Open letter, part 5: my response

So essentially, we're not debating linguistics at all. That is, we both see language as something that changes over time. Which means that what we're discussing is far more pragmatic. Basically, we're asking the question, Is it better for the word Wicca to be taxonomic--used to categorize religious practice by an established set of criteria--or not? If we allow it to become non-taxonomic, then I suppose the word would become something like the word "art," which in the contemporary sense at least, has no boundaries, and can be applied to just about anything. And many have said that as a result "art" is now meaningless.

Now this is a debate that I think could go on forever, because it has been going on forever. It hasn't always been about Wicca, but there has always been some label that has been debated in this way. A word is created, its meaning gradually expands through the various ways the word is used, and, if this expansion isn't stopped, the word becomes "meaningless" and is eventually replaced by a new word or set of words.

So it seems to me that our difference of opinion is this: you refer to yourself as Wiccan and want to lay down boundaries for what it means to be Wiccan, so that that word won't become meaningless and meet its demise. I call myself Wiccan (though not exclusively; I use other labels too), but I'm okay with the idea that that term may sooner or later die and be replaced. To be or not to be? That is the question (at least from the perspective of the word and it's existence). Which is better? It's an ethical question.

What I can readily say is that I can't answer this question. Better for whom/what? I'm not really bothered by the idea of the word passing away, mainly because new words would take its place. But is that for the greater good? While I believe that ultimately it is, I don't think I'm very qualified to argue that, because I'm not an ethical philosopher.

So I have to leave it to anyone reading this to decide what they believe. What I would encourage for them, though, is to read philosophy, from the ancient Greeks right up to the postmodernists, and see where that leads them.

Fiona