All right, I have time now and relatively undivided attention. Let's talk about the dragon before us.

I'm a man who embraces rhetorical conflict. Part of it is my nature, and part of it is my training from a very early age. Dinners with my stepfather and stepsibs (10 and 8 years older than me) were interesting. But arguing is not a way to build lasting relationships. And we depend on those relationships.

For me at least, paganism rests on finding that I can be in harmony, in balance with the natural cycles and rhythms that surround and enfold us. I don't have to be in conflict with the World. I just had to to keep my footing. There are forces that pull and push and twist and weave all around us. My key was and is finding the "sweet spot" where the forces more or less equalized each other. I call that ever moving and fluctuating spot the dynamic balance. Always moving, never static, always needing constant adjustment on my part.

Like so many other things, the complication is human thought. There are way too many battles that are fought because of differences of belief and opinion. Live and let live works, mostly. The rough spot that can't be made smooth is the same thing that can trigger conflict and confrontation. That's the notion that one person not only disagrees with another, but thinks their belief should be forced on others despite what the others might want.

Oh, it has different phrasing depending on circumstances. I usually call it For the Greater Good for simplicity. My first encounter with it was Christianity. My second encounter was local law. Over the years I've seen it many, many many times. The feminists want this. The Baptists want that. The politicos want the other thing. There's always a point when someone “realizes” that discussion is not enough. No, dissent must be crushed. Eradicated from memory. For the Greater Good.

And that brings us here, now. I'm pagan, I believe in connections and cycles and the Mystery and the Manifestation. But I don't think that is political. And because of my (very strong) darker lusts, I don't think it's my place to control other adult humans. Or stand by while it happens. No matter how much I would like it. No matter how easy it would be to reach out and take over. Because you see, I am not a nice person. I know the buttons to push. I know how to read people. I know that passion can displace rationality. I know many other things too, and it all happens in that wild place that we lock deep inside ourselves. That place where the rules of logic and civilization fall away and we're left as naked apes wanting desperately to belong.

But I won't do that today.

At the same time, I expect things from the people around me. If they express a political opinion and I disagree, I don't think either should be dismissed unheard. I want the discussion. The gods know I can be stubborn and sometimes deliberately ignorant. If I am to grow, I must accept that wisdom is where you find it. Sometimes where you least expect it, sometimes right in front of you. But I want to do it on the points of discussion. Not on the label or where it came from. I can do no less and honor my oaths.

I'm sworn to veritas. Sometimes that means telling people what they do not want to hear. More times that means finding out things that knock out my own assumptions. It's not a role I would have chosen. But that doesn't change truths.

I have had conflict with some on this board because I would not let their dogma displace my dissent. I'd like to think that I do not escalate, but my political beliefs are routinely rejected while others are raised as the only thing we should do. For the Greater Good. So yes, I dig in when that happens.

At the same time, I know I tend to roll over people when their arguments are based in passion rather than reasoning. I make no excuses for that. I'm very good and I take pride in it. Even though I know that for many arguing from passion, it strikes them as a personal attack.

I am who I am. I value these exchanges. Certainly I learn things that I did not know. And yes, by being who I am and remaining true to my oaths, my ideas can be disruptive. So can a winter storm or a summer flood.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

There is a possible interesting coda to this post. For those of you who didn't follow the link, this is from The Wild Hunt, probably the best independent pagan news site right now. For me it's biggest virtue is that it is not hosted on any of the big tech social media sites. It also usually has pretty good articles.

Apparently Disqus is phasing out the comment program that TWH uses. The new one requires more money and ads. This seems at odds with Disqus policy as stated on their website, but I'm not "in the loop."

Still, a paranoid part of me wonders if this is just an excuse to close out comments so they don't have the backlash of a self described trouble maker sworn to veritas. I'd like to think that isn't so, but there are some inconsistencies.

I wrote that if I were part of the problem, I'd volunteer to stop commenting there. That got an odd response. I don't know what to think.