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| Week #14 - the letter "G" again |
There have been instances within the Pagan community where we landed in unfamiliar territory as to how to deal with a certain situation. The need to create safe communities is essential and, with the recent arrest of Kenny Klein, having a code of conduct for reporting issues and establishing just what is and is not acceptable is something to address. I fully believe that each Pagan community/coven/group needs to be proactive and establish some sort of agreement stating the rules and guidelines, including repercussions, for their group.
I was drawn to Paganism partially for the lack of hard and fast rules. Personally, I am guided by my own morals and ethics. While they might not mesh with other people, they do work for me. So why do I think we need a code of conduct? Because bad shit happens.
Not everyone is a moral and ethical person. And not everyone who thinks they are moral and ethical have morals and ethics that are consistent with the general population. We don't need a Pagan 10 Commandments, but we do need guidelines.
Setting guidelines and then sharing them with your community gets everyone on the same page. Being on the same page allows community members to see potential situations in terms of what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. It makes people accountable to themselves but also gives the community a certain sense of power and obligation to "report" that which goes against the guidelines.
One of the best things about having guidelines/rules/a code of conduct is that you have the ability to have consequences for those who choose to not abide by the rules. No one has to make a judgement call when Sally says Susie broke the rules because the rules are clearly defined. It is no longer one person deciding something someone did was wrong because it is the community that has defined those wrongs.
I do see how having a written and agreed upon code of conduct can be a turnoff for some people. And I also know that there may be people who choose to leave the community because of the rules and restrictions. But, in the long run, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives.
The groups I currently am involved with, and my Pagan community as a whole, currently does not have a code of conduct in place. We are starting to talk about it and discussing if there is a need for one. I would guess that by the end of the year, if not sooner, we will begin the process of putting one into place.
Like everything, having conversations about what is good and what is not and how you define those both individually and as a group is really really important. It's always eye-opening for people at my presentations to find out that their idea of what a healthy relationship is can be completely and utterly different from another person's interpretation of it. Having set guidelines that everyone has a chance to talk about and provide their input would be a good thing and empowering. It would also be good to have guidelines that are revisited often and changed when necessary. Love the idea of talking about this and having a discussion about it. Good thoughts!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely would be revisited and revised as needed. I do feel it is something we need to address and sooner rather than later. There have been a few instances that relied on the judgement calls of a select group of people and even that required a great deal of discussion because we all had different views of the situations and how they should be handled. Having something to refer to would have made that much easier.
DeleteI'd rather talk about it in person because it's not just about him sexually violating those under his religious leadership...which is bad..but Catholic Priests and all manner of cult leaders have done the same sadly to women and children..but also ethics around spiritual beliefs and accountability and harm done to others on an emotionsl, magical and spiritual level as well....
ReplyDeletePeople in power positions who abuse their authority are some of the people I most despise.
DeleteI am a bit behind in my reading. But everything in life has accountability. And if you are creating a spiritual safe place I would thing guidelines would be a good thing. Especially if they are allowed to evolve and grow with the group. As always you make me thing :)
ReplyDeletexoxo
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