Internets Religion is SRS BIZNESS.

In 1996, the Internet was still considered "new" and not something most people had regular access to.  I did not use the Internet for the first time until 1999, in fact. In 2008, most people in the United States either own a personal computer with Internet access, or can regularly get online at work, school, or a library.  Ergo, we can now assume that most people identifying as Pagan, and specifically a Nordic variety of Pagan within the United States have Internet access and probably go online at least 1-2 times a week if not more.

Paganism as a whole -- spanning many denominations and cultural traditions -- is a minority religion.  There is a very liberal estimate of 50,000 Asatruar worldwide, in contrast with estimated 1,000,000 Wiccans in the United States alone.  To get more people interested in various sorts of Paganism, as well as to network with other Pagans, many of us are using the Internet to do so.  Let's be frank -- with a religion that is still considered "alternative" you are not going to find a large number of its followers in one given area.  Ergo, there are things available such as Meetup.com for local and regional events for those who might be interested -- not necessarily to preach at people, but for established Heathens and those curious.

That being said, you may find people in your area who do identify as your particular brand of Pagan, but that's where the similarities with you and they end.  There's not only a wide range of beliefs and practices within people identifying as Heathen, there's a wide range of political ideology and personality traits.  In my local and regional area I am pretty much not on the same wavelength with both the Heathens and the Pagans, and probably have more in common with people across the ocean than I do with someone two towns away.  That being said, I don't have the option of just picking up everything and moving to wherever I want.

Networking sites such as LiveJournal prove to be invaluable for bringing like-minded people together, even if they live thousands of miles apart. For better or for worse, the various forms of Paganism have come to rely on the Internet to present information and a public face, exchange ideas, and network whether for individual friends, small groups, or large organizations or gatherings.  And many of us -- nay, most of us -- can tell you a horror story or five about a flamewar that erupted on an e-list, bulletin board forum, or LiveJournal community.

I myself am no stranger to being on both the giving end and receiving end of wank.  It is much less now that I've accepted a geas from Gerda to not go where She and Her people are not welcome, which is to say 99% of Heathen e-lists and forums; I also don't have the time to spend on said e-lists and forums.  However, once upon a time I was more active in trying to communicate on these sorts of message boards, and in my personal observation, with regards to Pagans, especially Nordic types (including reconstructionist Heathens), Internet wank falls into four basic categories:

1. Interpersonal Drama.
This often happens when people know each other IRL, or did, but are only in occasional meatspace contact and one person decides they don't like the other anymore, most often because the relationship or friendship goes sour or one of the parties proves themselves untrustworthy (e.g. blabbing friends-locked or filtered blog posts).

2. Political Drama.
This will happen either because someone decides to mix their politics with religion, usually to the far-left on a more conservative forum, or far-right on a more liberal forum.  I know of at least one Heathen who was removed from an organization over a discussion on the immigration issue, and whether or not it was fair is not the point.  I've said this elsewhere and I'll say it again: in the United States, we have the separation of church and state for a reason.  When you feel that everyone should share your pet causes or they're a bad Pagan/bad Wiccan/bad Heathen/bad whatever, there is a problem, especially if you are forcing the issue.  Politics should not be discussed on a religious forum, full stop; that's not the place for it.

3. Fault Line Controversy.
There are fault lines in every religion, not just the Pagan ones, but usually people who find themselves on a more traditional/conservative side will find themselves in argument and discord with people more open to innovation, for better or worse.  I myself tend to fall on "the wrong side" of most fault lines within Heathenry, ergo for the sake of a sane and drama-free existence, I prefer not to be called Heathen as it tends to make people think I'm "misrepresenting myself", and will correct others if they refer to me as such.  The fault lines tend to be much more polarized if we are dealing with personal gnosis v. written history, or some kind of hard-and-fast OK-or-forbidden moral issue.  Note also that sometimes the polarization of #3 can cause #1, and even vice versa.

4. N00b, Asshat, or Troll?
The biggest flame wars on the Internet seem to erupt when someone comes to a forum asking a loaded question, or making a less-than-pleasant response to the OP (original poster), particularly if in the latter case they are calling the OP out on bullshit.  Unless one has become seasoned with years of experience moderating forums and listservs, it can be very hard trying to differentiate between whether someone is a n00b and doesn't know, if someone is a troll and trying to start trouble, or if someone will speak their mind to the disregard of others' feelings.



In the matter of Internets Paganism we can assume that many are taking a page from the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, which says that normal person + anonymity + audience = total fuckwad.  However, many of us are taking our assholish tendencies offline, and dragging them into local/regional Paganism and even in mundane interpersonal encounters.

If most Pagans are on the Internet in 2008, and most Internet Pagans are behaving badly, we do indeed have a problem that was not there in 1996.  And as society becomes increasingly dependent on the Internet and Heathenry either grows or shrinks in number, our problem is going to get worse, not better.

Ergo, here is a little poem which I refer to as my guideline for using the Internet for religious discussion and networking:

If the Worldwide Web you'd use,
these things please heed with care:
to whom you speak, of what you speak,
of how you speak, and where.

1. TO WHOM YOU SPEAK
Just because MySpace or LiveJournal calls someone your friend, does not mean they are.  I prefer "reading list".  It's true that I met my partner and many of my offline friends via LiveJournal, so let me make this distinction: if someone has been on your reading list for a year and they have never once e-mailed you off your blog and it's likely you'll never be meeting them IRL, they are not a friend, they are a reader.  That doesn't mean they're not nice people, but that's how it is.  Furthermore, you can't control the friends of everyone you're "friended" to, but if someone has more than a few associations you don't like and even don't trust, the chances are good you will run into problems.

2. OF WHAT YOU SPEAK
While it helps to use a blog to vent about life issues, anything sensitive should be filtered to people you actually know and have proven themselves trustworthy, *or* left offline altogether.  For example, I don't discuss, anymore, if I've had a fight with my partner, or really great sex, for that matter.  The most personal details are not everyone's business.  If mentioning your employer by name leaves even a small chance of getting you fired, don't think because someone is on your "friends" list that they won't go trying to make trouble if there is some kind of falling out, which happens all too easily online.  Even a friends-locked or filtered post can be forwarded to others if they have comment notification enabled, so be careful: if there's something you don't literally want the whole world knowing, don't put it online.  Yes, it's bad form to repeat locked information, but people have done it, people will continue to do it -- it's not illegal.  And because I've seen a lot of people gossip about others online, even lying to the point where it could be legally prosecuted as libel, I have to add "if you wouldn't say something to somebody's face, don't say it to them or about them".

3. OF HOW YOU SPEAK
It's really important online not to paint everyone with a broad brush.  If you are a Pagan author this is even more true; making a statement like "fluffy Wiccans" elsewhere, at one time, will bite you in the ass.  I know it did for me, and I've tried really hard to rectify *that* situation.  But beyond that, if your tone comes off as really angry and sarcastic, sooner or later people will stop listening.  Once in awhile is OK, but if you are continually filled with vitriol and every article on your site is a rant and not even humorous, you are setting yourself up to be the punchline.

4. AND WHERE
Having a private IM with So-and-So is not the same thing as being on a serious Recon forum with So-and-So.  While you may, in fact, see some people speaking casually and joking around, the chances are good this does not occur often and the people in question are mods and know each other.  Calling So-and-So "Baldie" when their more professional forum/Pagan world face is Lord Alopecia ORLY (yes, I am exaggerating examples here), is generally considered really bad taste, as is modding a list with your partner and deciding to talk about the really hot sex you had last night.


This is all just my $.02 and as usual I don't expect people to agree or change their deeds on my account.  But even if there's nothing else on this site that you respect or agree with, please keep this in mind, that "you are your deeds" does in fact mean your words and I am heartily sick of so-called "honorable people" whether well-known (in their own mind) Pagans or smaller-fish Asatruar, spreading vile rumors about people who are just trying to go about their lives and spiritual business.  The Internet has a part to play in this, and it is not honorable or conducive to a positive face for the branches of Paganism, to be so nasty.

(C) 2008 Sigrun Freyskona.

Illustration courtesy of xkcd.