Running for Office Equals Personal Growth - Who Knew?

In previous years, when someone newer to ADF asked me for my opinions on the elections, I shared with them who I voted for and why.

But this year, as a candidate for the Mother Grove, I've found myself thinking about this a bit differently. I'm trying to approach this as a leader, rather than as "just another member." I am finding my change is attitude a bit fascinating, really. When asked by a grove member what I thought about the election and how they should vote, I paused before answering.

First and foremost, I found myself wanting people to make informed decisions when casting their votes. I want them to know as much as possible when casting their votes. Their votes mean more to me that way.

So I didn't just tell them about the people I voted for, I told them what I know about the people I did not vote for, also, and I tried to keep it as unbiased as possible. I pointed them to the questions answered by the candidates, so that they can read the responses for themselves, rather than getting the information through my filters.

And I thought about how to handle this going forward. If asked where a candidate stands on an issue, I will share their response to the questions. If they did not provide an answer, or if their position is still unclear, I will be honest and say that I do not know. But I will also suggest that perhaps they could ask the candidate directly, or offer to ask on their behalf.

So far, I have only had to reach out once to clarify something, for my own understanding, and I am happy that I did, because it led to a good conversation with another candidate. A conversation I might not have otherwise had.

The entire election process has already proven to be a source of personal growth in that it forced me to actually examine my own motivation in answering the questions. And now it has provided me with further growth in helping me define where my boundaries and personal integrity lie.

This makes me happy, my own personal Ides of March.

Response to Questions for the Candidates - Qualifications - Part Seven

Welcome back! I am continuing to respond to the questions from ADF members directed to the candidates running for office. 

Today's responses relate to the subject of my own Qualifications.

Image by Gerd Altmann (Creative Commons CC0)

Response to Questions for the Candidates - Reputation - Part Six

Welcome back! I am continuing to respond to the questions from ADF members directed to the candidates running for office. 

Today's responses relate to the subject of our Reputation.

Image by Gerd Altmann (Creative Commons CC0)

JA:  How would you work to make ADF as respected and legitimate as any other church in the USA, and the world.

I see respect and legitimacy as two separate things.

Respect is something that we work together to earn. It is a collective response by the rest of the world that is the result of our actions. We need to understand that we are being judged by others not only by our individual actions, but also by those around us. How often have we heard (or even used) the phrase “not very Christian” to describe bad acts by a member of that religion? When the Catholics were struggling with their priest/altar boy scandals, other Christian churches felt the impact, as well. But those churches that were quick to respond and affirm that their own beliefs and actions were not aligned with the scandal? Those were the churches which weathered the best. They did not expect respect to find them, they actively sought it. I think that ADF is in a similar position – we are a part of the greater Pagan community, and any event which rocks that community will at the very least bump against us. By solidifying our positions of no tolerance and building strong foundations of consent and caring for those around us, we actively earn respect. By maintaining public presence – through our public high day rites and our presence at various non-ADF centric events, such as Pantheacon, Paganicon, and ConVocation, we create respect.

Legitimacy, however, I see as a matter of legal viability and longevity. We are a young religion when compared to Christianity, and Christianity is still considered to be young in some Hebrew or Islamic organizations. In this sense, I believe that legitimacy is not something we will achieve in our lifetimes, but rather, it is the legacy that we are striving to provide for future generations. The foundations that we are building now – the structure of the Core Order of Ritual, the study programs, the networking of groves and persons, the training of our clergy – are the things that will secure that inheritance.

Response to Questions for the Candidates - Members - Part Four

Welcome back! I am continuing to respond to the questions from ADF members directed to the candidates running for office. 

Today's responses relate to the subject of Member Involvement.

Image by Gerd Altmann (Creative Commons CC0)

EF: A secondary question: How will you encourage ways of making ADF accessable to children (with parental consent, of course)?