It was never about us

If you’re reading this post, there’s very good odds that you’re familiar already with Rabbi David Wolpe’s editorial, “The Return of the Pagans,” in The Atlantic this week (also available, mirrored without restriction, via MSN). If you’ve somehow ended up here with that foreknowledge, I invite you to read the piece; it’s about 2000 words, certainly longish but tackleable. I’ll get into some specifics, but Jason Mankey’s response title sums it up well: “The Return of the Pagan Scapegoats.” Pagan values are destroying society, unlike monotheism, which supports society; nothing to see here, let’s have dinner.

And I assure you, the last thing I want to do right now is write yet another blasted reaction/response/rebuttal to the piece: I started typing this at 12:15am, and I’m supposed to drive 4 hours tomorrow morning for a lunch appointment. But sometimes the writing bug bites hard, as it did tonight. If you just want the tired and slightly aggravated sound bite at the center of the writing bug it’s this: my fellow pagans, this is not about you.