Please Explain Being Pagan...

[bgruagach]

Originally Posted by 17th Angel

I see so I could make Sheogorath my one god... and I could if I so wished call myself a Pagan..... Interesting... I was sure it meant a multitude of gods not one, or both for that matter..... OH HOW WRONG

Even among polytheists there are many who dedicate to a single deity. Being a polytheist can mean worshipping more than one deity but it doesn't necessarily. You can acknowledge other deities exist without worshipping Them.

And then we get into the varieties of polytheism. Among polytheists there are "hard" polytheists, who believe that different deities are distinct individuals. Then there are the "soft" polytheists, whose belief is summed up as "all gods are one God, all goddesses are one Goddess" and often the God and Goddess are seen as two halves of a single whole. (Wicca itself as just one example does not require either "hard" or "soft" polytheism -- there are Wiccans who are "hard" polytheists and also Wiccans who are "soft" polytheists.)

[17th Angel]

I see, I see. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by bgruagach

It all depends on how you define Pagan, doesn't it. And whether you feel the label suits you or not based on the definitions you've accepted.

I think I'll put a toe in the water and be a weekend Pagan; see what it does for my popularity...

s.

[bgruagach]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

I think I'll put a toe in the water and be a weekend Pagan; see what it does for my popularity...

s.

Fair warning: not many people are very impressed by "weekend" faithful regardless the religion.

[Sunny C.]

Neo-Paganism kind of seems like a game of dress-up for adults. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[path_of_one]

Originally Posted by Sunny C.

Neo-Paganism kind of seems like a game of dress-up for adults. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

How so in comparison to other faiths? What is the difference?

(The anthropologist scratches her head and wonders...)

[Sunny C.]

Oh, I don't know about the comparison thing. I have friends who are Pagan, and then I have friends with a theosophical bent, and ones who are just kind of new age-ish. But I also have friends who are involved in the Society for the Creative Anachronism. They like to dress up like medieval times. Some live that way. I don't see a big difference between them and the others- and people who like to dress up like cowboys and girls on Saturday night and go out two-steppin'. It's all just dress-up for adults like I said. Dressing up in spiffy robes and doing moon ceremonies, or like knights and ladies, or like cowboys, or whatever is fun.

[mee]

THE earliest Christians made every effort to stay free from pagan practices. "Certainly," you might say, "my church does too."
But does it?

You may be surprised to know how many religious celebrations come, not from true Christianity, but from pagan customs

[17th Angel]

Yeah, thanks for that Mee.........

Mee... What do you call the days of the week? I wonder, wonder wonder.... Where the names of the days of the week come from Mee...

Oh... Mee, while you is at it... Your good old founder C T Russell... Interesting fellah wouldn't you say? His Pagan/Egyptian connections that your cul... Sorry religion were based on..... Specially seeing he knew NOTHING of christianity.... The bible.... Was his last resort... What about the earlier WT books? (I own them...) Off the top of my head one I can recall "studies of the scriptures." They have the winged disc's upon their very front covers.... What do you make of this? Also him being a freemason... Interesting... OH what's that on his grave stone? The freemason symbol? Nice..... Right next to a pyramid with a cross upon it... Oh he did love them pyramids didn't he... *giggles like a school girl* Ok... I hate having to do this really, but this is getting tiresome for me... Watchtower... That is Pagan.... Wicca use that in "Guardian of the watchtower" rituals... You say with a high an almighty self righteous smile upon your faces "Oh we don't do Easter, Christmas or Birthdays!! They are bad! They are Pagan..." Fail to mention you participate in pretty much everything else that is Pagan.... Still do marriage right? Marriage oaths? Wedding rings? Where did that come from you non-Pagans you..... Oh I totally understand and feel you when you say "you shouldn't be involved in Pagan traits..." Oh the kettle is calling the teapot black..... Or something to that extent....

Freaking face it! You are just a simple modern religion, like all modern religions... You take bits of the old religions.... Bit of that, bit of this twist that around OH LOOK!! We've found the truth...

That is all...

17







C T Russell
"A truth presented by Satan himself is just as true as a truth stated by God"

-EDIT-

Ok ok…

C T RUSSELL….. Think of him, then lets look at your clubs ‘rules….’

Spiritism must be shunned
Deut. 18:10-12; Gal. 5:19-21; Lev. 19:31
A Christian ought to have no part in interfaith movements
2 Cor. 6:14-17; 11:13-15; Gal. 5:9; Deut. 7:1-5
A Christian should keep separate from world
Jas. 4:4; 1 John 2:15; John 15:19; 17:16
Obey human laws that do not conflict with God's laws
Matt. 22:20, 21; 1 Pet. 2:12; 4:15



Spiritism… Yeah that was done by your founder…. Interfaith? Oh he did that… I know you are doing that right now… But he did it more so A Christian should keep separate from the world…. Did your founder? He went with more laws than just your gods….. You people say to stay clear from people like him… YET YOU FOLLOW HIS RULES?! WTF!?

I apologise... I am taking this thread away from the topic... I shall take my leave.

[mee]

Originally Posted by 17th Angel

Yeah, thanks for that Mee.........

Mee... What do you call the days of the week? I wonder, wonder wonder.... Where the names of the days of the week come from Mee...

Oh... Mee, while you is at it... Your good old founder C T Russell... Interesting fellah wouldn't you say? His Pagan/Egyptian connections that your cul... Sorry religion were based on..... Specially seeing he knew NOTHING of christianity.... The bible.... Was his last resort... What about the earlier WT books? (I own them...) Off the top of my head one I can recall "studies of the scriptures." They have the winged disc's upon their very front covers.... What do you make of this? Also him being a freemason... Interesting... OH what's that on his grave stone? The freemason symbol? Nice..... Right next to a pyramid with a cross upon it... Oh he did love them pyramids didn't he... *giggles like a school girl* Ok... I hate having to do this really, but this is getting tiresome for me... Watchtower... That is Pagan.... Wicca use that in "Guardian of the watchtower" rituals... You say with a high an almighty self righteous smile upon your faces "Oh we don't do Easter, Christmas or Birthdays!! They are bad! They are Pagan..." Fail to mention you participate in pretty much everything else that is Pagan.... Still do marriage right? Marriage oaths? Wedding rings? Where did that come from you non-Pagans you..... Oh I totally understand and feel you when you say "you shouldn't be involved in Pagan traits..." Oh the kettle is calling the teapot black..... Or something to that extent....

Freaking face it! You are just a simple modern religion, like all modern religions... You take bits of the old religions.... Bit of that, bit of this twist that around OH LOOK!! We've found the truth...

That is all...

17







C T Russell
"A truth presented by Satan himself is just as true as a truth stated by God"

food at the right time works wonders matthew 24;45-47 feeding from this channel gives food at just the right time and progression works wonders , and the modern day followers of christ are progressing indeed, but not all are willing to feed from Jesus channel , i am taking in lots of good spiritual food from Jesus channel and casting off pagan things has worked wonders , i cant wait for the next NEW thought , maybe we will have to cast off something else to get even more inline with the true God and his way of doing things. but if we are not taking in this good spiritual food from Jesus , we might get left behind in our accurate knowledge of things , and we could end up having things on our back that the true God has annouched through his channel to discard . thrilling times indeed that we are living in . out with the old and in with the new . nice

[17th Angel]

Do you take in anything said to you?? You are currently practicing Pagan ways... What is your thoughts on this?

[mee]

Originally Posted by 17th Angel

Do you take in anything said to you?? You are currently practicing Pagan ways... What is your thoughts on this?

do you listen to the channel that is making known new thoughts ?
matthew 24;45-47

[17th Angel]

lol I have no idea why I bother.... Nevermind... Flutter off back to fantasy land.

[path_of_one]

Originally Posted by Sunny C.

Oh, I don't know about the comparison thing. I have friends who are Pagan, and then I have friends with a theosophical bent, and ones who are just kind of new age-ish. But I also have friends who are involved in the Society for the Creative Anachronism. They like to dress up like medieval times. Some live that way. I don't see a big difference between them and the others- and people who like to dress up like cowboys and girls on Saturday night and go out two-steppin'. It's all just dress-up for adults like I said. Dressing up in spiffy robes and doing moon ceremonies, or like knights and ladies, or like cowboys, or whatever is fun.

Hmmm... as an anthropologist, I would distinguish between SCA folks and Pagans by asking- is this a religious activity? Religion is certainly in its own category of human behavior as opposed to line-dancing and other hobbies.

It seems a little odd to put Pagan practices in with line-dancing and SCA, while not putting all other religions into that same category, since most religions have distinctive dress. When I go to my Episcopalian church on Sundays, the priests are wearing robes. Are they playing dress up? Or is that just the time-honored appropriate dress for that particular religion? When I put on a cross, is that the same action as putting on any other necklace? It is the perceived sacredness of the items, or their association with sacred activity, that is distinctive.

Furthermore, I know an awful lot of Pagans that do not dress up any different from usual to do ceremony, so I'd hesitate to make dressing up in robes the most salient feature of Paganism. I am myself a Druid (and a Christian) and while I have a robe, it rarely gets worn. It is just not practical (for me) to go hiking five miles to my grove (up in the mountains) in a robe. Nope, I'm always doing ceremony in jeans and tank-tops. LOL Plus, a lot of Pagans prefer nakedness for ritual when they can safely accommodate that- there are a number of reasons this is the case.

In my opinion, when I look at world religions, the various Pagan religions are just different takes on the same human behavior. All religions have some basic elements of human behavior and thought in common, which sets them apart from the mundane and makes them a unique area of study. We might initially find some of the newer or less commonplace religions different and strange, but ultimately if you look at the elements (ritual, sacred stuff and places, meditation, magic, worship/prayer, some sort of expert like priests or shamans, etc.) they're all kind of the same underneath the surface. Possible wild cards that are a bit different are Theravada Buddhism and Confucianism, but the rest are quite similar. The more I've studied religion and human behavior, the more the idea is driven home in my head that there is something ingrained in most people to have this type of behavior that takes part of their life (more or less) and makes it sacred in some way, and generally this deals with divinity in some way. This journey comes out in different clothing, ritual, sacred objects and places, experts, ideas about divinity, etc. based on culture. But underneath those cultural differences, it is, like many other areas of human behavior (having family and social groups, politics/government, etc.) pretty much the same behavior.

[bgruagach]

Regarding the topic of dressing-up, I agree wholeheartedly with what path_of_one said. There are definitely some Pagans who love to dress up for whatever reasons. There are also plenty of people in all other religions who do the same.

If the point is supposed to be about whether some people seem to be involved in a particular religion as a fashion statement rather than out of a deeper commitment, again I'd point out that this happens frequently in probably all religious groups. How many teenagers go to church because of peer pressure or pressure from families, and how many do so out of a genuine commitment? How many religious groups do not have some sort of vestments or dress codes (whether formally or informally stated) which some choose to follow?

Did Madonna wear all that Christian jewelry back in the 1980s and 1990s because of her sincere commitment to the faith or was it merely a fashion statement? What about the teens who copied her style?