Quote:
Originally posted by sugar and spice
But in order for this to be true, I think we would need to make our rituals public.
You can't really say, "Don't join my organization if you don't agree with the principles that it was founded upon . . . but I can't tell what those principles are until after you join."
As Kath said earlier, in many cases there are clues, but you can't make assumptions. I didn't realize how common religion in ritual was until a while after my initiation. There are a lot of students who join sororities or fraternities without even understanding that they involve ritual at all!
I think that, generally speaking, we must either:
1) make it more clear that our rituals do involve Christianity or religious references or Judaism or whatever your particular ritual involves -- many national websites, pledge manuals, etc. downplay this because they don't want to scare off potential rushees
2) offer a modified non-religious version of the ritual for those who object
or 3) accept that these kinds of things will happen and that we will probably lose some potential members (or, like in this case, initiated members) because of it.
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I mostly agree with you. I would never, ever consider #2 to be acceptable (although I cannot speak for all of Phi Mu). But I feel that we cover our bases in #1, and I can't imagine that others don't! Before pledging AND Initiation, I (as the New Mem. Educator) ask our Phis if they feel comfortable placing their hand on a Bible and making references to God. Although I do not want to let them know what our ritual is, I don't see a problem with letting them know that it is religious with a Christian slant.
I think it would be inappropriate to talk about those types of things during Recruitment, but I think the dicussion should have a definite place in the new member period, particularly before they are initiated. If we are going to lose new members, I'd rather lose them BEFORE Initiation, then afterward in a situation like this.