Christianity

[NoName]

How do you guys feel about Christains?

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by NoName

How do you guys feel about Christains?

Perhaps a more appropriately worded question might be, what do people think of other people, who happen to be Christian?...

Usually the answer is, "don't know, haven't gotten to know you yet"...

v/r

Q

[NoName]

I dont mean any offence I just never spoken to a Pagan before and was not sure on what they atcully think of us Christians or what they belive. I am sorry if I sounded judge mental.

sorry for my bad spelling

[brucegdc]

Originally Posted by NoName

I dont mean any offence I just never spoken to a Pagan before and was not sure on what they atcully think of us Christians or what they belive. I am sorry if I sounded judge mental.

sorry for my bad spelling

Q got it in one :-) Paganism covers a very broad swath of beliefs, and there's no centralized structure or one belief that all subscribe to, so the answer is... you're people. People as a whole are pretty varied, and I don't know you yet. Some folks are nice, others not nice, and others come banging on our doors trying to sell us their beliefs on nice sunny Sunday afternoons while we're lying around reading books with our furry friends help, or as we're trying to rush out the door to go somewhere. The latter may be invited to join parties & sent home with large bags of squash, invited in for a discussion, or politely turned away depending on the mood of the moment and the amount of time available, at least around our place.

[bgruagach]

I can speak as one individual Pagan.

I've met some wonderful people who are Christians, and also some horrible people who were Christians.

I've also met some wonderful people who are Pagans, and some horrible people who are Pagans.

It's really hard to generalize about a particular group of people regardless what label we are using to differentiate them -- whether by religion, gender, ethnic background, political affiliation, etc. There are really nice and honourable people in any group if you look for them. Just like there are bound to be jerks in any crowd too.

[NoName]

Agen, I mean no offences and I Apoligize if sound like I am acusing you anything, I was told that the Pegan belife was anti-Aberhamic and I know of Pegans that held meetings with the Satanist, I just wanted to know for sure if there was anything that may have sugested that the Pagan religon was, like Satanisit, built be anti-God worshiping. I am really not here to pick fight I am just trying to get to the bottem this thing I am unclear on.

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by NoName

Agen, I mean no offences and I Apoligize if sound like I am acusing you anything, I was told that the Pegan belife was anti-Aberhamic and I know of Pegans that held meetings with the Satanist, I just wanted to know for sure if there was anything that may have sugested that the Pagan religon was, like Satanisit, built be anti-God worshiping. I am really not here to pick fight I am just trying to get to the bottem this thing I am unclear on.

Satanism, is a different belief from various Nature beliefs. Satanism isn't very old either...did you know that?

Wicca, for example, is as old as the hills...well before Christians and their (our) concept of hell ever came into play...

v/r

Q

[bgruagach]

Originally Posted by Quahom1

Satanism, is a different belief from various Nature beliefs. Satanism isn't very old either...did you know that?

Wicca, for example, is as old as the hills...well before Christians and their (our) concept of hell ever came into play...

v/r

Q

Actually that's not exactly true.

The current historical research (accepted by many many Wiccans) indicates that Wicca was really started by a man named Gerald Gardner in the 1950s, maybe going back to the 1940s or possibly late 1930s if we're being really generous.

Wicca is based on ideas and practices that are drawn from a wide variety of sources, many which do trace clearly back thousands of years. Wicca itself as a coherent system though isn't a hundred years old yet.

And if we count people like Sir Francis Dashwood's "hellfire club" (not its actual name, but the name most people today use to refer to it) as being Satanists, then Satanism is clearly older than Wicca because Sir Francis was doing his thing back in the 1700s.

Getting back to NoName's question though about whether Pagans are inherently anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, or anti-Muslim the answer is no. There are certainly some who are but Pagan religions in general are not about being anti-anything. Just like it's not accurate to claim that Christianity is about being anti-Jewish, although there are certainly some anti-Jewish Christians out there.

[NoName]

Thank you for answeing I apoligise aghen if you thougt if I was makeing a judgement.

[stevemb88]

Saitanists aren't necessarily "Anti-God" either. They are useually anti-church and hate how the church treats others and how the church (Catholic) is structured. Although, yes there are anti-God types out there but most "Satanists" live by the motto "do what ever it is that makes you happy" and they dont go make a point that they hate God they just do everything that they can to go against Him.

[Therapon]

Originally Posted by NoName

How do you guys feel about Christains?

My family are active Christians and our conversations about religion are usually quite amicable. I find that Christians are usually misinformed about Paganism and that this is due to a large helping of rhetoric. When I have the opportunity to set the record straight, I find that my explainations are usually well received.

That being said I do believe that Christians as well as other Abrahamics & etc are gravely mistaken about the true nature of religion, which of course I believe to be Polytheistic.

[RubySera_Martin]

I don't know too much on how Pagans feel about Christians but I know how I have felt about Pagans. I thought all Satanist and Pagan groups embraced evil but that is not true. I was on a website around Easter this year where I had a really good conversation with a Pagan about the meaning of Easter. He said it was a Pagan festival thousands of years before Christianity began and that it celebrates the new life of spring. Our lengthy discussions helped me appreciate Easter in a new way. It helped that I had been on the site a long time before our discussions, so I knew he was a person I respected a lot. I have also known a few people who call themselves Pagan and they are some of the best people I have ever known. They were very calm, serene, and contemplative.

NoName, if you are really serious to learn about these things, I learned a great deal on the thread called Luciferianism. I'm not sure in which section it is--possibly Alternative....Okay, I found it. Here it is: Luciferianism

[Blackrose]

Originally Posted by stevemb88

Saitanists aren't necessarily "Anti-God" either. They are useually anti-church and hate how the church treats others and how the church (Catholic) is structured. Although, yes there are anti-God types out there but most "Satanists" live by the motto "do what ever it is that makes you happy" and they dont go make a point that they hate God they just do everything that they can to go against Him.

Actually, I feel Satanism is just not "anti-sacred". Most Satanist see Satan as a symbol rather than a deity. Even those that see Satan as an entity, many of them do not actually worship him, more like identify with him.

Satan comes from the Hebrew ha-satan, which basicly means opposite, opposer, and adversary. You will find most Satanist like playing 'devil's advocate', taking an opposing view to that of society, and are the adversary of anything held up as sacred.

Satanist question the why and wherefore of ALL things. NOTHING is taken on faith, or because it is written in such and such 'holy' book, scriptures, vedas, or what have you. They want the proof, solid proof, before believing anything. 'Sacred cows' are to be torn down and unsacimoniously destroyed.

So, its not so much that they are anti-god, or anti-church. Its just that they want hard proof that its not all BS as they think it is.

[AletheiaRivers]

Originally Posted by Therapon

That being said I do believe that Christians as well as other Abrahamics & etc are gravely mistaken about the true nature of religion, which of course I believe to be Polytheistic.

I'm trying to figure out for sure what you mean by what you've said above.

Are you saying that you are polytheistic and that you think polytheism is true?

Or are you saying that you think all religions are polytheistic?

[JustifiedByFaith]

Originally Posted by bgruagach

I can speak as one individual Pagan.

I've met some wonderful people who are Christians, and also some horrible people who were Christians.

I've also met some wonderful people who are Pagans, and some horrible people who are Pagans.

It's really hard to generalize about a particular group of people regardless what label we are using to differentiate them -- whether by religion, gender, ethnic background, political affiliation, etc. There are really nice and honourable people in any group if you look for them. Just like there are bound to be jerks in any crowd too.

Dear bgruagach,

I like your answer. It really is the truth. We can generalize a group but not have specific defined behaviors, practices or teachings.