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Paganism, Atheism and Humanism:
Finding Common Ground
By Morgan Ravenwood
Having bought a home computer a couple of years ago and
subsequently spending a great deal of time communicating on the
Internet with many different people from all walks of life, I've
found myself becoming quite a Pagan "activist."
I've also learned that this seems to be a road that many other
longtime Pagans often take, and with good reason: the more educating
we do, and the more we stand up for equal rights for all members of
all religions, the more our own faith will continue to gain acceptance.
In my many travels along the "information superhighway,"
I've encountered people who ranged from mildly curious to downright
hostile. However, the majority of them have been polite, and
some have even thanked me for clearing up a few misconceptions that
they had held for years about Paganism.
Some of the other Pagan activists I've met were able to offer some
really great input and advice. However, I've also encountered
people who, though not Pagan, appeared to share many of the same
beliefs and ideas as myself. Some have claimed to be Atheists,
others Humanists or Agnostics, but it didn't matter. What DID
matter, and what has often surprised me, was that we all managed to
find a great deal of common ground, especially concerning the
never-ending battle on the issue of separation between church and state.
It is this issue that has become very dear to my heart, and in
joining the fray concerning it I have followed a tradition begun by
my own mother, who was strongly opposed to any attempt to interject
religion into our government and the public schools in
particular. She would tell people, "if you want your kids
to pray in the classroom, then send 'em to a parochial
school!" While she wasn't strictly Pagan, she wasn't a
Christian any more than I am, and her reasons for supporting the
separation of religion and government were basically the same as my
own. Chief among these is the fact that due to the diversity of
religious beliefs in this country (which is made possible by the fact
that we all have the freedom to worship as we choose), there is no
ethical way for government to become impartially involved in
promoting or teaching religion in any way, shape or form.
Unfortunately, there are many people in this country who do not agree
with this view. In fact, a recent poll conducted by Public
Agenda, a non-partisan New York-based policy research agency founded
by former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and pollster Daniel
Yankelovich, revealed that of those polled, 69 percent expressed a
desire for more religion in public schools. I think this is
because many people believe that morality cannot exist without
religion to reinforce it. Apparently, they also don't
believe that children receive enough religious education from their
parents and churches. I happen to believe quite the opposite;
in my opinion, (which owes a great deal of its formation to many
years of working in public education), placing the responsibility of
religious education into the hands of schoolteachers, some of who are
barely qualified to teach the 3 "R's" let alone religious
theology, would be disastrous. Also, the inclusion of yet
another required subject into an already full school day would mean
even longer hours spent in the classroom for students and teachers.
Another consideration is the fact that the basic dogma of mainstream
faiths may clash with the values and beliefs being taught by parents
who are not members of those religions. Some parents may even
feel that this dogma can be potentially harmful to impressionable
school children. For example, both Christianity and Islam teach
that an evil entity known as "Satan" (or just "the
devil") is responsible for all the "sinful" deeds we
commit. Some of them don't even place a great deal of emphasis
on individual accountability for one's thoughts or deeds; instead,
they teach that you can always excuse your sinful actions by saying,
as the late comedian Flip Wilson was wont to do in his guise as
"Geraldine," "the devil made me do it!" (Of
course, you may have less success with getting a jury to believe that
claim in a courtroom...!!) And how about those poisonous
snake-handlers of the Appalachians? They teach that neither
snake venom nor strychnine will harm you if you are pure at heart and
if you are a "true" believer. Not exactly something
most of us would want our kids trying at home!
As the population of the United States increasingly continues to
become a mixture of varied ethnicities due to the continued influx of
immigrants from all over the world, the stereotype of the average
American as a Caucasian Christian simply doesn't hold true in this
day and age. With so many children of diverse ethnic and
religious backgrounds in our schools, it would be virtually
impossible to teach religious studies without causing offence to
those whose beliefs would inevitably be omitted.
Pagans as well as members of other minority faiths have a
particularly hard row to hoe in attaining religious equality with
those of mainstream faiths, and the constant attempts by some
(including our new president!) to circumvent the First Amendment and
inject (mainstream) religion into government entities and schools
make it even more difficult. However, it's also important to
remember that Atheists and Humanists not only share this problem, but
in a way, theirs is an even more difficult one: they're striving not
for freedom of religion, but freedom from religion.
Another (and probably the most important) vital issue on which
Pagans, Atheists and Humanists tend to agree is that of basic human
rights. Whether it's more humane treatment for those who find
themselves incarcerated in foreign prisons, the deplorable abuse of
female children and women in the Middle East, or the struggle to keep
abortion safe and legal, chances are that we all feel the same desire
to see such things changed for the better. There is surely
strength in numbers and I think that we are all perhaps scattering
our energies fighting these issues as a minority unit rather than as
a unified force. I believe that a dialogue should be opened
between Pagans, Atheists and Humanists to find ways to work together
against those who continue to attempt to overturn the First Amendment
and degrade basic human rights.
Especially given the new administration in Washington D.C., I as well
as many other Pagans believe that never will we have had to work
harder to maintain the separation of church and state. From the
high school student who decides to make a stand by wearing a pentacle
necklace to school to the most fervently crusading Pagan activist,
the more we continue to emerge from the "broom closet" and
make our voices heard, the more it will become obvious to the rest of
the world that we aren't going to simply give up and go away.
We, as well as Humanists, Atheists and other minority religions, must
remain vigilant in our campaign against domination and oppression
lest our voices be drowned in the sea of religious fervor that
consumes those who work tirelessly to downgrade or eradicate our
cherished freedoms. |
