measi's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Religious exploration One of those angry-at-the-world Pagans have left a message in [ade]'s new journal over on LiveJournal. *rolls eyes* Gotta love people who make judgements before really bothering to read the person's writings. Perhaps asking questions to clarify motives would have been in order? While I can understand the point of view of the person who left it-- I can even agree to it to a certain extent-- I also know Ade, and her motives on this. She's not just collecting religious pendants because they're "cool." Ade's now at the age where she's starting to really question her own beliefs. I think camp last week was a bit of a catalyst for that. And thankfully, her father is someone who, while very devout in his own Christian faith, recognizes the need and the *goodness* of doing this search, both for her own spiritual development, as well as just the education of other religions in the world. Does it worry me that she might be a bit disrespectful to things I consider sacred? Deep down, a little. But I know Ade. And if she does do something off the cuff, it would be out of simple innocent unknowing, having never learned the meanings of such things. And then it's my problem for being in a huff about it, not hers for doing something she couldn't be aware she was doing. JT has always struck me as someone who is proud of his faith, and as he's said, will stand up for it. But he also has the "live and let live" attitude that as long as someone's not trying to swipe his nose, he's not going to, either. Rather than shove the reasons for being a Christian down people's throats, he simply lives his life as the best possible Christian he can. It's a case of "walking the walk" and teaching that way, rather than just spouting chapter and verse all the time, as so many "devout" Christians do. Tan and I have been chatting about it a little in email this morning. Between Tan's personal background and my own, I think Ade's in a very rare position as a teenager who's exploring religions and her own faith. Unlike so many teens, she has access to adults who are willing to explain why they believe the things that they do. So many teengers can't have these kinds of people due to our oh-so-wonderful litigious society. It took me a couple years to not feel paranoid having this pentacle around my neck. I feared other people's backlash. Now, I forget it's there a lot of the time, unless it's turned around to the back of my neck and gets tangled in my hair. This isn't to say that my pentacle is unimportant. It very much is-- I never take it off. That pendant is part of who I am, and who I declare myself to be in the world, for better or for worse. I don't intend to take it off, quite frankly, until the pentacle itself breaks and needs to be replaced. But at the same time, I don't think about it all the time. To only focus on it, or the meaning behind it, forces me to be blind to other important things in the world. Like the teenager who's really starting to wonder what her own faith is really about. Or about my upcoming move. Or about my boyfriend, who's going through both the relief that he now knows the fate of his current job, but also the stress of not knowing what's coming around the corner. Unlike Tan, I guess I'm just not as diplomatic to some people who leave messages, particularly with no way to contact them. To this Amber chick-- "fuck off." Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Pagan geek. Oh, and it's now 11:10 a.m. :) 10:58 a.m. - 26 July 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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