For the record, our basic view of
"Celtic" includes what are traditionally called the "Seven
Nations": Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, Isle Of Man and
Galicia and their languages, music, culture, etc. We do also embrace
things that have a Celtic influence, such as bluegrass music. And though
historians seem constantly to be revising the story of the people who once
dominated Western Europe prior to the heyday of the Roman Empire -- aka The
Celts -- we recognize a certain Celtic influence that reaches as far as Turkey
(Galatia, which you may know from the New Testament), Ukraine (Halychyna), and
Iran (Scythia), among others.
At one point during the
conversation, the woman noticed the cross I was wearing and asked if Greg and I
were Christian. When I replied that we were, she nodded to our two hymn
titles (Be Thou My Vision and A Mighty Fortress) and said,
"I thought so," then "How do you justify that with being
Celtic?"
It's not the first time I've been
confronted with the notion that one cannot be both Celtic and Christian.
And though the short answer is that there is absolutely no conflict between the
two, the question does deserve some sort of explanation. I've never seen
the question as a challenge, but rather I've seen the questioner as a seeker --
and yet I've never worked out an honest, concise, and accurate response.
I've been thinking about it,
though. I won't be disingenuous and pretend that I don't understand why
someone would ask such a question. I know that in the minds of many,
Celtic = Pagan. Yes, it's true that the ancient Celts were Pagan -- as
was most of the rest of the world. And it doesn't much matter what
definition of "Pagan" you consider "correct" -- if you
consider Pagan as a catch-all term for polytheistic religions, keep in mind
that in the centuries and millenia before the Christian era, the only
monotheistic religion was Judaism. And if you consider Pagan as a
catch-all term for non-Christian religions, keep in mind that the heyday of the
Celts was in the pre-Christian era.
Though I claim a Celtic ancestry, I
feel no more bound to their ancient religion than I am to any other aspect of
their way of life -- like cooking over an open fire, walking or riding a horse
as my primary mode of transportation ... or living without air
conditioning! In fact, when Christianity was introduced to the Celts,
many of them quickly and enthusiastically embraced the new religion, in part
because many of its tenets were similar to their own beliefs: the belief in an
afterlife, for example.
I'm still working on a nice way to
express my thoughts and beliefs without offending by appearing too glib or too
self-righteous. I would never want to turn someone away because they felt
that I was putting their beliefs down. If anyone has
suggestions/insight/input, please share!
