The Case for Paganism [Part 1]

I'm writing a book.

This is the first in a series of essays that will become a book. There’s a survey that will be part of the argument so if you’re any flavor of Pagan, and you haven’t already, you can take it here.

Most people haven’t heard of my religion. Even where I live in the northeast [US], where people are generally open to new and different things, I often have to explain my religious and spiritual practice. While this can be hard for new Pagans, I don’t mind. After 45 years, I don’t even get upset if someone looks at me funny and refuses to shake my hand. I’ve gotten so much out of my Pagan practice that I’m prepared to advocate for my religion.

This advocacy had two sides. The first is obvious. Christians often [inaccurately] equate Paganism with Satanism. Explaining the non-truth of this can be frustrating, but still worth doing. I see the two religions as having more in common than Christians like to admit. The second side is promoting Paganism to people who have no religious practice. That’s because having a practice is better than not having one, and the more people like me there are, the better it all works. A Pagan practice is often more palatable and more interesting to people who leave their childhood Christian practices because it felt too rigid. [One of several reasons for me.] While there has been a Christian revival of late [and I approve of that] there is a certain percentage that aren’t going back.

I have some friends who are ardently Christian. Sometimes they have really [really] incorrect ideas about Pagan religion. One of them posted ‘A 1955 letter sharpens our understanding of what the left’s return to paganism means,’ and tagged me. I could have been offended. A lot of Pagans would have been. That’s a mistake.

I agree with several things the author, Andrea Widberg says. Marxism is a bane on our society and a horrid ideology. Male and female is a primal biological fact and we ignore it at our peril, and human sacrifice and cannibalism [Dear gods, could this guy be any more gross?] are bad. [Apparently, this now needs to be said. Sigh.] I also understand why my Pagan brethren get upset about this sort of misunderstanding and get freaked out about Christians talking about moral values. They get visions of being burned at the stake.

Widberg uses the term ‘pagan’ to encompass about anything that isn’t Christianity. Presumably, Jews don’t fall into this category, and Dennis Prager [whom she cites] has a positive view of Judaism. But she’s no more specific than that, and appears to mean ‘people whose views I find abhorrent.’ The word ‘pagan’ comes from the Latin ‘paganus,’ which means rural, or rustic. Christianity rose first in cities, and the people of the countryside were slower to adopt it, so the term became an insult among devout, practicing Christians. It’s worth noting that people who farm tend toward a more conservative view. Conservative, in that change should be viewed with wariness and adopted with caution. [Much as many Christians do now.]

In the middle years of the Roman Empire, Christianity was the new thing, an upstart religion only recently adopted by Constantine. He asked for the Christian god help him win a battle. Upon doing so, he rolled back Diocleatian’s rules for Christians. [This was a good thing, at least by modern standards. Diocleatian was the emperor who slaughtered Christians in large numbers.] But while it was usual in ancient empires for the god of the winning side to be revered and raised above local gods, it doesn’t appear that Constantine did this, and the common people weren’t expected to stop worshiping the gods they knew and related to. Monotheism wasn’t the norm in the ancient world.

In any case, the things Widberg fears weren’t an issue. Socialism didn’t exist except in communities of Ascetics. In the corner of Earth from which Christianity emerged, human sacrifice was no longer acceptable and cannibalism was never a thing. Slavery was already being questioned by the early Greek Stoics and the Jewish Essenes, while even devout Christians still owned slaves. As the Catholic Church spread, it took existing old religious sites and holidays, and co-opted them, changing the original meaning. Augustine even co-opted ancient Pagan theology [we’d call it philosophy] into his City of God.

When talking about ‘paganism,’ Widberg and my Christian friends, see a broad sweep of things that will pull an individual away from Christian moral behavior and toward depravity and darkness. So, I’d like to clarify a few things about my religion.

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The modern version of Paganism as a formal religion emerged in Great Britain in the 1950s with Wicca, and branched outward to reclaim some of the ancient religious practices that Christianity had largely wiped out. Gods from Egypt, Greece, and the Viking and Celtic cultures were extracted from mythology, addressed, meditated upon, and given offerings. They answered.

This is not the generalized ‘paganism’ Widberg refers to. Much as many modern Pagans deny it, we all come from a Christianized culture. Not one of us is going to think that human sacrifice or cannibalism is acceptable. The Pagan friends I cherish are people who have moral sensibilities that aren’t so different from Christians’. That being said, I don’t deny we can be misguided about some things, and there aren’t very many of us talking publicly about our religion and what it means to us. So, I get why Widberg and others can’t be bothered to make a distinction. We haven’t made it worth her time to do so.

But it’s also hard [really hard] to talk to someone who has the belief that you’re evil and a threat to their immortal soul. Reason simply doesn’t apply in this case, and it’s very common both religiously and politically. I have thoughts about why this happens, but that’s outside the scope of this essay [or the book].*

However, I believe there is hope. Christians also once thought Jews were evil. Now there are Christian organizations that fund Jewish and Israeli charities. Do they hope Jews will convert to Christianity? Sure. So what? Kindness to those in need is a good argument for one’s way of life. Pagan groups also donate to our chosen causes. Doing that publicly is good for reputation building. That’s human.

Christianity has roots in Judaism, and they are at last acknowledging it rather than denying it. However, Christianity also owes a debt to Greek religion. In his video series, Foundations of the West, Jordan Peterson begins with a visit to Jerusalem. His co-host is Ben Shapiro, an Orthodox Jew. [They are friends] The tour is informative and historically fascinating [there is no argument for Jews not having a continuous presence in Israel,] and full attention is given to Judasim.

However, the next stop on Peterson’s tour is Athens. While was pleased to learn that Athens is the source of the basis for freedom of speech, [a principle I hold sacred] there was no acknowledgment that the people who built the Parthenon, and who came up with the idea that people should be able to say what they wanted were PAGANS. At least Dante sort of acknowledged Plato by putting him in the first circle of hell in his Inferno. The first circle is where people go who were just and good by Christian standards but were born before Christ. If Christians can acknowledge Jews, they can acknowledge us.

We are not the same but we should be able to get along.

Next time, I’ll take up the second part of the argument, talking about why having religion is better than no religion.

*I’m writing about it here in case you’re curious enough to be a paid subscriber to my other blog.

If you’re curious about Paganism/Heathenism/Wicca/Druidry, please feel free to message me and I’ll be happy to answer questions.

Selina Rifkin, M.S. [Nutrition], LMT, has been Pagan since she was 14 [which was a long time ago] and been to Hades in a handbasket. More than once. This has given her some opinions. She has direct communication with her gods and they’ve always given her answers when she asks. [One does have to ask.] Like most of her generation [X] she’s okay with snark. Most days she tries for good writing. But the snark, and side comments creep in. Be warned.

Pagan Organizations

Cherry Hill Seminary

Sacred Well Congregation