The latest post at The Wild Hunt Blog has me thinking about organization within Paganism yet again. It seems that some UU members are having difficulties with Pagans making up a part of their congregations. The fact that Pagans are attending UU churches to begin with is a sign that says (at least to me) that there are some Pagans out there who crave a little organization and structure. Perhaps it's even a telling sign that they are looking for some kind of standards in their teachers and leaders.
I have always been a fan of the idea of organization in Paganism but I am still at a loss as to how to accomplish it. You never can please everyone, but I think there is a genuine need and would like to brainstorm a little bit on how that need can be fulfilled.
So, what would be the first steps to organizing Paganism? Would the standards in training or the legal churches come first? If the churches come first who is to say that the people leading them are qualified to do so? Almost anyone can incorporate a church (if you have the means and the funds) but how will we know that they are qualified? How would our clergy system run? Will there be a degree system in place? Will the clergy be full-time and paid? Who will pay for the bills at the church and the living expenses for the clergy? Should dues be paid by members of the congregation?
And then there is the pressing issue of many Pagans protesting organization. The main argument I hear is something similar to:
"I left Christianity to escape churches and hypocrisy. Why would I want to create something like that within the religion that freed me from it?"
While I believe that this is a valid statement I honestly don't see how it's relevant. Let me explain. No one will be forcing Pagans to attend church. No one will be pushing organization on anyone. That kind of behavior would be considered proselytizing in my book and we Pagans just don't do that - or at least we're not supposed to. So, those individuals who would like some organization are free to create it and live in it. Those who do not are free to be solitary. I don't see the problem.
What do you think? Feel free to answer any of the questions in this article with your own opinions.
Note: the above image is something I worked on a few years ago. It's a working model of a bare bones temple for Pagans.
2 comments:
The problem of a "structured" or congregational model of Paganim is that many believe it is married to some form of "Pagan unity" a concept that is generally doomed considering that "Paganism" is at best a loose gathering of individualistic faiths.
Until the individual faiths (Wicca, Asatru, Druidry, etc) become large enough to emerge from the modern Paganism "umbrella" we are stuck with the status quo.
I always thought that instead of a church, why not common open temples that cater to the needs of local communities? It could be staffed with a couple local "keepers" who have no authority and simply keep the places open and looked after. Then any individual faith or tradition could use it for any ritual they desired.
As for education, I think that in the long term formal education for leaders and clergy will be unavoidable. While lay leaders will always exist (as they do in most faiths) it will become obvious that we will need people within our communities well-trained and ready to deal with the problems that people used to look to Christian/Jewish clergy for.
Sojourner and Jason - thanks for the comments.
I agree that there are many different Pagan groups under our umbrella, but it's a shame that the idea of Pagan unity is abhorant to some of these groups. We have so many things in common that it seems we should be able to come to an agreement about something.
An open Pagan temple would be very nice. I think this could be a possibility for any temple, regardless if one tradition operates it. There could be one or two days set aside for the temple tradition and the rest of the week could be open to the public.
A lot of Pagans complain that Christianity governs our society and we are not afforded the ability to receive faith based funding or be recognized as a voting block. If the recent figures I've seen are correct (between 768,000 and one million Pagans in the US) this is just sad. We have no one to blame but outselves for not being able to organize and be recognized in the same way as other religions. Apparently we have the numbers to do all of the above and more.
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