Politics
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And So We Fight On
We believe in a better world We believe in justice We believe in a better world We believe in peace We believe in a better world We can heal our planet We won’t bow down. We won’t bow down. –An Atheopagan ritual chant It matters now to hold a vision. It matters not to think this moment is forever. It matters now that we are good people, and we uphold kindness and simple human decency as a value. It matters that we love the world with all our hearts. The deathgrip of white male capitalist supremacy will not persist. It will not. Women’s…
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Requiem and Invocation
Friends and Allies, let us grieve. Let us grieve that an era of progress and forward thinking appears to be drowning in a sea of ignorance, hatred and fear. Let us grieve that reason has been swamped by credulity, and science by superstition and willful ignorance. Let us grieve. Let us tear the words from the walls of our bodies, howling: we have lost so much. The children suffer. The good green Earth bleeds. The water is sullied, the creatures die, the air itself stifles the living of the world. The people are punished for being themselves. Our leaders are dupes and psychopaths. They hate this good world as much…
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Atheism, Paganism, and Agreeing to Disagree
I’ve been thinking lately about the crossroads where Atheopaganism lives: straddling lines between atheism, Paganism, and activism. In the atheistic world, skepticism is a given. There, when you propose something—a policy, a factual claim, a strategic approach to problem solving—it is assumed that you will have both material evidence and cogent argumentation to back your position. Others are welcomed to interrogate, prod at, and refute the position as best they are able. This is a process by which we can arrive at a position which is more likely to be correct than if we did not so critique the initial proposition. The process is central to the operation of science…
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Children of the Earth Tribe, WAKE UP
Back in September of 2015, I asked, is Atheopaganism political? Go ahead, read it. It lays out why I believe that any religious path that is truly about this Earth—any path of integrity—must, in days such as these, be one of activism. Since, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to consider the Pagan community generally through this lens. And I am sorry to say that I have been sorely disappointed. Most of the visible voices, most of the “Big Name Pagans”, are anything but political. At best, they may voice the occasional political opinion in passing, but mostly they’re about rituals and magical tools and cultural traditions and “mysteries”. Oh, and selling…
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“Harm None” Ain’t Good Enough: A Call to Action
There has always been something about the Wiccan Rede that has bothered me, and I’ve finally figured out what it is. The Wiccan Rede, for those new to the community or coming into Atheopaganism from atheist/skeptic circles, is the only widely (though far from universally) adopted moral precept in the Pagan community. It reads: “An (if) it harm none, do what thou wilt.” To start with, the Ye-Olde-Tyme-Englande language rubs me the wrong way, using “an” for “if”, and calling it a “rede” instead of a “rule”. The Wiccan Rede is a 20th century creation, not bloody Shakespeare. But that’s a small point. The primary bone I have to pick with…
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Do Not Ever Let
I am here to shout against the rising dark. To say to you—yes, you, individually, yourself reading this—that I know how hard it has become. To believe in a future. To aspire. Do not let them do this to you. Do not allow the ways of the world, this bitter storm turn you away from its rage. Grimace in the teeth of it, and breathe the cold, alive despite it. You have a future. And in it is love and warmth, skies and seas and trees and all the wonders they reveal. No matter how small the men who grind the world become, you will have your days, your skies, your…
