Talk:Greek reconstructionism

message: I have archived the talk page as it appeared to be getting quite lengthy. From a cursory glance, it seems that there is a revert war brewing. If this continues, I will protect the page without notice. If the page is to be protected, the protected version is not an endorsement of the correctness of the page. It is simply one method to encourage more positive dialogue here. I am highly encouraging everyone who actively monitors and particpates with editing this page that they resolve as many of the outstanding issues on this talk page first. Currently, the application of the NPOV tag and its justification has been reposted below.
As far as I could tell, there have been no 3RR violations or whatnot on this page. However, should this occur, I will be inclined to initiate blocks for all parties involved. The intention of this post is to encourage some positive developments here. It is obvious we have a number of editors from different backgrounds who can offer different viewpoints on this subject, and for this reason, it is necessary that everyone endeavours to synthesize all the ideas together so that Wikipedia can have a solid article on this subject. To work towards this goal, please be mindful of your posts and modulate them if necessary so that the feedback received by the editors of this page results in productive, reasoned, and measured dialogue. Should any editor of this page choose not to engage in positive dialogue moving forward, then respectfully and in advance, I would ask that you leave and edit somewhere else.
Finally, should the discussion on this page degenerate into a full blown edit war, I will protect both the article and the talk page without warning for a short period of time - simply to remind contributors to take a brief break from the article, and perhaps return afterwards with better approaches for resolving the outstanding issues here. Thanks for your understanding. --HappyCamper 02:20, 9 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Recent archival 

message: Cyberdenizen -
The Christohellenists do not self-define as "Christians", contary to what you have written. One need only follow Antistoicus' arguments on Usenet to see what they think of that as a flat assertion. Nor do they self-define as non-christians. They simply ask "what do you mean by Christian", and to date haven't seemed to have found many critics who understood that until one defines one's terms, "are you a Christian" is not a yes or no question. Elaion followers such as yourself seems to be prime offenders in this regard. I invite anybody reading this to take a look at the Hellenic_Recons list at around the time this article was first fleshed out, and note the comments from our supposedly neutral contrarian of an editor, who talks with his friends about a Wikipedia article he just changed to be more to their liking. Ahem.
The Christohellenists are not decidedly not Christian in a mainline sense, viewing the gods as being plural, the supreme being as being less than omniscent, Jesus being somebody other than that supreme being (just one gods among many). In the sense that they claim divinity for Jes, they might be considered Christian, but one might say the same of a number of Hindus, who consider Jesus to be an avatar of Vishnu. Should Hinduism, on that basis, be taken to be a version of Christianity? :)
:Thank you for reminding me that the merge to Hellenic polytheism still had not been completed, though all of the information was transferred over long ago.  I'll be taking care of that presently. - AdelaMae (talk - contribs) 11:42, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inaccurate Ambiguity :) 

message: Decided to be bold. Rewrote original introductory passage for NPOV and to be more concise.
Reconstructionism is distinctly separate from Neo-Paganism, although there is some overlap, the two terms are not mutally exclusive. Reconstructionism is a methodology. Most Greek recons in Greece seem to see the Ancient Hellenic religion as their indigenous religion, rather than as a modern innovation loosely based on Hellenism. Also, YSEE states on their website:
:About the term "pagan":In our days it is used to call a non-monotheistic religion as pagan or neo-pagan, but this word in reality is an insult for the native/ethnic polytheistic pre-Christian religions. We prefer not to use this term which was applied from the Christian church in order to insult our ancestors and their religion and way of life. 
I Removed "Christo-Hellenism" and "Hellenic wicca" because by their very definition, they are not reconstructionist. This is per the World Congress of Ethnic Religions stance which has specifcally instituted a policy to not "support, accept as member or have relations with newly invented hybrid, non-traditional religious groups...Our purpose is NOT to mix different religions, but to find our common interests and defend them"  Greek religion is highly represented in this org. Hellenic Wiccan and Christo-Hellenism is already represented over at Hellenismos. If someone wants to create a Christo-Hellenism, or Hellenic Wicca entry separate from this one, that would be more appropriate I think.
Changed the Americentric section Hellenism outside of the english speaking world to a more NPOV Hellenism outside of the Hellenic world since the bulk of the practitioners are in Greece, not in the English speaking world and because the religion originated in Greece. I am working on a general reconstructionism entry, and have been compiling actual sources to adhere to a higher standard than the previous article did. The article is temporarily in general disarray due to the holidays and finals, but I have not forgotten about it. If anyone wants to discuss this, please do!Cyber Denizen talk
:I wholeheartedly approve of your boldness!  Finals ate my plans for this article.  Plus, it seems like the more I read on this topic, the less I know.  *sigh*  
:Have you taken a look at Reconstructionism?  I am not sure what to do about the first sentence, which looks like a relic from the time before Polytheistic Reconstructionism was included.  It doesn't make any sense with the page the way it is now, and to be honest, I'm not even sure what it's trying to say.  Anyway, I'd love to see whatever information you've assembled go up at Polytheistic Reconstructionism.  We can work on it from there. - AdelaMae (talk - contribs) 02:33, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Starting Over