Tuesday evening we opened up our minds to religion and the roots of many modern religions by discussing pagan religions (Neo-paganism) of the past and their current resurgence around the world. Many of today’s religious holidays are also connected to pagan rituals thousands of years old.
Many of us felt that religion is a personal choice and that it should not be forced on anyone. We also agreed that any religion that excludes other beliefs, or considers other beliefs as ‘not true’ or ‘devil worship’ to be less desirable that those religions that are accepting of other religions.
Several of us felt that ‘God’ was something that couldn’t be defined or named; and that by assigning a name to ‘God’, it narrowed the idea of ‘God’ because of the concepts that were associated with ‘God’ through the religion that named it.
We also discussed the connections between paganism and Christianity in holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas and Halloween. All of these holidays have their roots in paganism. Many of the traditions connected to them today are also pagan rituals.
The practice of witchcraft, otherwise know as Wicca, also is founded on many of the
pre-Christian polytheistic religions. Many of the rituals in Wicca were related to worshiping goddesses. The Christian church tried to eliminate the pagan religions and rituals during the Crusades; however, despite vigorous efforts were not successful. Neo-paganism today is the sixth largest non-Christian denomination in the US.
The Christian church, through very effective marketing, has made witchcraft appear to be evil, wicked, and devil worship. Years of images and stories of witches as being evil has collectively brainwashed the public. Quite the contrary, witches perform their rituals for the same reasons people pray in church or temple. Witches aren’t evil; they practice for good, for empowerment, and for helping others.
Many of us felt that religion is a personal choice and that it should not be forced on anyone. We also agreed that any religion that excludes other beliefs, or considers other beliefs as ‘not true’ or ‘devil worship’ to be less desirable that those religions that are accepting of other religions.
Several of us felt that ‘God’ was something that couldn’t be defined or named; and that by assigning a name to ‘God’, it narrowed the idea of ‘God’ because of the concepts that were associated with ‘God’ through the religion that named it.
We also discussed the connections between paganism and Christianity in holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas and Halloween. All of these holidays have their roots in paganism. Many of the traditions connected to them today are also pagan rituals.
The practice of witchcraft, otherwise know as Wicca, also is founded on many of the
pre-Christian polytheistic religions. Many of the rituals in Wicca were related to worshiping goddesses. The Christian church tried to eliminate the pagan religions and rituals during the Crusades; however, despite vigorous efforts were not successful. Neo-paganism today is the sixth largest non-Christian denomination in the US.The Christian church, through very effective marketing, has made witchcraft appear to be evil, wicked, and devil worship. Years of images and stories of witches as being evil has collectively brainwashed the public. Quite the contrary, witches perform their rituals for the same reasons people pray in church or temple. Witches aren’t evil; they practice for good, for empowerment, and for helping others.
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