Pagans and non-believers.. and any other beliefs!

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
*raises hand* Hope you don't mind... but do you mean the WHOLE Bible... or just specifically the New Testament?? There is quite a lot of difference between the OT (Jewish) God and Christ/NT God... at least in this admittedly no expert pineapple's opinion... and with the massive diffs in the God's there's also some major differences in the 'laws'...

Me myself, looking at Christ... not as a god, or rather demi-god, but just as a man... I think his message was to be peaceful, do unto others, help those who need it, and basically be decent to your own species... and I can respect that attitude... even if I can't understand why the man would want to form a cult that worships him... I can't imagine wanting that kind of attention on me... *shudder* but then I'm an uber clutz who has (no really) walked into doors, tripped over my own feet and COUNTLESS times bonked my head on the ventahood... nope would NOT want anyone, much less an entire world, looking to ME for grace under pressure.

Edit... Moxie I'ma pass that link on to DH... He's the one who actually knows what quantum theory IS... he might really enjoy that.

I mean specifically the commandment - love others as you do yourself. And He didn't form a cult - they followed Him willingly.

They followed Jim Jones willingly, as they did David Coresh, and Warren Jess, Ervil(Evil)LeBaron

 

[Wolfwoman]

Quote:
I mean specifically the commandment - love others as you do yourself. And He didn't form a cult - they followed Him willingly.

They followed Jim Jones willingly, as they did David Coresh, and Warren Jess, Ervil(Evil)LeBaron

I knew that was coming from someone.

I, as a pagan, don't even put Christ in those leagues... actually, I think he also, was a witch. He was head of a coven, with 12 coven members. Why no one else sees this is beyond me

 

[Blackbird]

Well this thread started out rather gloomy! Glad it's a bit happier now!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
They followed Jim Jones willingly, as they did David Coresh, and Warren Jess, Ervil(Evil)LeBaron

I knew that was coming from someone.

I, as a pagan, don't even put Christ in those leagues... actually, I think he also, was a witch. He was head of a coven, with 12 coven members. Why no one else sees this is beyond me

I'll be have for now and come back to this thread tomorrow. My meds have kicked in and I'm not even making sense to myself

 

[Wolfwoman]

Quote:
I knew that was coming from someone.

I, as a pagan, don't even put Christ in those leagues... actually, I think he also, was a witch. He was head of a coven, with 12 coven members. Why no one else sees this is beyond me

I'll be have for now and come back to this thread tomorrow. My meds have kicked in and I'm not even making sense to myself

Nite!

 

[Spookwriter]

I agree with CoyoteMagic. Leave some discussion for tomorrow.
It's 2 in the morning in Spook's World. I hear my blankets calling.

Someone care to post up why Christianity is not considered a cult?
Or why Jesus was not considered as a witch?

Busy tomorrow, but I'll be back.

Spook

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Good things to ponder on, Spook...

 

[Livinzoo]

I wasn't raised in any particular religion. I attended church with friends or family as I chose (didn't start till I was around 9 or 10). I attended more as I got older for the youth group and the trips). I had a bad experience as a child of 15 which really put me off from the christian religion and my father.

My half sister was born 11 years after me. At first I hated having to share my father and not being his only daughter. As the years went on she followed me everywhere when I visited. I was "My Chris" to her. No one else was allowed to call me theirs. I did everything for her when I was visiting. I was the one she first walked to, the one who potty trained her, and the one who got up in the middle of the night with her.

At 5 she was hit and killed by a car. She was hit on a Wednesday. My dad called us on Thursday before school. I tried to go, but was so upset they sent me home. That Friday morning we flew in to see her. She died while we were in the air. That was good Friday. That Easter Sunday we had her funeral. I dyed eggs alone at my grandmas to give me something to do. At that point I realized the holidays are for kids.

After her death I did a lot of reflecting on religion. A few years later my dad said that unless I belong to HIS CHURCH I was never going to go to heaven and see my half sister again. He became a "christian" after her death. I put christian in quotes not to put down the faith but to symbolize that although he said he was one, it was in word only. He still did many unchristian like things.

My sister was raised like me, without religion. Once we asked her who God was and she pondered for a minute and then said Captain Planet. At the time we thought it was funny. Later after learning about paganism I thought about it again and realized "Earth, Wind, Fire, Water and Heart" the powers that captain planet was created from were the 5 points on the pentagram. I also started to realize the people that I met and considered friends were all pagan. This was several different groups of people that didn't even know each other. I realized my beliefs and feels were more aligned in the pagan beliefs than any other.

I also love the fact that pagans don't recruit others. They view all religions as a different paths up the same mountain. And practicing alone or with a group are both accepted.

There is many more things. But this is long enough.

 

[justuschickens59]

Well, I'm a Pagan and have been for many, many years. I was raised in a strict Church of God household. For me, well, I never really believed what I was taught in Sunday School. It never made any sense. I asked a lot of questions and never got answers that made sense....actually, never got an answer at all, except "you must not question God's word." However, what really got me questioning the Christian faith was the way women are viewed and treated in the Bible...and I"m not talking about just the New Testament. I started reading the Old Testament and I was horrified...absolutely horrified by some of the passages in that book. There were a lot of other things along the way that made me really lose complete belief in the Christian faith and that was mostly due to actions of "Christians" themselves. I really started researching. I had always felt such a connection wtih Nature and everying in it, including rocks, trees, plants, animals, etc., so when I started reading about the Wiccan beliefs, I felt an immediate click - not with all of it, but with a lot of it. I have evolved into what I am today. What I worship today is Mother Earth and all Her creatures. I love the freedom of being Pagan, though it is sometimes difficult because I know that I, and I alone, am responsible for any wrong deeds I do and that I will atone for them. We Pagans don't have a scapegoat to blame our wrongdoings on, only ourselves. In all my years as a Christian, I never felt spiritual. Now, I feel spiritual just walking outside. I feel spiritual when I feel the wind, the rain, the sun and the ground beneath my feet. I feel spiritual when I see an ancient tree and colorful flowers, green grass, and plants. I feel spiritual when I see a rabbit scampering across the yard, a deer grazing in the field, bees buzzing around the flowers, and birds soaring in the sky. I love the freedom of believing what I want to believe - not what somebody TELLS me to believe. Living in harmony with the turning of the wheel is just the right path for me.

Somebody asked why Christmas was celebrated on Dec. 25. The reason for this is that when during the Crusades when Christianity invaded Europe and was trying to convert the Pagans, they "invented" Christmas on 12/25 in order to convert the Pagans more easily, as Yule was celebrated on or around 12/21-12/23. Same with Easter....invented to help convert the Pagans, who celebrate Ostara. Same with Candlemas, which the Pagans celebrate and Imbolc. Many of the Christian holidays were "borrowed" from the Pagans and "re-invented" with their own saints/gods, etc.

My family celebrates Yule. We decorate our Yule log and burn it on Yule eve, saving a piece to light the Yule log next year. We give small gifts to friends and family. Thankfully, most Pagans don't feel the need to go to such extremes as to go hundreds of dollars in debt to buy out entire stores for Yule. We also usually do a full out ritual. RItual is always done before the feast. We also have mead....lots and lots of mead. Hubby makes our mead in many flavors and it is wonderful. He's always the hit of the party when he brings along some of his mead. Feasting is a VERY important part of the Pagan tradition. As somebody mentioned here, Pagans are ALWAYS up for a feast any time, any place. We usually have Wassail, Goose, winter veggies, and fruit. Homemade grain bread is always on the table. I fix a delicious spicy pumpkin or butternut squash soup that is to die for.

Yule is a magical time to Pagans...but then again, every day is magical to Pagans

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

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But you get a minus for no recipes. I mean REALLY??

Ok why am I on your awesome people list. Because I know where traditions come from?

No recipes here either. For Solstice, I will make my own noodle soup from scratch with hand-rolled noodles (no recipe for that--it's all from 'feel'), bake bread, then serve as we watch our Yule log burn. Oh, and this is the only meal of the year that I put candles on the table. During Chanukah we also light candles, but they are not on the supper table. No big fuss. I really don't care for fuss. The two of us spend a quiet evening around the fire.

Rusty