Goddess bless the rebels!

My kids are rebellious. And I am happy about it. They have their own minds; they like to make decisions for themselves; and they question my rationale on a regular basis. This makes day-to-day life more complicated and frustrating, but rebellion is a family value in my house. Almost every great religion was formed by a rebel. This country was founded by rebels. And most innovations in almost any field are the result of people who were not satisfied with the status quo and would not be appeased or cowed. Ghandi was a rebel, as was Jesus. Most of the great Hebrew prophets we read about in the Bible literally antagonized the kings of their day; even the great King David was read the riot act by Nathan when he stepped out of line. Moses led a great rebellion against the Egyptians. The stories go on and on. Yet, today, even questioning the dictates of the 'Church' or its leaders is seen as nearly blasphemous. And pagans are not immune to this trend in human nature. Go onto any occult forum or Celtic community online and start questioning the rationale or the beliefs of others and just watch the firestorm. Mention sometime that you are Wiccan but include Jesus in your pantheon, I dare ya. Or, even more sadly, mention that you are pagan AND Republican. Now, I don't see how a conscientious pagan could be a devout Republican, but that is not my business. For such a variety of traditions without a central, sacred text to base all our beliefs in, pagans can be a dogmatic bunch sometimes. I hope to see a swelling movement of rebellion in our society, not for the sake of rebelling, but for the purpose of free thought, independence, and new ideas. Even if my kids insist on re-negotiating their bedtime at every opportunity, lol.