Mar 4, 2017
When various groups are confronted by hate and ignorance, one of
the first things people call for is unity. Unfortunately, the
concept of unity carries with it connotations of uniformity,
conformity, organization and structure. And, in the same
manner that we won't see every African-American marching in step
with Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, you won't see groups of Pagans,
Wiccan, or other minorities merging together, because they do not
want to lose the individuality which they cherish.
There was a time when traditional unity was deemed necessary.
An example was the early Christian church even during
persecution. Church leaders such as Iranaeus of Lyon enforced
doctrine, dogma and hierarchy to insure uniformity. When
other group spit away, they did likewise, with the added occasional
use of armies to add to the persuasion.
Let us not forget that in those days, since ancient times and until
less than 200 years ago, people and messages could not travel
faster than the fastest horse available. Things changed in
the 20th century, to the point that a meat boycott came to be
because of angry retail customers who had no organization, and a
comedian's monologue sparked a nationwide toilet paper shortage!
In the early 1990's, someone wrote that while it was once said that
freedom of the press once belonged to those who owned a press, "If
you own a computer, welcome to the fourth estate". And we are
only beginning to experience what can be, and no politician or
anyone else will be able to force that genie back into the
bottle!
Blessed Be!