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What is your opinion on labels?

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    #16
    Re: What is your opinion on labels?

    I think a lot of the confusion arises from how seriously people take their labels. When some people say they're a "Druid" or a "Wiccan", they may just be simplifying for the benefit of others by citing the label they feel closest too. Others may literally see themselves as a modern revival of the Druids, or a practitioner of a very specific and traditional definition of what "Wicca" is.

    I run into the same trouble. Am I a "Rodnover"- an adherent of the native faith- or, since I'm actually in the United States, shouldn't I simply call myself a Slavic pagan instead?
    If you want to be thought intelligent, just agree with everyone.

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      #17
      Re: What is your opinion on labels?

      People typically use labels in three ways: As a way of describing who they are, as a way of describing what they believe, and as a way of declaring membership of a group.

      The first way is as a name, and names have power. It provides a handhold, a connection to what it is naming. This connection is only strong, and useful, when the name and the named are in harmony.

      Our names are defined by us as much as we are defined by them. If a group of people share a name, then any one person has very little say over how the name is collectively perceived. They define their name in their own special way, and so does everyone else in that collective. Collectives care little for black or white, only grey matters. Small differences are glazed over, at least until they pile up enough to separate an individual from the herd.

      Describing what you believe is pretty innocuous, as long as you have a decent understanding of terminology and your own beliefs. Even if you don't the biggest problems that'll arise are some simple misunderstandings. Easily fixed.

      The last way is where we start to get into problems. People generally like to be a part of groups, this is a good thing. It kept our ancestors alive, there really is strength in numbers. The problems start when you see being a member of a group as being more important than your own spiritual growth, when you would rather wither than grow apart from them.

      As long as you stay true to yourself, remain honest to yourself as well as to others, and make self reflection a priority... then I can't really see how a label can be a threat to you.

      Above all, remember that a name has only as much power as you give it and that no matter what you will always have as much power over it as it has over you.
      Last edited by Denarius; 12 Dec 2011, 05:01.
      Trust is knowing someone or something well enough to have a good idea of their motivations and character, for good or for ill. People often say trust when they mean faith.

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        #18
        Re: What is your opinion on labels?

        Originally posted by Denarius View Post
        People typically use labels in three ways: As a way of describing who they are, as a way of describing what they believe, and as a way of declaring membership of a group.
        You might want to add "as a way of controling perceptions of others," since labeling those outside the group is a general way of doing this (i.e.: WE are wise and good. THEY are stupid and evil").

        The first way is as a name, and names have power. It provides a handhold, a connection to what it is naming. This connection is only strong, and useful, when the name and the named are in harmony.
        You mean "useful" in the honest sense, where the goal is in understanding things as they really are. When that is the goal, having a label which represents a general "true" idea is definitely useful (as long as one remembers that no label is ever really true, but an attempt to approximate a general truth).. However, there is also a way in which an untrue label is useful - to those who wish to control the way in which others are percieved by 'the group."

        The last way is where we start to get into problems. People generally like to be a part of groups, this is a good thing. It kept our ancestors alive, there really is strength in numbers. The problems start when you see being a member of a group as being more important than your own spiritual growth, when you would rather wither than grow apart from them.
        Definitely! This is where you get into "group think," and exchange chunks of your own mind for chunks of a group mind. For some reason, it looks like the worst features of a group are most often the ones that come out when a group mind begins to develop in a group. Possibly because negative emotions have a stronger, more immediate impact - they tend to carry quicker, while the slow and steady positive emotions get steamrolled under (?).

        As long as you stay true to yourself, remain honest to yourself as well as to others, and make self reflection a priority... then I can't really see how a label can be a threat to you.
        They are, when somebody uses them against you. Which is, I think, why people are bothered by labels.
        Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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          #19
          Re: What is your opinion on labels?

          it is my opinion that labels are fine in a limited context.There are in this world two types(in my opinion) those that MUST have strict rules(black and white people) and those that use rules,but can understand that sometimes rules can be wrong. The absolute rules types would be lost if the rules were not there. I myself prefer flexability when it comes to rules and laws.
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            #20
            Re: What is your opinion on labels?

            Originally posted by Tylluan Penry View Post
            Labels are fine as long as you don't expect them to tell you the whole story....
            I agree with this. I call myself a Druid, but that means a lot of different things to different people. I'm actually a combination of Druid and Celtic Reconstructionist. And I'm a solitary as well. Labels are good for starting conversations, but like you said, they don't tell the whole story of who and what you truly are.

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              #21
              Re: What is your opinion on labels?

              I agree with...pretty much everyone. A label should be used to give you a good starting point; telling you that I'm queer and that I'm an eclectic pagan will give you an idea of what I'm all about, but you won't get the entire story behind the labels unless you talk to me about them.
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