A travel to remember

Before we say goodbye and exit the extravaganza of the Gypsy and Traveller world let’s just take a breather and consider the original purpose of this blog.

Can Gypsies and Travellers justify certain traditions and behaviour that seems in such contradiction with being a ‘Christian’?

Well one thing I hope we’ve all learned from our journey is that the answer to this question is certainly not clear-cut. Though certain traditions can be seen as ingrained in the community there will always be disparity, just like we found in Christianity. Nothing is simple.

Maybe the best solution is to argue that Christian traditions and Gypsy and Traveller traditions will always be sew-sawing between compatibility and contradictory.

Certainly I wouldn’t be surprised if there are specific traditions that you see as 100% incompatible with Christianity, as I myself reflected in some of my posts.

But for those of you who read this blog and ended feeling the Gypsy and Traveller community to be completely incompatible with Christianity I have to raise a precaution. Be aware this is a subjective matter and we are ‘outsiders’ - maybe when evaluating others we should always remember to keep looking in the mirror?

A unique religion?

One last point, what became apparent through this blog was that culture and tradition plays a major part in our life, so what does this mean for Gypsy and Traveller religion? Ultimately, doesn’t their own unique history and way of life suggest their own unique form of Christianity, which allows them justification for some of this behaviour? Just like in our culture and religion.  

A scene from Dale Farm eviction earlier this year