Speaking of children...

Will we try to corrupt your child? Depends on your definition of corruption. Will we try to teach your child without your permission? Mostly, no. We generally don't go and teach our beliefs to your child without your permission until they get to be 18 or so when they are considered an adult. Will we convert them? If we are not trying to convert you, why should we try to convert your kids? Will we teach them morals different from what they are learning at Church? Depends on the moral standard. If your Church is teaching your children not to steal, not to murder, not to lie, then I don't see where our morals and yours are different. If your Church is teaching them that a female should be subservient to a man, willing to accept any abuse he decides she needs, and that children are possessions, then we will be showing them something counter to what they are getting in Church. We respect and honor all life, especially children's lives, and believe that everyone has something to contribute. We won't go out of our way to teach them, unless we are members of the School System (and then what we teach will be limited to school subjects). Most often we will simply be there, showing them that there are other ways of living life and being happy.

I recently had a chance to put this to the test. I got a letter from a young girl who was 11 and this is my response to her and the reasoning why.

Do we eat children? Nope, there's not that much sauce available. (Attempt at levity here.) Think about this for a second. We are people, not cannibals. Will we sexually assault children? NO! That hurts them and us, as well as everyone who knew about it. Remember the Rede above? Do what you want so long as no one gets hurt. We would not do anything like that.

Are all of us flakes and weirdoes? No. Generally we are as normal as anyone else on the street. We have jobs, lives, interests other than religion. I myself repair and replace computers and computer equipment for an insurance company. We love, hate, have good days and bad days, periods (for the ladies) and mood swings. We shop and we read books. We go to movies and rent DVDs. If Hollywood were to make a true to life story about a Witch and his or her activities, it would be boring as heck because it would be just like your life. Who would pay good money to see something that they are living.

We do have our share of what you may call flakes and weirdoes, mainly because we accept them for who they are rather than castigate them and force them to conform to our standards of "normalcy". And they are everywhere, the only difference is that generally we give them the freedom to express themselves without judgment.

Please understand that we have our fair share of assholes as well. There are those who don't understand about homosexuality, those that think because they converted to our way that it's automatically better than all the others, our reactionaries, revolutionaries, politicians, and every other kind of human flaw you can think of, we have in our communities. Does this make us the spawn of Satan? No, not any more than it makes the Catholic Church the spawn of Satan, or any other Christian church out there. In our case, they either get it kicked out of them by the people immediately around them, they mature out of it, get professional help, or they leave. We are not perfect. We are better than no one.

You heard that we allow Gays and Lesbians in and that makes us morally corrupt? Well, it's true, we do allow Homosexuals into our rites and our religion, without judgment, mainly because homosexuality is natural. Animals do it all the time, dogs, birds, cats, eagles, deer and every other species of animal on the planet has some homosexual parings in their midst. So that impulse is natural, of nature, and we allow that to be expressed as part of our religion.

In many ways, it's LOVE we honor, rather than the form it takes. Male/Female relationships are just as special to us as Male/Male relationships and Female/Female relationships, so long as LOVE and concern and caring are present in that paring. It's the LOVE that is the main ingredient.

Most often, we allow people to be people, no matter how bigoted, wrong, inconsiderate and immoral. Also no matter how holy, correct, even handed, and righteous. We try to help them improve themselves if they want to change, or we leave if it gets on our nerves. I know of many cases where entire communities have died because someone was being a jerk and everyone left.

You know what the normal reaction a Wiccan has when a bible-thumping bigot gets in our face and starts screaming about how wrong we are is? Normally, we sigh internally, and decide to try to educate this person in what being Wiccan really is about. If they persist, then we start showing them the hypocrisy in their own belief, just to illustrate the point that no religion is perfect. Then if they persist, we leave quickly. Normally that's what we do. That's what is going on in our heads. Please understand that by "bible thumping bigot" I am referring to those people who are convinced they are right and everyone else is completely wrong, as well as going to hell for apostasy from The One True Church (whatever narrow view of that they hold). This type of person gives us the most grief.

On to sex. You heard we were all sex fiends and that makes us morally corrupt? Well, we enjoy making love with our partners, but that doesn't make us corrupt. We generally don't sleep around with anyone who crosses our path (unless we are single) and usually there is some kind of relationship there. We may, very occasionally, use sex in our worship, but it is always in private with our spouses of record. Sex is natural and it creates babies, two of the things we hold sacred, fertility and nature. And yes, it feels good, and that gets us closer to the Gods. That's why sometimes you will see bumper stickers that say "My God is a horny God." We use sex as a sacred rite that gets us closer to the Gods. It's not something that is indulged in for the sake of the act nor is it so sacred that we can't enjoy it. It is natural and we use it as a sharing and an expression of love between two people who care about each other.

Do we go out and rape passing people? No. That's illegal and immoral. More harm. Do we proposition people on the street? There may be some interest, which is normal, but unless there is an indication of mutual interest, we generally don't try to seduce everyone we see. Do we run around without our clothes? In some cases, yes. Nudity is useful for many reasons, primarily among them is that it puts you in a different mind set. The body is not something to be ashamed of in our belief because the body is natural. Therefore, seeing and viewing the body and enjoying the body are not wrong. Because there is the comfort of others to consider, we generally dress at the door before going out in public.

Generally, our core beliefs are the same as yours are, and we don't want to change from our beliefs and we would not change you from yours. It's in the details that we differ. We are religious and moral people who pray to different gods, that's all. You can approach us with an attitude of "They are wrong, and it's my DUTY to correct them" or you can approach us with the attitude of respect for another's belief. Bet you can figure out which will get you a pleasant response from us.

May your God bless you and may the Stars light your path.

Daven

Copyright Daven 2001. This work may be republished as long as this copyright statement is intact. Please contact the author at daven@davensjournal.com.

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