A Hindu festival in Nepal turns down animal sacrifice. Racists gather in Germany to attack refugee asylums. And debates continue about the complex intersection of laws protecting same-sex couples from discrimination and religious liberty laws. That's right, it's Fiery Tuesday, our weekly take on political issues that affect the Pagan community. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!
PaganSquare
PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.
One of the greatest obstacles to social change is often the impression that there's either nothing that we can do or that social issues have no relevance to us. But is that really true? This week we take a look at issues of social justice as they relate to people in general and the Pagan community specifically. Join us as we take a look at the relationship between oppression and magic, read a piece about how social justice fuels one Pagan's spiritual practice, and investigate the religious roots of American terrorism. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!
Some Southern Pagans, have criticized comments I made elsewhere on W&P and on Patheos supporting removing the Confederacy’s battle flag from all public displays in the South. They thought I unfairly maligned Southern culture by saying it was inextricable from racism. Some thought I must not know anything about the South. For the record I was born in Southwest Virginia, raised in the half-Southern state of Kansas with relatives whose views ranged from a relatively benign racism to endorsing Southern slavery. For much of my life I frequently visited my Virginia and Arkansas relatives. I am not a Southerner, but I have fairly substantial experience with Southern culture, usually in a positive context. That experience plus their defense of the Confederacy's battle flag as a symbol of Southern culture has led to this post, dedicated to Southern Pagans.
...-
Thank you so much for this. Perhaps a few people will be reached.
-
Thank you Heather. I don't know how important they are within their community because I am not a Heathen and rarely attend their d
-
As a Southerner who also whole heartedly approves of the removal of the confederate flag from public spaces, I very much appreciat
This week for Fiery Tuesday we reflect on the shooting at Charleston, South Carolina and its wider significance as a symptom of ongoing racial hatred within the United States. In memorial for those lost and in the interest of furthering a conversation about race, we've gathered several stories related to the issue of racism, with input from religious leaders around the web. Read about how black churches have responded to racism in the past and present, the struggles of black farmers throughout the U.S., and the "whitewashing" of Paganism.
It’s been a week since Rachel Dolezal’s false racial claims made the news and just a few days since the mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina. I’m just beginning to understand the depth of racism, what it means to have white privilege, and how I can unlearn the colorblindness I was taught and become an ally. My mind has a hard time wrapping itself around the reality in which People of Color live, suffer, and too often die in this country.
...
Lots of stories to get fired up about in today's PaganNewsBeagle: Canadian Paganism, care & feeding of activists; co-housing; so-white Congress; arguing that witchcraft shouldn't try to be respectable.
Great story at the Wild Hunt by Dodie Graham MacKay on Pagan activism in Canada.
...Happy Ostara/Equinox everyone! Today's the first day of spring (by some definitions) but it's also Faithful Friday and we've got a bunch of stories to share with you. Many of our stories today focus on how the modern world and religion (or the lack thereof) intersect, often in some very interesting and surprising ways.