{"id":8142,"date":"2016-07-23T13:54:42","date_gmt":"2016-07-23T19:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8142"},"modified":"2016-07-23T13:54:42","modified_gmt":"2016-07-23T19:54:42","slug":"why-pagans-arent-at-home-in-interfaith-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8142","title":{"rendered":"Why Pagans Aren’t at Home in “Interfaith” Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2009, the CESNUR organization for the study of new religions held its annual international conference<\/a> in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n

The panels, papers, and speaker events ended with a dinner at the historic Alta Club, which is drippingly gorgeous in a sort of late Victorian\/Arts & Crafts style<\/a>. I would have skipped the roast beef for an architectural tour of the place.<\/p>\n

But no, I was in my dining chair when one of the Mormon “Seventies” \u2014 a member of an upper level in the hierarchy<\/a> \u2014 delivered a benediction. (While the fundamentalist, breakaway LDS groups had been a major focus of the conference, this was about the only official-ish interaction with the mainsteam LDS church.)<\/p>\n

First he said a few words in regard to the group’s purpose, acknowledging its diversity (founder Massimo Introvigne, for example, is an Italian lawyer by training and very Catholic), adding, “but we all worship the same [G]od.”<\/p>\n

I groaned inwardly. It reminded me why I don’t do interfaith stuff \u2014 I spoke once at a luncheon in Denver, that’s all. I know some Pagans do it \u2014 more power to them \u2014 but I become a little . . . withdrawn . . . when the “we all worship the same god in the end” discourse begins.<\/p>\n

All this came back when I read Galina Krasskova’s recent blog post, “Interfaith Doublespeak<\/a>.” She writes in her usual take-no-prisoners style:<\/p>\n

It becomes all about making the person feel good, about making them look \u201cenlightened\u201d and \u201cspiritual\u201d so they can get a pat on the head without ever having to challenge any oppressive status quo, especially any religious status quo. Their model is monotheistic. The model for their rites and rituals is, whether they acknowledge this or not: monotheistic and actual engagement with the Powers of any tradition is generally lacking. Most interfaith rituals I have observed are not just doggedly human centric but, despite whatever trappings the organizer might appropriate, devoid of Gods. I mean, you sort of need to name the Gods to call Them into a space and that might be exclusive. Everyone has to feel comfortable after all so let\u2019s just go with the lowest fucking common denominator and call it a day. Hence you end up with what I call impious and unclean space. (Read the rest<\/a>.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, right there, that is why I do not attend interfaith luncheons. But I would attend another meeting of the Centro Studi sulle Nuove Religioni <\/a>if it’s within driving distance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2009, the CESNUR organization for the study of new religions held its annual international conference in Salt Lake City. The panels, papers, and speaker events ended with a dinner at the historic Alta Club, which is drippingly gorgeous in a sort of late Victorian\/Arts & Crafts style. I would have skipped the roast beef […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,24,172],"class_list":["post-8142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-religion","tag-christianity","tag-utah"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-27k","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5295,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5295","url_meta":{"origin":8142,"position":0},"title":"Archaeologists Find Secret to Norse Sunstone?","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This might be one of those \"But we already knew that!\" deals, but French archaeologists think that they have an actual example in hand of a \"sunstone,\" said to be used by the Norse to navigate in cloudy weather. This one, however, comes from a Tudor-era shipwreck. Same principle though.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"archaeology\"","block_context":{"text":"archaeology","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=archaeology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":266,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=266","url_meta":{"origin":8142,"position":1},"title":"DNA vs. the Mormons Christianity\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"September 18, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"DNA vs. the Mormons Christianity Today, which bears no love for the Latter-day Saints, reviews a new book that undercuts a key Mormon teaching: that American Indian tribes are descended from \"Lamanites\" and \"Nephites,\" alleged ancient immigrants from Israel. LDS officials react with predictable smokescreen. Years ago, I worked at\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":704,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=704","url_meta":{"origin":8142,"position":2},"title":"Morwics and Mormon magic","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"John Morehead (of Sacred Tribes, mentioned earlier) blogs about his discovery of \"Morwics,\" Mormons who have adopted Wicca. (He lives in Salt Lake City, it should be noted.)It seems that ex-Mormons not only gravitate toward evangelicalism and atheism as their religious choice options, but also toward Paganism. This makes sense\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":344,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=344","url_meta":{"origin":8142,"position":3},"title":"What makes a creepy movie\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 29, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"What makes a creepy movie creepy The Devil Rides Out, one of the classic Hammer Studios horror films, is supposed to be scary. It's based on a novel by occult-horror writer Dennis Wheatley and stars Christopher Lee (Saruman in Lord of the Rings). I watched it recently, and I learned\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12836,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=12836","url_meta":{"origin":8142,"position":4},"title":"CFP: Pagan Studies Conference at Masaryk University","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Paganism and its Others 13-14 June 2022 Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts, Brno, Czechia The Department for the Study of Religions at Masaryk University invites your participation in a conference on the overall theme of \u201cPaganism and its Others\u201d to be held in Brno, Czechia, 13-14 June, 2022, with in-person\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"academia\"","block_context":{"text":"academia","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=academia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7317,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7317","url_meta":{"origin":8142,"position":5},"title":"CFP: Conference on Current Pagan Studies","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"July 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"12th Conference on Current Pagan Studies Call For Papers: Social Justice The overall theme for the 2016 Conference is Social Justice We face issues of social justice everywhere we look, from something as overwhelming as #blacklivesmatter to the seeming trivial Wiccanate privilege.\u00a0 Like the innumerable heads of the Lernaean Hydra,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Paganism\"","block_context":{"text":"Paganism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=paganism"},"img":{"alt_text":"conference-logo-transparent-background1-300x300","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/conference-logo-transparent-background1-300x300.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8142"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8149,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8142\/revisions\/8149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}