Jason Pitzl-Waters of Wild Hunt fame asked various Pagan leaders and organizations for our thoughts on this week’s Proposition 8 ruling. He will do a round up Friday, but meanwhile, here are some of mine:
We are all part of the fabric of God Herself, and each strand brings a different and necessary color and texture that weaves into the whole. If all the threads were the same, the fabric would be dull indeed. As magic workers, we know that all polarities and possibilities exist within us, just as they exist outside and around us. The mystics among us know that these polarities, while informative, pleasant, or unpleasant, point back to the unity again, that is Goddess, Divinity, God Herself. There are more permutations in energy, biology, spirit, and mind than can even be conceived of, and there are connections between all of these. As a student of life, I want to be open to that which seems strange to me, even if at first I recoil. That recoiling is a message: there is something here I do not understand. This doesn’t mean I should legislate against it, it means I should try to deepen my knowledge. It is this response I would encourage us to have toward those who fear the changes we may wish for – can we think of situations where we might lash out in fear and misunderstanding when our way of life feels threatened, or our theology impugned? And to those who are recoiling against the ruling of Proposition 8 as unconstitutional, I would say: “We are not trying to change your religious beliefs. We are only saying that we have the same civil rights as you do.”
Theology aside for one moment, I’d like to get practical: if we are to have nation states, we are to have citizens. If we are to have citizens, we must give each of those citizens rights equal to all other citizens. If that includes marriage, so be it. The right to marry must be had by all. However, as a person who is queer in many ways, I would just as soon see the US government not provide marriages at all. We can have community celebrations of love and friendship and partnership in many forms and fora, whether we are Pagan, Hindu, Christian, or Atheist. The government need not be involved. Surely we can find other ways to let a loved one see her partner in intensive care, and perhaps, were this not a perquisite of marriage or blood family, this could include our dearest friends. Surely we can find other ways to get people the health care they need than to tack them on to that of a spouse. Surely we can find ways to write up contracts around property, or childcare, or myriad other things.
Surely we don’t need the government telling us we can marry. We can do that for ourselves, should we so desire.
Desire knows no boundaries of gender, sexual expression, or love. God Herself is boundless, and potentially, so are we.
[Shepard Fairey Love Unites poster may be ordered here.]
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