Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Hekate

(96,157 posts)
1. That's an intense read at the link. My aged perspective is that religions are inhabited by humans...
Sun Oct 14, 2018, 04:29 PM
Oct 2018

...and that humans are flawed. My husband the Buddhist has been deeply dismayed by the sexual scandals surrounding some of the most respected leaders and teachers in America. It makes me sad, too, just not to the same degree.

When we create a new community or embrace a new philosophy we all want to believe that what we are creating is and will remain perfect and untouched by the grime of everyday life and politics. That was the impulse of every Utopian community on this continent, from the Pilgrims to the hippie communes. That was certainly the impulse of the earliest Christians and the earliest Buddhists.

I like the Pagan philosophy. I was in a Moon Circle, an all-female Goddess group, for about 20 years, and made feminist spirituality the focus of the dissertation I wrote at midlife. I did ask myself why I didn't ask admission to the local co-ed coven, but I already knew the answer: I was abused as a child, and though I married and had children, there were some facets of my spiritual and physical self that remain in a zone of privacy and absolutely resistant to coercion by male authority.

Wherever one's heart and soul lead, enter with clear eyes.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»Ancient Wisdom and Pagan Spirituality»So Long and Thanks for Al...»Reply #1