Pagan PR Manual

I read a very interesting post over at The Wild Hunt today, regarding high-profile pagans who have recently been featured in news articles. Jason (as always) very succinctly points out how these two profiles affect the pagan community as a whole, one (sadly) with bad information and the other (unfortunately) with one person's views representing our religion as a whole.

The first case involves someone who (rather ridiculously) compares the losses pagans have suffered through the years to those suffered by those of Jewish faith and descent during the Holocaust. First of all, it is absolutely irrational to compare the sufferings of different groups of people, however large or small (or whatever their origins). If a small tribe in northern Kenya gets wiped out during a small-scale feud, is it any less tragic than what happens in the Sudan? The question doesn't even make sense - both are tragedies. Both are terrible. People suffered, and any suffering is terrible. But to say that one or the other is 'more or less' awful is completely irrational. It's enough that people have died - don't cheapen anyone's loss by comparing it to somebody else.

Anyway, the second case was much less egregious - it was simply someone expressing their organization's personal beliefs, but it was presented in such a way that it would seem all pagans share the tenet (not the fault of the person being interviewed, but poor reporting).

My solution is this. A Pagan PR manual. I love branding, I love PR, and one of the most intricate and careful balances that must be struck in any sort of public awareness campaign is an overall representation of an idea that is truly nuanced at its core. Not all pagans are Gardnerians - not all pagans are solitaries, not all pagans follow Asatru, etc. etc. etc. We're all different, but we DO have common threads. Respect the earth. Love for our fellows. So on and so forth.

While it was recently pointed out to me by the very astute leader of the Fellowship I attend, Gwaeron, that we don't all follow "as it harm none", we are the same in that we embrace an earth-centered, positive lifestyle that is built on ancient traditions.

Anyway, enough rambling - I just like the idea of a Pagan PR manual, so that we can all speak about our religion and our community without lumping everybody together into one individuals beliefs, or simply to avoid sounding like an insensitive idiot (see Jason's post).