Identity and Communtiy in Religion

The Church of the Eternal Source is another example of a Reconstructionist Neopagan group, but followers of this religion self-identify in a slightly different way than the Ásatrú. Members if this group usually do not identify with it as a result of ancestral ties, but rather as a result of an encounter with the forces of Egypt. These people admire the culture, artistry, gods and goddesses (Adler, 263). Members of this community worship Egyptian gods, but are also encouraged to continue other religious practices that they find meaningful (267). Because of this, the CES is considered an appropriation. Members are encouraged to continue all practices that they identify with. But they all find power in the Egyptian gods and culture. They wear traditional Egyptian dress, use hieroglyphics, and practice Egyptian rituals. Egyptian culture is considered ancestral to all Western nations and as result the CES is not as discriminatory as the Ásatrú.

Identity and community are found throughout Wicca, Neopaganism, and Online religions. The differences are found in how people come to discover this identity, how the express their identity to their religious community, the beliefs that makeup their identity. Feminism and the importance of the environment are a large part of the identity of the Reclaiming Wiccan community. A common cultural heritage, on the other hand, links the members of the Ásatrú community. Common beliefs are the most important aspect of the TIAMAT-L online Neopagan community as well. Though their identities are made up of different components, Wiccans, Reconstructionist Neopagans, and Online religious worshippers all look to their religions to define who they are. They share their beliefs with others who have come to define their identity in a similar way within their religious community. Some of these religions have accommodated of appropriated certain aspects of their religion in order to keep their religious community together and ensure that their identity was preserved.

Reconstructionist Neopagans usually come to discover their identity and adopt this religion in a very different manner. Reconstructionists focus on historical culture to give them a sense of who they are. Ásatrú, for example, is a Norse Neopaganism. The community of followers of this religion come together because they share a common cultural heritage. They feel that the religion is their own, unlike Christiani

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