Liber ab Arma (Book of Arms)^243

Liber ab Arma (Book of Arms)...................................................................

(Book of Arms)

Making a Difference in Your Community

243

e live in very scary times. As I send this manuscript to my publisher,

there is a war unfolding in Iraq that may affect the stability of the Middle

East or even the world. What follows should not be taken as commen-

tary on that war or any specific war. I do have opinions on that war, and

those opinions are easy to find at PaganNation.com. I do not try to con-

ceal my convictions one bit. In fact, I seem to be at odds with the great

majority of Pagan authors in respect to that war.

But this chapter is not about any one conflict. It is about at the nature of conflict

and how that nature determines that which is Wicca. So in this chapter, please do not

read that I either support or do not support any one war. Instead, read into this chapter

only what is there. See only what I have said for what it is, and do not impose upon it any

prejudices based on one conflict. The ancient Pagans did experience conflict, they did

make war, and they did take a firm stand on matters of right and wrong. If Wiccans do not

recognize that there is a time and a place for standing on conviction, then they have very

little right to call themselves Pagan as Pagan lore is absolutely filled with just that.

Consider this: You have probably heard that Wicca is a Celtic religion, which insists

that conflict never solves anything. Why then did the British Celtic folk hero Cartimandua

lead the descendants of the goddess Brigantia against the Roman Empire? If you

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