BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Pagan Misunderstanding Paganism

I was just trying make a logical excuse to explain why some christians are the way they are. we are told that any other religions are evil and people NEED to be saved by God (read us)!!! sents I have been posting on this site you would not believe some of the reactions i have goten!!! first people think IM DOING THE LORDS WORK AND SHAREING THE GOOD NEWS (well if you ask for what i believe yes but cram it down someones throat no) then there is the devil is leading me astray and i NEED to stop and get reSAVED. From the age of 4 till i was 20 i asked God to forgive and save me everyday and more then once I think God would strike me dead if i asked on more time just to shut me up so He would not thave to leason to the same prayer topic!!!
anyway thats why i posted. Just thought id give you all a different outlook!!! sorry if ioffened any one!!!

freebubbles... I have to say, I have no idea where you were going with all that.

I'm in the midst of reading a book called MAAT MAGICK, which was written by a woman named Nema. Maat was the Egyptian goddess who was the personification of Truth. I think this book is fascinating and I'm working to get a review of it up very soon.

There's a really interesting statement about humility in it, one that I feel really shows the difference between Christian and Pagan viewpoints.



In many ways, the Pagan and Christian world view are opposites, however in Paganism, duality is already a component of the worldview, which tends to be why Pagans and Neo-Pagans can accept and tolerate Christians, but it seems to be much harder for the Christians to accept or tolerate the Pagans.

I find that in much of the Neo-Pagan world, the phrase "Good Christians" tend to mean those who follow the Christian faith and who are fine with the existence of Pagans, and conversely, "Bad Christians" is a term often used to refer to those who are fundamentalist and who rail against anyone who doesn't believe what they believe. I think it's kind of interesting how Pagans have staked a bit of a claim on the phrase and how they tend to use it.

Having been brought up the daughter and grand-daughter of Southern Baptist Ministers,I understand (firsthand) the Ultra Right Wing Fundalmentalist spin on "spreading the good news".

(Just for the record - thanks to my grandmother's Fam Trad teachings from toddlerhood and her passing on to me her rich legacy, I 'escaped' the fundamentalism many years ago!)

At least in the area where I live, the "Good Christian Man or Woman" label sends up a red flag for me because when someone needs or merits that label, in my personal experience, it usually means that they are something in the area of a 'True Defender of the Faith" - meaning that they rabidly and blindly challenge anything different or spiritually/socially diverse.

Freebubbles2, I took no offense at your post, was just perplexed.
Glad that you seem to be open to other people's ways of belief.....it's a shame that can't be the "good news".

My hope is that you really are as open minded/open hearted as you seem.

In Love and Light - <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />

What a great article. Thanks for posting it. It's so nice to have a forum like this to read and discuss similar beliefs.

Rae, I think Nema has put her finger on it exactly. I also, personally, believe that it is very dangerous to drill a sense of worthlessness (ie, without being saved by god one is "nothing", or - worse - "evil") into children and people as a means of controlling them. I think this has been one cause of a lot of problems, crime, and wars. On one hand you have some people who fear that others will "go to hell" if they don't save them, or that they will get extra heaven points for saving more souls, and in other extreme cases you have people who say "to hell with it - if I'm already "evil" then I'm going to show the world what evil means."

This is why I find Paganism so comforting. We just "are", with no need to "save" ourselves or others. Perhaps that's where some misunderstanding or fear comes in - it is far easier to just be, than it is to try to follow the many and often contradictory rules of trad religions. And they can't have that. So they have to ensure their followers would be too afraid of paganism to go exploring it and accidentally discover the truth about their own religion.

Has anyone been on any of these tours and how did you find their service? Thanks a lot. http://www.neolithictours.com

I somewhat disagree with this statement regarding Paganism. Though saving probably isn't the right word, I feel like through this religion we have a responsibility to better ourselves and take responsibility for our actions. I think the lack of those two things have brought about a lot of crime in more recent years.

Many Christians (or many people in general) have the idea that they or there bad children will be saved. That god (or that nothing is their fault) will take care of them, when one really needs to take care of themselves and their situation instead of relying on someone else to step in. If you are poor and desperate, letting this idea take over in your life while you are on a downward spiral could be a very bad thing.

I think I see this a little differently than you... to me this means that Paganism isn't about where you go when you die, it's about how you live NOW, in the moment, in your day to day life. We aren't trying to "save" our souls.

We definitely have the responsibility you talk about, but its about taking that responsibility in the here and now.

I find that in much of the Neo-Pagan world, the phrase "Good Christians" tend to mean those who follow the Christian faith and who are fine with the existence of Pagans, and conversely, "Bad Christians" is a term often used to refer to those who are fundamentalist and who rail against anyone who doesn't believe what they believe. I think it's kind of interesting how Pagans have staked a bit of a claim on the phrase and how they tend to use it.

I am a bit disturbed by this statement. It is a bit arrogant, don't you think, that Pagans can sit in judgement and make such a broad determination about Christians in general? This would never be tolerated if a Christian made the same kind of sweeping comment.

I, too, never faced the kind of criticism I have faced since writing here until I "went public" with my beliefs.

I just want to be accepted for what I believe, TOO. My experience has been that it is a "crime" for a Christian to go into a Pagan or Wiccan forum and debate religious issues, but I am expected to be tolerant. It's not that I am NOT respectful, I just want the same respect for my views as is expected of me for yours.

Do I think all Pagans/Wiccans or New Agers are damned? I don't know, I'm not God. I know what it says in His Word, but I also know the He says the judgement is the Lord's. Not mine.

I hate being called a "fundie" or "xian" just because I choose to subscribe to the Bible as my SOP for life. I hate being called narrow minded or intolerant because I disagree. I hate being told I am prothelizing when I am offering my perspective.

I hate that the only verse SOME pagans/wiccans know from the Bible is the one about judging others...

I wish that more of us could actually have decent conversations about the differences and the similarities of our spiritual beliefs and how we came to our personal spiritual determination in life. But, I don't think this could ever happen.

I think Paganism is just as misunderstood by Christians as Christianity is misunderstood by Pagans. It's as old as time. I also think the only way this could change is if we came together and decided that religous affiliation does not stop us from being human.