There has been a trend in the Pandemic across all religious lines that clergy leaders are changing professions. Paganism is not immune to the trend. 29% is a huge amount. In Wicca, where there are already so few trained and trusted leaders, we can't afford to lose any good people. Yet we are.
What can you do to help? Be aware of the struggles our clergy face. They don't have a salary. They don't have financial security for themselves or their families. They don't even have respect and safety. Mention religious leaders in a public forum and there will at least be a couple of people who devalue our leaders and leadership, not individuals, just leadership in general. Don't let them get away with it. Report mean spirited posts. Confront disrespectful, ignorant, or inconsiderate people. Refuse to participate in hurtful conversations or support people who are generating negative commentary.
Consider what life would be like without the work of your leaders and have respect, appreciation and compassion for the role religious leaders play in your life. Protect them and take care of them. Let them know they are appreciated. Treat them with the principle "Though Art God, Thou Art Goddess". Remember that the path is perfect and just because someone is mad, doesn't mean they don't deserve the experience they have created, and that there are always two sides of the story.
Pete "Pathfinder" Davis, founder of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, founded in 1979, cultivated a tolerant utopia in Seattle. He made a lot of people angry along the way. He is responsible for so many of our rights that we take for granted today. His life was the life of a warrior. He died with bitterness in his heart, feeling unappreciated and abandoned by the majority of his congregation.
Religious leaders are different, and few. There are not many people who have the ability and the willingness to do what your leaders do. After spending a year with nothing but the hatefulness of facebook cluttering their minds, their spirits are defeated and wondering if it's worth it. Yes, Pete had his flaws. He was a great man. He was a fighter. He was often misunderstood by fragile egos, who were more focused on the promotion of their personality than the bigger picture.
All religions suffer from those who long for greatness, but can't achieve it. All religions suffer from the mentally ill, who feel that attacking someone of notoriety will bring them attention. A man once attempted to assassinate the President of the United States to get an actress' attention. Desperate people distort reality to fit their world view. When you give power to this behavior, it robs everyone of the world that can be created by love, trust, compassion and understanding. When religious leaders are surrounded by lack, giving all they have to create a better world, and nothing is standing between them and those who would take pleasure in watching them fall, so that leader won't be competition for their ego, the world is worse off for it.
If we are going to make the world a better place, we have to do it together. We must stand for love. We must stand against hate in all it's forms. Even hate disguised as pain. Hate is infectious. You cannot heal it, you can only confront it, call it out for what it is, and then walk away from it.
Take action when you see your leaders, or other leaders being disrespected. You might not know what amazing things that have done, and if they quit, you will never know what amazing things they would have done. The world cannot afford this right now.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/better-samaritan/2021/june/has-pandemic-made-your-pastor-want-to-quit-probably.html?utm_source=CT%20Pastors%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=99120&utm_content=5748&utm_campaign=email
Belladonna Laveau is the Archpriestess of the ATC International.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/better-samaritan/2021/june/has-pandemic-made-your-pastor-want-to-quit-probably.html?utm_source=CT%20Pastors%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=99120&utm_content=5748&utm_campaign=email
https://churchanswers.com/blog/six-reasons-your-pastor-is-about-to-quit/
