And does it need to? Ok, so perhaps it is a contentious question, but it also looks to me somewhat like the elephant in the room. Within the many and various Pagan paths there are to a greater of lesser extend guidelines on acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, but when it comes to Paganism itself I question firstly if this is the case, and secondly if it can ever be the case. I don’t have thousands of Pagan acquaintances although I do know a fair few people who describe themselves as or identify with Pagan as a discrete path rather than identifying with a particular path within Paganism. Even amongst this limited group I know people who are vegan, vegetarian, omnivorous, who accept hunting, and who are vehemently anti-hunting, who practice both positive and negative magic, who only practice one or the other or who don’t practice magic at all, who are deistic and who are non-deistic, even some who are ok with certain types of vivisection and of course many who aren’t. I’ve met pro-life and pro-choice pagans, supporters of the war on terror and anti-war protesters, even tree huggers and those at home in the concrete jungle, and of course the problem is that since Paganism is a self-identifying path, I guess you could argue that all are to some extent correct.
Given these variations and differences in ideology and belief should any of us spend time trying to untangle this skein and trying to find commonality across such a vast spectrum or should we instead establish for ourselves as individuals what we personally feel to be our truth and allow everyone else to do the same? I’m sure that there are alternative middle ground options, but for the moment I am unsure as to how worthwhile it is to pursue those so I will just focus on the two poles laid out here for now. If we look first at the implications of striving for commonality we have potential benefits in that we are more likely to be taken seriously as a community if we speak with broadly similar voices on major topics. We would also be in a better position to establish clear guidelines for people coming fresh to the Pagan path as to what is, and is not Pagan. Further we would be in a position to have a voice in societal debates on significant ethical and moral issues that might further the environmental and societal ideologies within Paganism. Of course there are also potential downsides, primarily that in order to achieve some commonality there will inevitably be some people who currently identify as Pagan who find that their particular beliefs are no longer compatible with accepted Pagan beliefs. There is also the question of how you could achieve a consensus view on any given topic across a broad enough range of Pagan voices, and of course the perennial problem of “Pagan Police” in terms of how any such decisions would be enforced.
Not an easy position to achieve, and one that is perhaps subject to a great many frustrations and disputes, but it is possible I think that the benefits would outweigh the costs. Turning instead to the idea of Paganism remaining individuated we have potential to allow what for me is one of the guiding principles of Paganism, freedom of expression and belief at an individual level. It also allows us as a community to welcome a wider variety of people seeking an alternative path to mainstream religion. I would argue that it also allows for greater freedom of expression in terms of open debate and the potential for unforced consensus, but there are again potential negatives. If we are free to pick and choose our individual beliefs, ethics and morals then we allow for the possibility that some of the beliefs may be detrimental to the view of Paganism from an external perspective. We also allow for the possibility of the development of irresolvable differences of opinion and the associated collateral damage to the Pagan community. We also have to consider the possibility that we will end up with a Pagan movement that serves no purpose other than to be a series of lone voices calling in different directions to no overall effect and the breakdown of any remnants of community that we may have.
It is a thorny issue perhaps, and possibly not one with a simple answer, but I thought it might make for interesting debate, and it may tie in with thoughts on Pagan links to Inter-Faith groups….do we have a place within them if we don’t have a consensus position on major issues…..Just a few of my own thoughts…..
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