By Moira Rose Raistlin (no), Tree (maybe), Ruby Sara (yes), and Emiti (yes)
Hierarchy, Visibility, and Paperwork — Who Needs the Aggravation?
The very first question one must address is, what do we mean by “building churches”…? Are we restricting ourselves to the physical construction of an edifice, or are we including dedicating specific sites to spiritual activity? Or are we discussing the organization of a group of Pagans within modern legal parameters necessary to accomplish a structure-building project?
Several months ago, my coven talked about trying to establish a community center for Pagans in our area. Many public sites suitable for celebrations close at dusk, our homes and backyards are often too small for activities, and all-too-frequently public facilities are just not available. We were still bouncing ideas around when we provoked very hostile reactions from some of our Pagan friends. For them, the issue was visibility. They opposed the community center project because its creation would reveal our presence to the larger community. All of these folks were still hiding in broom closets afraid the world will discover they are Pagans and kill them. The mere “possibility” of our opening a Pagan community center threatened them. Undoubtedly, visibility is a factor in some Pagans’ problem with publicly-known and dedicated gathering sites.
I believe it would depend on the comunity’s support. in cities that support this it wouldnt be much of a probem. it is considered an actual religion. tho sadly there will always be protesters against this. perhaps not displaying huge symbols in the open would be a good idea. i personally have been dreaming of this, in the city i live in its not common to see many pagan get togethers and is difficult to find others or events that support this. i dont believe we should have to hide who we are we should be accepted such as other religions are. We as a comunity are not a negative one. i do however understand why others do not think it would be a good idea to advertise this. It is not always accepted. BUT it should be.why is it o.k for other religions? why not us? well because of hostile reactions from the comunity in salem,massachusetts they practice publicly and openly. even tho not the whole comunity supports this. mabe someday. best wishes and blessings to all.
We most certainly should be building churches/temples/Groves/ etc., but no Trad which has yet to mature a bit (perhaps a lot) is going to be successful at it.
As long as we still have people insisting on their personal “islandhood” and “Rugged Individualist®” status, needing no one else in the world (despite that’s where they got their information from in the first place, not to mention groceries, petrol, clothing and all), carry on with their persistent refusal to co-operate with anybody on anything, building much of anything won’t be very successful if these (incredibly immature) anarchists are at all influential in the community.