Re: Are we taken seriously?
ALL Pagans, no. Some basic common principles? Yes, if you call them "characteristics" instead. But...it comes under the polythetic classification thing again (which I might add is a perfectly valid way of defining things and is used for a number of concepts from cancer to species to games to religion in general). A polythetic definition is one that (for lack of a better simple answer) works like a checklist. If you compare one tradition directly to another, they might not have any checked boxes in common, but when you look at multiple Pagan traditions, A will overlap with E which overlaps with C, which overlaps with B and D, where D overlaps with A. It helps if you look at Paganism as a group of Paganisms, rather than as one distinct unified tradition. The problem with this is that *people are stupid* and don't think this way--we think in monolithic definitions and dualisms. I tend to think that it is easy for Western societies to truly think pluralistically or polythetically, its something you have to relearn (kids are actually really good at learning this, if you catch them early)...our system of learning, world view, and body of knowledge has tended to discourage this sort of thinking.
Characteristics of Pagan traditions (this is by no means a comprehensive list, and in no particular order):
Originally posted by Porpoise
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ALL Pagans, no. Some basic common principles? Yes, if you call them "characteristics" instead. But...it comes under the polythetic classification thing again (which I might add is a perfectly valid way of defining things and is used for a number of concepts from cancer to species to games to religion in general). A polythetic definition is one that (for lack of a better simple answer) works like a checklist. If you compare one tradition directly to another, they might not have any checked boxes in common, but when you look at multiple Pagan traditions, A will overlap with E which overlaps with C, which overlaps with B and D, where D overlaps with A. It helps if you look at Paganism as a group of Paganisms, rather than as one distinct unified tradition. The problem with this is that *people are stupid* and don't think this way--we think in monolithic definitions and dualisms. I tend to think that it is easy for Western societies to truly think pluralistically or polythetically, its something you have to relearn (kids are actually really good at learning this, if you catch them early)...our system of learning, world view, and body of knowledge has tended to discourage this sort of thinking.
Characteristics of Pagan traditions (this is by no means a comprehensive list, and in no particular order):
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