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The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

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    The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

    Blogger HecateDemeter has two recent posts on the concept of "framing":

    Which begs the question of how you *you* frame your beliefs?

    I see this as problematic within the various Paganisms simply because "pagan" is often described by using a negative definition in the first place...

    or as I commented in her second piece on the issue:

    Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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    #2
    Re: The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

    'Paganism is an umbrella term for many revived, ancient, elemental and/or nature-centric religions and belief-systems that have been practiced throughout time, along with some that were invented in the past few hundred years'.

    Which is ok for the most part, but falters when you meet urban Pagans, and is slightly ironic coming from myself because I'll be the first to point out that many ancient religions, especially the Greco-Roman ones, were centered in bustling cities.
    The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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      #3
      Re: The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

      I was actually inspired enough to blog about this idea, as sort of a how to...if interested, feel free to read the whole thing, but the finer points of *what* I frame my definition off of (*how* depends entirely on the person and the conversation up to that point):

      *Paganism is group of religious traditions and spiritual paths, rather than one unified religious tradition.
      *Pagans often believe in multiple gods and/or view the earth or universe as divine.
      *Many Pagans get their inspirational from ancient religions such as those practiced by the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Norse, etc. Some Pagans try to recreate those religions as they were practiced.
      *Pagans may practice alone or in a group, and may belong to a specific tradition such as Wicca, Druidry, etc.
      *Pagan practices include worship services, holiday celebrations, prayer and ceremonies for weddings, birth, death, etc.

      The point is, of course, it be expressed in a way that the person on the receiving end can identify with. As much as we have a sizeable number of people that are in some state of "I don't care what people think of me" rebellion, the simple fact is that no one lives in a vaccum...
      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
      sigpic

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        #4
        Re: The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

        "Paganism is an umbrella term which describes a variety of traditions and belief systems. Some Pagans belong to established religions or paths such as Wicca or Thelema and others consider themselves 'eclectic,' meaning they follow their own path and choose elements from various traditions as they see fit. Pagan paths are typically polytheistic but may also be duotheistic, pantheistic, and in some cases monotheistic. Some traditions are derived or revived from ancient paths and some are completely modern and many are centered around the idea that nature is divine."

        As for the devil-worshiping thing, I basically tell them that most Pagans believe something to the effect that positive and negative forces work in harmony with one another and that life is about spiritual evolution rather than an eternal reward or punishment.
        Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy of accomplishment to the triumph of hateful failure. Do not mistake a child for his symptom.
        -Erik Erikson

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          #5
          Re: The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

          I think some of the problem is that *we* can’t agree on who or what we are beyond non-Abrahamic.
          Of course, because that's actually the definition of pagan. Pagan=Not JCI. It's an exclusionary definition that people are trying to rewrite to become an inclusionary one. Personally I find the term pagan to be so broad as to be useless. Imagine if you asked someone what their name was and they said "Not Justin, Chris or Iain". Well gee.. thanks that narrows things down.

          I think "Pagans" need to seriously consider actually naming their religions.
          Re: Living History Blog
          Ancient Celtic Clans

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            #6
            Re: The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

            Originally posted by Gobae View Post
            Of course, because that's actually the definition of pagan. Pagan=Not JCI. It's an exclusionary definition that people are trying to rewrite to become an inclusionary one. Personally I find the term pagan to be so broad as to be useless. Imagine if you asked someone what their name was and they said "Not Justin, Chris or Iain". Well gee.. thanks that narrows things down.

            I think "Pagans" need to seriously consider actually naming their religions.
            A lot of us do name our path, and use Pagan as the umbrella. So someone is Kemetic or Wiccan or Heathen etc. etc. Pagan is a bit of a catch-all which is used to both show kinship and make things easier.

            So is the answer that people start saying "I am [specific religion]" instead of "I am Pagan"?

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              #7
              Re: The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

              Originally posted by PharaohKatt View Post
              A lot of us do name our path, and use Pagan as the umbrella. So someone is Kemetic or Wiccan or Heathen etc. etc. Pagan is a bit of a catch-all which is used to both show kinship and make things easier.

              So is the answer that people start saying "I am [specific religion]" instead of "I am Pagan"?
              I don't think so...from a PR/networking perspective, I think Pagan is more useful.

              Of course, I see a difference between pagan (non-Abrahamic) and Pagan (as a set a contemporary religions), as described here. Plenty of world religions are pagan, but that doesn't make them part of Paganism.
              Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
              sigpic

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                #8
                Re: The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

                For some of us it's virtually impossible to narrow our paths down further than "Pagan." I, for example, don't belong to any tradition at all. At best I can describe it as "Neo-Pagan with Wiccan influence and ties to Greek mythology." That's quite a mouthful, so I stick with Pagan.
                Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy of accomplishment to the triumph of hateful failure. Do not mistake a child for his symptom.
                -Erik Erikson

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                  #9
                  Re: The 30-second Commercial....what would you say?

                  Question: "Isn't that some form of devil worship?"
                  My response: "I do not know what that is, can you please tell me so I can answer properly."

                  Pagan: From the Roman "pagani" meaning the common man, the lesser classes. Rome considered peoples outside the Empire to be beneath them, chattel in fact, and coined the term "Barbarian" to describe them. The internal equivalent of Barbarian was eventually used by expanding the definition of pagani to mean those outside of civilised Rome's culture and social influences. The pagani came to mean those country dwellers, farmers, labourers and base members of the Empire, including the remnants of La Veccia Religione which existed in the shadows.
                  I use the term pagan in light of the original meaning, and as such consider myself to be of the earth/Earth, simply a common man taking solace from the nature surrounding us and extracting the magic and wonder from same to further my path.
                  Love is the centre of all things. Fear is the destroyer of beauty and lives. Anything a despot can do to a people, humanity and community can heal and undo.

                  "Life is too short to worry about the little things. Better to let the moms of the world do that. They are great at it." - Madelyn Alt

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