Learning about Consent

I had a big long post ready to go last week about how excited I was to be starting the Pagan Consent Culture course at Cherry Hill Seminar this week. Silly me saved it, but never published it. And now, it would be silly to share it, since it's so out of date.

Instead, you get this brief recap:

- The course started yesterday.
- I am extremely excited. Not only is my husband taking it with me, but there are other druids in the class.
- I have read two of the four articles for the week already, and written a synopsis of one of them.

Photo by Steve Buissinne (Creative Commons CC0)

I am already starting to formulate a plan for my final project. In talking with Reverend Melissa Hill (who you may recall, previously completed the course and I assisted her some with her final project), I have decided to focus on how to broach the subject with those my age and a bit older, specifically looking for a way to do so without setting them on the defensive.

I do not expect this to be easy. We bear a lot of responsibility for the existing culture. Many of us will find that we have contributed to the problems along the way, which will probably not be easy to admit or reconcile.

How does one find a gentle approach to saying "Look, it's okay. We were all sort of jerks before, but we don't have to be anymore, as long as we stop being jerks from now on" - ??