Protecting your Rights in an Age of Intolerance

For many of us in the Pagan community, this last political season brought many concerns about our own safety and security. Between the sudden uptick in hate crimes and political leadership changes, it can be a frightening time for people in the minority – including our own religious minority.

Here are some things you can do to protect yourself during this time.

Defend Yourself

Witchcraft has long been persecuted and a good witch should always be prepared to protect themselves; physically, emotionally and spiritually. At the Woolston-Steen Theological Seminary, you can learn some of the traditional energy work to protect yourselves, but it can also be as simple as blessing and protecting your home with runes, planting bushes for privacy and not starting fights with that one toxic coworker (yes, that means you, Steve!). The important thing is, you can’t protect your fellow pagans if you don’t take care of yourself.

Mind the Paperwork

Religious discrimination, like most forms of discrimination, often takes place over technicalities that would otherwise get waived. For example, you come back to your parked car and the cop is giving you a ticket – normally they would waive it if you are about to hop in and drive off but they saw your pentacle bumper sticker and are making a point.

As we enter this age of aggressive discrimination, it is essential that everyone minds the letter of the law. There could be knock-down, drag-out fights over free expression rights, and you don’t want to make yourself vulnerable over some minor infraction; so read the instructions, fill out the proper form and pay that parking ticket.

Find and Support Allies

Now is the time to connect with allies, and when it comes to religious discrimination, we want to make sure that we are strengthening those interfaith connections with Jewish, Muslim, Mormon, Agnostic and Atheist communities. They will be facing some of the same struggles in the coming years and could be your staunchest supporters. While we may not have the same spiritual beliefs, we all can share in the beliefs of equal treatment under the law and freedom from persecution. Stand up against all forms of discrimination, whether they are directed at you or not and work to find common ground.

Finally, come from a place of love. At the end of the day, we are all just people sharing the same world, breathing the same air and trying to figure out how to coexist together. While there are some scary ideas being discussed, if we look after each other and defend the most vulnerable, everyone will survive this chaotic time. Even Steve.