IntenseDebate - sarenth

11 years ago @ Kemetic Reconnaissance - Introducing the Kemeti... · 0 replies · +2 points

This is an awesome idea, and I find myself welcoming it very much. Thank you!

12 years ago @ The Wild Hunt - Quick Note: Congratula... · 1 reply · +5 points

A movie that opened my eyes to this was American History X. A powerful film that explores Neo-Nazi and racial hatred, and the reasons why some people grow into a culture of hate and violence.

12 years ago @ The Wild Hunt - That's Me All Over (Pl... · 0 replies · +2 points

Agreed. Thank you Hecate.

12 years ago @ The Wild Hunt - Unleash the Hounds! (L... · 0 replies · +2 points

*laughs* Good points. I'm not as widely read as I would like to be regarding the Renaissance or Middle Ages. The Renaissance is not my forte, nor is Hellenic Paganism, so I guess I have more research to do. Thanks.

12 years ago @ The Wild Hunt - Unleash the Hounds! (L... · 2 replies · +1 points

Okay, I can agree that my sources are probably too selective. However, I did not say that it had stopped being used as an insult. I had said that "it moved from just meaning an insult from Christian scholars or something close to "atheist" into an umbrella term for living religious traditions." *shrug*

All I was trying to say is that we've merely added another layer of meaning, one that doesn't reach back, but is in the present day in reference to living people and their living religion and community. The Renaissance saw a resurgence of Pagan ideas, sure, but an actual revival of Pagan practice? Not out and out worship like we have now. Maybe you could argue that the Freemasons and other secret societies were the forebears of such a revival, but probably not living traditions like what we have now.

The extra layer of meaning means a lot, especially given how many people live with the term as a descriptor now.

12 years ago @ The Wild Hunt - Unleash the Hounds! (L... · 6 replies · +2 points

I'd say that we've changed it insofar as it moved from just meaning an insult from Christian scholars or something close to "atheist" into an umbrella term for living religious traditions. Heck, even about 50 years ago the meaning of Pagan tended to mean (i.e. "Pagan babies" in Catholic usage) non-Christians. Catholics tended to use the term "Pagan babies" in reference to tribal or indigenous peoples' kids that missionaries were "trying to save".

That we've shifted the word to actually include religious practices rather than being used in a totally pejorative term, to me, is pretty big. We've taken what usually was an insult, historically speaking, and turned it into a descriptor for a set of religious communities. Sure, not everyone agrees with the term, but it's use is here. It will probably evolve in its use over time as different communities differentiate themselves from it as a label with more force.

12 years ago @ The Wild Hunt - Unleash the Hounds! (L... · 8 replies · +5 points

No usage of a word is completely static. As an example, sacrifice, in its use means different things to different people. Sure, it may still at its core mean "to make sacred" but the use of the word changes over time. Whether or not I agree with the scholars here, Pagan has and probably will change over time. Some people reclaim words, some people bring others back into vogue, and some twist them completely around from their definition.

12 years ago @ The Wild Hunt - Pagan Community Reacts... · 0 replies · +2 points

Even if you can only do it piece-by-piece helping those of us who don't normally interface with the legal system might make this verdict easier to swallow, prevent knee-jerk reactions, and perhaps push the Pagan community to focus our energies to better ways of getting our religions and faith recognized and treated fairly. I would be deeply appreciative, but understand that life is busy, and obligations always come first.

12 years ago @ The Wild Hunt - Pagan Community Reacts... · 0 replies · +1 points

"Christians treat this as though having Pagan chaplains would be bringing something *into* the prisons, cause they think like proselytizers. For us, rather, it's not an 'establishment,' it's people maybe called to something better who need *help,* and a practice grounded in something more than books meant for people not in prison like that."

Definitely agreed here.

I think that a Pagan in prison needs the community that a chaplain can provide as much as a Christian might; perhaps more so, considering the far-smaller numbers for Pagans. A clergy there behind the bars for prisoners may be a helpmeet in ways that I don't know, not having done prison ministry or chaplaincy.

12 years ago @ The Wild Hunt - Pagan Community Reacts... · 2 replies · +5 points

Certain parts of modern Paganism hold the view that "each is a priest unto themselves". Not every part. Even if all of modern Paganism did, violations of priests/priestesses rights are still violations of their rights. Even though, according to the court, Mr. McCollum did not having standing in this case, the prisoners do.

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