Cheesecake and reconstructionism
Jun. 19th, 2004 01:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hearthstoneSometimes when I think about things like Why, I think of how I would explain them to my children.
So, why is it that I take a fairly reconstructionist approach to religion?
And the thought came to me of cheesecake. Perhaps because I make it so often for the feast following a ritual.
Say you want to get to know someone, be on good terms with them, and you don't know much about them but you do know that they like cheesecake. (You know that their friends in the past had made them plain cheesecake and they enjoyed it.) You'd make them a cheesecake.
And maybe as you got to know them a little better, you'd put some strawberries on top, or mix in some crumbled brownies, or even make a chocolate cheesecake instead--additions or changes that go with cheesecake.
What you wouldn't do is mix in some brussels sprouts, or top it with barbecue sauce. Because, as good as brussels sprouts or barbecue sauce might be in other contexts, they are not cheesecake-compatible foods.
It's a matter of doing what you perceive will be enjoyed and well-received.
I am, actually, a semi-reconstructionist. Mostly this has to do with differences of theology rather than of practice (and with the incomplete nature of known info), but I also think that a better word for what many recons do might be "revivalist," because that word would indicate more strongly that we are bringing an old faith back to life and trying to put it in a modern context and give it meaning there, rather than trying to recreate the context in which it originally existed.
So, why is it that I take a fairly reconstructionist approach to religion?
And the thought came to me of cheesecake. Perhaps because I make it so often for the feast following a ritual.
Say you want to get to know someone, be on good terms with them, and you don't know much about them but you do know that they like cheesecake. (You know that their friends in the past had made them plain cheesecake and they enjoyed it.) You'd make them a cheesecake.
And maybe as you got to know them a little better, you'd put some strawberries on top, or mix in some crumbled brownies, or even make a chocolate cheesecake instead--additions or changes that go with cheesecake.
What you wouldn't do is mix in some brussels sprouts, or top it with barbecue sauce. Because, as good as brussels sprouts or barbecue sauce might be in other contexts, they are not cheesecake-compatible foods.
It's a matter of doing what you perceive will be enjoyed and well-received.
I am, actually, a semi-reconstructionist. Mostly this has to do with differences of theology rather than of practice (and with the incomplete nature of known info), but I also think that a better word for what many recons do might be "revivalist," because that word would indicate more strongly that we are bringing an old faith back to life and trying to put it in a modern context and give it meaning there, rather than trying to recreate the context in which it originally existed.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-19 09:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-20 03:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-23 10:03 pm (UTC)I love the term "revivalist", would you mind my using it?
Also, if I may ask, how do you combine ADF and Hellenism? A few months ago I was looking at both and decided to concentrate my time on Hellenism despite my strong attraction to the Three Realms/Kindreds. Or do you keep the Trads completely seperate?
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-24 02:14 am (UTC)No problem--actually, I'm not sure where I heard it first, but I like it because it seems to emphasize the fact that the old religions are being rebuilt in a new world.
I really don't mix ADF and Hellenism. There are Hellenic groves, and I did look into the possibility, when our protogrove was working out our ritual calendar, but I concluded that it would have taken so much stretching and squeezing to fit the Greek festival year into the ADF framework (there were enough holidays that you could do it, but they were not very similar in theme to the Celtic or Norse ones), so didn't. And while I am a happy member of ADF, and value it for the wonderful community and the excellent thought that one finds there, I am not currently doing ADF-style ritual at all.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-24 01:02 pm (UTC)Plus, the ritual structure was just a little *too* structured for my liking *grin*