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?