the third g

...is for gods, guns, and governance?

Or, political leanings in Pagan Americans.

I'm in what feels like an unusual position, politically speaking.

I'm all for gods and guns!

I spent too much time in the military - as an armorer, no less - to not like me some guns. They're sexy. And fun.

But...

I want any person to be able to marry whomever they want, in any quantity. I want the government to stop trying to tell me what to do with my body, whether it has to do with reproductive rights or drug prohibition. I think welfare has the potential to create a necessary safety net for our citizens - but the way it's administered now is almost more harmful than helpful. I am deeply spiritual, but the idea of basing our government on my religious practices, or any one's, is oppositional to my beliefs. I would love to see our government fostering sustainable energy sources the way that it currently fosters non-sustainable sources.

All this might place me quite far to the left, if I weren't also a proponent of relaxed gun control laws and a strong military.

I'd like to cut our Army's presence within our own borders, and globally. I'd like to see the military spending its budget on the soldiers' training and equipment, rather than on fool's errands.

I think that every citizen should understand and be able to own firearms - not because of any silly notions that doing so might reduce crime (it doesn't), but because, as Archer phrased it, "the government should be afraid of impinging the rights of its citizens."

So where does that put me?


I'd like to see the regulations which define legal marriage contracts become completely gender- and plurality-neutral.

I'd like to see 'gender' removed as a question from every single application, for anything. It should not matter, unless you're talking to your doctor (and they should be asking for both your gender and your sex).

I'd like to know that anyone, of any spiritual or religious path, can practice their faith, and will keep their faith out of public schools.

~ I suppose that, overall, I'm more left than center. ~


Oh, and I'm pagan, so... well, maybe that doesn't indicate anything, politicially. Except that I want freedom of religion to apply to my religion, too.

And the gods I most strongly relate to, are those who agree with my political views (though they've guided me in ways which have changed my mind in the past).

But... maybe just being pagan does influence my political leanings. It seems to me that being pagan would induce a certain level of care for our planet and for other humans which might lead many pagans down a slightly more leftist path than non-pagan citizens.

I have no data to support that, though when I googled pagan politics, the top responses were all pagan political blogs which were left-leaning liberal blogs. Are there any right-wing pagans out there? Just a thought. It does seem unlikely. What do you think?

~

This post is brought to you by the Pagan Blog Project and the letter G.