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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 20905
[Pagan]
Date Posted:
7/14/2009
7:13:19 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 6,678
RSS: 17,015
Comments: 5
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Pagan Pride Group To Host Event
Author: Andrew Taylor Source: View News
Title: PAGAN PRIDE GROUP TO HOST EVENT
Witches have gotten a bit of a public relations makeover in the last decade. These days, the word witch is less likely to summon images of green-skinned hags with pointed hats than it is British schoolchildren with a penchant for eating horribly flavored jelly beans.
Neither image is quite what the local nonprofit organization Las Vegas Pagan Pride is going for, and one of the group's stated goals is to dispel misconceptions about the pagan and Wiccan religions.
"We have the same values as the other major religions as far as family, honesty, work, et cetera goes," said Las Vegas Pagan Pride member Vicki Clair. "Our morals are somewhat different."
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Community Thoughts: There are 5 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Don't Over-generalize Pagan Theologies | Jul 16th. at 12:19:01 am EDT
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Terry (Irvington, Virginia) - Email Me
This article illustrates some of the most tricky pitfalls for pagans dealing with media, even in cases of well intentioned honest journalists.
Not all pagans view deities as if entities. In many cases, they're viewed as at most symbolic representations of larger concepts.
When that's the case, it's possible to be poly-pantheistic in ways some people would argue are also atheistic. By that perspective, historic etymology that defines a pantheon as representing all gods is impossible, unless one views pantheons as merely sets of world views or cosmologies, among which some people manage to "walk".
OK, so the reporter's eyes are rolling by now, just when some pagans find things are getting interesting. Some pagans trained in media appearances would suggest only sharing simple words that can't easily be edited when grabbing 7 second bites, but that often doesn't work well either.
It's nearly impossible to be both complete and accurate when trying to describe pagan cosmologies or practices. Often it's better to couch depictions in limiting terms, like "many pagans", or "among many world views, some of which treat concepts like deities very differently among us". It still takes skill and practice that can be far more challenging that those used to casual discussions realize.
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| " Wierdness" Because We DO Dress Wierd | Jul 15th. at 3:26:59 pm EDT
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foreverknightfan (Dardanelle, Arkansas) - Email Me
While many PPDs are filed with Pagans in normal attire and normal families running around, let's face it that for awhile the negative image of us was partly our fault.
You know the looks. The full robed wizard or witch, complete with jewelry to make Mister T look plain. The total goths looking straight out of Twilight or some Anne Rice vamp S&M/ Prince-Liberace mish mash, and OC the gawdawful and embarrassing Glenda the Good Witch stand ins with their glitter wands, plastic fairy wings and really BAD color taste.
Iti s refreshing for a cowan ( remember when we Wiccan actually called non-Wiccans cowans instead of "muggles") to actually see us as normal people.
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| ....... | Jul 15th. at 3:08:06 pm EDT
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Katmandu (elba, Alabama) - Email Me
I like the whole thing about the "crazy ladies" and the Pointed Hat Society. That just kinda tickled my funny bone. Yeah, and best wishes to the group for their event.
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| Finally. | Jul 15th. at 9:59:07 am EDT
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Batman (Madison, Wisconsin) - Email Me
A PPD that actually makes us seem more like typical Americans than exploiting our oddities and making us seem even wierder than we really are at all. Admitted we as Pagans, are going to be lean more on the Hogwarts side of the fence granted, but even in that fictional world, they're not all that different (save for magic) than muggles. So why NOT make us seem more typical instead of garrish, goth, and cliche`? Last I checked, I left that silliness behind in high school. All the same, it's about time we started doing this just as a way for some positive PR. We don't have to homogenize anything, just make a better attempt at showing people that we're not the creeps they make us out to be. This tears down walls that admittedly, both sides have built. It's not going to be easy to do this, but it's the only way to get through to way too many people that are way too easily swayed by the extremist right xtians. We dispell their lies they have told about us, we have empowered ourselves with the ability to finally shut them up by simply being honest with the society that we DO need to deal with on a daily basis and by just being ourselves. Bravo and encore!
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| Great Idea | Jul 15th. at 5:30:39 am EDT
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Rev. Sea Wind (Louisville, Kentucky) - Email Me
Bravo to the LVPPD folks! More groups should do things like this. Done correctly, it can only help to improve image and public relations for pagan groups like this.
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