I would like to start by saying that I do not speak for ADF, I do not, nor have I ever held a position with the authority to speak for the organization.
That said, I have been involved in ADF since the fall of 2005. (I won’t waste space in this post talking about the details of that- you can find that in my about page. Or, it will be once I get it constructed- as you see, Io only just started this blog, and I felt that making this post was a bit more important than blathering on about where I’m involved.) I will add here that I have been a member of ADF’s Hellenic Kin for as long as I’ve been a member of ADF, and I also served as the Kin’s secretary from Decembr 2007-Decembr 2008.
I will additionally state for the sake of this post that I am a devotee of Apollo. I have never referred to any aspect of my religion as “Hellenismos”. I have never called myself a “Hellenic Reconstructionist”. I have performed a few traditional Hellenic rituals at my grove. (I have in the past referred to myself as “somewhat reconstructionist” as my religion, outside of the ADF grove context, is much more recon.)
Enough about my religion.
There has, for some time now, been a group of people who have, at every opportunity, been spreading the idea that ADF’s Hellenic Kin is claiming to practice Hellenismos, and is teaching this to its members.
This is false.
For starters, ADF’s Hellenic Kin does not “teach”. The kin consists of an email list and a page in the members section with rituals in honor of Greek gods- in the ADF ritul format, photos, some ritual phrases, and links to external resources. The email list consists largely of discussions on how to worship Greek gods in the ADF context, how to incorporate traditional Greek elements into ADF’s ritual format, discussion of relevant books, and sundry other related topics. These are discussions between co-religionists. If anyone has been doing any teaching, I’ve not been privy to it in well over three years.
Supposedly members of the Kin believe that they are practicing Hellenic reconstruction. (ADF is recon friendly and there are quite a few members who participate in reconstructionist religious practice to varying degrees- whether one can practice both the ADF religion and a reconstructionist religion legitemately in parallel is a completely different question which I am not addressing right now. For the sake of this post, I am only speaking in the ADF context.) I certainly do not and did not believe that I was practicing Hellenismos and have never encountered anyone who did.
Aside from those who do have outside involvement in reconstructionist practice, many of the members are very explicitly not interested in practicing Hellenic Reconstruction.
In conclusion, one more time, for the record: ADF’s Hellenic Kin does not teach its members that they are practicing Hellenismos in the practice of ADF’s religion. If you have seen this anywhere on the web- especially from anyone who speaks in official capacity for the organization, I want to see it.
Oh, and while we’re at it, it’s “ADF”, not “the ADF”.
