The Pagan Heart
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June-July 2005 Issue
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Oppression - what struggles to hold us down
By Axiom
This has been an interesting couple of months. I am seeing more and articles about religious opression - the fundies calling out about how their rights are being ignored and their faith insulted; non-Christians screaming about discrimination by the fundies on every matter from here to the sun; and non-fundie Christians coming out to protest the lumping of themselves in with the fundies. Everyone has a bone to pick. Everyone is suffering. Now I'm not claiming there isn't oppression occuring - of any of the groups, or any others for that matter. There is. Part of the problem is that internal oppression is often a subjective matter, as perceived by the oppressed. It's very clear if you oppress me through physical means - you reduce my access to education, free speech, etc, and anyone can see I am being oppressed. But make it a matter of psychological oppression and it becomes a different matter. Then other factors come to play. To a fundie Christian faith is a matter of black and white. Their religious belief holds that they are right and anything not in agreement with their faith is wrong. Wrong to the "burn in the fiery pits of hell" wrong. They believe completely and utterly that their God should be acknowledged in all matters, and the world should function under fundie attitudes, rules, and understandings. Anyone how protests and insists upon respect for different opinions is demanding something a fundie may not be able to do - respect what s/he sees as inspired by the devil. Surely this is Satan trying to worm his way into their faith? This seemingly harmless insistence upon equality is in reality oppression - in the fundie's eyes - designed to destroy his/her salvation and turn the world away from God. Of course, to the person protesting the fundie's efforts to turn our world into a fundie heaven, it's no such thing. Indeed, s/he may even believe the fundie is the one removing the world further from God's love. From the perspective of many Pagans, the fundies are responsible for most of the religious oppresion we face. That oppression bleeds into every facet of our lives, affecting the education of our children, the movies we see, the legal and political environment we live in, and so many other things. Our oppression is a real one, but often it is very hard to isolate to others. A phrase, a look, the cold shoulder - traditional methods of showing and reinforcing the "outcaste" nature - and more obvious methods. The growing drive to bring Intelligent Design into schools as a valid scientific theory along with the attempts to discredit Evolution is a more overt form of oppression. The comments by people in power insulting the patriotism, ethics, or intelligence of non-Christians shows the degree of safety and superiority these oppressors feel - they are striding out into the international public forum. Yes, we face oppression. But what about our own self-oppression? How many of us strengthen the case against us through our own actions? Not that I am blaming - it is hard to continually resist the obvious confidence and belief, especially for those who walk alone or in small numbers. Easy indeed to react and "prove" the case, or become flamboyantly different. How many of us, beaten down, take on a "victim mentality" and supress our instincts? Unable to resist or fight, we almost believe what they say about us. Some even give up their path and follow those who refused to accept them as individuals. Drawn into the flock, they often become the more virilent and anti-Pagan for their self-doubt and loss. And how many of us become trapped in a world of bitter anger at the oppression we face? Unable or willing to release the anger at the injustice we can see that they cannot, we brood and stew. We engage in discrimination - even if it's only verbal, and become prejudiced. We become that which we most fear. And what does this do to us? To take on the worst of our oppressors and make it so much a part of ourselves so that even if they grow and learn to see past their prejudice we never do is horrifying. This, to me, is the worst oppression. This is where the battle against oppression begins - within ourselves. Only when we can defeat our own oppressive tendencies - towards self and other - can we begin to combat that of those who hate or fear or misunderstand us. |
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