Any Pagans here?
 

Just curious.. I'll describe my beliefs if there are any more here.

Isn't paganism a religion in itself? I mean, I know eff-all about it really, but whether you pray to God or Allah or Buddha or the tree in your garden or the sun, isn't it all a form of worship? So are pagans really pagans, or is it just a term the organised religions, ie Christianity, used and uses for those who are not of its faith? Would not a true pagan believe in nothing, like an atheist or agnostic? I guess it would be enlightening to find out. To me, with my massively inferior and uninformed notions, paganism is more a worship of the earth and nature, but just more really one of the more ancient forms of belief, no?

As Ayn's answer is the very first reply to a question from 13 years ago, I think we can assume the answer has been "No".

As for "pagan", I think it's a relative term like "foreigner", which is connected to where you are as a person, and is used to describe people in another cultural bubble. I imagine that technically, most of us here on MB could apply it to anyone outside that whole Middle-Eastern religious trilogy: Christian-Jewish-Muslim. But these days it's used as you suggest, TH and Ayn, for people with some minority faith like Druid. My guess is that's because of the word's lingering derogatory meaning, and because we are a little more respectful about the other big religions, preferring to calling Hindus Hindus and Buddhists Buddhists.

In the same way, TH, I would say that yes, an atheist could technically be called a pagan*, but people try to be more polite, more specific, and call us what we are: atheists.

* or perhaps that scathing description, "godless" could be used more widely: AFAIK it only shows up in the rants of TV evangelists in the US at the moment.

I think of religious people as pagans. It's like church. The priest has some fancy robe. Religious paraphernalia everywhere. They drink the blood and eat the body of christ. They make appeals to an invisible spirit in the sky. Sure it's biscuits and juice, but it's obviously rooted in weird cannibalism and funky ass magic rituals like pagans or other weird and ancient religions.

It's 2022. I wish we could lay off dumb superstitions, paganism and other religions included.

I watched... something, can't remember what, but they were saying how must the Romans have felt? "There's this new cult, Caesar, and - wait for this, you're not gonna believe it - they EAT FLESH AND DRINK BLOOD! I mean, yeah sure we sacrifice animals to our gods, but this is beyond the pale!"

It was an interesting point I had never considered, and easy to show how uneasy the Romans must have been at this new upstart sect.

Pagans I’ve known define themselves not by being non-believers in Judeo-Christian theology etc but as having a belief system that’s self-defining. Granted Christians et al will use the term ‘pagan’ as an insult often meaning something like ’Not saved, like us’.

https://www.paganfederation.org

A different flavour of idiocy.

Paganism may seem cute, but if some branch of paganism got super popular and got to make the new world order, it would've been awful, same as the rest of them.

13 YEARS ago?! lol I just made this like 2 days ago... where are you getting 13 years!!! :rofl:

There are hundreds of various Pagan religions...All different kinds of faiths within that umbrella term, which is all it is. Paganism doesn't refer to any one particular religion.

There's Neo Pagan religions like Wicca, which I'm not a part of..

I'm more interested in what's called "Reconstructionist" paths...that is... Reviving ancient Polytheist cultural religions from the bronze and iron age Europe, Middle East, The Americas, etc......such as Norse, Celtic, Hellenic, Roman, Canaanite, Phoenician, Mesopotamian, etc..... I myself am part of the ancient Near Eastern branches..specifically Mesopotamian traditions.

Why would you be interested in ressurrecting belief in ancient gods? Seems we get by just fine without believing in them.

Most of them are rejecting the Jewish basis of Christianity via Odinism.

yeah I get that question A LOT actually.... I totally get it...

I've always been fascinated in ancient mythology, cultures and the stories and beliefs in gods and goddesses since I was very young... I might believe in them in much the same way a Christian believe in God and Jesus, but I definitely don't believe out of fear or because there's a book that tells me to believe this and that or else! It's more out of fascination but I'd never go around saying anything I believe is truth and evreyone else is wrong lol.

Honestly there was this pagan dude in the program I assumed was a Nazi but it turned out he's not.

what God(s) is it you believe in specifically and why?

A lot of the new age and pagan and mystic type **** might not be as judgmental as the abrahamic faiths but it just feels a lot like a choose your own adventure type approach to religion lol. Just pick your favorite God the same way you would pick your favorite super hero and go with that.

:laughing: OOPS! Getting old means making dumb mistakes more often than you would like! I must have confused your join date with your posting date. Sorry about any confusion I've caused in your thread, gandhara. :(


Yep, keeping a good sense of proportion as always, Guybrush. I would "times two" your sentiment.

I just posted a Dragnet reference in another thread. It's only fair that I visit a thread about pagans.

Same here. As a kid, I was borrowing books about the greek myths, gods and heroes, and of course as a Norwegian you're easily exposed to stories about the norse gods, Odin, Thor and Loki in particular.

However, just because you read a story about Orpheus bargaining with Hades for the life of Eurydike doesn't mean you have to believe it actually happened or that Hades is real.

There is actually a big difference. A big predictor for what religion you belong to is simply your location. If you are from Saudi Arabia, chances are you're a Muslim. If you're from the US, particularly some areas more than others, chances are you're a Christian. Obviously culture / environment and indoctrination plays a huge role. You can blame other people.

In this case, you may not have other people to force these falsehoods on you. Instead, have to fool yourself. This is especially true if you get into the sometimes witchcraft beliefs of paganism which require dedicated efforts of self-delusion.

When I read your post, I don't get the feeling you actually believe. I get the impression you kinda think its cool and you have a pagan phase. But why would you wanna live with all that cognitive dissonance?

If you've broken off from a major religion, good on you. Instead of then stumbling into a minor one, why not getting into skepticism and critical thinking? It's infinitely more powerful and will help you out more than religious beliefs will.

Many biblical scholars {the academic kind, not ’true believers'} assert the origins of much found in the Old Testament was transmitted to one of the Tribes of Israel while exiled in Mesopotamia.

I’m intrigued you have an interest in reconstructionism. How does one chose which path to follow amongst so many ?
PS: Spellcheck on my Mac wants to change ‘reconstructionism’ into 'deconstructionism'


'

The majority of our species have had no freedom in choosing their religion. As that nasty Jesuit saying has it “Give us the child till they’re six and we’ve got them for life.” There are other evil traditions many religious bodies adhere to. Stray from the so called one true path and we’ll stone you to death, burn you alive, torture you till you confess your evil ways etc. Today’s ‘enlightened' Christians claim to have left all that behind. However give them enough political power, as in the US today, and watch what happens to so called sinners.

Underneath all of this human nature is at work. That is, our species is prone to ‘groupthink’ even outside of religious dogma. For instance, followers of Ayn Rand and Marx can act and groupthink like true believers of the religious kind. Until and unless this aspect of group behaviour is confronted and eliminated our species time on planet earth will soon be over. Some of you here may be sick of me recommending this tome but I’m going to do it again. A reading of Arthur Koestler’s ’The Ghost in The Machine’ focuses on this problem. I’ve yet to encounter an honest refutation of his central thesis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_in_the_Machine

This is the impression I got.

Look, let's not beat about the bush. We all know worshipping the Great Pixie is where it's at! Oh Mighty Pixie, send us your magic dust and keep us safe from the deadly tree-elves, who are evil incarnate!

I choose Bacchus for reasons.

I choose to worship the one true god, John Coltrane.

I get totally what you're talking about Guybrush. I always loved mythology - my favourite being Norse - but I never once considered the gods to be real. Same with Christianity: I love a lot of the stories from the Bible and so on, and historically it's been more or less proven that a man called Jesus did live in Nazareth at that time, but as for being the Son of God? Well, if he could perform all those miracles, why didn't he go into show business, answer me that!

So for me, I can appreciate the mythology, the stories and the figures in any "religion", but that's all they are. I can see how others might take them as literal, and if they do that's their prerogative, but not me.

He's as good a god as any, and better than most.

https://touringinstability.files.wor...mark-dukes.jpg

Perhaps you can assume there was someone called Jesus in Nazareth much in the same way you can assume there's a person called Jesus living in New York today.. or Rupert or perhaps a Jeremiah. But there's little to no historical evidence for Jesus, the character described in the new testament.

F.ex. he wasn't documented during his supposed lifetime, despite roman historians documenting going-ons in the area at that time.

When I get a chance I'll have to look into it, but I'm pretty sure I saw programmes where they confirmed he lived around this time. I think, though I can't be sure, he was using the Facebook handle JESUSURSAVIOUR or possibly CARPENTRYSUX.

Jesus built my hotrod.

I agree with this. I admire Jesus and his teachings, but disdain the Church.

"Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary." - John Lennon

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FrgrnUZ-j...s1600/stop.jpg

I have it on fairly good authority that he was just seen leaving Chicago.

Yeah, and he took my wheel on his way out.

Yes, both good and evil originally derived from religious belief. Some people have used religion as a way to gain power while others, like Martin Luther King, used religion to do good.

A more interesting person is William Jennings Bryan, the ill fated lawyer of the infamous Scopes trial. He, of course, railed against Darwinism in favor of creationism, but his reasoning wasn't out of ignorance. He hated Darwinism because of the theory of the survival of the fittest. He believed if others went with Darwinism (somewhat proven by science), it would give the more fortunate an excuse to oppress the not so fortunate in the name of natural selection. In other words, the ones with money would have a reason to exploit those that didn't have many options (i.e. the poor).

So, while teaching creationism in public schools isn't such a hot idea, you can certainly say it makes some of us feel less guilty about the natural reality of the cruelties we have imposed on others such as slavery, genocide, etc.

I gather it’s a “Christler” hotrod. ;)

Jesus’s message was warped by the disciples and early Church because they rejected Mary Magdalene and the sacred feminine.

Pretty sure it's more to do with the social aspect of congregating than any religious underpinnings associated with it.

lol

It runs on water/wine.

:laughing:
Jesus invented warp speed??? :yikes:
Fixed that for ya
Yeah it's really Canaan it!

:laughing:

Jesus drove a Honda, but he didn't talk about it, "For I did not speak of my own Accord." - John 12:49

I heard he had an abscess in his stomach and every time he farted it sounded like someone saying "Honda", thus the phrase: "Abscess makes the fart go Honda".


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I'll see myself out.