>
>It is indeed a paradox, Bertina, but nevertheless true, that tolerant
>people cannot tolerate intolerance. Joe
I don't think this is true. Especially not ture if the intolerance you
aren't tolerating is simply words and ideas. Intolerance can't tolerate
tolerance but tolerance is tolerance and that means putting up with
differing views.
As to the particulars of this situation, i personally like angela and think
most of her ranting is funny, although i've got to confess i don't read
that much of it. Why should it bother me if angela is a card carrying
catholik or not. Angela seems to me to be very unconfortable with her
intolerance of paganism, and trying to get rid of it by rubbing it up
against intolerance for christianity.
A lot of christians have fears from childhood programming that are
triggered by anything that might be "of the devil". Angela sure as heck
isn't the only person like this, and i think that she is perhaps providing
us with some information about how a large segment of the population will
respond to some of the cultural changes that are happening. We don't need
to invite resistance. We need to change ourcellves and our society so that
we are more in harmony with the rest of the world.
For my part, i'm a born again pagan. I had a rather extreme
allergic reaction to christianity in my childhood. I was forced into
bondage as an unwilling accolyte in a big eposcipal church and the
experience really terrorized me. I actually projectile vomited into a
bishop's face then poured wine (symbolic blood) on his hands instead of the
water i was supposed to. Years later i realized that this was karma with a
capital K. This was about when i read starhawk's "dreaming the dark"
which i read maybe 15 years ago and felt like coming home.
I held a huge grudge against christianity, islam and judaism for a
while, but i'm easy about it now. We're all just humans struggling with the
material and we ought to cut each other a huge amount of slack. Kindness
matters a lot more than anything else.
We need to work with what we have in common and we have a lot in common.
