<\/p>\n
The current
\nuproar over mosques and American Muslims is reminding me of my first serious
\nencounter with a religion towards which I had considerable hostility:
\nChristianity. And how I finally overcame it while remaining 100% Pagan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
One of the most For years I had Finally getting Now as a This issue is Fundamentally I For To this basic The more open a Those two Here is where It’s a bit like changes Of course we now I think From what I have In my opinion the <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The current uproar over mosques and American Muslims is reminding me of my first serious encounter with a religion towards which I had considerable hostility: Christianity. And how I finally overcame it while remaining 100% Pagan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pagan-spirituality","category-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nunexpected developments that arose out of my becoming a Pagan was confronting
\nmy antagonism to Christianity, and over coming it. <\/span>We Pagans do not proselytize nor do we believe our path is
\nthe best for everyone. <\/span>If you like
\nwhat we do – welcome. <\/span>If you are
\nattracted to something else – good luck and blessings along the way. <\/span>It is no secret that on balance
\nChristianity has a very different set of beliefs.<\/p>\n
\npaid a deep emotional price in finally abandoning my attempts to be a
\nChristian. <\/span>From a young age I had
\nlearned there is only one way, the alternative is Hell, and there are many evil
\nentities trying to lure me there.
\n<\/span>I was too young to wonder what a ridiculous concept of God it took to
\nexplain such a universe. <\/span>I worried
\nfor years that maybe I was fatally mistaken.<\/p>\n
\nmostly free from such a web of beliefs left me with considerable hostility to
\nChristianity.<\/p>\n
\nPagan <\/span>I had become involved with a
\nreligion where the Sacred is immanent, can be personally experienced, and
\nmanifests in many ways. <\/span>Indeed, if
\nSpirit is immanent, in principle any starting point can take us to a closer and
\nmore aware relationship with it.
\n<\/span>Even Christianity. <\/span>I had to
\nconfront and eventually overcome my generalized hostility to that path from
\nwhich I had escaped.<\/p>\n
\ncrucial to how I relate to other monotheistic paths with long records of
\ncommitting atrocities against Pagan peoples, paths like Islam. <\/span>Two beliefs are crucial.<\/p>\n
\nbelieve most people simply accept whatever socially dominant spiritual path
\nthere is in their community – and pursue their own personal relationship to the
\nSacred within it. <\/span>That means for
\nmost people the doctrines that so captivate theologians and the like are
\nsecondary to spiritual activities within their families and communities. <\/span>It is at such ‘retail’ levels that
\nspiritual truth and insight comes to most people. <\/span>If it helps them become kinder and more compassionate and
\nloving, it’s good for them. <\/span>If it
\ndoes not, it isn’t. <\/span>Christianity
\nhad not been good for me: it filled me with fear and strengthened my most
\njudgmental side. <\/span>But that was
\ndemonstrably not the case with every Christian.<\/p>\n
\nnon-adherents the problem with Christianity or Islam is that as matters of
\ndoctrine, literal interpretation of their scriptures encourages some to attack
\nother peoples’ spiritual paths.
\n<\/span>Here is where the rank and file can be manipulated by power-crazed
\nleaders. <\/span>But left to themselves,
\nthey are non-aggressive, and some gain genuine spiritual insight and personal
\nhealing along their way. <\/span>Some
\nprofoundly so.<\/p>\n
\nbelief I add another, based on plenty of evidence: in almost every case the
\npersonal trumps the abstract, and so personal relationships trump abstract
\nteachings. <\/span>This has good and bad
\nresults depending on context, but regarding religious peace and good will it
\nopens the door to good things.
\n<\/span>When we meet other people of other paths and become friends, perhaps
\ngood friends, we are to that degree immunized from the ravings of the
\n‘spiritual’ leaders who would sow hatred and discord in the name of their God
\nfor the benefits of <\/span>power and
\nfeelings of self-righteousness. <\/span>Of
\ncourse the person can be compartmentalized as the good Pagan, Christian,
\nMuslim, or Jew – but even in this case it creates a pressure against simply
\ndemonizing others.<\/p>\n
\nperson’s heart becomes the more kindness towards the concrete trumps
\ndenunciations based on abstractions.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\nbeliefs of mine lead to a simple conclusion: since most people in any religion
\nare not involved for reasons of dogma, the best way towards religious peace is
\ninteractions at personal levels on a basis of equality. <\/span>This is not a guarantee of course. <\/span>Not every person’s heart is open. But I
\nthink most people’s hearts are open enough.<\/p>\n
\ninterfaith is so very important.
\n<\/span>Here is where getting Muslims involved in interfaith with people like
\nourselves is so important. <\/span>The
\npoint is not for them to cease being Muslims any more than for Christians to
\ncease being Christians, but for them, each in their own ways, to see how the
\nspiritual insights within their traditions can live peacefully with other
\ntraditions on the basis of good will.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthat have taken place in families.
\n<\/span>In many old traditional societies most everything is seen through the
\nlens of family. <\/span>Non-family members
\nare distrusted. Family feuds can go on for generations. <\/span>As we entered into modern societies
\nthis kind of amoral family loyalty declined. <\/span>But that does not mean that we love family members less or do
\nnot feel strong obligations even when we do not have a lot in common compared
\nto our friends – but we love them and are obligated in a different context, one
\nthat does not regard other families as inferior<\/i>. <\/span>They are simply not our
\nfamilies.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ncontend with amoral patriotism, which reproduces at a more inclusive level the
\ndownside of the old traditional amoral relationship between families. <\/span>Opportunities for growth in wisdom and
\nheart are hardly coming to an end.
\n<\/span>But the change in how families relate is a sign these deep changes for
\nthe better can happen.<\/p>\n
\nsomething like this can happen with religion. <\/span>So far universally I have heard two things from people
\ninvolved in interfaith: first that involvement increases their regard for other
\nfaiths. <\/span>They meet good people who
\nattribute at least some of their goodness to their path. <\/span>Second, that interfaith work deepens
\ntheir understanding of their own path as a good path towards better
\nrelationships with the Sacred. Rather than a tendency to search for a lowest
\ncommon denominator, there is growing appreciation for a kind of spiritual
\necosystem, with each path making its unique contribution.<\/p>\n
\nread contemporary Islam is undergoing enormous religious turmoil right
\nnow. <\/span>Its teachings are as complex
\nand multidimensional as any in the Bible, offering passages that appear
\nbeautiful, passages that appear horrible, and mutually exclusive ways for
\nmaking sense of them all. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nbest thing we of other faiths can do is to hold out a hand in fellowship and
\nsupport for them while they find their own way to a resolution of these
\ndilemmas. <\/span>We should do so while standing
\nfirm that if any religious tradition is to live with us it must do so on the
\nbasis of mutual respect. <\/span>That way
\nthe openness of heart and understanding that comes from personal engagement
\nwith others can add its weight towards a happy and humane outcome to the
\nstruggle so many Muslims are engaged with today.<\/p>\n