National Ritual Celebration Week
 

For those of y'all who don't go on FaceBook much, this was posted:

We are pleased to announce Alpha Delta Pi's participation in the inaugural National Ritual Celebration Week. The week will take place March 1-7, 2011. For more information on this week, please click on the link below.

ADPi - Events
www.alphadeltapi.org

National Ritual Celebration Week
Grand Council is pleased to announce Alpha Delta Pi’s participation in the inaugural National Ritual Celebration Week. The week, which will be observed March 1-7, 2011 will reflect on our sorority’s ritual and will promote awareness of all Greek organizations’ ritual.

There's more on the ADPi site. Seems that Phi Mu started this (go, Macon Magnolias!), and I think it's a great idea. Maybe we should celebrate right in our Forum this week, too! It would start this Tuesday, March 1st. Anyone else up for it?

And of course, the key word will be DISCRETION!!!!!

I.. don't get the point of this actually. I mean... we're supposed to celebrate and promote awareness of the things we specifically have promised not to discuss. I don't get it.

Sorry for the forum crash, realized it post-posting

I'm so glad you posted this honeychile! I think NRCW is a great idea and a positive way to promote fraternities and sororities as values based organizations.

@Drole: It's supposed to be more about taking a moment to recognize and appreciate Ritual within your own membership, and on campus to celebrate our shared fraternal values.

For example, my Order of Omega chapter is sponsoring NRCW here by doing things like having a Ritual reaffirmation pledge for members to sign, displaying posters of common values and listing the organizations that cherish them, and producing a video of members talking about what their organizations values mean to them.

Sorry for the crash.

I think this is a wonderful idea. Perhaps not so much the idea of "promoting" secrets, but more of really taking some time to live your ritual.

Maybe it's not too much of a crash since Sigma Kappa seems to be joining in as well. :D

I'm sure no one is considering promoting secrets -- I assume the idea is more for individuals and chapters to focus on their own rituals and for the Greek community to emphasize that we all have ideals and value that we cherish and try to live by.

As honeychile said, Phi Mu came up with this idea. Here is a page at their website with information, including resources and particiapting groups and individuals. An interesting idea.

Tri Sigma is also participating in this. An interesting thing that we did at the last Panhellenic meeting was that we explained the meaning of the National Panhellenic Conference crest as well as we went around explaining what our sorority meant to us. It was a group with representatives from the 19 NPC chapters as well as our three associate chapters and it was just so cool to realize that all of our sisterhoods are special, meaningful, and important to us in many of the same ways.

I'm not really that down with this, because I think that a lot of rituals are outdated, in that they are too religious for the increasing diversity of their orgs. I think the open creeds/symphonies/what have you of many orgs better represents what they stand for.

This makes more sense, what didn't make sense was the "promoting awareness of all Greek org's rituals." Still, not something I'm particularly excited about, nor do I think that 'celebrating' it would go well here on GC. We really can't talk about the rituals themselves, most if not all of us feel something generally positive about our rituals but can't discuss anything in more than the most vague of terms.

Makes sense within a chapter, or an org, but not as something done with 'other' people.

How would you know this unless you are a ritual collector?

Know what? That the vast majority of rituals have Christian origins? I didn't think that was any sort of secret.

Yeah, but to jump from the knowledge that many orgs have Christian basis to "I think that a lot of rituals are outdated, in that they are too religious for the increasing diversity of their orgs" implies that you know what specifically is contained in other org's rituals. Being based on religion and being too religious are two very different things.

So there's no confusion - this is a serious question, not a taunting one.

Do you really feel that the Christian origins of your Ritual are so pervasive that the other values of your organization do not transcend them? Furthermore, are you in opposition to them simply because they are Christian, or because you are in conflict with them message of them?

I recommend only speaking on your own organization's ritual.

With that said, I really don't get the point of National Ritual Celebration Week when done across organizations. This celebration week makes sense within organization, but not across organizations.

This isn't something that can be answered by members of an organization without breaking ritual. Not easily. But I wouldn't be surprised if non-Christians felt uncomfortable in some of our organizations because of the ritual, no matter how easy or hard it is to dodge around specifics or promises or how you can support the values over the Christian origins or current presentations. I can say that pretty comfortably just based on the comments made on this board across GLOs.

Whether that's a problem or not depends on your organization and its members.

What I am saying is that many of the (NPC) orgs have open mottos/creeds/whatevers that reflect their core beliefs. For example, Phi Mu: love, honor, truth. Alpha Chi Omega: love, unselfishness, sincerity. Delta Delta Delta: truth, self-sacrifice, friendship. I think that these core values are very important, and our members should strive to live by them. They are, in my opinion, more important than some specific words in a book.

It's harder to answer the second part of your question. I am not against participating in a ritual based on Christian scripture, as I think that there is value in the historical significance of continuing a tradition set down by our founders. However, even many of the open mottos reference God in a way that I personally find to be exclusive.

So basically, what I'm trying to say, is that I think values are important, and I think historical continuity is important, but the religious aspect makes me uncomfortable, and I think that a week set aside to "reflect on ritual" risks elevating the latter.

Okay, let me put it a different way...if your ritual is based in Christian scripture, it probably makes non-Christians in your org uncomfortable, to varying degrees. I don't consider it a positive thing, then, having a week dedicated to reflecting on ritual. Instead, as I explain better above, I think it would be more productive to reflect on the core values of the org, or the NPC core values, or whatever else.

The problem with addressing any group other than your own is that you don't know if AChiO and Tri Delta have any specifically religious undertones in their rituals. They may include the ideals of their creeds very well in their rituals. Don't speak for them.

Having a Christian basis for ritual doesn't have to be a factor to exclude people. The level of biblical involvement may vary widely. I've actually read several rituals. They are quite beautiful, and so far, I haven't come across a single one that includes a significant amount of biblical content. They may have Christian values, but there are values that many non Christian people hold in common with Christians that you find in the Christian tradition.

If there is a ritual out there that demands you recognize Jesus as your savior or requires you to take communion, etc, then I would have a problem. And if you are wondering, I would count myself as extremely non-religious.

I don't understand how you talk about having read several rituals, and then tell me that there is no way I could know what is in someone else's ritual.

Well, you never claimed to have read any so...

I get what your saying, I just don't think discomfort equals outdated.

Basically, one of the most important realizations for fraternity and sorority members is the acknowledgment that their organization is larger than themselves. Part of both the humility and pride of being part of such a vast and meaningful organization is sacrificing a little bit of yourself for the common good. If you can't make sacrifices for those you care about you (the general you) are just not fit for fraternity/sorority life. One member's occasional discomfort is not more important that the organization as a whole.

From a minority person's standpoint, that discomfort is just one more in a long list of discomforts that they're expected to 'deal with' throughout their everyday lives. Newspapers assume the 'standard' person is white and only identify someone by race if the person is non-white. Co-workers assume that everyone's Christian and say a very specifically Christian prayer before a holiday meal. It gets wearing on a person when it's always "them" who is expected to be humble for the whole.

I really don't disagree that ultimately it's worth it for some people, but I don't think it's an issue that can be swept away as humility vs. pride. And I think that her opinions on whether or not ritual is outdated is not because of discomfort but because of the same thing that causes the discomfort, if I'm reading her right. In her description they're both symptoms of the same problem, not one caused by the other.

Again, the inability to talk in specifics makes this a pretty pointless discussion and only enhances my opinion that any sort of concerted effort among GLOs to 'recognize ritual' is fruitless. We should support our ritual - or work from within to change it if we so desire - but we can't really talk about things otherwise.

Exactly. I still won't speak for the groups that I have read, nor will I specifically say which rituals I have read. All I will say is that AOII's ritual has meaning now as it did when it was written, and can speak to our members who are Christian, non-Christian or even atheist. My whole point is that generalizations will get you in trouble. You have specific knowledge ONLY of the rituals you have read. I do agree with Drole, however, that celebrating ritual across orgs is a bit awkward. But, to each her own.

Truedat.

And even if she had, reading other orgs' rituals doesn't mean one should speak on other orgs' rituals in such general conversation. Both DeltaBetaBaby and AOII Angel need to be careful as to not seem as though they are particularly well-informed or authorities on rituals other than their own.

Plenty of people have access to GLOs' rituals and don't read them or read them but you would never know because they don't discuss them, even vaguely. I can access rituals for other NPHC orgs but even reading them doesn't mean much beyond the words on the paper. Since there are nonChristian NPHCers, as well as Christian NPHCers who have denounced because they feel that Greekdom is the antiChrist, there is something to be said for what's embedded in "ritual" and beyond the words. I don't know about other GLOs but Delta is to be taken as a whole and not picked a part because someone has read some document (which isn't "secret" because secrets aren't put in print and distributed in paper form).

See above. I completely agree.

You are right, I over-stepped in my original post. That said, I consider it common knowledge that the ritual of most NPC orgs is based in Christian scripture. In fact, the ones that aren't generally go out of their way to promote that about themselves.

My main point, however, is that we should celebrate the values of our orgs (and perhaps the common values across orgs) above celebrating a specific block of text or handshake or sequinned leggings or anything else. I'm just not feeling National Ritual Week.

Understanding the limitations of this topic, I would argue that most GLOs try to be accommodating to this discomfort by generally focusing more on the values based sentiment of Ritual in membership education, resources, publications, etc. As long as we emphasize the values inherent in our rituals we should be able to move on from things that are maybe less inclusive.

It's probably worth saying that I feel my Ritual is very inclusive (a valid argument could be made to call it secular, though I would call it interfaith) so I may not fully understand the breadth of these feelings.

"Common knowledge" among those who are familiar with that aspect of NPC orgs. It wasn't common knowledge to me until I read your post. :)

Is it safe to assume that those that aren't based on Christian principles/scripture are the ones that promote that about themselves? You all would know more than I would.

Then organize something with your sorority to do so. Some other organizations, mine included, are already doing that at the chapter, regional, and national levels.

Be sure to rock the sequined leggings when you contact your NHQ. :p

Neither am I but none of our opinions really matter. LOL.

@ the bolded: I have seen some of those people and WOW are they um... "special."
WTF WHY ARE YOU RELEASING OUR SECRETS!!!!!!!111!!11!
And it may be that your ritual is indeed fairly inclusive. Many, though not all, of our rituals were written by white protestant women (NPC) so it's not surprising that themes that white protestant women can relate to are prevalent throughout. Additionally, women from outside that specific experience were exposed to the primarily white, protestant culture of universities and would also have understood or used many of the same themes or references.

So... what does it mean? YMMV basically :p See, it's so fruitless!

It's been discussed on GC before in the vaguest of vague terms. If you put a lot of the posts together you can see a pattern.

Probably to some extent, but not necessarily universally.

That sounds like the "founded in Christian principles" debates in the NPHC. The very existence of a debate says to me that it's all in the eye of the beholder. If the majority of the membership considers itself Christian, it would be the case that people interpret everything to be Christian-based even when there is no reference to Jesus, Bible Scriptures, etc.

Yeah, so is this another instance of "only speak for your own ritual?" LOL.

They don't bother me as long as they denounce/depledge and disappear. Don't waste time bad mouthing their GLO and Greekdom, in general. Don't contact he-who-shall-not-be-named so you can share your story and post rituals. Just go away. I know people who depledged and just went away. There is a God. Some of them not only lost Frat and/or Sorors but also lost friends. But, oh well.

The funny thing is that apparently even organizations that some consider "founded on Christian principles" aren't Christian enough for the Archangels that God sends to colleges and universities. :D

I think it's more explicit based purely on the number of people who make references to the "Love is patient, love is kind" sections of Corinthians as a "oh look at this SPECIAL reading we're having at my wedding since i'm an XYZ" sort of thing. That said, it's only speculation. I haven't seen it as debate so much as danced around due to don'ttalkaboutritual. If I know someone who is non-Christian is looking at NPC sororities or my sorority specifically I'll usually say something about it to them. I'm thinking of the JessicaSideways thread in the limited number of posts where we took her seriously.

That said, of course, one doesn't know unless one's in that org.

Yep, pretty much ;)

I don't know why someone who objects to swearing oaths would join an organization that swears oaths (or makes promises or whatever) in the first place. :rolleyes:

For many of us, there are no distinctions between celebrating the values of our organizations and celebrating our rituals. Ritual is more, much more than a grip or sign, or even sequined leggings. It is the vessel that holds the values we cherish and enables us to pass them along to the next generation. Sure, secret handshakes and symbols are fun, but if we stop at the fun and fail to see what they really mean, what they remind us of and point us to, we're missing the point. And if we think of our rituals as "a specific block of text," then I fear we're not internalizing the message those words contain at all.


This seems like a good time to post this:

"The Secret Thoughts of a Ritual" -- Edward M. King (Sigma Chi). I really think this is worth reading frequently.

I am so very grateful for the ritual I share with my brothers and the bond it creates among us. I am so very grateful for those who wrote it -- for the care and devotion they put into crafting not just a meaningful and beautiful document but a deeply meaningful and beautiful experience. I am so very grateful for those in our history who have worked to help us understand and appreciate the gift we have in our ritual. I am so very grateful for the guide the ritual has been for me and continues to be for me as I strive to live by the values it champions. And I am glad to know that those in other fraternities and sororities have similiar reasons to be equally grateful for their own rituals.

It is with this gratitude that I will mark National Ritual Celebration Week.

@MysticCat, you made me cry.

Thanks, MysticCat! Cue...

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...GAtJo0yUSuf-Yw

^^^*waves* missed you, DrPhil. Nice to see you on the board again.

QFT

I was going to say something along these lines. My ritual is one that I think of everyday, because the values it exposes are ones that are worth living.

At the same time, you're still celebrating beyond "a block of text or handshake...." You have been organizationally socialized such that you may not walk around everyday reciting the text; and you don't have to blatantly say "aha, that reminds me of this..." all of the time.

I gather that is what DeltaBetaBaby is talking about. That's one of the perils of speaking generally about topics that may or may not be conducive to that. :)

Just one more person's take on it... (from our friends at Phired Up..)

http://www.phiredup.com/index.php?op...=1236&Itemid=2