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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 18908
[Pagan]
Date Posted:
11/19/2007
11:00:27 am EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 6,490
RSS: 18,576
Comments: 3
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The University Should Show Respect For Pagan Holidays
Author: Joseph Bell Source: Daily Lobo (NM)
Title: THE UNIVERSITY SHOULD SHOW RESPECT FOR PAGAN HOLIDAYS
Editor,
This letter is addressed to UNM President David Schmidly.
My name is Joseph Bell, and I'm a psychology student at UNM. As I understand it, "establishment of goals and policies to guide the University and oversight of the functioning of the University" is a role carried out by your offices. If this is correct, then I have made the proper choice in contacting you.
I have been watching the developments at Marshall University in West Virginia, and I feel that the policies being enforced there are beneficial to people such as me and would make for a better UNM.
Injustice has been done to my religion - paganism - throughout the past. People have been taught this peaceful religious path is evil in order to sway them away to follow another religion. Then, lies become gospel, and people think without a second thought that this is fact.
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Community Thoughts: There are 3 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Pagans Were There FIRST! | Nov 22nd. at 12:45:06 pm EST
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celticlass (yorktown, Virginia) - Email Me
90% of ALL CHRISTIAN religious celebrations, came ffrom my CELTIC ancestors, Halloween (SAMHAIN) , Christmas, (YULE) , Easter (Estora) and non religios, May day, (Beltaiine) etc...Show respect for the source!!!!! Blessed Be...Heather.Celtic Earth witch in VA
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| Nice Try | Nov 19th. at 9:41:41 pm EST
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Stormsinger (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) - Email Me
But I don't see it happening. As a Jewish student in a school with nearly a 30% Jewish population, it was still an excused absence to go to High Holy Days services. I really don't think there's an accommodation for religions in most schools. Most of them take off Christmas because the vast majority of the population -- faculty, staff and students -- aren't going to be there anyway!
As a pagan, the best they can rationally hope for is to get what they've already got -- absences are excused and the work can be made up without penalty. That's exactly the same accommodation given to other minority religions (Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.) , where the population in the school is not great enough to disrupt operations by their absence. Because that is the only legal reason to have those absences. It's just like calling a snow day -- you don't do it to give the kids a treat, you do it because it's very likely that enough people -- including the cafeteria staff, teachers, custodians and bus drivers -- won't be able to get in anyway.
And as an aside, I *do* wish people would get over linking modern NeoPaganism to paleopaganism like we had apostolic succession. There's absolutely no evidence for it, and we don't improve our case by insisting we are somehow the same people that built and destroyed Rome, founded and lost Britain, and rose with Nile and sank into the sands of Egypt. It simply makes us sound pretentious.
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| Hooray! | Nov 19th. at 1:02:05 pm EST
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Raven (Winter Park, Florida) - Email Me
I'm glad there are more students who are recognizing the need for acceptance of Pagan holidays as viable reasons to be excused from class. It's not a "get out of studying free card" -- we just want the same rights as any Catholic would get during Ash Wednesday, or any Jew would get during Rosh Hashana.
My university, though friendly towards religious needs, has yet to follow suit. During the four years I attended, I had to go to class on Samhain and other holidays, which was kind of a downer when you had spirituality on your mind all day. :) With the active-ness of our Pagan Student Association, though, it may come into effect in the coming years. I am sincerely hoping that others start to follow suit!
(If not, at least we can save our sick days, lol.)
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