'Pagan' - A Dirty Word?

[TDR Mule]

This issue drives me crazy.

Personally, I take it as a fact; some bigot dude called me a Pagan for never going tochurch once. I laughed, thinking, "Pagan. Duh!" And walked off.

But I never really see the issue in Forums and such. I usually see it in videogames (Koudelka!*cough*) People usually ignore it, but it shouldn't really be much of an insult, since it IS a religion, after all/  

[Starlock]

Elaine Spencer

Personally, I take it as a fact; some bigot dude called me a Pagan for never going to church once. I laughed, thinking, "Pagan. Duh!" And walked off.

lol (is amused)
They'll always be people who put down others. Heck, I think we all do it at one point or another. It's good to be able to shrug it off like this.
=)  

[Creepy Albino Fish]

I haven't gotten many negative response anytimes I've mentioned the word 'Pagan'. I did do a project in my last year's english project on Wicca (we had just read The Crucible and y teacher had signed a good number of different projects, some having to do with modern day pagan practices) and a lot of the responses I got were confusion. This was all new stuff they were hearing. It wasn't the whole 'eye of newt' kind of thing they usually associate with witches. Of course there were people who scoffed, but nobody went on a hate mongering rampage.

And then there was a time in my Chemistry class where we stared talking about modern day pagans (it wasn't rare for my teacher to go on a rant that lasted through the whole class.. haha) and it was the same thing. There was confusion and scepticism (sp?). But I spoke up and assured them that there was no baby sacrificing going on.. haha

One thing that I'm kinda apprehensive about is mentioning it to my father.. It's not like he's going to disown me, but he gave me a god book for my last birthday.. I just didn't say anything. He went through the whole AA thing and they have a lot of God tied into it, so I think he was trying to hand that over to me. he seems to have a negative attitude to anything out of his norm.
Oops, getting off subject..

For myself, it's a postitive word. It represents a soft place to lie and be okay. Something uncontrolled and free, ruled only by nature and the person who you are. That's my favourite part. It's so comforting.

 

[Xyercies Uhtred Ragnar]

well the term pagan from my studies was used along with got, and goth. meaning heathen and barbarian. the roman catholics used these terms to describe the goths. before tthe gothic invasion of rome. which the goths won.

besides that. the term pagan has not negitive term whatso ever in my knowlegde. of course i coudl be missing out on a lot of history by what i've stated. but this is only what i know. i'm still studying the term. so yeha. besides that . its all i know.

blessed be.

may odin bless you all.  

[WebenBanu]

I'm going to chime in with the folks who are completely neutral on the term.^_^ Many of the members of my community (Kemetics) shy away from a description of "Paganism." Some of them don't like defining themselves by what they are not (i.e. "I am not a Christian, Muslim, or a Jew- so put me in that 'Other' category"), and some of them simply don't like the overall New Agey associations the word has accumulated (as many modern Pagan religions seem to have a "do whatever feels good" approach to religion with a lot of room for picking and choosing from a buffet of cultures and ethical systems- and while we do feel that what we do is good, most of us also feel strongly that if you do not feel good with what we do then you should seek somewhere which does suit you rather than chucking whatever part of the system is inconvenient!). Some of them don't like the derogatory sense in which the word is sometimes used, and don't feel a strong enough need to reclaim the term to counter that.

Personally, I can't say that I really care. I am in the 'Other' group when you think of the major world religions, and I'm OK with that. I know enough non-fluffy Pagans not to cringe when I'm associated with them, and I've been around the Pagan community for enough of my life that the bad taste got washed out of my mouth a long time ago- as far as derogatory uses of that word are concerned, at least. I'm much more annoyed when people attempt to "reclaim" a word by misspelling it, to tell you the truth. So long as nobody starts trying to use "Paygin" or anything, I'll be fine.^_~

I consider myself a member of the overarching Pagan community, but I identify as a Kemetic reconstructionist. *shrugs* Jameta, your idea of specifically including the names of various Pagan approaches in your group's title is attractive to me because such groups are so frequently aimed at just Wicca. It's very appealing to know that someone of my mindset would not simply be tolerated there, but is a part of the target audience. However, naming names always raises the problem of leaving someone out, and even though the span of Neo, Eclectic, and Reconstructionist does cover a lot of ground- there are always other specific faiths which don't fall under either heading. What is Ifa, for example? Or Santeria? Just a few thoughts to add to the mix- I like the idea overall.^_^  

[Jameta]

WebenBanu

I consider myself a member of the overearching Pagan community, but I identify as a Kemetic reconstructionist. *shrugs* Jameta, your idea of specifically including the names of various Pagan approaches in your group's title is attractive to me because such groups are so frequently aimed at just Wicca. It's very appealing to know that someone of my mindset would not simply be tolerated there, but is a part of the target audience. However, naming names always raises the problem of leaving someone out, and even though the span of Neo, Eclectic, and Reconstructionist does cover a lot of ground- there are always other specific faiths which don't fall under either heading. What is Ifa, for example? Or Santeria? Just a few thoughts to add to the mix- I like the idea overall.^_^

See, it would be my hope that those who don't feel that their path still doesn't fit would come and talk to me about it (if they're on campus, anyways). I do have to draw the line somewhere with the knowledge that I have; to have too open a title would be awkward and a tad frilly. As I grow in my understanding, things may change, but I need a basis right now. 3nodding  

[Azana Brown]

WebenBanu

I'm much more annoyed when people attempt to "reclaim" a word by misspelling it, to tell you the truth. So long as nobody starts trying to use "Paygin" or anything, I'll be fine.^_~

Like "womyn"? I remember that plastered over a girl's magazine called New Moon.

As for the rest of your post, amen! I'm eclectic, mostly because I can never stay in a belief system. I tried learning about Christianity for a little while, and got knocked out of it when I experienced something "impossible" by their doctrine. I found that my path led me here, but I'm still learning where my beliefs lie. I end up mixing a lot of things, but it all seems to work out anyway.

Besides, that "chucking whatever is inconvenient" kinda sounds more like Hinduism. That religion has a knack for running into a religion, adopting a piece of it like an amoeba, and moving on. I have nothing against it, don't get me wrong...just an observation.  

[PoeticVengeance]

Jameta

While online I have never really run into the issue, in person I have found that the term 'Pagan' carries a negative connotation for some followers of faiths that would be considered it.

It is ture that the term comes from a late Latin term meaning "country-dweller", and was (and is) used as a derogatory term. But just as other words have evolved in meaning, can Paganism slide out of its old skin? If so, how long do you think it will take people? If not, what do you think is holding it back and why people place so much value on it?

As some may know, I plan on starting a student union for Pagans my sophmore or junior year of college. To combat this dirty-word syndrome, I'm going to put forth a name along the lines of "Neo, Ecclectic, and Reconstructive Faith Student Union".

...Naturally, I'm going to find an acronym. sweatdrop

Honestly?

Many words take a new conoctation when people start using them differently.

Gay used to be a derogatory statement for homosexuals after it was hijacked from its original meaning (festive and happy) by bigots.

However now, homosexuals use Gay as a positive label denoting homosexuality.

So I find the word pagan, completely unoffensive, and take its meaning as any religion not of the Abrahamic Monotheism subset.