In her Witches & Pagans blog, Byron Ballard posted her thoughts on the 2011 Pantheacon controversy over "women born women" rituals. Byron seems to feel, based on her blog entry, that the trans women and allies who are pushing for inclusion (or, more precisely, pushing Pantheacon to refrain from putting "women-born-women-only" rituals on the public calendar) are being "short-sighted, mean-spirited and unhelpful." In response I might point Byron in the direction of an incident which she knows very well - Ginger Strivelli's efforts to stop Bible distribution in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
Does Byron feel that Ms. Strivelli was being "short-sighted, mean-spirited and unhelpful" in going against the express wishes of many, perhaps most, Buncombe County residents? Do the feelings of those parents who (as one blogger put it) "were crying tears (literally, not kidding!) that Jesus would be removed from their kids’ lives" count for anything? Thanks to Ms. Strivelli's crusade, they feel that their schools are no longer safe places for their children. They feel that their way of life is under attack -- and since they live in the Asheville area, where many locals have been priced out of the real estate market by the hippies, New Agers, and general freaks who want to turn the place into Sedona East, it's not hard to see where those fears are coming from.
The Buncombe County affair reinforced the Evangelical narrative that they are a victimized group set upon by a hostile confederation of secularists and devil-worshippers. It provided a flash point for their hostility and gave local demagogues a convenient issue with which to rile up their congregations. In short, it was a messy, divisive event which did nothing to improve Pagan/Christian relations. And it all happened because one woman's daughter couldn't just take a damn book and throw it in the trash when she got home.
I don't want to put words in Byron's mouth, so I'll leave it to her to comment on these thoughts. Speaking for myself, I might note that this was a situation where the interests of the minority were upheld at the expense of the majority's interest. Ginger Strivelli's daughter need no longer be ostracized when Bibles are distributed at her school: meanwhile, Christian students and staff who once could uphold the tenets of their religion and "share the Good News" no longer feel quite so comfortable, quite so... safe ... doing so.
Of course, I would also observe that nobody is stopping the majority from practicing their religion. Nor is anyone stopping students from praying in school. All that has happened is that Buncombe County School District is no longer allowed to endorse (or to give the appearance of endorsing) one religion over another. And I would note that a similar situation prevails at Pantheacon. Dianics who want to exclude trans women from their rituals can do so at their own festivals or in their own homes. They can even hold these rits at Pantheacon in a private room or suite. They have not been silenced: they have merely been told that P'con's public ritual space cannot be used for trans-exclusionary rituals.
I'd also add that in both cases there was a lot more at stake than just taking a damn book or letting a few Dianics have their ritual. Bible distribution in a public school affirms that the school/county is Christian territory and that everyone else is an outsider who is deluded at best and actively evil at worst. Hateful rhetoric about "mutilated men" and "transies" cheapens the lives of trans women and dehumanizes them. Standing up for your self-interest is not short-sighted, no matter how uncomfortable it might make those who would rather you sit down and shut up. There are times when silence is merely assent to oppression.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Kenaz Filan on the Web
Support the Haiti Disaster Relief Effort
.jpg)
Search This Blog
Labels
- addiction (3)
- amazon (3)
- atheism (12)
- beginner's guide (4)
- bertiaux (4)
- catholicism (8)
- ceremonial magic (9)
- christianity (36)
- czech (2)
- Drawing Down the Spirits (5)
- fiction (6)
- galina krasskova (36)
- gender (24)
- goetia (5)
- haitian vodou handbook (3)
- Impietas (13)
- initiation (6)
- interfaith (21)
- interview (13)
- Johnny Bonta (8)
- judaism (12)
- Kenaz Filan en français (1)
- Loki (7)
- madness (4)
- melancholia (15)
- monotheism (10)
- new orleans voodoo handbook (14)
- ochani lele (6)
- pantheacon (27)
- Papaver somniferum (7)
- paying for spirituality (7)
- race (45)
- runes (30)
- satanism (17)
- shamanism (15)
- sophie reicher (1)
- spiritual oppression (6)
- Violentacrez (4)
- vodou love magic (3)
- vodou money magic (9)
4 comments:
I will address this in some depth a little later, if I may. But I think you are not really hearing (or in this case, reading) what I am saying. My blog post is the first of three and I intend to go into (what I hope will be) a more thoughtful analysis of the larger situation in the larger community. By raising the issue in the Buncombe county schools, you are inadvertently clarifying my own point--the ways in which different groups experience coming to womanhood is not an either/or. Just as the school situation--which is far more complex than you can be expected to ken as an outsider to it--is not either/or. So many paths and possibilities--I believe it is our duty to the community as it is now and to our world as it will be that we at least become familiar with all the possibilities. Engaging the community in strength and love and responsibility is my goal in this discussion. And avoiding being short-sighted, mean-spirited and unhelpful is something that is an important part of my own Dianic priestesshood (goodness, what an awkward phrase). Neither of these issues--separation of church and state, and the paths into Women's Mysteries--is simple. We do all of the community an honor when we engage the discussion with mutual respect and at least an attempt at empathy.
Elegant point, Kenaz. One that those supporting the exclusionary practices will miss utterly, flail around, and ultimately urinate on while defaming your character.
Sadly.
Kenaz, dismissing and denigrating Byron’s and Ginger Strivelli’s efforts to see that the First Amendment is respected in the schools of Western NC does nothing to advance your argument regarding exclusionary ritual.
You seem to feel that we should do our best to make sure that the Evangelicals who want to establish Christianity in the schools while excluding other religions feel safe enough to do so. We should not create anything messy or divisive and certainly not do anything that might negatively impact Pagan/Christian relations.
When you've had Christians vandalize your outdoor altar, break up your public rituals with threats and weapons, had abusive children, parents and school staff drive your 14-year-old child out of school because of her religious beliefs, or come home to find that someone has brutally killed your cat and hung it in your door because you are trying to keep town meetings religiously neutral, you may find you are not as inclined to "Just throw the damned book in the trash" so that Pagan/Christian relations won't be adversely affected. When things like that happen you take it to the courts and the media and thank all the gods that we still have a First Amendment and not the theocracy that many evangelical Christians want. You stand up for your Constitutional rights.
As a new parent, I expect you may see the importance of these women’s' efforts more clearly in another decade or so. Children in middle school are quite susceptible to pressure from adults and peers, and even if a child is raised well at home, having the school system support and promote a religion that preaches against gays and tells your child she is going to burn in hell because she is Pagan is something that will affect her school experience no matter what you do or say to her at home. The only way to change that is to stand up for your Constitutional rights. Again. And again. And yet again. Which is something that Byron has been doing here for decades, along with her long-standing and very successful interfaith and community-building work.
What the Gideons did by distributing Bibles in public schools is in direct contradiction to the First Amendment, and despite being previously shot down in the courts, they are still trying to do it. This should tell you something. Staying aware of and fighting the repeated efforts to "establish" the Christian religion at the expense of other religions in schools and other government entities is important work if we want to practice our Pagan religions without fear of reprisals.
Byron’s and Ginger’s work in this area has been difficult, dangerous (yes, there were death threats) and time-consuming. But they did it to protect the Pagan children of Buncombe County from institutionalized discrimination against their religions. Personally, I think they deserve our thanks and respect.
Now that I've gotten the snark out of my system: I don't feel safe around people who feel they have ownership over my genitalia. I don't feel safe around people who feel they can dictate my feelings about my own personhood, body, sexuality, etc. I do not feel safe around people who feel they have a right to define my sexuality, and my personhood.
In this instance, those people are largely the Dianic Wiccans, and those with similar ethos and leanings. I simply won't attend events where they are given a resounding endorsement. In places where that oppressive, assaulting, violating behavior is monitored and diffused, maybe.
Post a Comment