Some context

I’ve received a couple questions about the last post so I figured I should probably offer some context.

It was intended as a satire of the atheists and humanists who not only want to redefine the term polytheist out from under us but appropriate individuals from the past and claim that these figures espouse the same views that they do.

Parmenides of Elea was a great presocratic philosopher who had a mystical experience where he traveled to the realm of the goddess Ananke or Persephone and was blessed with perfect wisdom, experiencing an extreme state of non-duality. By taking his words out of context I’ve made it seem that he’s advocating a very different position than he likely would have. (Then again, perhaps not – his thought is complex and not easily understood. People have been debating the meaning of these enigmatic lines since before the time of Plato.)

The satirical nature of the post is indicated by the final quote about Onomokritos, the Orpheoteleste who was caught fabricating oracles of Mousaios as part of the war effort.

I’m taking such care in explaining this since it was recently made clear that reading comprehension isn’t so great in our community. An individual accused me of calling Wiccans Nazis, which I assume was in reference to this post.

Of course that doesn’t make any sense at all since the creator of the comic I referenced clearly identifies himself as a polytheist and second-generation Heathen not a Wiccan. Furthermore I just pointed out that Nazis liked comics too and left it at that. Any inferred relationship between these statements is on you. What, do you think that everyone who loves puppies is a Nazi since some Nazis were puppy-lovers? (Don’t they teach syllogisms in school anymore?) Instead of jumping to such absurd conclusions perhaps you should spend time considering why people employ comics which is to dehumanize their opponents and make their views seem silly. That’s something anyone can do, regardless of their political ideology. But the real reason I made that reference is because no online dispute is complete until it’s been Godwinned, meaning I’m biting my thumb at everyone.

Of course I think this person may have topped the old reductio ad Hitlerum trope since they go on at great length about how devotional polytheists want you to murder your babies and become a slave for the gods.

Truly, community dialogue has reached a new high.

So, just to be clear, the conversation with Parmenides was a joke. I’d like to think I could find a couple more important topics to discuss with a revenant philosopher than stupid online neopagan drama.