios) we should assume They\u2019re different beings until or unless we learn differently.<\/p>\n

Polytheists are trying to find the right words for our meanings so we can communicate clearly and effectively with each other about our religious experiences and our interpretations of them. Zeus Olympios and Zeus Chthonios are not the same being. The presence of a mighty spirit and an insightful internal awareness are not the same thing.<\/p>\n

Our common culture is steeped in monotheism and it\u2019s influenced by materialism. Our language (both formal and common) reflects their power over us. Those of us who see the Gods as many and the world as inspirited are fighting for language that reflects and communicates our concepts and that doesn\u2019t reinforce monotheistic and materialistic assumptions. We are working this out in the present, in community, and we are seeking to establish consensus.<\/p>\n

We are fighting the assumption that \u201cGod\u201d means an angry old man in the sky, because we do not worship such a being. We are fighting the assumption that \u201cGod\u201d means a divine helicopter parent who always looks out for us, because this does not reflect our experiences. We are fighting the assumption that \u201cGod\u201d is distant and remote, because our Gods are often present with us.<\/p>\n

I do not know John Halstead\u2019s purpose in today\u2019s blog post. But this paragraph gives us a strong hint:<\/p>\n

God, gods, deities, Spirit, spirits, the holy, the sacred, the numinous \u2026 whatever you want to call it\/them \u2026 are like electrons \u2014 they disappear when we look directly at them. In religious matters, we have to sidle up to our subject, and hope to catch a glance of it out of the corner of our eye, like a fleeting deer. You can bet that, as soon as you have nailed down a definition of \u201cgod\u201d or whatever, the real thing has slipped your grasp.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cGod\u201d once meant one of many mighty divine beings. Then it meant only the Christian God. Then for some it meant our highest values, while for others it meant everything that ever was, is, or will be. I\u2019m reclaiming the original meaning, not because it was first and therefore \u201cright\u201d but because it best reflects my experiences. The polytheist community is attempting to work this out by consensus (in public!) and we want to insure that those who approach our community \u2013 whether out of curiosity or because they\u2019ve had a life-shattering experience they\u2019re struggling to comprehend \u2013 can clearly understand what we mean when we say \u201ca religious regard for many real Gods.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve talked with John Halstead \u2013 I know his religious experiences have been meaningful to him, and he is right to interpret them in the way that seems most appropriate to him. But in arguing for a loose definition of \u201cGod\u201d his Gods become vague and untouchable. My Gods are distinct and almost tangible \u2013 working with them has tangible effects in my life, effects that are often difficult and occasionally unpleasant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

John Halstead\u2019s Gods and my Gods are not the same thing. It is neither dictionary worship nor an attempt to gain control to advocate for language that clearly communicates our very real differences. Different meanings need different words.<\/p>\n

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

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