How important is reconstruction?

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[Uday]

How do you view the role of reconstruction in your religion (and I suppose non-Asatru people should feel free to answer too!)? Do you think it's important? What do you do in your own practice as reconstruction?

If your friend Uday is understand "reconstruction", every day is reconstruction.  My religion is "see the world how it is, not how Uday wants it to be", so every day I must change my mind. 

[Hyacinth Belle]

And the fastest way to get jumped on on many lists is to refer to a reconstructionist as a neopagan.

Absent

lol. Well... in my defense, that's not quite what I said. Actually, lately I've been thinking about how there's this tendency, I feel, in Heathenry to distance itself from general Paganism / Neopaganism (wth is the difference anyway?). Was thinking of starting a thread about it... maybe I'll do that.

[Hyacinth Belle]

I still feel though there is this pressure to "choose sides", despite the fact most heathens probably are middle of the road, and this is what I feel is unhealthy.

Ah, true true.

A lot of this thread has me thinking: what can we do about it? I guess just continue to... show up, and "keep calm and carry on."

[NorthernSpirit]

Sure is. The term you are looking for is 'heathen'

Hahahaha - yes, that's just what I was going to say: Really, the word for mainstream heathens should just be 'heathen'. It's the other guys that you would figure should be adding descriptors to the term 'heathen' in order to differentiate themselves from the majority/mainstream.

All that being said, it is unfortunate that the vocal ones insist that they should be the ones to define what heathen means, because other people "just don't get it" and they are "doing it wrong". So we're still in a pickle, I suppose. The only way for other people (outside heathenry or new to heathenry) to really discover moderate, mainstream heathenry is exposure to heathens who fall into that category, and that is more likely to happen through meeting people in person than participating in online discussion (with the possible exception of a few boards, like this one).

I'm not sure if there is anything we can "do about it", as Hyacinth was wondering. I mean, I don't want to be telling people what to believe or how to be heathen -  I don't want to be one of those "you're doing it wrong" types. I suppose by being more active and vocal ourselves, we could counteract stereotypes (I know that's a problem locally for me, most of the 'normal' ones are quiet and don't get out much). As far as the online nastiness so many of us have encountered, the only way to counteract that really is to not allow yourself to be bullied and not tolerate certain behaviours. Maybe we just have to wait patiently for the pendulum to swing back to a point of balance. Or maybe it has to be "pushed". Don't know 

[Juniperberry]

I'm not sure if there is anything we can "do about it", as Hyacinth was wondering. I mean, I don't want to be telling people what to believe or how to be heathen -  I don't want to be one of those "you're doing it wrong" types. I suppose by being more active and vocal ourselves, we could counteract stereotypes (I know that's a problem locally for me, most of the 'normal' ones are quiet and don't get out much). As far as the online nastiness so many of us have encountered, the only way to counteract that really is to not allow yourself to be bullied and not tolerate certain behaviours. Maybe we just have to wait patiently for the pendulum to swing back to a point of balance. Or maybe it has to be "pushed". Don't know 

I think Bob's point was that heathen is heathen and people are people and their really isn't anything to do about it. Honestly, I'm not that concerned by a few jerky heathens or the few wicca-flavored Norse. Regardless, I'm talking and sharing ideas about Odin and worldview ETC whether I agree with that person's side or not. I'm not going to ask which type of heathen they may be and then categorize them and evaluate them that way, I'm just goig to have a conversation -with a heathen- and enjoy the discussion. 

[NorthernSpirit]

I think Bob's point was that heathen is heathen and people are people and their really isn't anything to do about it. Honestly, I'm not that concerned by a few jerky heathens or the few wicca-flavored Norse. Regardless, I'm talking and sharing ideas about Odin and worldview ETC whether I agree with that person's side or not. I'm not going to ask which type of heathen they may be and then categorize them and evaluate them that way, I'm just goig to have a conversation -with a heathen- and enjoy the discussion. 

Perhaps my perception is coloured by the fact that, locally, jerky heathens are an actual problem and it's in large part because of online influence that they act the way they do. It doesn't help that the heathen population here is incredibly small, and so 'problems' seem much bigger here as well. Also, there are some uber-eclectics in the area as well who are causing issues within the local community because of perceived nastiness they have encountered online as well. When it causes problems in my backyard, it concerns me.

Also, I did not mean to imply that I (or anyone else) should go about categorizing heathens and putting them into boxes. Pretty sure I stated quite plainly that I was not interested in telling people how to be heathen, and I don't care what people call themselves or what they do - unless it causes problems for me and mine, in my own backyard, which it has. I'm just as willing to have a conversation with a heathen and enjoying it regardless of what side of the fence they are on. Doesn't mean I'm willing to put up with a person's bad attitude, though, just because I want to be able to discuss worldview, etc with them. That's just my opinion.

[Juniperberry]

Also, I did not mean to imply that I (or anyone else) should go about categorizing heathens and putting them into boxes. Pretty sure I stated quite plainly that I was not interested in telling people how to be heathen, and I don't care what people call themselves or what they do - unless it causes problems for me and mine, in my own backyard, which it has. I'm just as willing to have a conversation with a heathen and enjoying it regardless of what side of the fence they are on. Doesn't mean I'm willing to put up with a person's bad attitude, though, just because I want to be able to discuss worldview, etc with them. That's just my opinion.

Yeah, I don't like bad attitudes, either. Sorry if I was lazy in following the quote rule- my entire post wasn't directed specifically at you, but also just a general 'thinking out loud'.

My perception of this thread and several other recent threads is that they have had quite a few implications of a divide between "us and them", recons and eclectics and middle of the roaders, and questions on how we'll label everyone and what to do about the heathen community, blah blah blah.

And I just think people are people. Some recons are jerks, some eclectics are jerks, some recons are great people, some eclectics are great people. Some of the middle roaders are great, bad, and on and on. A label isn't going to tell you if someone is a bad person- their deeds are. And that's sort of what heathenry is about.

I guess-all in all- I sort of think it's a little melodramatic of late with all this talk about the heathen community and pendelums and problems socializing and labelling and whatnot. So...I should probably remove myself from the thread and let the people invested discuss it without me butting in. When it's all figured out tell me where to report!

[Hyacinth Belle]

Just wanted to give everyone the link to Ravencast's episode on Reconstructionism, recorded from a class at the 2010 East Coast Thing. And here are the notes for it.

It talks A LOT about worldview, what reconstructionism is and is not, and why it is important. It also mentions different "types" of reconstruction (reconstructionism, revivalist, and Neo-Heathen), terms I found simple yet enlightening.

I highly recommend it for anyone interested in reconstructionism.

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