In Search of the Spiritual is a major article with multiple sidebar stories in this week’s issue of Newsweek. I was interviewed for this story and, while I was only quoted by name for one sentence, it would seem that the reporter took seriously what I and other Pagans had to say. The few references to Paganism were polite, respectful, and capitalized our names, even if they misinterpreted our beliefs a bit.
The main story talks about “a flowering of spirituality†across the USA, including “in the rebirth of Pagan religions that look for God in the wonders of the natural world …†Most of us aren’t looking for the monotheistic God at all, but are finding Gaia (the Earth Mother) and other deities revealed through nature.
The subhead for the main story gives what might be the most important news: “Move over, politics. Americans are looking for personal, ecstatic experiences of God, and, according to our poll, they don’t much care what the neighbors are doing.†That has to be a nightmare concept for the Talibaptists of the Religious Reich, who have exercised their lust for power by claiming that orthodox busybodies are a voting majority of Americans.
Oddly enough, the one sidebar story on “Green Religion†is about a conservative Christian environmental activist. Was this because she couldn’t find a Pagan one or, as Phae suggests, because it isn’t “real†unless a Christian is doing it? As I mention in The Pagan Man, and What Do Neopagans Believe?, environmentalism is a core concept in Earth Religions, while being mostly alien to monotheistic ones.
The “definition†of Paganism used in Newsweek’s “Dictionary of the Divine†is fairly accurate, if succinct: “Most contemporary Pagans take pre-Christian practices and incorporate them into modern-day rituals. Nature is central to their spirituality; festivals mark the passing of the seasons.†The one for Wicca was similarly done: “The largest branch of Paganism in the United States, its members are sometimes called witches; they follow a code of personal freedom and responsibility.†Paganism was traced back to the 1800s in England, and Wicca to the 1940s—both fairly accurate, if annoying to true believers in the Craft.
Significantly, while the Newsweek/BeliefNet poll included six kinds of Christian, there was no option other than “other religion†for Pagans to select, even though we are one of the fastest growing collections of religions in the world. The folks at BeliefNet know better, so I’m curious to know why the poll they jointly created had such huge gaps. For example, all the poll’s references to divinity were singular and male, leaving out the millions of (Paleo- and Mesopagan) Hindus, Shintoists, Taoists, and Voodooists in the USA, as well as a million or so Feminist Goddess Worshippers, Wiccans, Druids, and other American Neopagans. Most of the choices were either/or ones, making it impossible to choose multiple options and thus screening out non-monotheistic and non-dualist believers. Nonetheless, the poll results spell big trouble for the Talibaptists and the Catholics, especially when the web results from thousands of people on the internet are compared to the 1,004 responses to their formal poll.
From a political point of view, it’s also interesting that poll respondants are evenly split between Republicans, Democrats, and Independents/ Others. Maybe this country really is ready for a big “third†party!