Ask a pagan

[Lokadottir]

Is that why you come to Catholic Answers, Kallisto? To learn more about Christianity? I’m surprised.

Since joining the forum five months ago, you’ve posted in 3-4 threads - all of them related to paganism and all of them giving you the opportunity to share what you believe with others.

Funny, I don’t see you asking too many questions about what it is that Catholics actually believe about the Virgin Birth of Jesus or why it was necessary for God to become a man and die upon a cross for the sins of the world, etc. If you WERE seeking to “learn more about Christianity”, many of us would be more than happy to answer your questions quite charitably.

But that’s not really why you’re here, is it? :nope:

No one here is "hate filled’, so don’t try to silence us by making us feel guilty about speaking plainly.

Well I try to make others educated because of things like:

abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_pasco/pagan-witch-says-her-home-was-targeted (she seems a little new-agey for me but still)

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067945/Attack-ancient-pagan-stone-circle-investigated-police-fears-religious-hate-crime.html

theguardian.com/uk/2006/nov/04/religion.world (this one specifically concerns catholics)

articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/26/nation/la-na-air-force-pagans-20111127

Again I’ve learned lots about Catholic theology.

 

[Skadi]

I do not get the point of inter-faith argument or debate. It all boils down to this:

We believe we are right.
You believe you are right.
We can’t prove we are right.
You can’t prove you are right.

What’s the point?

It’s obvious that you aren’t going to convince us we are wrong. We aren’t going to convince you that you are wrong. It’s a waste of time.

This thread is nothing but this:

Pagans trying to poke holes in Catholic theology.
Catholics trying to convince pagans that they are being led astray by lies of Satan.

In the end it just dissolves into personal attacks.

I see nothing being gained from this discussion.

Unfortunately it tends to degrade to that. but I have seen some good discussions. and even if it breaks down, i personally find it great debate practice. Randy is a wonderful verbal sparing partner

 

[Skadi]

When you said Loki the first thing I thought of was Avengers If I recall correctly Loki is the brother of Thor and he is a very mischievous god. What’s a no? I have to say that I am dismayed that you “think” Loki is the brother of Thor but you don’t know for sure. No offense, but the fact that the movie Avengers had a role in the god you worship leads me to the conclusion that you’re confused, lost, full of doubt, and going through an identity crisis phase like all teenagers do. We all are led astray and then the Shepard guides us back. Speaking from personal experience, I have a feeling that as you get older, you will be drawn back to Catholicism. I was. And let me tell you, there was a phase of my life were I wanted nothing to do with God. But in his mercy and loving kindness He has guided me back to the fold.

Love that movie, but gods is it inaccurate. Loki is not Thors brother, even via adoption. Technically speaking he is not even a god. The gods are a race of beings, and Loki is not one of them, he is a Fire Jotun, a fire giant. He is also much less malevolent n the Sagas, sure he kills some people and causes a ton of chaos, but he also fixed his problems and helps the gods at times. The guy literally just wants to laugh and watch the world burn. He int good or evil, he is chaos.

 

[Lokadottir]

Love that movie, but gods is it inaccurate. Loki is not Thors brother, even via adoption. Technically speaking he is not even a god. The gods are a race of beings, and Loki is not one of them, he is a Fire Jotun, a fire giant. He is also much less malevolent n the Sagas, sure he kills some people and causes a ton of chaos, but he also fixed his problems and helps the gods at times. The guy literally just wants to laugh and watch the world burn. He int good or evil, he is chaos.

I’d argue change (little different)
Also there are plenty part Jotuns and Jotun brides(consorts at least) amongst the Aesir I never understood why that would rule him out when he is Odin’s blood brother.

 

[Skadi]

Well I try to make others educated because of things like:

abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_pasco/pagan-witch-says-her-home-was-targeted (she seems a little new-agey for me but still)

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067945/Attack-ancient-pagan-stone-circle-investigated-police-fears-religious-hate-crime.html

theguardian.com/uk/2006/nov/04/religion.world (this one specifically concerns catholics)

articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/26/nation/la-na-air-force-pagans-20111127

Again I’ve learned lots about Catholic theology.

Your forgetting the most terrifying one of all, in 99 when the evangelicals in Texas learned there was a Wiccan coven at Ft. Hood and there were US senators calling for it to be banned by the military and equating it to satanism. This was said and I quote-

“Please stop this nonsense now,” Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr. (R-Ga.) wrote to Lt. Gen. Leon S. Leponte, the commanding officer of Fort Hood. “What’s next? Will armored divisions be forced to travel with sacrificial animals for Satanic rituals? Will Rastafarians demand the inclusion of ritualistic marijuana cigarettes in their rations?”

That a American congressman would say something like that… disgusting.

 

[Skadi]

I’d argue change (little different)
Also there are plenty part Jotuns and Jotun brides(consorts at least) amongst the Aesir I never understood why that would rule him out when he is Odin’s blood brother.

Exactly, this is why I have never understood the Aryan attachment to Germanic Paganism. I mean there is not one word of writing supporting racism, and the Aesir intermarry with the Vanir and even the Jotunar throughout the Sagas.

 

[Lokadottir]

Exactly, this is why I have never understood the Aryan attachment to Germanic Paganism. I mean there is not one word of writing supporting racism, and the Aesir intermarry with the Vanir and even the Jotunar throughout the Sagas.

Because its a religious excuse to be a jerk!

 

[Lokadottir]

Your forgetting the most terrifying one of all, in 99 when the evangelicals in Texas learned there was a Wiccan coven at Ft. Hood and there were US senators calling for it to be banned by the military and equating it to satanism. This was said and I quote-

“Please stop this nonsense now,” Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr. (R-Ga.) wrote to Lt. Gen. Leon S. Leponte, the commanding officer of Fort Hood. “What’s next? Will armored divisions be forced to travel with sacrificial animals for Satanic rituals? Will Rastafarians demand the inclusion of ritualistic marijuana cigarettes in their rations?”

That a American congressman would say something like that… disgusting.

Yeah that one is a jem. (there is a distinct lack of barfy faces amongst the smilies)
That was just some of the stuff when I typed “Pagan attacked” on google (but they’re all credible newspapers!)

 

[Randy_Carson]

Why are you surprised?

Okay, you got me. I was not really surprised.

Firstly, I’m quite familiar with Catholicism. Secondly, I’m interested in various beliefs. Listening to adherents discuss their religion does not necessitate chiming in as well in order to learn. In fact there are a few people who would do well to yap less and listen more. If I had a question that somehow had never been asked before, I would ask it. However** there is this very clever and nifty feature called “Search” on the forum that produces a wealth of pre-existing information**. As you might have noticed, this board is extensive and a wide range of questions have been discussed, multiple times. Try it sometime.

After being a member here since 2006, I have become acquainted with many of the forums’ features and functions, but thanks.

So, you (not ‘you’ personally per se) have already answered various questions, by me taking the time to read.

Great.

So keep your snarky small minded assumptions to yourself, though you just supported my previous comment so thanks.

And this is where we differ. You see, you want to be able to shut a Christian up by accusing him or her of bigotry or being “hate-filled” or “snarky” when, in fact, you simply don’t want to hear what that person has to say.

Jimmy Akin, of Catholic Answers, wrote of this phenomenon:

In the first place, there is a difference between disagreement and hatred. I may disagree with someone about a particular matter without hating him. I may think that chocolate tastes better than vanilla, that Candidate X should be supported rather than Candidate Y, that a particular narcotic ought to be illegal, that a particular legal policy is a bad one, or any number of other subjects, yet I may not have the slightest hatred on any of these matters.

Hatred is rooted in a particular emotion–anger–that is carried to an extreme. I may not feel any anger at all on any of these issues, much less the kind of extreme anger that would qualify as hatred.

That’s why I say a person making the kind of charges only may be hateful. Whether they are depends on whether they have the particular kind of anger that qualifies as hatred. They may or they may not. I’m not going to make a blanket charge on this point.

And neither should they.

The take-home point for the reader is that just because you disagree with someone, whether it is on the subject of homosexual “marriage” or any other, doesn’t automatically make you a hater.

You may be one–if you harbor actual hatred. But if you don’t, you aren’t. It’s as simple as that.

The charge that you are may be a convenient weapon–for purposes of shutting down discussion, scaring you away from a subject, or wounding your emotionally or socially (or even professionally and economically). And an unscrupulous person may even use the charge as a weapon to achieve one or more of those ends. But that doesn’t make the charge true.

Read more: ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/are-you-a-hater-or-a-bigot-or-are-you-just-intolerant#ixzz2hvKY9Fvr

 

[Lokadottir]

Okay, you got me. I was not really surprised.

After being a member here since 2006, I have become acquainted with many of the forums’ features and functions, but thanks.

Great.

And this is where we differ. You see, you want to be able to shut a Christian up by accusing him or her of bigotry or being “hate-filled” or “snarky” when, in fact, you simply don’t want to hear what that person has to say.

Jimmy Akin, of Catholic Answers, wrote of this phenomenon:

In the first place, there is a difference between disagreement and hatred. I may disagree with someone about a particular matter without hating him. I may think that chocolate tastes better than vanilla, that Candidate X should be supported rather than Candidate Y, that a particular narcotic ought to be illegal, that a particular legal policy is a bad one, or any number of other subjects, yet I may not have the slightest hatred on any of these matters.

Hatred is rooted in a particular emotion–anger–that is carried to an extreme. I may not feel any anger at all on any of these issues, much less the kind of extreme anger that would qualify as hatred.

That’s why I say a person making the kind of charges only may be hateful. Whether they are depends on whether they have the particular kind of anger that qualifies as hatred. They may or they may not. I’m not going to make a blanket charge on this point.

And neither should they.

The take-home point for the reader is that just because you disagree with someone, whether it is on the subject of homosexual “marriage” or any other, doesn’t automatically make you a hater.

You may be one–if you harbor actual hatred. But if you don’t, you aren’t. It’s as simple as that.

The charge that you are may be a convenient weapon–for purposes of shutting down discussion, scaring you away from a subject, or wounding your emotionally or socially (or even professionally and economically). And an unscrupulous person may even use the charge as a weapon to achieve one or more of those ends. But that doesn’t make the charge true.

Read more: ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/are-you-a-hater-or-a-bigot-or-are-you-just-intolerant#ixzz2hvKY9Fvr

Can I suggest throwing in some I/we believes
useful when your not talking face to face!

 

[Randy_Carson]

Unfortunately it tends to degrade to that. but I have seen some good discussions. and even if it breaks down, i personally find it great debate practice. Randy is a wonderful verbal sparing partner

I have enjoyed our discussion, as well.

Please forgive me if I am not always as “snarkless” as I should be. (You don’t want to see what I edit out before posting sometimes!)

 

[freeRadical]

Can I suggest throwing in some I/we believes
useful when your not talking face to face!

What do you mean?

 

[Lokadottir]

What do you mean?

By starting with I/we believe it is not so threatening.
There are many Gods.
feels different from
I believe there are many Gods.

It acknowledges the other persons beliefs are different and that can go a long way.

 

[PhilXavier]

I changed my religion from Catholicism to Druidry last summer, after 38 years of being a Catholic, and I can honestly say that I am much happier now. To answer some of the questions that have been asked in this thread, Druids follow the cycle of nature. We are animistic in our beliefs. Druidry was we believe originally a Goddess religion formed around the Goddess Ceridwen who according to the tale of Taliesin, brewed for a year a magical brew in her cauldron, three drops of which bestowed the Awen (the spirit of creativity, inspiration and imagination) upon the drinker. Druids today however have a wide range of theological beliefs ranging from monotheistic, to polytheistic to atheistic. We equate everything to the Circle, the circle of our lives starting from death/rebirth to adolescence to maturity to old age and then finally death/rebirth when the cycle begins again. The circle can also be matched to the seasons of the year, the course of a day and also the directions of a compass. North, Winter, death/rebirth midnight. East, Spring, adolescence, dawn. South, Summer, maturity, midday. West, Autumn, old age, sunset.

Druids can practice alone, as a so called hedge Druid, or we can practice in groups called Groves. I myself meet with a local Grove where we celebrate the eight festivals of the year in a forest grove. As Druids we are concerned with the conservation and protection of nature and wildlife, and we practice in woodland groves (especially those comprised of sacred oaks) in order to be closer to nature, and to share in the spirit of the woods.

As mentioned we celebrate eight festivals of the year, the four compass point festivals (Winter Solstice - North, Spring Equinox - East, Summer Solstice South and Autumn Equinox - West), along with four “cross quarter” festivals Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain which are celebrated in between the Compass point festivals.

If anyone has any questions of me regarding Druidry, or my own personal beliefs/journey then please ask.

 

[Wesrock]

Question for you: How do Christians feel about other religions or people that believe in one ultimate power? Do you think it could be the same god just with different ways of worship?

You’ll get different answers. The Church recognizes that there are truths in a variety of different faiths, and you seem to believe in the truth of monotheism, as God as a grounding principle of reality. In a sense, your worship (?) of this Being is directed towards the one true God, for there is only one such foundational, ultimate being, but at the same time, we would say your image of Him is distorted, that your beliefs about him are incorrect and possibly influenced by other beings trying to lead you astray. Catholicism does not believe that it is just one road of many, but THE road to truly drawing close to God, so it’s not relativistic (there are nuances I could put here, talk of invincible ignorance, etc… but I’m painting with broad strokes).

If your conception of this ultimate deity was too far different in metaphysical terms, we might not say you are referencing in any way the same being, but if it’s as the ultimate, immaterial, incomprehensible foundation to reality… well, as I said, we’d say you’we onto some truth there and possibly referencing the same Being, if not a true understanding of Him.

 

[Kaninchen]

If anyone has any questions of me regarding Druidry, or my own personal beliefs/journey then please ask.

Perhaps you should start a new thread? Digging up old ones is frowned upon.

 

[Son_of_Niall]

If anyone has any questions of me regarding Druidry, or my own personal beliefs/journey then please ask.

Who do the Druids like in the Super Bowl?

 

[PhilXavier]

Who do the Druids like in the Super Bowl?

Well, I’m English, but coincidentally an NFL fan. My team is the Seahawks but since they went out at the weekend, I think the Packers will win it. It’ll be tough for them at The Falcons, but I think Green Bay have the better defence and Aaron Rogers will score against them. I can only see the Patriots making it to the Super Bowl from the AFC side, but I think Green Bay can beat them. I’ll be happy anyway as long as the Patriots don’t win it after Super Bowl 49! Who do you fancy?

 

[Perplexity]

Ah. So, you have at least a high-school level understanding of the Trinity. Well, that’s better than none at all, I suppose, and I’m glad you do NOT want to give this subject a pass.

Let’s begin with a review of the basics, shall we?

1. In the divine nature, there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2. No one of the persons is either of the others, each is wholly himself.
3. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God.
4. They are not three gods but one God.

With me so far? All this was in your paper, I presume?

What is this “divine nature”? If it is something that’s distinct from each person, then God is not perfectly simple, since then “God” = 1 divine nature + 3 persons. If it isn’t something distinct from each person, then it just is each person and there is no single thing which unites each person as “God”. This sort of dilemma is inherent to monotheist thought, and can be resolved only by realizing as the ancient neoplatonists did that there is no such thing as monotheism: theism just is polytheism.