Perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic or critical. Perhaps I'm just being a horrible nasty brittle person who doesn't know what she's talking about? But all I can do is speak my mind, what I have observed over the years, and report what I see. And what I see is that we are sabotaging ourselves.
As I watch this list of annoying things on parade, I have to wonder whether or not the "perpetrators" understand that their actions are certainly not in furtherance of our religion although it definitely may be in furtherance of something else. It would definitely be nice if they would at least read what I have to say and consider it before their next installment of sabotaging behavior.
In any case, here's my list of horribles:
1. Dilution and Adulteration for "Inclusiveness" - While it is true that no one group can lay claim to the definition of Wicca, there are some aspects of the religion that MUST exist in order for it to actually be Wicca.
So, after consulting with various and sundry other people, we came up with the following definition of Wicca:
Wicca is a polytheistic religion of diverse origins grounded upon duality of Deity as masculine and feminine, immanent and transcendent. Wiccans see themselves as an integral part of Deity, and worship Gods in whichever form They present themselves.
Now before anyone starts yelling at me, keep in mind that this is my blog and my opinion. You are more than entitled to disagree with me, post comments to that effect, call me names, or whatever else makes you happy. I see my job here as prodding others to think. If you are ranting at me, you are obviously thinking about what I had to say. Fine enough.
So, to me anyway, to be Wiccan, one must be polytheistic, believe in Deity as masculine and feminine, immanent AND transcendent, and that one is an integral part of Deity. If one does not understand those concepts, or disagrees with those concepts, that is perfectly fine. Nobody HAS to believe it. Every entity has the right to believe whatever they choose. But what they do NOT have the right to do is to redefine an established religion for their own purposes.
And this is one of my biggest pet peeves. You have many people who feel that it is perfectly ok to blend 2 or 3 different religions (not just practices from religions, but religions themselves) and call it [fill in the blank] Wicca. It doesn't seem to matter to them that [fill in the blank] religion is openly hostile towards Wicca, or sometimes towards any other religion for that matter. They somehow think that putting the name on it will somehow magickally blend everything just right and all will be well. Well, no it won't, and how DARE you belittle my faith in that manner? How can we have Wicca of any sort when groups feel they need to chip away at it? Our definitions of Wicca are loose enough as they are without adding "anything that we feel convenient with at the time, regardless of whether it is polytheistic, grounded in duality of Deity, or roundly disbelieves in the immanence of Gods?
Another serious pet peeve in the light of dilution of faith is the idea that Wicca must be extended to include even those who do not have the capacity to understand the responsibilities inherent in the religion, or even those who are capable of making the CHOICE to follow Wicca. In many cases (though not all) you find that the advocates of this idea are those who are charging money for classes, or "registration" of some kind, or to attend rituals. These groups often wish to include children in their "rolls."
I have to ask "why?" The general answer I have received is that "other religions count children as adherents." My response is we are not like other religions. Wicca requires an active participation with full knowledge and full responsibility. It is not a passive religion where you bring your children to be indoctrinated at an early age, and continue forcing them to attend services so they don't "go to hell." Children do not have the capacity to understand enough about Wicca to make an informed choice, nor do they have the capacity to understand the responsibility inherent in following the Rede, the Law of Return, or the Ethic of Self Responsibility. Many don't even have the capacity to understand the responsibility of not disrupting ritual, but that's a completely separate argument.
Religion "In Your Face" - The "in your face" brand of religion is the stereotypical long black fingernails, goth like makeup, wearing only black, 13 inch silver pentacle, huge Triple Goddess tattooed person with the Baphomet, and the "Fear Me, I'm a Witch" bumper sticker. These types *wear* Wicca rather than practice it. Yes, these people have the perfect right to dress this way, act this way, and be this way and even sometimes smell this way. However, they are sabotaging the rest of us. If I don't take them seriously, and I'm pretty open minded (although not to the point where my brains fall out of my ears), what does the rest of the world think? Inevitably, if a reporter goes to a Wiccan function, especially if video is involved, they will seek out the most outrageous looking person possible to represent Wiccans to the rest of the world. If this person happens to have spent 90% of their religious study checking out where to get garb, how to put on make-up and how can we keep your nails from chipping, think they'll be a good advocate for the rest of us? To most mundanes, the stereotype becomes the reality. If *I* avoid them, and I'm pretty damn Wiccan, what do the "non believers" think? If you want to be taken seriously as a spiritual being, dressing in funny costumes and skipping down the yellow brick road ain't the way to do it. Neither will holding your bondo buggy together with bumper stickers.
Wicca For Money This one is pretty controversial, I know. And I didn't used to think that charging money to learn Wicca was inherently a bad thing. Then I took a good look around. There are people out there charging multiple thousands of dollars for your 3rd Degree Clergy status. Way back when, when I was neck deep in the world of martial arts, there was a similar but not identical conundrum in play. How could one charge a certain amount of money in exchange for a degree (or a black belt) when one had no way of knowing in advance whether the person would be able to physically or emotionally capable or achieving their goal. Meantime, the person would have a sense of entitlement because they had paid so much money.
To a much lesser sense, but still non trivially, payment "as you go" for lessons in Wicca also is problematic. I've personally seen many cases where it has become increasingly clear that a candidate for Clergy or for a certain Degree of whatever, would not be capable of achieving their goal. However, because they had paid money, both teacher AND student were unwilling to accept the inevitable, until major hard feelings were created. And then, because money had changed hands, it was somehow more of a "betrayal" when the student was finally dismissed. Money also causes much more external scrutiny by legal entities, the Better Business Bureau, and other regulatory bodies which then brings a further myriad of nasties upon the whole situation.
It hasn't escaped my observation that there seems to be a correlation between money and numbers, in that many of the groups who charge want to see many more people identify as Wiccan IN THEIR TRADITIONS. Coincidence? Dunno, what do YOU think?
To Be Continued