Girls who claim they are "Wiccan"

I've always said I'm more pagan than anything - does that make me stupid?

Seriously, Wicca is a recognized religion, it's sort of like a branch of paganism (like Methodists are still Christians.) I agree that most people you hear talk about it just watched Buffy or The Craft one time too many, but the people who you don't hear talk about it are very interesting. I've met a lot of sensible, not-quacklike Wiccans (a few who were male - I wonder what you think of them) and have a few that I still consider something like friends. Very few of them talk about their religious beliefs in 'mixed company' because so many of them are hiding from that stereotype that everyone sees on TV.

Don't Christians cringe when Pat Robertson says something particularly stupid?


EDIT: For the record, I think Wicca/paganism/etc makes just as much SENSE as the next religion. Obviously not as popular, and obviously not as well thought of, but I think you're kidding yourself if you think your religion (whatever it may be) is more SENSIBLE than that of your neighbor. Pagans seek to 'Do no harm' - I think it's a sentimnent that deserves more respect in all religions

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Apr 8 2006, 05:38 AM) [snapback]236725[/snapback]</div>

I remember a whiskey commercial that showed an endless line of beatniks, all with identical haircuts and clothing, and all holding idendical signs which read, "PROTEST AGAINST THE RISING TIDE OF CONFORMITY." I think the desire to conform is natural, and very strong, even when we are conforming to a small, outcast group.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(geologyrox @ Apr 8 2006, 06:13 AM) [snapback]236739[/snapback]</div>

As an atheist, I don't think that any religion makes any sense. However, (for the record) I think that wicca makes a lot more sense than christianity. Wicca teaches respect for the earth, which leads to sustainable technology and lifestyle choices, while christianity teaches that the earth was made for us to exploit it, which leads to wanton destruction of resources for personal profit. (Though it is odd that Jesus, who taught that we should sell everything we own and give the money to the poor, and that we should not hoard treasures on earth, or even have more clothing than we could wear at one time, should have become the emblem of the most virulent advocates of capitalism and personal wealth.)

If we were not such a profoundly stupid society, if the electorate were not brain-dead, anyone advocating Christianity and capitalism in the same breath would be laughed off the stage of public life and be in serious danger of being institutionalized in an insane assylum.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Apr 8 2006, 10:34 AM) [snapback]236817[/snapback]</div>

Maybe the problem is not wiccan chicks at all. Maybe the chick you decided to hang out with was stupid. I tend to lean towards the Gothic and have many friends that do also. Going to industrial/goth/punk cabaret clubs. They are all very nice people and all have good jobs and all that.

To me, allot of your comments seem to be generalizations about groups of people based on experiences with one person. Maybe you just don't like chicks that think for themselves.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Apr 8 2006, 01:42 PM) [snapback]236820[/snapback]</div>

Please admit this is your INTERPRETATION of what Christianity teaches. (and your own personal bias) I persoanlly, have not had my religious leaders say anything of the sort. Has the Pope said this? Name ONE christian preacher that has said this.

Now, if you want to speak about ACTS of a leader...then ALL religions say whatever you want tpo argue. Do no Wiccans drive gas guzzlers? Do no Wiccan refuse to recycle? I can go on!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hawk @ Apr 7 2006, 09:24 PM) [snapback]236589[/snapback]</div>

That might be YOUR definition, but the primary definition of faith is:
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.

The Bible itself defines faith as "the ASSURED expectation of things hoped for, the EVIDENT demonstration of realities, though not beheld".
So, true faith is based on knowledge, therefore it is ASSURED and EVIDENT. Belief in something with no facts is "Credulity", not faith.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(keydiver @ Apr 10 2006, 10:02 AM) [snapback]237540[/snapback]</div>

I got it from websters.

1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Apr 8 2006, 01:42 PM) [snapback]236820[/snapback]</div>

Wow! I must have missed that part of the Bible. Do you have a few verses I can look up?

Good point, but how does that make ALL Christianity bad? Lumping all Christians into one group, just for your convenience to discredit them all with one fell swoop, is plain ignorance on your part. Many Christians try to live by Jesus' counsel to "keep your eye simple", "not using the world to the full". What country would you have us move to?



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hawk @ Apr 10 2006, 01:10 PM) [snapback]237547[/snapback]</div>

I think you need to reread my post. I said that the correct definition, by my viewpoint and the Bible's, is the PRIMARY dictionary defintion. Your definition came in at 2b.
Your initial post asserted that "Faith" only has ONE definition, which, although that would be convenient for you, is wrong. So, would you please lay-off trying to pigeonhole my beliefs now?

 

An interesting site on the power and wealth held by some of the christen elite.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Schmika @ Apr 10 2006, 08:06 AM) [snapback]237492[/snapback]</div>

Not fact, my opinions

It is easy for some one who is not a christen to get this impression. Many of the leaders of the church come across as greedy and power hungry people using the church for there own gain. If you don’t go to church then allot of what you see about it is from the media.

Tele Evangelists give people like myself the impression that the church is about greed and power, not about love and healing. I have many friends that are christens and I know that they do not believe that. There are many good religious leaders in the world. I just don’t understand why more christens don’t speak out against leaders that send the wrong message. That makes me think that a large majority of followers think that Pat Roberts, Jim and Tammy Baker, and George Bush are accurately representing the christen church.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Schmika @ Apr 10 2006, 09:06 AM) [snapback]237492[/snapback]</div>

The concept of Dominion, isn't it? While the Bible may not state it like that, people certainly are willing to. Of course, there's the rub. There are a lot of Christians out that there that just want to worship Jesus. They don't want to be bothered by what the man said or how he conducted himself. That's not all Christians and it's not a phenomenon unique to Christianity.

 

I have a friend who is Wiccan and she tried to explain some of her beliefs to me. I think anyone who isn't Wiccan can understand their religion as much as understanding Hinduism when you're not a Hindu, or Buddhism when you're not a Buddhist. I'm Christian (Lutheran) and there are aspects of Catholicism I don't quite get. Not sure about the differences with Methodists and Baptists either.

The closest I can understand is it is similar to the Native American religions, only it originated in Europe. There is an element of worship and respect of nature, there is also a ying/yang balance element. And there is a Karmic "what goes around comes around" thing. The one thing I got was the rule of three. If you do something bad to someone else it will come back to you three times worse.

They don't believe in hell and they don't believe in Satan. I don't think they believe in a heaven either. I'm not sure about reincarnation.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Apr 8 2006, 02:55 PM) [snapback]236886[/snapback]</div>

You don't happen to be an accountant, do you?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Apr 10 2006, 02:32 PM) [snapback]237636[/snapback]</div>

Ah, an honorary accountant, then.