Proudly Pagan

It's really discouraging to keep running into people that I left Christianity to get away from.  Not the main reason I left but I hoped it would be a bonus.  Except they are popping up in the Hellenic polytheist groups.  And I'm not even talking about just the odd person.

I had left the recon forums because I got tired of reading about how everyone else was doing it wrong and how the gods were offended by dirty hands and unbrushed hair.  And how evil Wicca was because they dared to call upon some of the Greek gods.  And how offensive magic was to the gods.

So I chanced upon a Hellenic polytheist group that was supposed to be inclusive.  Except the recons hang out there, too.  In numbers.

So the latest flame war was Don't Call Me A Pagan because it's an insult and we can't trust Christian definitions because they are evil also.  And there were the hyperbolic comments about how pagani meant illiterate and therefore it was an insult to Hellenic polytheists because they weren't illiterate.  Then some jumped in to point out that Pagans were those tree and nature worshipers and the gods knew they didn't worship trees or nature.  Totally wrong about Wicca and Druidry but what else is new.

Not to mention the recons tend to be a bit on the conservative side of things, which I can't for the life of me figure out, but there it is.  I haven't gotten my courage up to post there after I had my ass handed to me for saying it was insulting to be called a coward because I didn't want my Hellenic poly posts to show up on my facebook page.

Bottom line is I don't want to be identified with them so I will no longer use the term Hellenic in my tags or in my own identification of my path.   And you know what?  The gods are okay with that because they have informed me that they existed beyond the boundaries of Greece and Rome and were worshiped in many different places.  And some have said I might recognize them under different names in Druidry although they're fine with me worshiping them under their Greek names.

And history bears that out.

I'm just getting sick and tired of the ownership bullshit that goes on within any religion.  I know who my gods are now.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have a connection with them.  But I haven't had a lot of luck finding the right way to honor them because I felt torn between two worlds.  But if the Hellenic world wants to act like a bunch of assholes, then I throw my lot in with the Nature religions.  Druidry it is.

This same kind of argument exists within Christianity by groups that feel the name was intended as an insult originally and don't want to be called by it.  Then you have the ones who think they are the real followers of the Jewish Messiah and don't want to be called by that name because they are doing it right and everyone else is doing it wrong.  There is absolutely nothing new going on here.  It's all about people who want ownership of the religion and don't want to play nicely with others.

So I'm going to play in the Nature playground because it has fewer fundies in it.  So from now on, I'll no longer include Hellenic in my tags or my labels.