Meanwhile, in Witch, You Do You<\/a> Mat Auryn advocated \u201cdo what thou Will shall be the whole of the law\u201d and Phoenix LeFae argued for the primacy of action in No One Cares What You Think<\/a>.<\/p>\n I enjoy good, robust Pagan theological and philosophical debate. In my very first post<\/a> back in 2008, I said<\/p>\n I\u2019m starting this blog because I need to work through some spiritual issues, and if I\u2019m having these issues, probably someone else is too. I hope to attract some comments and questions that will help point me in the right direction. The end result will be a deeper, more consistent, more meaningful religious theory and practice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ll make one and only one hard and fast declaration of Truth, and I\u2019ll stand by it no matter what: in matters of religious truth, ultimately we don\u2019t know and we can\u2019t know. I can\u2019t prove there are many individual Gods with their own agency any more than a Muslim can prove there is only one God and Muhammad is his prophet, any more than an atheist can prove there are no Gods.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean we can know nothing about the Gods, and it doesn\u2019t mean our debates about them are useless.<\/p>\n I saw the quote below in a Facebook comment. I\u2019m paraphrasing, in part because I don\u2019t want to call out any one person, and in part because I\u2019ve heard many people express this idea in similar ways.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t understand what everyone is arguing about. It\u2019s all God. All these masks are our own way to connect to the Great Mystery that is God. If you don\u2019t like one, try another.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is an argument for soft polytheism\u2026 or depending on the way it\u2019s practiced, perhaps for a mystical monotheism. Those are perfectly valid viewpoints, but saying \u201cI don\u2019t understand what everyone is arguing about\u201d assumes it\u2019s a foundational belief for everyone. It\u2019s not.<\/p>\n In an era where prejudice, discrimination, and religiously motivated violence seemingly won\u2019t stop, many of us want to scream \u201call our differences don\u2019t matter \u2013 deep down we\u2019re all the same \u2013 let\u2019s all just live in peace.\u201d That\u2019s a nice thought, but as this comment illustrates, when people say \u201clet\u2019s all just live in peace\u201d what they usually mean is \u201clet\u2019s all live in peace my way<\/em>.\u201d In this case someone is saying \u201clet\u2019s all just be soft polytheists or mystical monotheists.\u201d I can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n Deep down we\u2019re not all the same. Deep down we\u2019re all different, and we have a sacred obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect anyway. The belief that the Gods are real, distinct, individual beings is not the same thing as the belief that \u201cit\u2019s all God.\u201d We don\u2019t have to agree on our theology. We don\u2019t have to worship together to respect each other and to work together where we have common cause, any more than Pagans have to agree with Presbyterians to sit down to dinner with them and work together for immigration reform.<\/p>\n I\u2019m very sympathetic to those who emphasize orthopraxy over orthodoxy. I am a Unitarian Universalist, a religious movement that likes to preach \u201cdeeds not creeds.\u201d But it is easy to forget that our actions flow from our beliefs.<\/p>\n I believe the many Gods call many people to worship them in many ways, so I judge other peoples\u2019 religion by how it inspires them to live, not by how closely it matches mine. I serve Gods who are busy in this world with activities that will take many human lifetimes to complete, so I am willing to participate I things that I will never see finished.<\/p>\n This works both ways. I know some polytheists who believe the Gods are particular, demanding, and eager to punish transgressions. They tend to be rather pedantic about their practices, and not in a nice way.<\/p>\n Of course, our experiences lead to our beliefs \u2013 perhaps these folks have experiences that led them to assume the Gods are especially demanding. My experiences have been rather different\u2026 though not so different to dismiss them completely.<\/p>\n Our beliefs matter, because our beliefs lead to our actions.<\/p>\n The Facebook commenter who says \u201cit\u2019s all God\u201d does not believe the same thing as a polytheist who says \u201cthe Gods are many distinct individuals.\u201d So what are we going to do about that?<\/p>\n Pretending it\u2019s all the same washes out beliefs and practices that are deeply meaningful and forces us to some shallow least common denominator of religion. If you want shallow generic religion that\u2019s your business, but I don\u2019t. And neither do many of the readers of this blog. We may not agree on everything, but we want to explore and practice deeply.<\/p>\n Every Sunday evening I make offerings to the Morrigan. Every Wednesday evening I make offerings to Cernunnos. On Mondays I make offerings to my ancestors. Tuesdays are officially open, but they\u2019re gradually becoming filled with a spiritual relationship I\u2019m not ready to discuss publicly. I say prayers, pour libations, and then listen. Sometimes what I hear is faint. Other times it\u2019s so loud I can\u2019t hear anything else. Most times it\u2019s somewhere in between.<\/p>\n This is how I explore my devotional polytheism. It\u2019s not the only way or even the best way, but it\u2019s the way that works for me. I follow my Gods and ancestors where they lead me and I don\u2019t worry about trying to reconcile it to anyone else\u2019s beliefs. But if I can make my practice better, I want to do that.<\/p>\n In matters of religious truth, ultimately we don\u2019t know and we can\u2019t know. But that doesn\u2019t mean every answer is a right answer. Some beliefs are more likely than others, and some beliefs are more helpful than others. To cite an obvious example, the beliefs of Daesh<\/a> are highly unlikely to be true even from an Islamic viewpoint, and they are most definitely not helpful.<\/p>\n None of us are approaching that level of religious stupidity. But if we never question our beliefs, if we never examine them, how do we know if they\u2019re as good as they can be?<\/p>\n Pagans and polytheists have only bits and pieces of the paganism and polytheism of our ancient ancestors. Some survived in stories, some survived in history, some survived in graves and ruined temples. Those who are reconstructionists or who draw on reconstructionist methods (I\u2019m in the second group) have something to go on, but often not much. Those who ignore reconstructionist methods are having to develop everything from scratch.<\/p>\n When someone challenges our beliefs, we\u2019re forced to look deeper. Screaming \u201cyou can\u2019t tell me what to believe!\u201d closes our ears and our minds. Examine their arguments \u2013 does it make sense? Do you need to change part of your beliefs? Perhaps they\u2019re misunderstanding something, and in preparing a response you learn how to better articulate your religion. Or perhaps they\u2019re all wrong and you can help them refine their beliefs.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t want to debate, you don\u2019t have to. Just ignore the conversations. But respectful debate helps us refine our growing religions, and I intend to participate.<\/p>\n If a Christian tells me \u201cif you\u2019re not worshipping Jesus, you\u2019re worshipping the devil\u201d there\u2019s no point in debating him. I can point out the historical inaccuracy of his statement, and I can point out where most actual devil worship<\/a> comes from. But all I\u2019ve done is make a statement for the record \u2013 I haven\u2019t changed his mind, and he certainly hasn\u2019t changed mine. A debate has to have common ground or we end up talking past each other.<\/p>\n Do those who say \u201cit\u2019s all God\u201d have common ground with me? If we\u2019re talking about roadside trash pickup, of course. Polytheists, monotheists, pantheists, atheists \u2013 we all have an interest in caring for the Earth. If we\u2019re talking about how to celebrate Beltane, sure. There is no creedal test to dance the Maypole.<\/p>\n But if we\u2019re talking about how to worship the Gods, I don\u2019t think we do. I know how to relate to an individual being with their own agency. I don\u2019t know how to relate to a mask or an aspect, and I certainly don\u2019t know how to relate to a Great Mystery.<\/p>\n I have experienced the Great Mystery. But I can say nothing about that experience, because there are no words to describe it. If the Great Mystery is your religion, know that I greatly respect your path, but it is not my path.<\/p>\n![\"altar](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2017\/06\/altar-statues-06.04.17.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEveryone believes something<\/h1>\n
Our beliefs lead to our actions<\/h1>\n
![\"04](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2017\/06\/04-St.-Kitts-80.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nExploring our different beliefs is a good thing<\/h1>\n
Respectful debate is helpful<\/h1>\n
![\"speaking](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2017\/06\/PUF-2017-02.jpg\")
<\/a>But there has to be common ground<\/h1>\n
Deep exploration leads to differentiation<\/h1>\n