Pagan = Pariah?

I actually paid pretty close attention in school, since about the only approval I got was from my teachers, and somewhat from the parental units, for good grades (meaning A or A+ of course), and I would swear that in Civics class we learned that America has freedom of religion. Now by all means correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't that mean that I am free to believe - and practice - any religion (or no religion) I want so long as I don't break any laws or interfere with your practice of your religion?

So why is it that the Christians, and only the Christians, claim the right to 'love' me, patronize me, pity me, think they're better than me, use any means including scare tactics to try to convert me, and generally harass me when they discover I'm not one of them? Have they ever come around to your house offering their literature and prayers and offering to help you 'find Jesus?' (Some of them get a bit annoyed if you tell them you didn't know he was lost .) What do you think would happen if the Buddhists did that? or the Muslims? or, heaven forbid, the Wiccans!? They'd probably be lynched, that's what. But from the Christians it is tolerated. Why? It can't be because they're the 'state' religion; we aren't supposed to have one. (Vaguely remember anything about separation of church and state from middle school or thereabouts?)

Actually, I don't have a problem with Christianity when they do it 'right.' I know a few that really try to live by the teachings of Christ, and not only do I admire them, I envy them. They have some nice, clear guidelines and goals to follow, a support system, and the comfort of believing that what happens to them after physical death will be all good, even better than this life. I can't quite convince myself to join them, though.

I don't have a problem with Jesus having been the son of God, a prophet or messiah. I don't have a problem with his dual identity (divine and human) or the things he was able to do, or even that he sacrificed himself for humanity. But I DO have a problem with him being the only path to God, and with him being a guaranteed path to God and 'Heaven.'

Start asking Christians about the Muslims and the Jews and the Buddhists going to hell and they will tell you 'they had their chance.' They did? They've been brought up in their religion since early childhood and they're surrounded by it all their lives .. doesn't the Christian bible say something about 'raising up a child in the way he should go and .. he will not depart from it?" But the children who've been raised up in other religions are just supposed to discard all that and embrace Christianity because some missionary gives them a pamphlet and a lecture? I'm sorry, but that's just not reasonable. Or fair. And yes, I know the world isn't fair but God should be!

And what about the people who didn't have a chance? Say for example those uncontacted tribesmen that were in the news recently after being photographed from a helicopter. A good minister will explain that they will have a chance to accept Christ after death .. somehow .. ... Yeah, I can see that scene. Black-skinned, red-painted spear-thumping warrior confronted by bearded white dude in a robe who says "Come with me and be saved!" Good thing the tribesman couldn't take his spear with him into the afterlife, or poor ol' Jesus would take another jab for the cause. (What? I'm being irreverant and blasphemous? Sorry, but if Jesus doesn't have a sense of humor he wouldn't last long as my friend and 'brother.')

In high school one of my best friends was a sweet, innocent, kind girl named Jo Ann who was a social outcast like me for several reasons. One, she had this big dent in the middle of her forehead from being pulled out of a breech position with forceps at birth. Two, she wasn't overly 'bright,' having been held back a grade or two and still attending high school at 19. Three, she and her family were Pentecostal. She couldn't cut her hair, couldn't wear makeup or jewelry, had to wear long skirts and dresses, and couldn't even dance or roller skate. But in all the 35 or so years I've lived since then, I haven't found a more kind-hearted, generous, loyal, forgiving person than she was. When she finally graduated, her parents forced her into an arranged marriage with a much older man. This man, also a 'devout' Pentecostal, locked her in his trailer when he went to work, beat her, controlled her, starved her (he thought she needed to lose weight, as she was a bit pudgy), cut off her communications with the outside world and isolated her from her few friends, and generally made her life a living hell. Then he got her pregnant. Unable to see a way out and unwilling to subject a child to the situation, she killed herself and her unborn baby. The death was ruled a suicide and nothing happened to either the parents or the 'husband.' And I am to believe that these 3 people will get off scot free, in this life and the next, for what they did to my friend Jo Ann just because they have accepted Jesus? I'm sorry but that's just unacceptable. Not that I want them to 'rot in hell,' but there oughta be some consequences!

At some level I think it's the arrogance of so many of the Christians that bothers me. Christ displayed a bit of that himself, but I think (hope) that he wasn't nearly as obnoxious about it as many of the current-day Christians are. "I'm going to heaven and you're not, na na na na na!" Jesus is my friend and I'm an adopted child of God but you're an orphan! Keep on though, maybe the devil will take you .. mwa ha ha ha ha!" Okay, so they don't say exactly that .. but if you listen closely, that's what they mean and they aren't really hiding it. They have all the answers because they're right there in that Book. Never mind that some other group has different answers for the same questions that they're getting out of the same book. Hey, this is faith .. keep logic out of it!

The other thing that bothers me is the barely disguised implication that you can't be a good person unless you're a Christian. Well, maybe there are a few Buddhists or Jews or Muslims out there trying to be good people ... but certainly anyone who calls themselves a pagan or a Wiccan or a witch or a Druid or anything like that .. well, they're practically devil worshippers, aren't they? .. no way they could be decent people. I happen to call myself a 'pagan' more or less by default, according to part 2 of the dictionary definition: "a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim." I'm not an atheist or agnostic, and I don't follow any particular religion. I come closest to being a Wiccan, but I don't want to offend the 'real' Wiccans by calling myself that since I don't take any active part in any of their religious observances, either. So when someone asks I just say "I'm a pagan" and leave it at that. Usually, if they're a Christian they're so shocked, or horrified, or both, that they don't ask any more questions after that. But I'm not a bad person. I obey laws and pay taxes. I work for a 501(c)(3) charity. I give to the United Way by payroll deduction. I donate blood to the Red Cross. I pick up turtles and carry them out of the road so they won't get run over. I never intentionally hurt anyone and I actively help people, and children, and animals, when and where I can. Okay, sometimes I hurt peoples' feelings but a) they usually more than deserve it and b) it's generally always my opinion of something they've done or said to me, in front of me, or to someone who's part of my life. Nobody - not even Jesus himself - got through life without hurting someone's feelings or making someone mad. But in general I think I'm a pretty good person. As soon as they hear the word 'pagan,' (or even hear me say quietly "I'm not a Christian") though, I am automatically one of the bad guys. Don't let your children near me, don't accept a ride from me if your car's broke down, and for Pete's sake (who the heck is Pete, anyway?) don't be my friend or socialize with me. I have non-Christian cooties and you might get infected and be quarantined from Heaven!

So anyway, what happened to 'freedom of religion'? Did we lose it somewhere along the way while I wasn't looking, like we've lost a big chunk of several other freedoms and are probably about to lose 'the right to bear arms'? We're working so hard, or at least a lot of us are, to overcome racial bigotry and gender bigotry and a bunch of other bigotries. What about religious bigotry? That's what it is, you know, this big idea that Christianity is the only true religion, or the best religion, and we have to accept whatever the Christians do and say because .. well, they're right! They're always right! Of course they are. Do you think Jo Ann would agree with you? And how many good Christians do you think there were in the Ku Klux Klan? (If you're a Christian, don't think about it too hard - you might get doubts, or concerns, and those are nearly more dangerous than my pagan cooties if you want to be 'saved' and get to Heaven.)

All right, so it's not going to change just because I'm ranting about it. I know that. But couldn't I at least be classified officially as a minority and get some benefit out of it?

City Slickers!

I have finally attended my first ever equestrian event - a campout and trail ride called City Slickers. It was a blast! I was worried about a lot of things, but only one of my fears came true. No, I didn't fall off the horse. No, I didn't get in any fights. I did, however, get talked into doing karaoke after a margarita or two. And that, my friends, is a true disaster. I'm surprised no one suffered brain damage, or even temporary deafness. But I was part of a group so maybe they couldn't hear me all that well.

Thursday morning I drove over to my friend Andrea's house, parked my car, and unloaded my stuff into her trailer. She drove, let me share her tent, and brought her extra horse for me to ride. Is that a friend, or what? We arrived a bit after Noon and discovered that one of her other friends was holding a strategically great campsite for us, close to the pavilion and restrooms with nice shady trees. What a deal!

After setting up our tent, dining canopy, and a highline for the horses (man it's cool to say that and know what I'm talking about), we actually got to go for a trail ride. Woot! It was uphill and downhill and rocky and included a water crossing, but I made it and so did poor Max, the appaloosa who had to carry my fat butt all weekend. Then we had a great supper cooked for us by the 'neighbors' (Andrea's friend Melissa and her family).

Friday was more trail riding and some socializing, and Saturday I cooked the burgers & dogs for lunch and helped serve dinner. We also had a silent auction in which I won a lovely breast collar, some jewelry, and some extra tack I didn't really need but hey - it was a good price and a good cause! Saturday night after dinner was the karaoke contest, which I was roped into being one of the 3 judges for, and after that came the margaritas and the non-competitive karaoke. My husband's response when I told him about the karaoke was "I'm glad I missed that."

I got sunburned in spite of wearing sunscreen, gained a little time in the saddle and experience, had fun, and 'bonded' more with several of the club members. All in all, it was the most fun I've had in years and I'm already planning on attending more events! Andrea says I'm a great camping buddy and welcome to go with her anytime; and maybe before too much longer one of my horses will be ready to go to something like that. They need more time and training, both of which are in short supply, but I've got to make it more of a priority. 4-leggers are not like 4-wheelers, you can't just park them in the garage and then expect to be able to get them out and ride them whenever you want.

No good deed ...

goes unpunished. Or so everyone keeps telling me, and Sunday it seemed very true.

We started out at 8:00 am to cut down a tree and put up a fence. Mind you, we didn't want to cut down the tree ... we were perfectly happy with it where it was, and the trunk was mostly on our side of the property line. But, just a few days before, our neighbor had informed us that the tree was causing him 'lots of problems' because the limbs keep growing into his power lines. I started to give him permission to cut it down if he wanted to, but my husband was quicker than I .. he knew right away that this was the old man's roundabout way of asking US to cut the tree down. We sort of understood why he was bringing it up now .. once we got our fence put up it would be almost impossible to cut that tree down without hitting either his house or our fence. So .. trying to be the good neighbor, hubby agreed to cut the tree down.

8:00 am - Hubby starts trying to get a rope over one of the larger limbs to prevent the tree from falling the 'wrong' way.
8:20 am - Hubby starts on tree with chainsaw.
9:25 am - Hubby finally gets wedge cut out of tree and takes a break.
9:40 am - Tiiiimmmbbeerr!
10:45 am - We discover that, even after cutting most of the large limbs and dragging them out of the way by hand, the tree is too large and heavy to be moved with our 1/2 ton 4WD Chevy Silverado.
11:55am - After cutting up more of the tree into smaller chunks and dragging them off with the truck, we run out of room and decide to change directions. As I'm driving the truck across the field, I lose steering. The left front tie rod end is broken.
12:35pm - After finally getting the truck maneuvered out into the driveway where Hubby can work on it, we break for lunch.
1:15 pm - Hubby collects tools and parts and goes to work on the truck. I start weeding and mulching in the garden.
3:20 pm - The truck is repaired and tested. We return to the fallen tree.
4:05 pm - The last - and largest - section of trunk gets tangled up in the unrolled fence lying on the ground and, before I can see what's happening and stop, over 60 feet of field fence is trashed and three concreted-in corner posts have been ripped up out of the ground.
4:10 pm - Totally disgusted, Hubby gets in the truck saying "That's it, I'm done! (and some other things I won't repeat here) and goes to the house.
4:40 pm - Now cooled off and calmed down, Hubby returns to the scene where I am struggling (without much success) to put the corner posts back up. He explains that we can't reset the corner posts with the fence still attached, and, since the fence staples are nearly impossible to get out, we'll have to cut the fence. More $150/roll field fence gets trashed.
5:50 pm - Posts are back in the ground as good as they're going to get until we can dig bigger holes and fill in with more concrete. Fence is cut, spliced, and stretched to the 'weak' corner.
6:25 pm - Fence is spliced and stretched to the next corner, as well as it can be considering, and t-posts are going up.
7:05 pm - T-posts are up, Hubby starts stretching fence to next corner while I clip fence to t-posts as fast as I can, 2 per post for now.
8:35 pm - Fence is more or less up and clipped to t-posts and we are 'jerry-rigging' an extra piece of fence to serve as a makeshift gate because Atwoods closed at 6pm.
9:05 pm - We finish removing the damaged fence sections from the area and get our tools and supplies put away. Hubby starts fixing dinner and I start on my evening chores.

No good deed goes unpunished. And, as Hubby said, that may well be the last 'neighborly' thing we ever do for those neighbors. The old man has a tractor and spent at least part of the day sitting on his porch watching us because I saw him. Most of the hell we went through could have been avoided if he'd helped us, even a little bit, with the tree that he wanted cut down.

My animals really annoy me some days, but at least they are just animals and nearly always do it by accident or just because it's their nature. I can assume that people do it on purpose - or that they're really that stupid. Which is kinder, do you think?