What really constitutes hypocrisy?

Yes I know, 2 posts in one day.  I felt this was important enough to post however.  In working towards my PhD in Religion, I have had the opportunity to study quite a few different faiths, including the Earth-based faiths. I am amazed at the number of "believers" from any number of faiths that point to one or more belief system and either outright condemn them or at the very least have disparaging remarks about them.  I have also learned that arguing religion with people is almost universally fruitless. It's difficult to change the mind of someone who knows that they know that they know that their perspective is the ultimate gold standard of truth.  One of the most common examples can be found in examining the world of the everyday Christian when it comes to Islam. 

Most everyone has heard of the Pastor in Florida who had planned a Koran (more correctly, Al Qur'an) burning on September 11 of this year.  Still others have heard of the town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee where a large number of the residents were protesting the building of a small Mosque in their town.  In addition, most are familiar with the plans to build an Islam cultural center near Ground Zero.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I don't feel that this is the proper venue to argue for or against any of these examples.

What I will say is that I have adopted a position, which basically stated, goes something like this:  If a Christian (or a member of any other faith) feels the need to discuss the belief system of  Islam with me, my first question is going to be, "Have you read the Koran?"  If they haven't then the discussion is over even before it starts.  There is no way to have an intelligent discussion about the principles of a belief system unless everyone involved has a working understanding of that belief system.  I hear so many Christians make the statement that "They (Muslims) do not share our values."  Yet in reality, the only "values" they are familiar with are what they have seen and heard on the nightly news and in the newspaper.  I quite often remind people that there's a big difference between doing the will of God and doing one's own will in God's name.  The 9-11 terrorists were doing their own thing in the name of All'ah - but in reality, what they did was as far from what the Koran teaches as one can get.  Just as some Christians use scripture (out of context) to justify hatred and bigotry, so there are factions in just about every other faith who do likewise. 

It truly grieves me that there are a handful of Pagans that refuse to work with anyone or any organization that is willing to work with Christians or Christian principles. I'm not exactly sure what principles they are referring to.  Having read the Bible several dozens of times over cover to cover, the only principles I have found there are summed up in the directives of loving your neighbor as yourself and doing unto others and you would have them do unto you.  These are totally comparable to the Wiccan creed of  "Do what ye will and harm none."   If they are referring to the actions of some Christians based on some private interpretation of the Scriptures then they obviousoly do not understand faith or paths or calling, or personal accountability.

While it is true that there are Christians who rage against the Pagan community and anything it may stand for, there are also those who accept everyone's personal path of faith for what it is - a personal path.  There will always be the Dogmaticists who, in common arrogance, claim that their way is the ONLY true way and everyone else is damned.  The reality is, when members of the Pagan community refuse to associate with Christians or anyone even remotely adhering to "Christian principles" they are guilty of the very thing that they abhor.  Whether someone follows Christianity, or Wicca, or Paganism, or Islam, or Catholicism, or Druidism is their own business, their own personal path and NOBODY has the right to tell them that their path is wrong. We should be worried about our own paths - about following our own faith and calling.

We should also be able to come together for common goals, setting aside differences and infighting.  In the end, it's the person who can adhere to their own calling and faith (while showing love and tolerance for the right for every other human being to find their own calling and faith) that will ultimately bring honor to the Higher Power of their choosing.  I'm not here to prosyletize  anyone.   I am a solitary Wiccan - my path isn't your path and your path isn't my path. The point, however, is that we are all heading for a common destination through study, enlightenment, dedication, and fellowship.  What I am trying to do is not create a specific belief system in creating the Church, but create a system whereby individuals of different paths can come together and celebrate our commonalities while maintaining the right and ability to celebrate our individual and collective paths and belief systems.  The Church gives the different groups a chance to show the entire "congregation" (using that term very lightly) something about their path, methods of worship, and knowledge about their belief system.

More will come out as time goes on - scheduling an initial organizational meeting for sometime this month is in the works - but for years the Pagan/Wiccan community has been fractured, feeling isolated from one another with the misconception that the individual groups are SO different that there's no common ground to be found.  We have two choices - live with the status quo and remain separate and fractured, or come together under a common organization that allows not only the ability to excel in each individual path, but share that path with all of the other groups. In doing so, we find that common ground and fellowship. We find that social strength and unity that has been lacking for so long.  There's nobody among those who have already come together to discuss the Church that has come with the agenda of "running everything."  This isn't a Church of factions or cliques, and in all honesty, that kind of nonsense will not be tolerated. The governing board will consist of representatives from each organization that wish to participate. Conflicts of interest will be virtually non-existent.  The whole organization will be built on checks and balances, accountability, and good faith. 

The success of the Church will hinge solely on those willing to come together, set aside their personal and organizational differences, and work toward a common goal.  Everyone stands to benefit in many ways.  Those who are intolerant or have a personal agenda will find the Church a very difficult place to operate.  My personal role in all of this is to facilitate and mentor, not govern.  My personal calling is in counseling and mediation but also in developing courses of study required by the civil authorities to certify, ordain, and license our ministers and teachers.  Our ministers (Priests and Priestesses) will be fully licensed to perform marriages, baptisms, dedications, funerals, et al - enjoying the rights and priveleges that clergy are legally and lawfully permitted to do.  The governance of the Church will be left in the hands of duly elected representatives to include a High Priest and Priestess and a Board of Directors.  This is the beginning of what could ultimately be a very strong and prosperous Pagan community.  Everything hinges on participation.