Pagan Pet Peeves

[Nightingale]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

when people who do not share my path try to tell me how to walk on my path

like... it's not your religion, it's mine, you don't know how I worship, leave me alone

[anunitu]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

This is why I dislike structured religion,a lot of it is just rules as to how to proceed . It becomes less about feelings and connection,and more about rules you MUST follow to be allowed to be who you are naturally.

Just my vision of things...

[callmeclemens]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Walking this path in the age of the internet. Sometimes I feel like a hypocritic thinking this way, the internet has led me to wonderful communities like this, and provided a vast amount of resources. However I feel like the very nature of Internet Pagan communities lies in contrast with what are at least the basic principles of my Pagan Spirituality.

[thalassa]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Thalassa's Pet Peeve #3: Let's blame Christianity for all our ills.

My first five pet peeves are all variations of what I call the Pagan Persecution Complex . Number three specifically rests on the mistaken idea that Christianity is some big evil and that anything that is not Christian is therefore the opposite of that and in opposition to that. I think this is kind of understandable--many pagans start out as Christians & it's been my observation that many pagans who start out as Christians do so with a sort of Christianity that is oppressive, invasive, outright damaging, and in families that are extremely devout and even forcefully coercive when it comes to their beliefs. Since I didn't have that experience in my Christian upbringing I think it's a lot easier for me to see the internal bias in the rejection of Christianity as a self defense mechanism. In the end what happens is that many pagans end up throwing the baby out with the bathwater; there are truly some brilliant ideas within the Christian tradition, as well as beautiful traditions that can and should be learned from... After all many of them did come from the Paganisms that preceded them.

[MaskedOne]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Sorcery is real...

Except ya know when I want to do something morally repugnant with it then no it isn't real and you shouldn't judge me.

If magic is a head game you play with yourself then awesome do whatever you want. If however, you expect it to have direct and tangible results on the outside world then you are morally responsible for what you do with it and some things really don't need to be attempted.

[habbalah]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

This is why I dislike structured religion,a lot of it is just rules as to how to proceed . It becomes less about feelings and connection,and more about rules you MUST follow to be allowed to be who you are naturally.

Just my vision of things...

Exactly why structured religion isn't my thing.

[Threshold]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

#1... people who claim to speak for Pagans in general in the media, and then puke up some pablum that sounds like the already mentioned "Ultra Spiritual" videos of YouTube fame.

Or as if Paganism is this one cool homogeneous thing that excuses any type of bad behaviour under the banner of religion, so "hey, you can't judge me" .

#2...The idea that if you're a pagan you shouldn't even FEEL let alone express anything but gushing approval for anything any other pagan does. Yes I judge, yes I have opinions and no I will not endorse everything others do under some misconstrued delusion of solidarity.

All religions that somehow got snagged in the fishnet called 'paganism' are not the same, or even compatible. My religion has no more in common with most pagan faiths than it does with Abrahamic faiths. I'm not going to jump all over people for having different beliefs, but that doesn't mean I'm going to defend and celebrate them either. Ain't nobody got time for that!

#3...The idea that "It's all about "The Goddess", for all pagans, all the time. That term may be front and center in some religions, I don't even know which, but to use it as if everyone knows which goddess it's all about annoys the snot out of me.

Walking into a booth at a pagan meet up and being greeted with " Is the Goddess smiling on you today?" Gets my eyes rolling. Well yes she is, and Jesus loves me this I know cause the Bible tells me so...and may the force be with you!

#4...as mentioned above, neutering and making everything politically correct and sanitary.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

That so many want to live in a past that they really know nothing about, but have developed romanticized fantasies of (the Golden Age Fantasy); or who imagine that "going back to nature" (used as a euphemism for "subsistence farming") is somehow going to make them feel better and make all their problems go away (a offshoot of the Nature is Good Fantasy)...

In short - a lot are long on theory talk but short on real knowledge/experience.

[anunitu]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

As I understand it Farming is HARD work...long hours ,hard physical work and at times not all that much money,a bad crop could bankrupt you.

That and I am a concrete rat,born and bred in the city...

[thalassa]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

That so many want to live in a past that they really know nothing about, but have developed romanticized fantasies of (the Golden Age Fantasy); or who imagine that "going back to nature" (used as a euphemism for "subsistence farming") is somehow going to make them feel better and make all their problems go away (a offshoot of the Nature is Good Fantasy)...

In short - a lot are long on theory talk but short on real knowledge/experience.

Another of my pet peeves is akin to these--the overuse of the Appeal to Antiquity and Appeal to Nature fallacies...

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Another of my pet peeves is akin to these--the overuse of the Appeal to Antiquity and Appeal to Nature fallacies...

That always reminds me of the Nature is safe and lovely aspect so many pagans push. Try to speak about just how easily and from a human emotion aspect nature is willing to kill you and they go crazy on you. It's a very romanticized and rose glasses view of nature.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

That always reminds me of the Nature is safe and lovely aspect so many pagans push. Try to speak about just how easily and from a human emotion aspect nature is willing to kill you and they go crazy on you. It's a very romanticized and rose glasses view of nature.

Nature is the place where even the parasites have parasites.

[eightofcups]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

You know how you guys talk about "fluffy bunnies" in the Pagan community? Well, I think there are kind of another sort of "fluffy bunny" type of people towards nature, these people don't have to be Pagan per say, but I imagine there is some overlap. But yes, nature is all hugs and rainbows to them. They claim to love nature, but they don't respect it or even understand. When I try to point out the wild, ferocious aspects of nature (like the beauty and terror of an apex predator taking a kill) they don't want to acknowledge it, they just pretend it doesn't exist or even get angry about it (I've actually heard of people who want to genetically modify carnivores to be vegan- ugh what the hell? how can these people even pretend that they care about nature- they just have this imaginary fantasy version of "Nature" that fits all their values, they don't truly care).

I grew up in the boonies, I love being out in the woods, that's my home. Nature is beautiful but it's also wild. I feel like many of the people who have this romanticized view of nature is because they never really had a lot of experience with it to know better (ie. usually people from the cities and suburbs), and I never really saw any of the country folk I knew think of nature as something cute and friendly.
Even before I found my path, I have always been very much about the environment and wildlife protection. Sadly, many people I've seen who claim to be 'nature lovers' don't respect it at all, it seems like it's almost like an amusement park for them.

Sorry for my longish rant, but this is something that's literally been driving me nuts for years (and still is!).

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

You know how you guys talk about "fluffy bunnies" in the Pagan community? Well, I think there are kind of another sort of "fluffy bunny" type of people towards nature, these people don't have to be Pagan per say, but I imagine there is some overlap. But yes, nature is all hugs and rainbows to them. They claim to love nature, but they don't respect it or even understand. When I try to point out the wild, ferocious aspects of nature (like the beauty and terror of an apex predator taking a kill) they don't want to acknowledge it, they just pretend it doesn't exist or even get angry about it (I've actually heard of people who want to genetically modify carnivores to be vegan- ugh what the hell? how can these people even pretend that they care about nature- they just have this imaginary fantasy version of "Nature" that fits all their values, they don't truly care).

I grew up in the boonies, I love being out in the woods, that's my home. Nature is beautiful but it's also wild. I feel like many of the people who have this romanticized view of nature is because they never really had a lot of experience with it to know better (ie. usually people from the cities and suburbs), and I never really saw any of the country folk I knew think of nature as something cute and friendly.
Even before I found my path, I have always been very much about the environment and wildlife protection. Sadly, many people I've seen who claim to be 'nature lovers' don't respect it at all, it seems like it's almost like an amusement park for them.

Sorry for my longish rant, but this is something that's literally been driving me nuts for years (and still is!).

Probably could never connect it but I've always though part of the rainbow and happy happy aspect of nature ties back into the concept of the noble savage and that rose colored lens. The ecological influences of the late 60's early 70's upon paganism surely didn't paint the peaceful and loving perspective of nature. Yet with the inclusion of a lot of the Native American stuff of the late 80's and 90's and the totems, power animals, spirit animals, etc you really start to see the Ecological influence fade out and this all caring and embracing image of a peaceful nature take root.

I do agree though that growing up in the boonies gives you a different perspective of nature than growing up in the city or burbs.

[thalassa]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Actually, it goes back to the Romantic era as a response to Industrialism.