You have quite a few things in disagreement not just with the Church but with christianity in general.
That’s exactly what I thought when I read that post.
Just a comment on the poll, there is no place for I am catholic and love the church and am interested in finding out more.
Heathen Dawn:
Yes, but I wonder if he (or she) would actually be comfortable being thought of as a pagan. I teach ethics classes and when some students recite their beliefs, I usually reply, “Congratulations, you’re a pagan/atheist/agnostic!” They usually don’t like being called that for whatever reason.That’s exactly what I thought when I read that post.
Blessed be.
HD
I am still looking for a religion, and currently am studying Wicca. I don’t consider myself Wiccan, as I want to have a firm understanding, but I feel like this is the path I want to head towards.You have quite a few things in disagreement not just with the Church but with christianity in general.
If you remain with these beliefs, then you would ultimately have to choose (if you choose at all) a religion outside of chirstianity. Probably some kind of paganism.
But if you have questions, ask away!
Martin
Imprimartin said:
Laura,
This is curious. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Pagans do believe in some kind of higher power, Yes? Now, this higher power doesn’t neccessarily have to be a person. It can be a force to be used and manipulated like Magick, spells, etc. But the Old Pagans used to believe in gods who were persons who had feelings, etc. I know of no Neo-Pagans like this.
I really can’t say that it’s “true” they don’t exist, but I don’t believe that they do. There really is no definite proof that they do exist either way. However, even when I was still Catholic, I didn’t see how or why they would exist. If God is supposed to be all-loving, I don’t see how he could send anyone to eternal suffering. I suppose maybe I could see “punishment” for the “bad” things you did (purgatory), but not for eternaty. That seems to contradict the “all-loving God” theory. When I have said this, people have told me that people go to hell because god is just. Well if god is just then he wouldn’t send people to hell, because no-one is that bad that they deserve eternal punishment, especially if god loves them. Just would be maybe giving them the punishment they “deserve”, but not an eternal punishment. Personally, I think that what you do in life comes back to haunt you while you are still living, not in the afterlife.
I don’t believe that there is any one, true religion. Religion to me is the perception of a god/goddess that helps one to understand it the most, and the preferred way of worshiping that deity/deities. So, I am searching for a religion that fits my beliefs, so that I may attain the spiritual fulfillment I am looking for. If a religion doesn’t fit my beliefs, that doesn’t make it wrong, false, untruthful, it’s just not the way that I choose to look at deity. I said I feel right now that I want to head towards Wicca because from what I’ve learned so far it’s a religion that fits several of my beliefs.
From what I believe, and what I have been told by other Pagans, many believe in a god and goddess, who are often personified and have different personalities, etc. Also, I believe all the pagans I have talked to, although some belief gods/esses can aid with spells (much like the Christian God is thought to aid in prayers - since that is essentially what a spell is), they believe that “magic” is harnessing the natural energy that everyone has within them and directing it towards a specific goal or pupose. Also I’ve never heard that the gods/esses were something to be manipulated to perform magic, gain power, etc.
Pagan is an umbrella term gathering a wide variety of paths. No-one has yet given a definition to fit all pagans; even the most comprehensive definition leaves a few people out who do call themselves pagans. It may be polytheists, but not all pagans are, and there are nonpagans who are (eg the Mormons). It may be worshippers or reverers of nature, but not all pagans are (eg Thelemites—they focus on ceremonial magic more than anything else). They are non-Abrahamics, but not all non-Abrahamics are pagans (Buddhists and Sikhs aren’t, and Hindus may or may not be, depending who you ask). And there are atheists who call themselves pagans, forming a path called Secular Paganism and Atheist Paganism, focussing on attuning oneself to nature.
Thank you for the music!
Thank you for your thanksThank you for the music!
I believe eternal hell is a human invention for the purpose of maximising the adherents of the religion in question.
BB13,Thank you for your thanks
Even when I was a practising Catholic, I started to lose my belief in hell as I grew older. To me it was, as you said, a way to essentially “scare” people into following the religion. To me it seemed close to parents telling their kids “Don’t do that/go there/disobey me or the bogeyman’s going to get you” or “If you’re not good, Santa’s not going to bring you any presents”. Granted, hell is a much more extreme versions of those, but that’s how my views are.
It doesn’t make sense to me that an all-loving god would do something like that.
People are waaay too influenced by Dante on this!
I don’t know what beliefs (if any) Pagans have of an afterlife but I think many people, pagan or not, (and probably some christians!) have this fairyland idea of an afterlife with dancing leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow where everyone goes when they die and where everyone is all wonderful and happy with God regardless of what they have done in their lifetime. :whacky: Sounds nice but such a situation would not allow for peoples’ freedom to reject God.
Wow.
A pagan chooses what makes most sense to him or her.
Correct. The difference is pagans have no mandate to be united. The diversity is cherished, not loathed.
Right.
They can debate (and if you ever get to see those theology debates on pagan boards, they can become furious, with hard polytheists slinging mud at the soft polytheists, soft polytheists at the duotheists, and everyone at the metaphorists), but the consensus is that division is the fruit of seeing the one truth in many forms. As Isaac Bonewits says:
Yes, that’s what I do.
Who do I say Jesus is? My position on Jesus is the same as my position on Elvis Presley: a mostly historical figure who, after death, had extraordinary claims attached to him. Elvis was born, lived, performed and died in 20th-century America, a historical figure; but after he died, sightings of him, alive again, in various places began to circulate—extraordinary claims attached to him. In like manner, Jesus was born, lived, ministered/preached/taught and died (crucified) in 1st-century Roman Judaea, a historical figuire; but after he died, people believed in his rising from the dead, the virgin birth, miracles performed by him during his life—extraordinary claims attached to him.