Why You Joined, Why You Left
Jun. 23rd, 2020 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ecosophia
In the course of the ongoing conversation over on my blog, the Druid organization Ar nDraiocht Fein (ADF) came up for discussion. Quite a few people mentioned that they had been members of ADF but left the organization, most of them recently -- and one of my longtime readers and students mentioned that he's long been interested in the religious dimension of Druidry and is looking to set up an organization for people who share that interest. That got a lively response from the former ADF members, and the questions that came up immediately were: Why did each person join ADF in the first place?
Why did they leave?
That's what this post is for: a frank discussion of what attracted people to ADF and what convinced them to quit. Full disclosure here: I'm also a former ADF member, though I left quite a while ago, and I'll be adding my own reflections to the conversation.
I'm well aware that this is a topic about which some people -- notably those who are still members of ADF -- may have strong feelings, and may not express those with the courtesy and thoughtfulness I expect from my commentariat. For that reason, any attempt at trolling, concern trolling, derailing, flamebaiting, or other bits of online gamesmanship will be deleted. This post is a place for those of us who have had experiences with a troubled Druid organization to talk about those experiences, so that a different organization can learn from them. Those who don't want to participate in that conversation are welcome to go somewhere else -- and those who might want to interfere with that conversation are welcome to go shinny up a stump. 'Nuf said.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-24 12:03 am (UTC)The really sad part is, I didn't do much more than shake my head and ignore it. And I didn't think to mention any of this in my own account even though I saw all the same things you're talking about. Because it was nothing unique to ADF, the high levels of drama, hostility and Christian bashing - it was par for the course in online NeoPaganism. The scene has gotten a lot worse lately but it has always been bad. I lost my ability to tolerate it a long time ago, and that's one reason I disappeared from the community for several years; I still think of it as a standard NeoPagan feature, well known and not worth mentioning.
It's really not a healthy environment.