{"id":5523,"date":"2016-09-01T06:15:22","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T12:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=5523"},"modified":"2016-08-31T18:17:04","modified_gmt":"2016-09-01T00:17:04","slug":"polytheism-doesnt-need-saving-it-needs-practicing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/09\/polytheism-doesnt-need-saving-it-needs-practicing.html","title":{"rendered":"Polytheism Doesn\u2019t Need Saving, It Needs Practicing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"MGW<\/a>The polytheist movement has seen its share of knock-down drag-out arguments over the past couple of years. Some of them have helped define and differentiate polytheism from atheism, from the mainstream culture, and from non-polytheist Paganism. Most, though, have generated far more heat than light. They\u2019ve also generated a lot of ill will.<\/p>\n

A quote often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt says \u201cgreat minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people\u201d (I realize the nature of this post pushes me toward the third category \u2013 please hold your judgment till you\u2019ve read the whole thing). The helpful arguments in the polytheist movement have dealt with ideas. Most of our current arguments are dealing with people, and with those who are trying to save us and our movement from others who they claim are dangerous or dirty or just plain evil.<\/p>\n

We have three groups trying to save polytheism.<\/p>\n

Some are trying to save us from the fascists in our midst \u2013 and \u201cfascist\u201d appears to be defined as anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders. Some are trying to save us from the polytheist radicals who are profaning the Gods with their politics, which just so happen to be opposed to the politics of the would-be saviors. And some are fighting the good old Pagan battle against everyone who\u2019s trying to tell them what to believe and what to do.<\/p>\n

A pox on all their houses. I\u2019ve had it with polytheists who don\u2019t give a rat\u2019s ass about ritual purity<\/a> but who care a lot about the purity of my Facebook friends list. I\u2019ve had it with polytheists who claim to be all about the Gods but who spend their time defending the worst elements of our movement<\/a>. And I\u2019ve had it with polytheists who can\u2019t seem to grasp that promoting beliefs and practices that have been shown to be helpful is not \u201ctelling you what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you think I\u2019m talking about you, I probably am. But rest assured I\u2019m not talking only about you \u2013 there are plenty of people in all these categories. Too many.<\/p>\n

Look, I get it \u2013 an external threat is the fastest way to bring your side together. Donald Trump has milked the fear of Mexicans and Muslims all the way to the Republican nomination for President. Hillary Clinton is getting a lot of support from people who don\u2019t like her but who think Trump is far worse. Instead of debating issues and policies, we\u2019re arguing about Trump\u2019s xenophobia and dangerous temperament, and about Hillary\u2019s e-mails and contributors\u2019 list.<\/p>\n

Do we really want to build a religious movement like this?<\/p>\n

Polytheism doesn\u2019t need saving \u2013 that should be evident by the way its ideas survived through 1600 years of official monotheism in the West. The multiplicity of the Gods is intuitive \u2013 monotheists have to stay constantly vigilant to keep polytheist concepts and practices from creeping into their religions. Our Gods certainly don\u2019t need saving \u2013 They\u2019re older, stronger, and wiser than any of us.<\/p>\n

Polytheism needs practicing. It needs polytheists to step away from our computers and step in front of our altars and shrines. It needs us to make sacrifices and offerings \u2013 not because the Gods need to receive them, but because we need to give them. It needs us to tell the stories of the Gods, to let dissatisfied monotheists and atheists know they have another choice, and to continually remind ourselves of who They are. It needs us to invite Them into our rituals and experience Their presence for ourselves. It needs us to meditate on the virtues and values of the Gods, and then figure out how best to embody them in our ordinary lives.<\/p>\n

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

And then it needs us to go back to our computers, write about what we did, what went well, and what didn\u2019t. Most contemporary polytheist traditions don\u2019t have established, proven practices. We\u2019re trying to revive, re-create, and re-imagine them for our time. This is the benefit of the polytheist internet \u2013 we can learn from each other\u2019s successes and mistakes.<\/p>\n

This won\u2019t lead to One Grand Universal Polytheism. As some like to remind me, polytheism isn\u2019t a religion \u2013 it\u2019s a collection of many religions. But there is considerable overlap in concepts and practices between our many individual traditions. Working together allows us to learn and grow (in religious depth as well as in numbers) faster than we could if we had to figure it all out ourselves. And it makes for a more pleasant environment for all of us.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not suggesting we whitewash over our legitimate religious and political differences \u2013 far from it. And I\u2019m not suggesting we excuse\u00a0personal attacks or other bad behavior (but I am suggesting it be dealt with one-on-one where ever possible). What I am suggesting in the strongest of terms is that the crusades have to end.<\/p>\n

You remember the crusades, right? When Christians decided to \u201ctake back\u201d what they thought was rightfully theirs and any atrocity was justified because God was on their side? When thousands and thousands were killed on both sides, as Christians made a mockery of their own religion?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not there. We\u2019re not close to there. As far as I know, nobody\u2019s killed anybody yet. We live in a very different world from the crusaders \u2013 it\u2019s not likely that anybody\u2019s going to kill anybody. This is a comparison of kind, not of degree. But the crusader mentality persists, and the idea that the infidels must be stopped at any cost is alive and well in the polytheist movement.<\/p>\n

Crusader mentality is anathema to the polytheist principle that different Gods call different people to serve Them in different ways. The proper response to polytheists who are \u201cdoing it wrong\u201d is not to crush them but to \u201cdo it right\u201d so well that everyone else sees the obvious benefit of following your way instead of theirs.<\/p>\n

Polytheism doesn\u2019t need saving from fascists or communists or atheists or would-be popes or anyone else. Polytheism needs practicing, in solitary and especially in groups.<\/p>\n

We live in the most religiously diverse and religiously open society in the history of humanity. We have good scholarship that just keeps getting better. We have devoted priests who serve our Gods and our communities. We have mystics and seers who experience the Gods intimately and who can teach those who will how to have the same kind of experiences. We have Gods, ancestors, and spirits who are moving in our world, seeking people to help promote their values and virtues.<\/p>\n

We have everything we need to restore polytheism and our many polytheist religions to a prominence they haven\u2019t seen in almost 2000 years. We just have to stop trying to save polytheism and start practicing polytheism.<\/p>\n

Following the old adage of \u201cpractice what you preach,\u201d Sunday\u2019s post will be \u201cA Foundation of Mighty Ancestors.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have everything we need to restore polytheism and our many polytheist religions to a prominence they haven\u2019t seen in almost 2000 years. We just have to stop trying to save polytheism and start practicing polytheism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":5525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[1117,725,1116,1095,4,5,8],"class_list":["post-5523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-2","tag-crusades","tag-donald-trump","tag-eleanor-roosevelt","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism"],"yoast_head":"\nPolytheism Doesn\u2019t Need Saving, It Needs Practicing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We have everything we need to restore polytheism and our many polytheist religions to a prominence they haven\u2019t seen in almost 2000 years. 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