clothing

on the net there has been natterings about pagans and clothing. Witchyness is becoming popular to pop-culture... It started with pagans saying we must shape up or ship out clothing way...I am not talking about the wonderful woman elder who said we pagans need to get off our butts and take a walk each day.. Being overweight and ill I know she is very right in this matter...But that pagans need to grow up and dress like the church lady or in armani suits like tele-evangelists to be taken seriously but I do not blame these people the first time I heard this mantra was from a buddhist lay-person at the parliament of churches...I thought it was strange since my fathers family were tibetan buddhist and amongst them there several monks in the family. Their monks do not dress mainstream american culture.....What this statement is really saying literally to the pagan practitioner is that The reason you are being discriminated, you are losing your job, you children are harassed at school or being taken away by vindictive ex's is because of the clothes you wear to circle and festival. The vestments and robes your priestess and priest wear when representing you and your faith are hindering mainstream society from taking you seriously thus making it all right to discriminate against you because you are childish...It is a blame the victim shell game...Kind of like telling a rape victim she deserved it because she wore a mini-skirt and is thus a whore worthy attack..... Mainstream christians are not ever going to like pagans and they will desperately want to always marginalize us...I thought about this alot because I was Buddhist for a while and when I do not trust the person asking the I will cop to buddhism...Pagans are treated like atheists we are demonized and if you do not believe atheists and agnostics are demonized, read Twelve Step- recovery literature..WE are people who have repudiated monotheism and monotheists do not like it because they take God seriously, but not serious enough say to follow his rules like the Golden Rule. Pagans have concrete reasons and except for very enlightened elders and teachers, people that love to poke hole in monotheists overeaching dignity and dogma. Dogma that montheists take every seriously except when they need to downplay it to get money or new adherents. So we Can have our preistess wear Versace they will be called whores, but will be very slim.. or they can wear ren faire costume and a nice cloak and be bosomy and plumb, better when I think about my appearance I hope I look joyful and happy...and not cranky and sour like dana carvey's the church lady

or we can all just go skyclad, unfortuantely for me not in this lifetime with my body.