Anti-Fluffybunny-ism (hell, pagans, worship, Wicca, paganism)

[MaddLlama]

Now, I know we dont have a huge amount of Pagans here to actually discuss this, but I wanted to put it out there in a place where I know its not going to develop into an all-out flame war (like it would on certain Pagan forums which will remain nameless).

In the month that I was gone, mostly as a result of the blog post on The Pagan Sojourn that I was inspiration for, I decided to take Paganism into consideration again. The more I read, I noticed that there is a really terrible trend in the Pagan community. It seems as if the "fluffy-bunny" problem in Wicca is seen as so pervasive that non-Wiccan Pagans actually tout themselves as somehow better than Wiccans, and I get the distinct impression that some of them think that Wicca is an anti-intellectual path.
Frankly I find this "I'm smarter than you because I'm Kemetic/Hellenistic/CR" or whatever obnoxious, and annoying. Sure, people who are reconstructionalists have probably read more on a particular subject than your garden variety Wiccan, but it doesn't therefore logically follow that no Wiccan knows what they're talking about.

Yeah, there may be a large number of fluffy bunnies, but I think that the "scratchy badgers" on the other side are just as obnoxious.

Anyway, that's my rant. Poke me with sticks.

[Gentoo]

A friend of mine is hanging out with a new group of people at school, and she has told me some of the things they say. Apparently, according to them ALL Wiccans are Fluffies and they should kill all Wiccans. Funny thing is, they know next to nothing about Wicca or paganism as it seems.

I am begging and pleading with my friend to let loose on them, but unfortunately it's been hard to coordinate the times.

But yes, it is a pretty big problem, the only thing I can do is live my life as well as I can, answer questions to the bes of my ability and of course, bring out the clue-by-four when necessary.

[Guitar's Cry]

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

Now, I know we dont have a huge amount of Pagans here to actually discuss this, but I wanted to put it out there in a place where I know its not going to develop into an all-out flame war (like it would on certain Pagan forums which will remain nameless).

In the month that I was gone, mostly as a result of the blog post on The Pagan Sojourn that I was inspiration for, I decided to take Paganism into consideration again. The more I read, I noticed that there is a really terrible trend in the Pagan community. It seems as if the "fluffy-bunny" problem in Wicca is seen as so pervasive that non-Wiccan Pagans actually tout themselves as somehow better than Wiccans, and I get the distinct impression that some of them think that Wicca is an anti-intellectual path.
Frankly I find this "I'm smarter than you because I'm Kemetic/Hellenistic/CR" or whatever obnoxious, and annoying. Sure, people who are reconstructionalists have probably read more on a particular subject than your garden variety Wiccan, but it doesn't therefore logically follow that no Wiccan knows what they're talking about.

Yeah, there may be a large number of fluffy bunnies, but I think that the "scratchy badgers" on the other side are just as obnoxious.

Anyway, that's my rant. Poke me with sticks.

I agree with you. My problem has been trying to figure out what the term "fluffy bunny" means. I first thought it referred to those pagans who focused on positive energies only, but that didn't make much sense. My current belief is that the term is directed towards those who claim to be Wiccan/Pagan, yet are doing so only to fit into a certain group despite having no knowledge of it.

Either way, I don't see the label as all that productive. It is adding an element of exclusivity to a fairly inclusive group.

[Mike182]

i know highly educated Pagans who are not obnoxious, and i know fluffys who are just clueless, cute, but certainly not annoying. i don't tend to view each of the two in any particular light, i tend to just look at the Pagan i am talking to

[MaddLlama]

Originally Posted by Mike182

i know highly educated Pagans who are not obnoxious, and i know fluffys who are just clueless, cute, but certainly not annoying. i don't tend to view each of the two in any particular light, i tend to just look at the Pagan i am talking to

And I think that is a much healthier attitude than the whole "anti-fluffy" thing.

[Luke Wolf]

It seems as if the "fluffy-bunny" problem in Wicca is seen as so pervasive that non-Wiccan Pagans actually tout themselves as somehow better than Wiccans, and I get the distinct impression that some of them think that Wicca is an anti-intellectual path.

I will admit, I find myself guilty of this from time-to-time.
It's one of those things I have to constantly remind myself, it's not the path, but the people who follow, or claim to, follow it.
I strongly believe it's due to Wicca being more in the public eye, and having countless books that are easily accessed that caused a large amount of fluffybunnies.

[MaddLlama]

Originally Posted by Luke Wolf

I will admit, I find myself guilty of this from time-to-time.
It's one of those things I have to constantly remind myself, it's not the path, but the people who follow, or claim to, follow it.
I strongly believe it's due to Wicca being more in the public eye, and having countless books that are easily accessed that caused a large amount of fluffybunnies.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I think the culprit is because people see Wicca on a superficial level, and don't move out of that thinking. And, its not very hard to do, since most of the things people are bombarded with about Wicca are very superficial. But I don't think its fair to make the assumption that there simply isn't any substance underneath it. People only see the eclectic "wicca is whatever I want it to be" types, and not the intelligent, and BTW types.
However, I do have one issue with Wicca, and that is that by its very nature, if you decide to take a Patron or two, it takes those Gods out of context and transplants them into a Wiccan one. To me, this seems like unauthentic worship.

[Mike182]

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

However, I do have one issue with Wicca, and that is that by its very nature, if you decide to take a Patron or two, it takes those Gods out of context and transplants them into a Wiccan one. To me, this seems like unauthentic worship.

how do you mean by unauthentic worship?