Pagan Articles

[FredW56]

I didn’t know where to post this question so I’m giving it a shot here. I am Catholic; I was brought into the Church in 2011. Many years ago I was involved in Wicca and Buddhism. I still have books on the Occult and a Buddhist scroll. I had heard that I should throw out anything from those practices as they might have “evil influences” in them. The way I figure it, my God is more powerful than those things. Truthfully, there is no reason for me to have them but if I’m going to get rid of them if it’s against Catholic teaching to have them. Any thoughts?

Fred

 

[JCnMe]

This is just my own 2cents- they are part of what brought you here now-it’s something God placed in your path to help find your way home… welcome home

 

[subject97]

They aren’t going to help you grow in your faith and they won’t help bring anyone else home, so I say chuck it. Or maybe save it for the winter and use it as kindling, but that’s just coming from a guy who likes burning thing and having a nice toasty fire in the winter.

 

[YehoiakhinEx232]

Keep them for defending the faith, use them to understand the sins and flaws of paganism and fight against them “know thy enemy” I once bought an Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism for a college project and it actually drew me closer to God because the doctrines were so shallow, legalistic and immature. Granted you might want to avoid those articles until your fruit of the faith as ripened, make sure you are firm in the faith lest you fall into apostasy.

 

[FredW56]

Thank you, everyone, for your (name removed by moderator)ut. I’m going to pray about it. That’s probably the best thing I can do! I appreciate all your comments.

 

[FredW56]

This is just my own 2cents- they are part of what brought you here now-it’s something God placed in your path to help find your way home… welcome home

Thanks for your good wishes!

 

[Contarini]

I didn’t know where to post this question so I’m giving it a shot here. I am Catholic; I was brought into the Church in 2011. Many years ago I was involved in Wicca and Buddhism. I still have books on the Occult and a Buddhist scroll. I had heard that I should throw out anything from those practices as they might have “evil influences” in them. The way I figure it, my God is more powerful than those things. Truthfully, there is no reason for me to have them but if I’m going to get rid of them if it’s against Catholic teaching to have them. Any thoughts?

Fred

I wouldn’t put these things in the same category. If the books on the occult are about how to gain some kind of supernatural power, then they may indeed be demonic and you should either keep them for informational/apologetic purposes or destroy them.

What is the Buddhist scroll? What is written on it? Why did you acquire it in the first place?

I think you need to be asking more questions instead of just looking for a blanket approach to these non-Christian items.

I believe that much in Buddhism is good and helpful, so I personally wouldn’t reject an item for being Buddhist.

Edwin

 

[ffg]

Welcome to CAF!

I don’t doubt that the matter is quite different, but my similar situation was having a time where I tossed out all the music to which I used to listen.

Sometimes I think about all that music I threw out. But then I turn on Pandora and there it is and more.

If you toss it, you can always reference the info on this big web of data.

If you want to keep it and are concerned about spirits, have a priest bless your house / place of living. Evil spirits love it so much they flee and tell their friends the place is too good to haunt.

 

[Ad_Orientem]

Destroy the Wicca paraphernalia, by fire if possible. Yes God is more powerful, but we can still expose ourselves to attack if we keep cursed objects around. Believe me, I have personal experience in this regard.

As to the Buddhist scroll, I tend to agree with Contarini, probably not in the same category. Natural religion is not the same thing as witchcraft, though they do often overlap. If it’s just a bit of philosophy, for example, you might keep it for reference, unless it’s going to be an occasion of sin, e.g. by association with your past life. In that case I’d give it to a library or something.

 

[AlextheLeopard]

Keep them for defending the faith, use them to understand the sins and flaws of paganism and fight against them “know thy enemy” I once bought an Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism for a college project and it actually drew me closer to God because the doctrines were so shallow, legalistic and immature. Granted you might want to avoid those articles until your fruit of the faith as ripened, make sure you are firm in the faith lest you fall into apostasy.

May I ask what the sins and flaws are of paganism? I’m curious to know

 

[Randy_Carson]

May I ask what the sins and flaws are of paganism? I’m curious to know

Exodus 20:1-6
20 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 

[AlextheLeopard]

God also said thou shall not wear fabric of mixed cloth… I’m just saying if you’re going to go by what he said go by it all not just what makes you look like a good Catholic.

 

[YehoiakhinEx232]

May I ask what the sins and flaws are of paganism? I’m curious to know

First and foremost we Catholics believe we were created by an Eternal Loving God who has done everything for us; He has grown our food for us; He placed out planet the correct distance from the sun; he holds our atoms together ect. We can do nothing in return to merit this, all He asks of us in return is to have a loving relationship with Him and with His children, our fellow human-beings. To worship figments of our imagination, God-hating demons or personifications of temporal things is deeply heart-breaking and treacherous to the God who created us.

Now some of the gods of paganism might be demons appearing to shamans, oracles and false prophets to lead them astray and some might have been invented by people to explain certain unanswerable questions in their society. However most of the pagan gods are in fact personifications of temporal goods; sex, money, social stability ect. when these things are idolized they lead to an addictive lifestyle, let me refer you to some sermons by the Protestant pastor Timothy Keller who best explains these sins and flaws of Idolatry:

youtube.com/watch?v=OOHdk3FR5Hg

youtube.com/watch?v=_mK65lpveSM

You might also want to check out his book Counterfeit gods which elaborates on these sermons

Finally most forms of Paganism not only show contempt and ingratitude for the Creator but contempt and ingratitude for Creation (including Zorastrianism, Wiccanism and most forms of Buddhism) they view some or all of Creation as evil or chaotic and not as a beautiful gift of God that should be embraced and respected.

 

[Randy_Carson]

God also said thou shall not wear fabric of mixed cloth… I’m just saying if you’re going to go by what he said go by it all not just what makes you look like a good Catholic.

This article (the Youtube video is pretty cool) explains why this is not the case:

Horus Reads the Internet
Why Christians are no longer bound by Jewish Ceremonial Laws
youtube.com/watch?v=4r2m…ature=youtu.be

Partial Transcript:

Something that is made clear throughout the scriptures is the distinction between the Moral Law and the Ceremonial Law. The Moral Law is the stuff found in the 10 Commandments: things like, “You shall have no other gods”, “Don’t murder”, and “Don’t commit adultery.”

The Ceremonial Law on the other hand is the stuff found primarily in the book of Leviticus that the Israelite people were required to observe: things like, “Don’t eat pork or shellfish” and “Those who engage in homosexual acts must be put to death.”

The Bible also teaches the Moral Law and the Ceremonial Law have two very different purposes. According to Romans 5, for example, the purpose of the Moral Law is to show us our sins so that we can see our need for Christ and his forgiveness. And because all of us are sinners who need to have our sins set before us in order to see our need for Christ, the Moral Law still applies to us today.

According to Exodus 19, the Ceremonial Law is quite different. The purpose of the Ceremonial Law was to mark the Israelites as the people from whom the Messiah was going to come. In other words, the Ceremonial Law formed the way the Israelites worshipped, dressed, ate, worked and practiced justice, this was God’s way of reminding the Israelites that the savior of the world would come from them. And so, when that savior finally came in the person of Jesus, the purpose of the Ceremonial Law had been fulfilled. So, in the same way that you don’t need to hang up flyers for a concert once the concert is over, after Jesus died and rose again, it was no longer necessary to follow the Ceremonial Law.

This is why in the Book of Acts, Chapter 10, God tells Peter that all of the animals are now considered clean and that the Gentiles who didn’t follow the Ceremonial Law were welcomed into the Christian faith. So, the reason that Christians can eat pork and shellfish isn’t because we don’t take our faith seriously, it’s because we take our faith so seriously that we’ve actually read the Bible, and the Bible tells us that we are now free to eat these things.

 

[AlextheLeopard]

First and foremost we Catholics believe we were created by an Eternal Loving God who has done everything for us; He has grown our food for us; He placed out planet the correct distance from the sun; he holds our atoms together ect. We can do nothing in return to merit this, all He asks of us in return is to have a loving relationship with Him and with His children, our fellow human-beings. To worship figments of our imagination, God-hating demons or personifications of temporal things is deeply heart-breaking and treacherous to the God who created us.

Now some of the gods of paganism might be demons appearing to shamans, oracles and false prophets to lead them astray and some might have been invented by people to explain certain unanswerable questions in their society. However most of the pagan gods are in fact personifications of temporal goods; sex, money, social stability ect. when these things are idolized they lead to an addictive lifestyle, let me refer you to some sermons by the Protestant pastor Timothy Keller who best explains these sins and flaws of Idolatry:

youtube.com/watch?v=OOHdk3FR5Hg

youtube.com/watch?v=_mK65lpveSM

You might also want to check out his book Counterfeit gods which elaborates on these sermons

Finally most forms of Paganism not only show contempt and ingratitude for the Creator but contempt and ingratitude for Creation (including Zorastrianism, Wiccanism and most forms of Buddhism) they view some or all of Creation as evil or chaotic and not as a beautiful gift of God that should be embraced and respected.

Very many wiccans believe that the God of Catholicism is their God. Since God can take any shape it wants sometimes it appears as a woman for a femine reason and a masculine form for masculine situations. They believe too that God/Goddess created them, grew the food, placed the planet in the right place. Their Deity asks the same thing. Do what ye will but harm none. Be kind to all. Animals, plants and humans alike. The God and Goddess are not God hating demons. They are God. One thing. One “person” if that is what God is, I honestly don’t know that part because God can be whatever God wants so I don’t want to call God a person simply for that matter. As for the minor deities I hate to inform you that you know little of them. They represent more pin pointed things of God. Such as God’s strength to grow the crops. Or God’s hand guiding you in war. Wiccanism’s beginning actually is a very beautiful tale of the earth and galaxy were made. I highly recommend you read some of those stories, not in you want to sin and become that religion just that they’re nice little idea’s.

 

[WonderAndAwe]

Very many wiccans believe that the God of Catholicism is their God. Since God can take any shape it wants sometimes it appears as a woman for a femine reason and a masculine form for masculine situations. They believe too that God/Goddess created them, grew the food, placed the planet in the right place. Their Deity asks the same thing. Do what ye will but harm none. Be kind to all. Animals, plants and humans alike. The God and Goddess are not God hating demons. They are God. One thing. One “person” if that is what God is, I honestly don’t know that part because God can be whatever God wants so I don’t want to call God a person simply for that matter. As for the minor deities I hate to inform you that you know little of them. They represent more pin pointed things of God. Such as God’s strength to grow the crops. Or God’s hand guiding you in war. Wiccanism’s beginning actually is a very beautiful tale of the earth and galaxy were made. I highly recommend you read some of those stories, not in you want to sin and become that religion just that they’re nice little idea’s.

Sounds like Satanism. All this New Age Wicca trash is analogous with Satanism 100%.

The tenants of such psuedofaiths must be met with disgust and hatred. It pleases God to destroy their texts. Buy a New Age book and burn it while praying the rosary.
If your children bring this garbage into your house, violently take it from them and destroy it in front of them. Make them know that neopaganism is void of any truth and that thinking there is any truth in it is a mortal sin.

 

[AlextheLeopard]

Sounds like Satanism. All this New Age Wicca trash is analogous with Satanism 100%.

The tenants of such psuedofaiths must be met with disgust and hatred. It pleases God to destroy their texts. Buy a New Age book and burn it while praying the rosary.
If your children bring this garbage into your house, violently take it from them and destroy it in front of them. Make them know that neopaganism is void of any truth and that thinking there is any truth in it is a mortal sin.

No. Just no. If they claim their God is yours. It is. YOU just called God Satan. 2 YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO clue if it pleases God to burn their teachings. I personally am offended and am done being Mr.NiceGuy. You are incompetent to say such hateful things. I pray for you. The wicked hands of the Devil Himself has grasped your mind and soul and I pray you find Gods light. I hope that you find your way back to the light.

 

[WonderAndAwe]

No. Just no. If they claim their God is yours. It is. YOU just called God Satan. 2 YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO clue if it pleases God to burn their teachings. I personally am offended and am done being Mr.NiceGuy. You are incompetent to say such hateful things. I pray for you. The wicked hands of the Devil Himself has grasped your mind and soul and I pray you find Gods light. I hope that you find your way back to the light.

Mormons claim to worship Christ and yet their dogma on him is alien to Catholics (literally, they believe he’s some kind of alien human life that ascended to godhood and is the brother of Lucifer, who is also an alien. Not to mention they think Native Americans are a lost tribe of Israel despite that being anthropologically impossible.), thus they do not worship the same God as us.

Worshiping an ersatz just denotes evils are in play. A heathen faith that has even the slightest inkling of truth must be whole-heartedly lambasted. Someone can make a religion called “Cwaskyulism” that believe in all the Corporal and Spiritual works of Mercy, but since the rest of their religion involves worshiping a giant space turtle, their shreds of truth mush be shunned due to all the rest of the lies they believe lest you become corrupted by the heathen faith and lose sight of Heaven by converting to it thereby forsaking Christ.

 

[AlextheLeopard]

Mormons claim to worship Christ and yet their dogma on him is alien to Catholics (literally, they believe he’s some kind of alien human life that ascended to godhood and is the brother of Lucifer, who is also an alien. Not to mention they think Native Americans are a lost tribe of Israel despite that being anthropologically impossible.), thus they do not worship the same God as us.

Worshiping an ersatz just denotes evils are in play. A heathen faith that has even the slightest inkling of truth must be whole-heartedly lambasted. Someone can make a religion called “Cwaskyulism” that believe in all the Corporal and Spiritual works of Mercy, but since the rest of their religion involves worshiping a giant space turtle, their shreds of truth mush be shunned due to all the rest of the lies they believe lest you become corrupted by the heathen faith and lose sight of Heaven by converting to it thereby forsaking Christ.

You have no clue what God is. If he’s a giant space turtle that wouldn’t they be right?? You have no place on this earth to talk of such thing. I pray God leads you back from whatever evil grasp the devil has you in.

 

[WonderAndAwe]

You have no clue what God is. If he’s a giant space turtle that wouldn’t they be right?? You have no place on this earth to talk of such thing. I pray God leads you back from whatever evil grasp the devil has you in.

See, this is why syncretism is abhorrent. It makes people foolishly try and rationalize all religions as equally true.