This is reposted from Street Prophets with the author's permission.
by Taliesin Athor Govannon
Political non-involvement by Pagans and Wiccans is an issue that I have long taken issue with. I have, for a long time, thought that non-involvement in the political sphere within Paganism was dangerous, and now, with the events of the day, feel justified with that concern.
I whole heartedly agree with the idea that a Democracy is like raising a child, that it takes great care, and yes, involvement, to make it a healthy, thriving entity. Unlike a child, however, there is no time where one can breathe a sigh of relief and let it go into the world. No, good government is an ever-growing thing, and even a short period of neglect can bring disastrous results.
Nowhere is that more obvious than the viability of a minority population. We, as Wiccans and Pagans, are a minority in this culture, rapidly growing numbers or not. We are outnumbered and outspent by just about every other religious class in the country, and must pay attention to what's going on to assure our continued safety and freedom.
Freedom...that's a word that's bandied about quite often in our culture, but how often do we really think about what it means, or how tenuous it really is? Just because we have constitutional guarantees means nothing...the consitiution is an evolving document, and change can both hurt and help us. Just because we have past constutional victories does not mean that those decisions cannot be undone by the courts, or severly curtailed by the legislature. Just as bad decisions about slavery and women's rights have been reversed, so too can liberating decisions be re-thought by those in Washington who disagree with our existance and basic civil liberties.
Today, an entire political party (the Republicans) is in the back pocket of religious extremists who would love to outlaw our very existance. That they have not done more in the past five years to do this is more chance than destiny. In many ways, we in the Pagan community have been fortunate that the Fundamentalists have been more obsessed by homosexuality than they have about Witchcraft. Had they not had the spectre of gay marrage to freak out about, who knows what they might have attempted? Now, our fortune has been borne on the backs of our friends of the gay community, and this is tragic...we owe them our support. However, don't think that this distraction will last forever, for the forces of the religious reich...er, right...may some day decide to stop banging their collective heads against the stalwart of gay civil liberties and come after us. It could happen at any time.
Politics, as corrupt and disappointing as it can be, is the way our culture is organized and run. Like it or not, we cannot sit it out. We are a part of this culture, and decisions made in our legislatures effect every part of our lives, seen or unseen. Don't believe that our government can turn on us? Ask Japanese Americans who were herded into concentration camps during World War Two. Ask African Americans who are slaughtered by racist forces within police departments every day in this country. Ask gay people who were in danger of being prosecuted for years just because of the way they made love with their significant others (until the Supreme Court finally struck down anti-sodomy laws last year).
Public rituals...the rights of our children to not be harassed in school for their religion...the rights to sell and buy Pagan/Wiccan books...Pagan festivals...the rights of parents to raise their children in their religion without sanction from Children's Services...housing rights...rights against workplace discrimination...the right to worship in our homes...all these and more are things that some in the extreme Christian right would love to challenge us on. All of these things are rights that could be challenged directly, or behind the scenes bureaucratically.
Think for a moment...think about how different your life as a Pagan in the 21st century would be if these rights were taken away. Think how difficult it would be to live as you are now. Think politics are hard to understand or effect? Just think how hard it would be to do what we do if we had to really go underground.
Of course, some say that what I fear could never happen, that we have rights. They say that we can always challenge any discrimination in court, and that we have precedent on our side. Well, they may be right, but isn't it easier to assure that bad laws are never passed rather than to try and overturn them after they become law?
Here's a scenario for you...let's say that the local CSB does decide to take away your children because you're raising them Wiccan, and fundies have convinced them that Wiccans are child-abusing satanists who rape and murder babies. They can take your children first, and justify their actions to a court later. You get the ACLU on your side, and take them to court. But local politicians have installed fundies all throught the court system, and disinterested voters have allowed extremist judges to be elected in the lower courts. You challenge, lose, appeal, lose, take it a higher court, lose, appeal, and then finally find a Federal judge who was appointed before Reich Marshall Bush was in office (and thus wasn't a fundie appointed to mollify his facist masters) to decide in your favour. Your kids are returned, and you have "won".
Only, to do all this takes time. The full review process, court hearings, appeals, etc. involved takes two years (not unheard of). During that time, your children were housed with fundie foster "parents" who have been mentally abusing your children. They have been told that you were evil, that you wanted to kill them, that you were going to send them straight to hell. They have been in fundie churches, been tied down and beaten to "exorcise" the demons you placed in them (again, all too possible these days), had their self-image torn down, and terrified for years. You get them back, sure...and will probably spend years trying to undo the damage. They may never fully recover, and may live in terror of you for years. But, dammit, you won your case!
This all supposing that you ever find that judge who will listen. This is all supposing that you have the money (or can get the donations) to fight in Federal court. This is all supposing that some "God fearing" type doesn't try to run you off the road "to protect the children". Your family is in shambles, your finances are ruined, you've lost everything, and your children are emotionally scarred. Some victory.
We live in a very wealthy country. Even our poor people often have cars, colour TV's, VCRs, etc. In such a wealthy nation, it's easy for many to throw up their hands and say "politics aren't worth my time...I have too much to do to get involved." But, for those who are in the minority, we don't have this luxury. Every right we have must be defended, and vigilance must be exercised in every decision we make in the voting booth (not going into the voting booth isn't even an option).
We must be educated, we must exercise our rights and discharge our duties as citizens. To fail to do so makes our fitfulness to have those rights suspect.
Again, want an example? Right now, our armed forces are stuck in an unjust war, being slaughtered by the whim of a politician who never had the balls to fight. Well folks, right now there are Pagans in those very armed forces!!! They have fought like hell to have their rights as Wiccans and Pagans respected by those very armed forces, and right now their lives are in danger. I don't know if any Pagans have died in Iraq yet, but it's just a matter of time if not.
One of the things we like to hold up to prove our legitimacy as a religion to the public is the Army Chaplin's handbook that recognises Wicca and Paganism as a valid religion. We waive it as proof that even the government recognises our right to practice our faith. That is only in there because Wiccans and Pagans felt called to serve. They have even endured having a member of congress (Rep Bob Barr) call them "unfit to serve".
They have done much to give us legitimacy in the eyes of ordinary Americans. And now, their very lives are threatened by the policies of an illegitimate President installed in a Judicial coup d'etat. We owe them our involvement. We owe them our voices. We owe them our magick.
Yes, we must vote, educate ourselves, speak out, and perform magick. We must use every means at our disposal to protect our right and their lives. If we really believe that this magick stuff is real, then we must not forsake it as a means to achieve our ends. It cannot replace other things (education, action, voting, etc), of course, but it must be one of the meathods we use. That is, unless we're just play-acting this whole Witch thing.
A differance of just 120,000 votes in the 2004 elections could have changed everything. In a country of over 300 million people, that's a pretty small number. Every one of our Pagan asses in a voting booth (making the right choice) could have done a lot. Educating our friends could have, as well. Magick to stop vote-rigging in Ohio is another thing (they can try to steal the election, but we can monkey-wrench their plans too).
Religious freedom may be a right, but it has to be defended vigorously. We are in greater danger now than we have ever been, with the party of Pat Robertson and James Dobson in Power. As Ben Franklin said: we must hang together, or we will most assuredly be hanged separately.
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Posted by Angela-Eloise at 10:24 AM
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