During Christmas last year, I attended a Carol Service at the beautiful Bath abbey. It's a gorgeous Church, the stain glass windows are beautiful and it's a wonderful building with so much history. The first official King of England was crowned there.
With the lovely Christmas lights and atmosphere, it was a wonderful evening. The choir was made up of Bath Spa University music students, who sung absolutely beautifully and as soon as I got home, on my laptop, I praised their efforts and the incredibly welcoming atmosphere on Facebook. I received several comments from friends who hadn't been able to go or had been part of it. But one that really stood out was a Pagan friend, who left just one word:
Traitor.
Cue my horror and my Christian's friends anger. I never felt I was betraying any part of my religion or deceiving my Christian friends around me. I used to love singing as part of my Christian choir in primary school. I love Churches for their architecture, their design and beauty. The solemnity and peace that can be found in Churches, is the same when I decorate my alter for Pagan festivals. I did not say the Lord's prayer, because I'm not a Christian, so I wouldn't pray to a God I no longer put my faith in. But I didn't go to the Abbey because I was a Christian or wanted to be one again. I had a lovely time with my friends and appreciated the readings, the music and the singing. There is a sense of togetherness in Churches, that can be sometimes hard to find or replicate in Paganism, because the Pagan friends you make in your own country are few and far between. The ones you meet online, living in different countries, provide support and knowledge. But I know it is not quite the same thing as a Christian Church.
Sometimes, I don't always feel welcome in a Church or as though I really belong there. When I visit my Polish cousins, and go to their Catholic Orthodox Church; I am left feeling nervous and uncomfortable, while I watch an old lady smooch up with Jesus (it's an Easter thing*). But I think that is more down to me and not so much because anyone there would treat me badly. There are Christians who have offended me, but more often it is out of ignorance or pride, rather than any real bad intent.
I feel appreciating other people's religions and cultures does not make me, or anyone else a traitor to their own faith or culture. In the same way, I listened to two young women having a conversation. One of the women was clearly a Christian (C) and the other was of Asian (A) decent. And it saddened me, more than I can say, to hear the Christian girl being so dismissive of other people's cultures and religions (even when she had not met this hypothetical person).
C: I could never marry someone of a different religion. I have to get married in a Church.
A: Not even if you really loved them?
C:...Well, their religion would have to be similar to mine or they would have to convert.
A: You could get married in a Church and then in whatever religious building they wanted to get married in.
C:...Yes...But what about our kids? Christmas would be really awkward if he didn't celebrate Christmas.
A: But pretty much everyone celebrates Christmas. Even I celebrate Christmas.
C: Yeah, but you don't celebrate it for the religion.
A: Not many people do. I like Christmas because of the family time, the decorations, the lights, etc. It's a wonderful time.
So this hypothetical person may not exist, but I can't help thinking how religion creates a terrible divide like this. For many people it doesn't, and for everyone it shouldn't. Even if there is a paradise beyond our earthly lives now, that shouldn't mean we are divided from people we could consider our friends, our neighbours and our loved ones. To cut yourself off from other people and other cultures, isn't a sign of strength, it's a sign of fear and weakness. By walking into a Church or any other religious building, we are proving that we wish to understand those around us and learn to appreciate a different culture that may be vastly different from our own. Pagans, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus by doing this we are proving to ourselves and others there is nothing to fear from one another, and that the monsters are more often of our own making.
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