No more bunny hunting


The consequences to the hunters are far worse than to the prey

I've held my tongue (mostly) on the subject. I have tiptoed around the subject. I've only approached it indirectly online. Last week I ran into an especially pernicious example offline. Enough is enough.

I am talking about the bunnyhunters.

Yes, I sort of defined the subject here.

Yes I have had my own issues with bunnies. I sympathize with the feeling against the bunnies, on everything from the bad logic to the copyright violations. I get supremely annoyed when someone asks for my help or advice only to ignore in favor of a bunny because what I said was too hard or too inconvenient.

But I keep remembering my own "breakthrough." I wasn't ready, I didn't know what the heck I was doing, I was able to do all sorts of things I should not have been able to do. I attracted all sorts of attention from those who could have helped me, but I wasn't ready to listen to them. Although I didn't think so at the time, I've no doubt now that they could have stopped me cold.

And you know what? The world kept turning. The sun still rose. The sky was still blue. And on a cold winter's night, hot chocolate in front of the fireplace with a willing lady was still a great way to start a delightful experience.

The question is should they have stopped me then?

What would the cost have been to me? Could it have changed the person I am today? Would I have benefitted from what probably would have been a long and messy struggle?

Yes, I had to unlearn most of what I thought I knew. Yes, I had to change myself on some pretty fundamental levels, and yes it took lots of time.

That was necessary for me existing here and now.

Pagans do not need a Moses the Lawgiver to set things straight. The only captivity Western Neopagans face is what we made ourselves.

And we certainly don't need a Paul to twist Neopaganism to his own agenda.

Just who would you trust in those roles?

Those are REAL possibilities right now. All you have to do is look at the surviving history of the early Christians to realize that.

We're not killing each other yet.

Yet.

Not even over an iota.

But there are some serious consequences. Bunnyhunting warps you. And as I watch these messes unfold, I thank the gods that the Blessed who tried to help me had the wisdom to step back and let me burn myself.

Power with versus power over. They trusted that I would grow up.

Or burn myself out and go elsewhere.

A drastic choice, but not the most desperate that my gods have asked me to make. I could not have made the others if I had not made that one.

The problem with the bunnies is that there is a new batch every couple of years. Nor do they just annoy Pagans. Christians have their own variety. Some of the Muslim versions are heavily armed. I suspect that if you nosed around Buddhism you'd probably find them there as well. Bunnies multiply, they scatter when threatened, they hide in the bushes.

And the world still goes on.

There is no need to hunt them. Bunnies have short attention spans and back away from spiritual growth. Slap them down maybe if they get too annoying when you meet them. But to go out on seek and destroy missions to protect the "purity" of the faith?

I had my share of Pagan crusaders. We need that sort even less than we need the bunnies.

Posted: Tue - January 2, 2007 at 05:16 PM
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