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Mar. 29th, 2010 10:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darchildreHad our first rehearsal with the instrumentalists tonight. It went fairly well, I thought.
We're performing in a church on Bainbridge, which is always a bit weird for me. I don't feel weird about being in my church, because I'm there all the time and I figure that if the Christian god was going to object to a heathen in that church, he would have said something by now. But other people's churches always feel really awkward, like I'm in someone's house without their permission. (Or other people's places of worship in general, I suppose - only I end up in Christian churches more than any other place of worship.) It's not a guilt feeling or a fear feeling. It's an anxiety thing, like my presence might somehow be disrespectful of some god who isn't one of my gods. For instance, I can never quite work out if it's okay for me to pray in other people's churches.* It's bad enough me being an uninvited and possibly somewhat unwelcome guest - I don't want to compound the offense by essentially inviting other guests in too.
See, this is the problem with being a polytheist. If I were a monotheist this would be easy, because the answer would be "Of course their god doesn't care because my god is the only one out there listening." Believing that other people's gods exist but that I don't have to worship them occasionally makes things awkward.
Generally, I work this out in my head by figuring that I am a guest in someone else's metaphorical house and that if I behave as a respectful and polite guest should, all will be well. And of course it is. But still, odd and somewhat uncomfortable.
*I also feel somewhat awkward praying in other people's houses, and for people who aren't heathen or my family members. I mean, I do it anyway, but it sometimes feels a little...presumptious, or something. Like I'm giving someone something they didn't ask for and may not want and may, indeed, be offended by.
We're performing in a church on Bainbridge, which is always a bit weird for me. I don't feel weird about being in my church, because I'm there all the time and I figure that if the Christian god was going to object to a heathen in that church, he would have said something by now. But other people's churches always feel really awkward, like I'm in someone's house without their permission. (Or other people's places of worship in general, I suppose - only I end up in Christian churches more than any other place of worship.) It's not a guilt feeling or a fear feeling. It's an anxiety thing, like my presence might somehow be disrespectful of some god who isn't one of my gods. For instance, I can never quite work out if it's okay for me to pray in other people's churches.* It's bad enough me being an uninvited and possibly somewhat unwelcome guest - I don't want to compound the offense by essentially inviting other guests in too.
See, this is the problem with being a polytheist. If I were a monotheist this would be easy, because the answer would be "Of course their god doesn't care because my god is the only one out there listening." Believing that other people's gods exist but that I don't have to worship them occasionally makes things awkward.
Generally, I work this out in my head by figuring that I am a guest in someone else's metaphorical house and that if I behave as a respectful and polite guest should, all will be well. And of course it is. But still, odd and somewhat uncomfortable.
*I also feel somewhat awkward praying in other people's houses, and for people who aren't heathen or my family members. I mean, I do it anyway, but it sometimes feels a little...presumptious, or something. Like I'm giving someone something they didn't ask for and may not want and may, indeed, be offended by.
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Date: 2010-03-30 09:11 am (UTC)At a few Catholic funerals I've been to, the priests acknowledged that not everyone there would be Catholic or Christian, and still encouraged everyone to join in the more universal parts of the prayer service. I take that as a general guideline: paying false lip service to a god and religion I don't follow would be offensive, but visiting a church for a good reason and being respectful and joining in prayers in a general fashion, nothing to be offended about there.