Is Wicca/Paganism really as tolerant a religion as it thinks it is?

 

I have just read my latest edition from Patti Wigington on Pagan Wiccan About.com and have to say a great big WELL SAID to her!

While Sylvia is entitled to her own views and opinions, she is blatantly flying in the face of all that Pagans and Wiccans hold most sacred – namely that all beings are equal and have a right to be who and what they want to be! It is not and, as far as I am aware, never has been based upon your skin colour, place of birth, station in life or any other such narrow definition. It is based solely on the belief that one should be able to do that which is/feels right for them provided it is not (knowingly) harming others.

Unfortunately, personal experience does support the fact that for a tolerant belief system, Pagan/Wicca/Spiritual pathway followers are often not as open-minded as they think they are. Maybe we all need to take that on board and work toward making our belief system one of the few that are truly tolerant and supportive of everyman’s inaliable right to choose which spiritual pathway they wish to follow regardless of ethnicity, place of birth or the colour of their skin or should a child of a mixed race relationship be excluded from their white parent’s chosen pathway just because they have been born with the ethnic features of whichever parent isn’t white?

So I say again, WELL SAID Patti and every one of the readers who immediately made their displeasure at Sylvia’s comments known, and to Sylvia, I think you need to rethink whether or not you truly are a follower of Wicca because that is certainly not a response I would expect from anyone who is!

Below is a brief portion of the original post from Patti Wigington with the URL link to the full article for those who are interested in further reading.

Last week, I ran a blog post about the changing racial makeup of modern Paganism, including, but not limited to Wicca. In general, readers were pretty supportive, as I've come to expect from our little community here at About Pagan/Wiccan. Lots of folks stopped by to share their stories, both readers of color and those who felt that skin tone and racial background shouldn't have to play a huge role in one's spiritual identity when one is called by deity.

However, one individual made a comment that I feel needs to be addressed specifically. In my five years as a Guide here at About Pagan/Wiccan, it's been pretty rare that a reader comment has been so offensive that I feel a need to call them out on it. This, my darlings, is one of those occasions.

Read more………..

http://paganwiccan.about.com/b/2012/06/19/reader-says-leave-wicca-to-the-white-folks.htm?nl=1