Wild Garden
So, you’ve decided that you can afford the risks of being openly Pagan and you still want to enter the world of interfaith work. Where do you go next? Read more
So, you’ve decided that you can afford the risks of being openly Pagan and you still want to enter the world of interfaith work. Where do you go next? Read more
A recent advertising campaign features the slogan "Be together, not the same." Could there be a better message for interfaith? Read more
We're allowed to disagree, we're allowed to be curious, we're allowed to have opinions, and we don't have to be the same. We come together because we are different and we depart from each other strengthened with knowledge and a very real sense of community. Read more
One of the primary reasons that I became involved in interfaith work was to help others examine their assumptions with respect to Paganism. And, especially when I started attending events ten to fifteen years ago though less so now, people were largely surprised to learn that Paganism even existed. They were even more surprised to learn that a middle-class American Caucasian cis-gendered male (i.e. me) could be a Pagan and a polytheist. Read more
For thousands of years we have marked the turning of the seasons, the progression of light to dark and back again. As with our ancestors and all that live on this planet we attune ourselves to this endless cycle and seek to find meaning in this gift of life. We now balance on the cusp of the Spring Equinox, moving again from darkness into the light and the promise of life. Here where the powers of darkness and those of... Read more
So the interfaith panel at a local American Baptist college went well, even though a student introduced me to the auditorium as the director of Cherry Hill Cemetery! One member of the panel, a Baptist minister, was clearly feeling a bit uptight, but he was polite. The facilitator, a prominent member of our city theater community and much-loved for his portrayal of Frankenfurter in many productions of Rocky Horror Picture Show, put folks on the spot by asking about sexuality.... Read more
I hope that you’re enjoying my series discussing my interfaith experiences as a Pagan. If you’re new to the series, you can read parts one and two. Part three was scheduled for this week, but unfortunately my day job has handed me four projects to be completed by March 15, 27, 30, and April 2nd. This, of course, happened on Monday. My expectation of free evening times now thoroughly crushed, I’ll return with part three of my series in two... Read more
I choose to act as a member of Women of Faith because I know that the same thing that my Muslim neighbors are experiencing now could happen to any of us. There could be a brick through my window as easily as Safaa's and the best protection we all have is the light of understanding. Read more
When faced with a monotheistic default, I've often been able to shake up an event--or as I've come to term it: to un-quo the status--by answering with a question of my own. For example, when presented with a topic like "Is God Benevolent?", I'll respond: which one? This is the second installment in my series on Interfaith activities as a Pagan and how Monotheistic defaults often frame such discussions and how I tend to operate in these cases. Read more
When I hear many people talk about “interfaith” work it seems that their understanding of the topic is confined to the idea that it involves trying to teach each other about our different religious beliefs in hopes that we can convince each other that we aren’t strange and scary. It is this limited understanding which, I believe, leads to the sort of comments I frequently hear from Pagans and others that interfaith work is a waste of time and effort... Read more
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