Paganism and Wicca.....

[brow]

thanks for the info kosugi, I wondered how the whole Easter bunny thing came along.. and you basically inferred that Christmas was a pagan holiday and then people changed it to the day to celebrate Christ's birth. What pagan holiday was it before christianity modified it?

 

[iamwiz82]

wiccans *tend* to be pot smoking hippies or unshaven women *shudder*. 99% of the time they are trying to be "different" so they "worship" something that isn't too popular.

 

[The Stigenator]

there is this girl from So.Cal who has run away trying to become a wicca. Now the FBI are after them.. Last known location - Indiana.

 

[Eug]

<< I always find statements like this amusing. Certainly, there were religions or practices which pre-date Christianity; however, you would be hard-pressed to find any consistent practices or beliefs which survived intact throughout that period simply for the fact that record keeping was non-existent. Comparing that disjointed history and calling it a &quot;religion&quot; in the same vein as Christianity, or even more profoundly from a historical perspective, Judiasm, is ludicrous. When you have a book such as the Bible which has shaped the worship of two majors religions (referred to Christianity as a whole, and Judiasm) for 2000 years and more (for Judiasm), it's a whole different animal from the animists who worship rocks. >>

That's a very one-sided view of essentially everything that isn't Christianity (and Judaism) and one that ignores many religions, especially of the far east. Also, it would be simply ignoring the truth to claim that Christianity is unchanged since 2000 years ago.

You're reading too much Xian-centric literature methinks. That's fine, but don't bash other religions you don't know about. I don't know much either, but then again I don't claim to.

 

[AndrewR]

Admittedly, my statement in my first post was from a Euro-centric point of view, since the prevalent focus of most Wiccan and pagan religions I have seen or read about have had such a focus. It was not meant to slight the history or traditions of Asia, which I will admit go quite far back. Since most &quot;occult&quot; (such a silly word in conventional use) items I have seen have focused on Celtic tradition, I was addressing that aspect.

Eug: I'm not bashing anyone's religion, but I am questioning the participation of some people (not here, just in general).

RevVveD1: I talked with someone who did that (the altar) and who referred to their beliefs in much the same manner as what one might term a &quot;paganist&quot;. I am not saying it's prevalent, only that it exists. That was also a joke, BTW.


<< Most of the witches/pagans I know are well out of college. Most of them are in their 30's or 40's. SOme were in college, some not. Most of the ones I know didn't come across paganism until the last 5-10 years.. >>


Most I've seen were in college (past and present). Just stating from experience, as you are.


<< If you would take some time to actually study the religion and look at their ceremonies you would see it is nowhere close to how you describe it. >>

I think part of the problem of misperception may stem from the fact that while there are people who devoutly practice Wiccan or pagan rites, there are those who dabble in it and proclaim themselves to the world. While the first group has the true facts regarding their religion, they do not feel the need to wear it on their breast while the second group, which only involves themselves in the religion out of rebellion or the need to feel &quot;different&quot;, warps the public perception with their own poor knowledge. Given the latter group's initial impetus for becoming involved, they of course will want to tell everyone what (little) they know.

 

[AndrewR]

Follow-up to my last paragraph. It's much the same as when people take an impression of Christians from a loud-mouthed, obnoxious and self-righteous evangelical &quot;Christian&quot; who has taken it upon themselves to convert the &quot;lost sheep&quot;. Or, it's similar to people's impression of Islam being a violent religion because of the activities of extremist Shia practitioners in the Middle East. Those who are familiar with Christianity or with Islam will know that neither is an accurate portrayal of what each religion represents.