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Counterpoint: Pagan Unity

[Originally posted to Themestream on 2001-03-18.]

Last year, I helped found a new student organization on campus, the Saint Cloud State University Pagan Alliance. One of the benefits of this experience was that it brought me in contact with one of our school's alumni, Rev. Chuck Waibel. A seeming cross between Thomas Jefferson and Grizzly Adams, he is always insightful and thought-provoking. In our discussions online and (alas, far too rarely) off, one idea has come up repeatedly: the need for pagan unity. Do we really need it, and perhaps more importantly, is it even possible?

Clearly, the need exists, if we want the same rights and respect that other religions enjoy in America. If some crackpot suggested that Jews not be allowed to practice their faith on military bases, and another supported him, claiming their religion shouldn't even be considered a religion, that latter person would be unelectable to any national office. Thankfully, these days, you get the same result if you substitute "Native Americans" for "Jews" in the previous sentence. However, if you substitute "pagans" for "Jews", you get our current president!

The question is, how do we stop this? It would seem that there is a need to get organized, to combat this kind of thing. Where is our version of the American Jewish Congress, to raise holy hell (metaphorically speaking) when this occurs? Heck, the Zoroastrians have a world organization, a congress, and most relevant to the discussion at hand, presence and voice that the media listens to and takes seriously, despite the fact that there are fewer Zoroastrians worldwide than pagans in the US. Where is our voice?

The pagan community isn't entirely lacking in such organizations. There's WARD and AREN (formerly WADL). They pop up from time to time at the occasional rally (search for "We Still Work Magic" on Wren's Nest), but you rarely hear from them otherwise. They respond to events (that rally was a response to the "We Still Pray" rally, and they do some ACLU-type stuff), but they don't seem to be proactive at all, or if they are, we just don't here about it. Turn on your national news, or even your local news, and how often do you hear about them?

The fact of the matter is, you just don't hear about us on the news, even when it's important, even when presidential candidates are openly opposing constitutional religious freedom. Where are our press liaisons? Where are our lobbyists? Where is our voice?

With my ongoing experience attempting to organize pagans on campus, my first impulse is to answer that we're simply too disorganized by nature. I've heard it said that organizing pagans is like herding cats. This is incorrect. Even cats have more instinct to form prides. Organizing pagans is like herding ferrets. But this, I'm afraid, is not the answer. The problem runs much deeper than that.

Where is our voice? You really want to know? I'll tell you the cold hard fact: we haven't got one! It's not that it's too small to be heard, or that we're afraid to speak out loudly enough, it just isn't there to begin with.

Surely, you say, if we all get together and shout as one, our voices will be heard! And perhaps you're right. But what are we going to shout? What are we going to shout together? The fact of the matter is, for a community to have a voice, there has to be some sort of consensus. They have to want to say something together. Something in particular. For at least one breath, we have to all want to say the same thing.

The American Jewish Congress or the Zoroastrians can speak with a voice because they share a common religion. They may or may not agree on everything. In fact, there are deep divisions within the Jewish faith. But at least they agree on something. They have some set of common beliefs and values, no matter how slight.

I defy anyone to define a pan-pagan philosophy. Heck, just try to define "paganism" in such a way that you don't offend at least part of the community! Lately it seems even the Wiccans can't do that with "Wicca". If the best organized of the pagans can't do it with their own faith, what hope exists for the rest of us?

Let's face it, paganism is not a religion. It's a loose classification of many different religions and spiritual paths. Logically AND them all together to find the intersection of the sets, and what are you left with? Nothing. Some of us have some things in common with others of us, but taken as a whole, we have nothing in common.

Earlier this year, I got fired up with the idea of putting together an organization. Knowing full well that pagans have no common set of beliefs, I nevertheless thought it was possible. My plan was for a strictly political organization. We may have no common religious beliefs, but we have common political interests. The right to practice our faith, not have the Ten Commandments posted in our children's classrooms, and so on; basically all the various things that have been under threat from the religious right in politics today. The organization would educate and be politically proactive to advance our common interests. As pagans, we have no desire for a religious leader to preach dogma to us, but we could unite behind a voice to speak to others, to the press, to the politicians, to ensure our right to be who we are.

But who is "we"? Pagans? How do you define that? Someone's gonna ask. Everyone? Great! It's in everyone's best interest to preserve religious liberty. But then why is this an effort by the pagan community, and aren't there already organizations out there to fight for this? Americans United for Separation of Church and State comes to mind. Why not just throw our efforts behind them?

I still believe that organization is in order. We still need to create or support organizations that must become politically proactive. We need our voices. But I've given up on the notion of a pan-pagan organization. We must organize first within our faiths, with people that we do share something in common with. Then we really do have voices.

Perhaps after that, our various organizations can come together into an interfaith alliance, representing the common interests of religious minorities in general. Other, non-pagan religious minorities would be able to join such an alliance as well, as we all have common interests as religious minorities.

But if we are to progress to that point, we must be realistic in our goals and objectives. We cannot have a voice if we cannot unite on what we should say or how to answer the inevitable questions. Pan-pagan unity is, ultimately, a pipe dream. Give it up and concentrate on achievable goals. Unite with those that you actually can agree with, and together you can speak with unity. If we don't start there, we won't get started at all.

There's a lot of work ahead of us. Let's get started on the foundation.