Re: Memorial Day

[Beiskaldi <Beiskaldi@aol.com>]

Poster: Beiskaldi <Beiskaldi@aol.com>

My lady, 

 Thank you for your perspective on this--opens up some thoughts and
perspectives that I hadnt considered.  Let me expound on my original post a
bit:  I was keeping in mind a specific event where I was assistant to the
autocrat, who was pagan.  We had rented a church hall, which had numerous
banners hanging up around the hall.  The autocrat told me specifically that we
had to cover the banners that had christian symbols on them so as not to
offend the pagans that were in attendance.  Now, I have not known any
christians who have been offended by various other religions' symbols such as
hammers, pentacles, etc., so this was rather an alien notion to me at the time
and still is, tied into the personal belief that if the symbols were
offensive, then the hall should be also (of course that is merely my logic at
work).  Something else I did not originally mention is that the other banners
which were found "acceptable" were not covered, nor were any other similar
decorations on the walls.
  I can honestly say that my experience of such intolerance, shown by this
person at this and other times, within the society has been very limited,
which is one of the main things that drew me to the sca in the first place!

In service,
Thyra

In a message dated 98-05-26 10:14:08 EDT, heather@pop.net writes:
>  This is an interesting point, and I respect it, but I tend to look at it
>  from a slightly different point of view.  I mean no disrespect to such
>  structures or the honoured dead, etc., or the people who created and/or
>  use/own such places.  It's just that when we rent a site, that's what we
>  rent- a site.  When we used to rent the local Methodist hall for Games
>  Tourneys in Isenfir, we didn't rent the 'Methodist' aspect- we rented
>  the hall.  We wouldn't presume that the Methodists in question would
>  want their symbols up and showing during our event any more than we'd go
>  put up our banners during their service.  
>  To be honest, I've never been sure if there's a general Christian view
>  on this sort of thing, but I've grown up with one variety of Jewish
>  viewpoint, and I myself have a Pagan viewpoint.  I see it in these
>  terms:  We rent some space, a park, a building, whatever.  We don't rent
>  the 'sacredness' of the place or anything in it.  When we cover things
>  with banners, we indicate that whatever activities we have while we've
>  rented that space have nothing to do with the sacred aspects of that
>  place/those things/symbols, and that we are not having an adverse effect
>  on them.  When we put up banners and so forth, we create our own 'space'
>  for the 'The Dream' to exist.  When we take them down and pack up, clean
>  up, and leave, we respectfully acknowledge that the 'space' we created
>  no longer exists, and the site is once again restored to its original
>  purpose.  I've always been happy to volunteer for clean up because I see
>  that as a way of showing my respect for the site and the people who
>  rented it to us, and their beliefs.  I respect the fact that they rent
>  out their hall, and I want to return it to them in (if possible) better
>  condition than I found it.
>  In one sense, that's how I see Pennsic.  We rent the area, set up our
>  tents and so forth, have our event, pack up, clean up, and return the
>  area to Nature and the Coopers.
>  Granted, something like a war memorial is slightly different, as it is
>  the sort of thing that might apply to Americans as a whole, so to speak,
>  not just one religious view.  In that case, I feel that we create a
>  space wherein that is not part of history yet, but afterwards I try to
>  show my respect for those honoured in such places, just as I saw many
>  folks going to read and pay attention to such monuments at Emerald
>  Joust.  I certainly have my share of honoured dead in my family, and
>  would not wish to be disrespectful of others.
>  
>  I hope this does not offend anyone, and if I'm missing something here,
>  please feel free to tell me.
>  
>  Respectfully, 
>  Miri
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