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Inclusivity and Paganism
A personal view on inclusivity and Paganism from Barbara Lee of Pagan Life Rites Ireland.
As I started to write this piece on inclusivity and Paganism, my thoughts were occupied about the issues that are being reported in the media in the world recently.
A world where a Greek God is mistaken for Jesus, and a female boxer is mistaken for a man, where refugees are denied their human rights by people stirred up with bigotry, and where the murder of three innocent children led to horrific race riots across the UK and Northern Ireland; similar to those witnessed in Ireland in 2023, when a child was also killed.
These are the wedges that are shoved into society that, if given a chance, allow hate to grow.
Then we look further afield to Russia/Ukraine, Palestine/Israel, Venezuela, the USA, the list is endless. There seems to be a never-ending stream of hatred and violence being spewed out into our ears and across our screens, as we sit feeling helpless and unable to make real and lasting change.
Inclusivity and Paganism, Personally
By nature, I’m a Witch, an earth loving, tree hugging, nature worshipping, Goddess adoring Pagan.
As a Pagan, on a global level I am horrified by the hatred and warring between nations and the power-hungry leaders that rule them.
On a local level, I am equally horrified by intolerance regarding people’s appearance, gender, sexuality, ability, colour, race and ethnicity.
There appears to be a small proportion of the population who have very loud voices, and they shout lies, and the lies are believed, and repeated, and spread. They stir people up into a stew of hatred, creating the torch-bearing angry mob.
Inclusivity and Pagan Community
When this discrimination enters our Pagan community, I am not only horrified, I am outraged. Since when have any of us had the right to criticise another based on their appearance, gender, sexuality, ability, colour, race or ethnicity?
Supposedly, as Pagans, we [many of us from a Wiccan background] state our belief that we should harm no one, and yet that “harm no one” seems to come with exclusions and provisos.
We are fighting a battle against an extremist right wing that uses a persuasive, twisted logic, saying, it’s ok to hate and attack someone, because of x or y. It’s ok to attack that person, because they’re transgender, or gay, or a person of colour, or an asylum seeker. It’s ok to burn buildings to stop refugees from being rehomed in our area. It’s ok to bomb this hospital or city, because there are bad people there, and the innocent cannot be that innocent, because they appear to be sheltering them.
We know in our hearts and minds that it’s never ok to do these things. We need to ask ourselves, who is behind this agenda of hatred? Who can afford to fund it, and what is the reward received by perpetrating these acts?
I don’t normally shout my opinions from the rooftops, and I actively hate getting involved with online arguments. The reason I hate it is because I know it rarely develops into a fruitful or educational discussion.
Let me give an example. Someone I knew posted a meme stating that there is no such thing as global warming, as the Antarctic is getting colder every year. Anyway, it made me quite cross, and I said, unequivocally, this is untrue. We had the inevitable back and forth of whose research was better (my apologies to Sir David Attenborough, as even he is not a powerful enough force to send the message) and then it was suggested by them that we agree to disagree, I couldn’t. This was followed by a nasty right wing promoting meme.
I learnt my lesson, no point in responding, and thus it was a goodbye from me.
What is Best for Inclusivity in Paganism?
The problem with the ‘goodbye’ approach, is that when we cancel the people we don’t agree with, we no longer see what they are saying, and we leave others vulnerable to the hatred and lies that they are perpetrating.
When I see someone sharing hateful content, there comes a point where I have to draw a line for myself as some social media content can cause me real anxiety. This is a problem for those of us who are empathic people, we care, we want the best for everyone, we want everyone to be treated fairly, respected for who they truly are and for them to be included in our society on an equal footing.
Pagan Life Rites, as an organisation, serves the Pagan community, and has a remit of being inclusive, protecting the vulnerable, and trying to offer support in a real and active way.
When you tell us, this is the way I am, who I am, we will accept you. If, for some reason, that changes, we will still accept you. We are not your judges, we understand that as one explores oneself in an authentic way, things may change as self-understanding grows.
We are a small group, we’re hoping to grow to be a bigger group, embracing that ethos of inclusivity of all. I wish I could say there are no exceptions to this, however, I can’t.
As an organisation we cannot tolerate intolerance, we would love to get rid of those wedges that allow intolerance to grow, but they are ingrained and endemic in society today.
Therefore, the only thing we can do is not to allow those wedges push into our organisation to cause that disruption and discrimination, and we will call it when we see it.