tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-130747051461528466.post4662863868188031907..comments2023-09-20T04:38:12.600-07:00Comments on COG Interfaith Reports: Witches working with other faiths to preserve the World's religious diversityCOG Interfaith Reportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09839072559327381082noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-130747051461528466.post-31953604745333042672009-12-03T16:26:51.198-08:002009-12-03T16:26:51.198-08:00Dear Apuleius,
Regarding "sleeping with the ...Dear Apuleius,<br /><br />Regarding "sleeping with the enemy"... It's vitally important to understand that the Christians (et al.) with whom we work in interfaith are NOT the enemy! Those Christians doing interfaith work are those representatives of their faith who most understand their history of oppression of other faiths, who most strongly feel the need for us to be represented and heard, and who most agree with our concerns. It's not fair to hold them personally accountable for the sins of all Christians and it would cut ourselves off from from powerful allies if we didn't work with them. Besides, almost all of them are wonderful people whom I consider good friends and who have repeatedly gone out on limbs with their own church superiors to defend the necessity for Pagans to be involved in the interfaith process.<br /><br />At last night's Opening Plenary, the first speaker was an Aboriginal elder. EVERY local government and religious speaker went up to her to acknowledge her before they spoke, and opened their talks with an acknowledgment of the value of Aboriginal traditions and the tragedy of how they had been treated. No one is ignoring how endangered religions "got that way", but there is a difference between acknowledging this and doing nothing but continually poking the past offenders in the eye.<br /><br />BTW, many of the endangered traditions with which LERP works are Pagan traditions endangered by the efforts of other Pagans, as when indigenous Indian traditions are oppressed by Brahmin ones.<br /><br />Also BTW, my wife Anna just did a quick count in the Program guide and out of a little over 350 programs at this Parliament, 81 (about 1/4 of the total!) are programs by and for indigenous traditions (including Neopagans), and 22 of those are specifically Australian aboriginal.CovenantInterfaithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03310138067537936865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-130747051461528466.post-24677195150973063222009-12-02T08:48:23.699-08:002009-12-02T08:48:23.699-08:00As much as I applaud the sentiment, I have to wond...As much as I applaud the sentiment, I have to wonder how we can defend endangered religions if we don't talk (much) more openly about how they got that way. It did not "just happen".<br /><br />This is the problem with "interfaith" work. It involves far too much sleeping with the enemy.Apuleius Platonicushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.com