The Theological and Social Implications of Hierarchical Discipline and Penance. Copyright (c) 1992 by Lisa Sergienko Reprinted from Moonrise, Fall 1992 The idea of a religious system disciplining and controlling its members has implications that I don't believe have been looked at seriously in the Pagan Community. What does it say about our relationships to the Gods and the cosmos when we accept such precepts as coven "discipline" of members or even the idea of the scourge. I would contend that the religious systems that have formal punishments or penances written into their theologies view human beings as inherently weak and corrupt, in need of a parental restraining hand or spanking. The idea is that humans are born and remain children in the eyes of the God(s). Thus, it is necessary to curb their willfulness. In this theological outlook humans are not seen as possessing inherent reasoning capabilities. Perhaps these ideas of control are in certain Pagan theologies because the systems are of European origin. An regardless of whatever claims they make to being Pre-Christian, there are bound to be Christian ecclesiastical overlays. These older ways did not survive in a vacuum but came to us filtered through a somewhat dirtied lens. Christianity and Islam are the only two major religions that have the belief that atonement is gained through pain and in whose theologies ecclesiastical discipline is important. In Hinduism there is also an ascetic strain, but it is divorced from the idea of punishment for inherent sinfulness. A system of belief that holds in its tenets a model of ecclesiastical discipline is a system that is based on the premise that humans are not born with innate rationality. This is a stream that runs through the more orthodox of the Christian faiths where the hair-shirt and the confessional serve to remind the adherents of their churches belief in the weakness of humanity. Public confession and punishment meted out by the church authorities send the message to the penitent that he is under the rule of the church because without it he is damned. There is no provision made that the penitent may actually know what is best for himself. In an earlier article I looked at the founding ideals of this nation as perhaps a guidepost to a functional Paganism. I would now like to move from the 18th century into the 19th and see how the ethos of that period can serve to awaken us to ourselves as rational free individuals. We can begin with the 18th century ideals of the noble savage and the worth of the craftsman and the farmer. What happened to drive these people from the eastern seaboard towards the west? Why couldn't the village smithy remain in the village? Well, the iron works built a big foundary a few miles away and began casting in mass quantity those things our smithy had so lovingly crafted for so many years. So our smith is driven out of business and goes to the foundry to look for work. There he is told he can have a job if he agrees to submit to company discipline. He can't have beer with his lunch. He must report to work at a certain hour regardless of the weather. His pay will be docked not for poor craftsmanship since craftsmanship is now dead, but for infractions of the "rules." Our smith cannot believe that for all the years he has worked as a free and independent man he is now going to be disciplined like a school child. So our smith leaves on the next wagon train west. Western expansion was probably due in some part to the movement of free and rational adults who could not stomach the rise of the factory system in the industrial revolution. These craftsmen and women had come to view themselves and their products with pride and it was probably difficult for them to have the product now bear the factory owners name instead of their own. With the rise of the industrial revolution there was a breakdown of the more organic means of social control. Our smithy relied on community good will for his continued prosperity and probably worked harder at being a contributing member of society. Under the factory system, this concept of self-governance (the reason that many immigrated to the States) was replaced by more inorganic means of control. One no longer strove to maintain community goodwill through responsible citizenship, but instead toadied to the bosses who were now arbiters of ones financial status. How does this then relate to the problems of contemporary Pagan theology and sociology and the continentalism that so many systems seem to evidence. What does the 19th century have to do with us? People need to feel empowered, that they are in control of their own lives. The craftsman and the small farmer had this. The factory worker did not. I contend that discipline oriented theologies do not empower any but a select clerical hierarchy. I have never heard of anyone being "disciplined" in the community for doing magick wrong. Product is not the issue as it was for the smithy, but instead it is attitude as it was in the factory system. Some would argue that it is necessary to enforce a religious discipline during a persons religious training. I dispute this based on my earlier proposition that humans are inherently rational beings with a knowledge of what is right. I realized this when I got to the point that I could not accept the idea that someone could tell me what to do when it came to my religiousity. This furthers my proposition from an earlier article when I stated that the Priesthood belongs to all. This makes us all peers as we stand before the Gods. A theology of discipline divorces us from a personal relationship with the Gods. It becomes a secondary relationship where our primary relationship is with the mediator/trix -- often the High Priestess. Why? Because it is not the Gods telling us in a one on one encounter what we did wrong and how we can make amends. It is instead a mortal being "interpreting" divine will and judgment. And as mortal the interpretation can be flawed or even perverted for personal ends. What sort of abuses pass for coven discipline? I doubt I'll ever know since so much is kept secret out of fear and shame. There are Pagans I have encountered for whom relationship with the Gods is subsumed and given a lower importance than the relationship with the High priest and Priestess who become as God and Goddess. As a solo devotee of Graeco-Pagan persuasion it is Hermes who mediates and guides. I had a very strange encounter with a fellow Pagan when telling him about this. he asked me in a rather sarcastic tone if I really felt that the Gods cared about what I was doing. I finally got him to understand when I likened my relationship to the Gods with his relationship to his High Priest and High Priestess. His was a theology of discipline and in my observation, fear. We have lived too long only in moonlight and shadow. Talk to the Gods and see what they say. Try to get to know the Solar Gods too. Go West Young Pagan. -!- Tabby 3.0 ! Origin: Moonrise -=- Paganism Online! -=- (413) 665-1158 (1:321/117)