(I am indulging myself in a thought experiment, I am imagining what I might write if I were to be a part of writing a philisophical statement to stand in as a replacement for Declaration 127. This is what I came up with.)
Declaration of Deeds
We heathens, pagans, followers of the old ways, we are more than the choices that brought us into being; we are more than our orlay. Instead, we are our deeds, we are the choices we make and not those chosen for us. In acknowledgement of this we declare the following points:
I. We endeavor to be better than our forebears. Their society was a product of its time and was often deeply flawed, but their religious belief in the gods we hold to be timeless. We endeavor to reconstruct their religion, not the flaws in their society.
II. Our religion gives no basis for discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or origin; the gods have nothing to say on the matter of race. We maintain that a person’s race, ethnicity, or origin does not impede their ability to participate in our religion or our group.
III. Our religion gives no basis for discrimination based on gender, including gender identity, or discrimination based on sex; our religion has divine and powerful goddesses and gods who are themselves complex at best. We maintain that a person’s gender or sex does not impede their ability to participate in our religion or our group.
IV. Our religion gives no basis for discrimination based on sexual orientation; the gods we worship do not always conform to one orientation or another and still hold their positions and importance regardless of their sexuality. We maintain that a person’s sexual orientation does not impede their ability to participate in our religion or our group.
V. Deeds matter to our communities and to our gods, deeds are the foundations of our reputations. We maintain that the basis we are to be judged on is through our actions and our deeds and not merely through circumstances beyond our control.
We are charged in the Havamal to speak out against evil when we see evil; bigotry and discrimination based on the chances of our birth is just such an evil. We heathens, pagans, followers of the old ways; we join our voices in unison with this our Declaration of Deeds, that we may declare that the chances of our birth that are beyond our control have no bearing on our ability to participate in this religion nor to lead full spiritual lives, but rather that in all cases it is our actions and deeds that truly matter.
While there isn’t anywhere to formally sign this declaration, I would like to make it known that I, as a Heathen, fully endorse the ideas behind this declaration and would love to see it grow and develop as a living document. Excellent work, Beofeld.
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WE MUST BE BETTER. I love this statement. Greatly worded and greatly needed.
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Beofeld, this is great and I completely agree with the statement. We appreciate your work so damn much and I’m so glad you’re in this community
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I hereby sign this, in complete agreement with the text above.
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i will certainly sign this, you have had the right idea here
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I hereby sign this, in complete agreement with the text above and ask permission to translate to Brazilian Portuguese, my birth language, and promote in my social media.
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Totally, just note that it’s a first draft and may get edited now that there’s interest in the process.
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great idea! thank you for your efforts
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I stand in agreement with you on this. My path is Christopagan, with a relation to the Celtic deities.
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I support this wholeheartedly. Thank you for taking your time to author this and make a statement.
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I fully support this and even though this isn’t a formal signature I would love for this to signify that and I would wholeheartedly sign this deceleration of deeds
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I cant sign it but I fully support this and would 110% sign this if I could.
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Wonderfully said! I’m so glad to see other pagans who stand against bigotry and hatred of others based on ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. I fully support this document and commend you for writing it!
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