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Vampire Community: Community-Safety Issues

home > vampirism articles > Community - Safety Issues

Community - Safety Issues

by Lumina

Preface: I want to thank all of the members of Haven Mercury for their insightful input on this article, especially Chaos who edited this article for me.

I am sure you have probably asked yourself “In the 21st century, an age of technology and social diversity, why does it seem like our religious and spiritual diversity seems to be stuck somewhere in the 17th century?” This question poses a very interesting point. It is known that if you were accused of being a “witch” in the 17th or 18th centuries that your life was inevitably doomed despite the actual validity of those claims. In the 21st century, society seems to do the same thing, sands hanging, burning, torturing or quartering. I believe that we really need to take a step back and ask ourselves “why?”

It is true that society as a whole has been splitting itself continuously into different spiritual and religious “sects.” The more “sects” the more “diversity...” That is true to a degree, however there still seems to be one underlying factor to these splits; they are usually still based off of an almost identical, if not extremely similar belief structure. I believe it is that factor which makes it “socially OK” to belong to that group, organization, spiritual path, or religion. I ask the question, “why?” Why is it OK to belong to a main-stream structure rather than a “minority” structure?

This is due in part to group mentality. People have always banded together, in the beginning for survival. Now people band together for comfort. This comfort is what drives our society. Look at your own actions; you most likely stumbled onto this site to find people with similar beliefs. So fundamentally, people seek others to bring comfort to themselves.

Unfortunately, the opposite of comfort is discomfort. So when a larger group stumbles across a smaller unknown group it hits a very primordial cord, “These people are different.” I am sure that like most of us, you would like to think you are different. But ask yourself, “Would I feel comfortable in a business meeting, a hard rock concert, a gay bar, or a Catholic Mass?” In all likelihood, one of these scenarios will bring you some discomfort. Why, it is different that what makes you uncomfortable.

The difference is how people handle this discomfort. People who can halt their knee jerk reaction and learn about this new group slowly become comfortable. Those people who react by simply trying to remove that which causes them pain can go to great destructive lengths to remove the pain. They might call them names, burn their religious symbols, keep them from certain jobs, or even end their lives.

Granted that we live in the 21st century and thankfully we cannot be legally executed for what we believe in. However, just because we cannot be “legally” executed for what we believe in does not mean that there aren’t people out there willing to kill you, and it does not mean that you cannot be psychologically and emotionally hurt. These things CAN happen and DO happen on an every day basis. Because of socially un-accepting people in the world, we as a “minority” constantly have to watch our backs in hopes that we are not the next target for some person with a mission.

It truly is a sad world we live in. We have to watch ourselves. Even sadder we have to screen those who could potentially cause us not only physical, but emotional and psychological strife. This screening process often limits our ability to meet with new people and exchange ideas. This barrier often causes us to think in terms of “I” or “our group” instead of thinking in terms of humanity, or extended family.

The main point I suppose is the fact that everywhere you go, there is always going to be some person who just does not understand you, your beliefs, your values etc and most of the time these people do not want to understand or accept these facts, simply because it causes them discomfort. I am not saying that just because you believe in something different that you will be killed, what I am trying to say is, regardless of where our culture is at now, there is still going to be an underlying animosity between religious and spiritual beliefs.

The only course of action is to protect you and your way of life. This does not mean that staying hidden or even tolerating the hostility is the only course of action. Since intolerance is fundamentally caused by fear, this fear is what must be fought. I do not suggest a grand statement to the world, since this has been met with countless acts of cruelty. Instead look for the smaller battles, the neighbor or the coworker. Do not tell them all your secrets or your beliefs; instead help them to understand what they now fear. And maybe, if you are lucky, some of your fears will be eased in the exchange.

I may not agree with you on something, and you may not agree with me, however I believe that we can both agree on one thing; the need to protect yourself from potential danger for everyone’s well-being, especially your own. Haven Mercury will continue to produce articles on practical safety and education methods. We hope these will make the world a little more comfortable with everyone.

This article is copyright © its original author Lumina. Please do not redistribute or reproduce without the expressed permission of the author.

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