Given all the threats that Christian nationalism — and similar movements of other religions in other countries — pose to life and liberty, it’s easy to forget that we live in an era of religious decline. Church membership and attendance have been falling for 60 years, but that decline has accelerated over the past 15 years, especially after the pandemic.
Religious identity is also declining. People used to say, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t go to church.” Now they say, “I’m spiritual, but not religious,” or “I’m none of those things.” The United States is finally following the trend that began in Europe a long time ago – it is now socially acceptable not to be religious.
(In the United States, atheism is still viewed by many with hostility and suspicion. That is a problem, but not the problem I want to address here and now.)
Not many of the former Christians become pagans. But some do – paganism is still a growing religion. But we face a unique challenge. We are small, we are diverse, and we are new. We are in the speciation phase – developing many different varieties and variations of paganism. Over time, evolution will do its work. The best adapted versions will grow and thrive, while those not well adapted to our present needs will disappear.
But whereas we used to be influenced by the “church model” – congregations with their own buildings, professional clergy, and regular programs – in ways that often didn’t serve us well, today we are influenced by the “neither” model – vague spirituality and everyone doing what they think is their own thing, which is really just what the entertainment and marketing industries tell them they should want.
Religion used to be something you were born into and could never leave. Some left it – I am one of them – but most could not even think about it. Today, religion is something you choose. Our challenge as Pagans is to consciously and actively choose what works for us, and not mindlessly follow the trend of the moment.
Religion is one of those things that is hard to define, but we know it when we see it. Our Protestant-influenced culture usually thinks of religion as something you believe in – what supernatural statements you affirm and what you reject. But belief is only one part of religion, and not the most important part. Rather, religion is about who you are, what you do, and who you belong to.
What does this mean in a modern pagan context?
What follows is not The Answers. But they are My Answers, and I think they are reasonable answers. If you agree, great. If not, lay out your alternatives. I have no desire to convert you to my way of thinking. I am desperate to persuade you to rethink your beliefs and practices, to keep those you think are likely and helpful, and to reject those you think are unlikely and unhelpful.
Paganism as what you are – a part of nature
Religion exists – among other things – to help answer life’s big questions: who are you, where did you come from, where are you going, and, most importantly, how should you live while you’re here?
The universe began with the Big Bang. We don’t know how or why, and I don’t know if we ever will – not with any certainty, anyway. Life began on Earth, and every living thing on this planet is a descendant of that first simple organism. Including us.
Who are we? What are we? We are part of nature. Whatever gives us life also gives life to cats and dogs, birds and fish, lakes and rivers, trees and mountains. Our opposable thumbs, our big brains and our ability to speak enable us to do amazing things, but we are not the head of nature, nor its center. We are one part among many. And we are connected to all the other parts.
Because we are part of nature, we also have an obligation to the rest of nature. The details of that obligation are open to debate. Every species alters its environment to some extent… and we have to eat other living things or we die. But at least we have an obligation to leave the world in a better condition than we found it for those who come after us, not to exterminate other species, and to minimize suffering where and how we can.
At a time when people don’t know who they are or where they come from, I am sure of one thing: we are part of nature.
Paganism as what you do – spiritual practice
Religion is not just about the big questions of life. Religion is also what you do every day. I find it helpful to break this down into two categories. The first is the things we do to establish and maintain our connection to our gods, ancestors, allied spirits, and each other—the things we do to build our spiritual identity.
For me, it starts with prayer. I begin each morning with “Peace be with you” and the Druid prayer. At noon, I pray for my family, my health, and my sacred calling in this life. In the evening, I pray to nature and the spirits of nature. And at night, I pray to my gods to thank them for their continued presence in my life and to ask for blessings and guidance.
If prayer is talking to the gods, then meditation is listening, thinking about them and their virtues, and considering ways to make their values a part of one’s life. Ecstatic experiences of divine persons are a wonderful thing, but most of their communications are much more subtle. If we don’t quiet our minds, we’ll never hear them.
Offerings are tangible reminders that hospitality and reciprocity are the greatest virtues. The gods give to us, and so we give to them so that they will give to us.
Different Pagan traditions have different liturgical calendars, but much of the modern Pagan world follows the Ordinary Time. This is a good thing. These eight seasonal celebrations keep us connected to the rhythms and cycles of nature – which is important because we are a part of nature.
There are many different spiritual practices. These are mine. Do what feels right to you, but do something daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonally.
Paganism as what you do – build a better world here and now
Our task is not to worship what our ancestors left us. Rather, our task is to build on their foundations and make the world a better place for ourselves and our descendants, and for all who share the earth with us.
Sometimes we do this together. Politics can be frustrating, but politics is how we get things done on a large collective basis. Some people share our goals but disagree on how best to achieve them – we can work with them. Other people have radically different values and seek to control and harm others – we must defeat them.
Maybe you can run for public office. Maybe you can support the campaigns of candidates who support your values (more or less—no candidate is perfect). At the very least, you can vote: in every race, in every election.
Sometimes we make the world a better place alone or in small groups. Check in on your neighbors, give a friend a ride, pick up trash on the side of the road. Beware of seeking ultimate meaning in a paid job, but doing an ordinary job honestly and conscientiously helps keep the world moving.
And sometimes we make the world a better place just by being who we are. We can model the values and behaviors we want to see. We may not be able to change the hearts and minds of those who have unhelpful values and regressive policies, but we can show those who are undecided that “no, not everyone thinks that way.” We can show those who think they have the “one true religion” that there are many different paths, and that almost any of them can be meaningful and helpful.
Don’t tell me what religion you are – show me. Find out what you can do to make the world a better place.
Paganism as who you are – building relationships and community
A good religion answers the question, “Where do I belong?” Traditional ties to gods, ancestors, and places have broken down in the modern world. Christianity’s denominational structure helped for a while, but it could not stop the decline caused by telling people to believe things they couldn’t honestly believe and by trying to pass off archaic moral codes as divine commands.
The greatest growth in Paganism in the last 50 years has been due to loners. In theory, we are well prepared for this age of do-it-yourself religion. But people are not loners, and religion is something best done together.
We don’t need to and shouldn’t try to force Paganism into the Christian church model. But there are other models. Over the years, Denton CUUPS membership has fluctuated from a few tens to over 50, but for 24 years we have been a place to come together, celebrate the seasons, and celebrate Paganism in a place that isn’t always welcoming. The traditional coven of 13 (give or take) members allows practitioners to work together, support each other, and build deep practices. Even just three or four people getting together regularly to do Pagan things can build something meaningful and helpful.
But a community doesn’t just include people who share our beliefs and customs. It also includes people who share our values.
The Christian nationalists will lose in the end – they are a small minority, fighting against the natural human desire for love, pleasure and self-determination. The fact that they have made it this far shows the power of working diligently together over many election cycles.
It also shows that we must work together to defeat them sooner rather than later.
We can build working relationships based on shared values, political views and community interests.
Make decisions consciously
If you’re over 30, the religious environment you grew up in is in decline. If you’re under 30, what most of you have been told about how religion works is fading fast.
What will take its place? I don’t know, and I don’t have enough years left to see it develop. Religion changes slowly.
What I do know is that paganism makes sense and is helpful to me and many other people. Trying to copy Christian models hasn’t worked, and trying to copy “none of the above” models won’t work either.
We must be pagans and do pagan things in pagan ways, regardless of what the majority of the population understands by religion.
