Witchier than thou

I read an article at Witchvox today called "The Full Circle Pagan" by Sabrina (The Ink Witch). The gist is that a lot of people are drawn to paganism for its freedom to believe how you like and then, once established in ther pagan belief system, they get a mindset of others "doing it wrong."

The point of her article is that we all know it exists and occasionally we acknowledge it but that it's time to point it out and mark it as being hypocritical bullshit. "We don't have to agree. That's what self expression is designed to leave room for -- differing opinions -- but differing opinions and hateful regard for those who hold differing ideals is not the same thing." (punctuation changed for clarity)

I would love to do this, especially right here in Erie. I've witchblogged before about the local coven and the exclusionary vibe it gives off. I now get e-mail invites to their open circles but (1) I'm not taking Z nor leaving her for a couple hours to go to a circle and (2) my previous encounters with the members of this group have given me a strong "we're witches, you're not" feeling.

In my experience, "fundamentalist pagans" are the ones dripping with occult jewelry, with kohl-rimmed eyes and clad in black, head to toe, year-round. There I am in a flowy pink top, with a little money in my pocket and a smile and I am made to feel that, so far as witches go, I'm a minority.

I don't think I need to be wearing black and toting a Ouija board to be a witch any more than I would need to be a nun to be a Catholic. Like Sabrina wrote, I was drawn to paganism, particularly witchcraft, b/c of the freedom it gave me. I could have remained a Christian and been a witch if I'd wanted to... but not according to fundiewitches! Fundiewitches seem to have such a strict, narrow definition of what an "acceptable" witch does and says that I can't fit into it.

I've already been over how I define my faith so I'm not using this space for that. But I wanted to put in an aside that I don't treat my religion like it's some kind of cut-and-paste of what I like and what I agree with and discarding the rest. That said, back to the subject.

So why don't we say to these Fundiewitches, "Hey! I'm not doing it wrong. There is no wrong. Don't you remember?" I think it's a matter of intimidation. It's also hard to get away from the idea that there is a hierarchy in your religion, esp. when you're raised with religions that have leaders. Who would go up to her minister and say, "Your judgment of others is anti-Christian" for example? Not too many, although there may be some.

Are we looking for leaders and treat these people as "experts" to whom we defer? Is it a matter of confidence in our belief ("maybe I am 'doing it wrong'after all")?

Something to consider but my time is up, unfortunately. I may continue this essay later.