PANTHEON
Hail to Columbia! Spirit of Liberty! Guardian of our country’s Highest Ideals! Muse of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and the men and women who founded the United States! Inciter of just rebellion and champion of justice!
M’Colleague had a great idea. While I was planning to write about what Freedom means to Pagans, he wanted to know what it actually means to be Pagan-American. I thought about that for a minute and was stumped that I didn’t have a really clear idea of what “Pagan-American” means. He pointed out this exchange over at The Wild Hunt as an example:
Phaedra Bonewits: The second image is one we used to use a lot in the ’90s, but not so much now: when asking for your religious rights, wrap yourself in the American flag.
Baruch Dreamstalker: Good second point, Phaedra, we still wrap ourselves in the flag in the sense of citing Constitutional concepts as reasons why we should be allowed this headstone or that chaplain. Schultz gives us the harder assignment of articulating why our equal participation is good for America. Lots of folks of my generation lost that knack during the Vietnam War, to the extent that recapturing it virtually amounts to a spiritual exercise.
So I’m asking folks what they think it means? What makes Pagans valuable to America? What do we bring to the table? How do we exemplify American values? Looking back on the contributions that Jews and Catholics have made to our collective American identity, how do Pagans enrich the American identity?
You can post a short response below, or if you get wordy feel free to shoot it to me in an e-mail at [email protected]. I’ll have a few responses going up this afternoon.
Have a happy and safe Independence Day!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In