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A Hub of Pagan Community
The community gets a little bigger. Visit our sister group in
Australia
Unlike our Judeo-Christian cousins, Pagans tend to follow their spiritual paths without much support given or taken from the Pagan community as a whole. Unless members of a group or coven, we get used to doing for ourselves and many of us get together at Gatherings only. The people we see and meet will go their way once the Gathering is over and we go ours. But what about important matters that concern our people such as the Pentacle Quest being lead by Selena Fox and The Circle Sanctuary, or the flippant statements made by George Bush and his Faith Czar James Towey about whether Wicca or Pagans are religious?
These are important matters and right now when there is something concrete concerning the religious equality being fought with the Veteran's Administration, we have the greatest chance to gain our equality and force the mainstream religions to accept us for what we are. Right now every person, group or business that has been discriminated against needs to file with the Attorney General's office in Washington their stories of discrimination and ask to have these cases investigated by that office. Attorney General Gonzales dedicated a section of his office that would investigate religious discrimination little realizing that it might be used more by the alternative religions, rather than the mainstream ones. We have been given a voice, but will we use it? Like everything the choice is up to us. We need Pagans and others to come together as victims of religious discrimination and bring these social slights out into the open and show how many radical Christian groups have worked hard to keep us from getting positive recognition.
We have all either heard of or actively felt discrimination of one kind or another, whether it is the interruption of a ritual or a hand fasting ceremony. Does your County library block their Internet connections to Pagan and Wiccan sites, or carry few books upon the subject? Has your landlord refused to rent to you after they found out what type of business that you started? Have your Pagan elders asked to be included in the opening prayer of your local government and been turned down? These are all forms of discrimination and if we are to enjoy acceptance as being part of this Country's religious we need to stand firm and show that if there is any discrimination being done out there, it isn't by us but to us.
I would love to say that most Judeo-Christians don't discriminate, but the members of these religions often follow the teachings of the elders without question, which means they follow blindly. We need to open their eyes and get them to ask themselves how they would like to be treated as we are. Having their ceremonies and rituals disturbed by people who are not part of their congregations or even the police! We aren't asking to do anything more than they can, so what is the problem?
The UPC would like to get people from around this Country to volunteer time to gather information that is relevant to Pagans and other alternative religious groups and host that information site as part of a nationwide Pagan Community. Lists can include Pagan businesses, clergy, people who do odd jobs, you name it. As Pagans we need to support Pagan owned businesses. Our Judeo-Christian cousins have used this practice for centuries and it is time we started to learn what being part of a community is all about.
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