Why does Paganism scare Christians?

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pyramid33

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What is "true Christianity", apart from a "no true Scotsman"-fallacy?

I mean besides the labels.

I dont know anything about the second part of that response.

Edit: Im having a feeling that Im not supposed to respond to those posts.
 
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Jane_the_Bane

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I mean besides the labels.

I dont know anything about the second part of that response.

Edit: Im having a feeling that Im not supposed to respond to those posts.

No true Scotsman is an informal fallacy, an ad hoc attempt to retain an unreasoned assertion. When faced with a counterexample to a universal claim ("no Scotsman would do such a thing"), rather than denying the counterexample or rejecting the original universal claim, this fallacy modifies the subject of the assertion to exclude the specific case or others like it by rhetoric, without reference to any specific objective rule ("no true Scotsman would do such a thing"). It can also be used to create unnecessary requirements.

Your claims with regard to "true Christianity" seem to operate exactly along those lines.
 
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GabrielWithoutWings

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What are the perceptions you have on the Neo-Paganism movement?

I experimented a little bit with Paganism back in my early 20s. It's not a bad worldview... though maybe it is. It's really anything you want it to be. There's actually a paradigm shift going on in a few Pagan circles about abandoning the term Pagan altogether because it's lost its meaning. What is Pagan these days? Reconstructionists? Revivalists? Hard polytheists? Soft polytheists? Heathens? Wiccans? Goddess worshipers?

Its theology is whatever you want it to be, its deity concepts are whatever you want it to be, its worldview is whatever you want it to be, etc. I have a structurally-minded brain, so I just couldn't get into it, same as Unitarian Universalism.

Granted, I get quite a few of the practical applications. Awe and wonder at nature and the universe, being socially liberal or libertarian, being excellent to each other... thing is, I don't need a religion for that. I have my own innate sense of reason.

There are a few Pagan belief systems that are actually the opposite of what I just described, Neoplatonism being one of them. I dig the concept of theurgy but all of the nuances of Godhead that I've read end up giving me a headache.
 
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awitch

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Jesus himself talks negatively about pagans in the bible, so I take from that that I should stay away.

It's not hard to stay away from Paganism since we generally don't proselytize, have a house of worship every three blocks, or insist on having monuments all over public/government property.

Staying away from Pagans might be more difficult as our numbers grow and we integrate into society with the expectation of having the same rights as everyone else.
 
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GabrielWithoutWings

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I wasn't aware that I was scared of Paganism.

I'm also not entirely sure why I should be scared.

Did they put a whoopee cushion on my chair again? I told them to stop doing that.

-CryptoLutheran

Don't play dumb. You know what's being talked about. We know you high-churchy types and how you hate frolicking.

And Pagans frolic a lot.
 
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ihavefoundgod951

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It's not hard to stay away from Paganism since we generally don't proselytize, have a house of worship every three blocks, or insist on having monuments all over public/government property.

Staying away from Pagans might be more difficult as our numbers grow and we integrate into society with the expectation of having the same rights as everyone else.


Correct me if I am wrong but isn't most of the pagan religion lost knowledge, no one truly knows what they believed or warshiped (British pagans) it's lost knowledge so must make it a difficult religion to follow? takes guess work?

Some aspects of paganism is around today in the public domain IE horoscopes, movies (harry potter) TV shows ect, good luck charms.

I personally try to stay away from all
 
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pyramid33

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No true Scotsman is an informal fallacy, an ad hoc attempt to retain an unreasoned assertion.

It is illogical to suggest that my belief in God is somehow an unreasoned assertion. Kind of like saying, what works for you, isn't any good.

What works for you, works for you.
Whatever floats your boat.
 
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Jane_the_Bane

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It is illogical to suggest that my belief in God is somehow an unreasoned assertion.

And now you are moving the goalposts.

Your unreasoned assertion was to claim that Christianity's internal rivalries and conflicts (i.e. religious wars and persecution between protestants and catholics, etc.) do not count because No True Christian would do such a thing.

How do you think the Creeds came about? It was all about pinpointing "heretics".
 
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awitch

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Correct me if I am wrong but isn't most of the pagan religion lost knowledge, no one truly knows what they believed or warshiped (British pagans) it's lost knowledge so must make it a difficult religion to follow? takes guess work?

Yes, much was lost and a lot of what we do have is biased. But the Neopagan paths are largely dynamic and experiential. We through learn primarily through practice and we can rediscover what was lost.

Some aspects of paganism is around today in the public domain IE horoscopes, movies (harry potter) TV shows ect, good luck charms.

Those have nothing to do with Neopaganism. Horoscopes are silly, Hollywood fantasy is nothing like real Neopaganism, and the faith goes way beyond charms.

I personally try to stay away from all

We much prefer people staying away than shutting us down (not accusing you of shutting us down; just speaking generally).
 
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pyramid33

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Your unreasoned assertion was to claim that Christianity's internal rivalries and conflicts (i.e. religious wars and persecution between protestants and catholics, etc.) do not count because No True Christian would do such a thing.


I think that every Christian is accountable to God alone, for that matter, every individual person. That is between an individual and God alone.
 
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steve_bakr

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As far as religious tolerance is concerned, it's not going to win any prices anytime soon - neither in relation to the historical perspective, nor in view of the present.

Admittedly, Christianity has spent most of its potential for persecution on divergent Christian groups in recent centuries: Catholics persecuting protestants, protestants persecuting catholics, protestants persecuting protestants, etc.

But that does not necessarily mean that they are embracing the presence of other religions - they've just been too minuscule in centuries past to merit too much attention. Christianity's stated goal is to convert everybody - so there's not that much room for divergent world views left, is there?

This view does not necessarily reflect all of modern Christian theology, which has had a more generous (if belated) view of other religions. The existence of other religions has indeed been a challenge for Christianity. Karl Rahner's concept of the Anonymous Christian created a much more generous view of other religions in Catholic theology. Some Protestant theologians have had similar concepts.

It might be interesting to investigate the life and work of Bede Griffiths, a Catholic priest who lived for years in India as a holy man and founded a Christian Ashram there. His vision was to express Christianity through the concepts of Hinduism and Vedanta.

BTW, I would qualify the view of Hinduism as a polytheism by saying that all its gods are technically merely expressions of Brahman, who is the One Source of all.

Brahman is often discribed as God in his pure and Unmanifest state. The saying, "I am Atman. The Atman is Brahman," reflects the view expressed in the Upanishads that every individual bears the spark of Divinity, and that is seen as the only true Reality.

Bede Griffiths wrote a good "Christian" explanation of the Bhagavad-Gita called, The River of Compassion. A good description of his Christology and cosmology can be found in Return to the Center.

Hinduism accepts the possibility of many Incarnations of Divinity, including Jesus Christ. The Bhagavad-Gita says, "In every age I come back to deliver the holy and destroy the sin of the sinner."

I know a Christian woman who started out in a Vedanta group. She was instructed to choose her Guru, and Jesus Christ was one of the choices. I read a very deep and passionate exposition of Jesus Christ by a Vedantist in a book called, Hinduism and Christianity.
 
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LoAmmi

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Admittedly, Christianity has spent most of its potential for persecution on divergent Christian groups in recent centuries: Catholics persecuting protestants, protestants persecuting catholics, protestants persecuting protestants, etc.

I might have a slight disagreement with this statement....
 
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ihavefoundgod951

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Yes, much was lost and a lot of what we do have is biased. But the Neopagan paths are largely dynamic and experiential. We through learn primarily through practice and we can rediscover what was lost.

Those have nothing to do with Neopaganism. Horoscopes are silly, Hollywood fantasy is nothing like real Neopaganism, and the faith goes way beyond charms.

We much prefer people staying away than shutting us down (not accusing you of shutting us down; just speaking generally).

I believe Satan is at the heart of most pagan religions, using magik you call upon demons, take Wicca for example it is based around calling upon spirits to preform magik, the origins of Wicca lead to Gardener and Alistair Crowley (famous statanist) watch the below video to learn about Alistair Crowley (Wicca is the work of Satan)

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=jsm6WI5i7p0
 
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awitch

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I believe Satan is at the heart of most pagan religions, using magik you call upon demons, take Wicca for example it is based around calling upon spirits to preform magik, the origins of Wicca lead to Gardener and Alistair Crowley (famous statanist) watch the below video to learn about Alistair Crowley (Wicca is the work of Satan)

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=jsm6WI5i7p0

Magic (I still spell it with a "c") is only one little aspect, and not very important in my particular path. Basically, you've validated my point that we're not Christian and therefore bad/evil.

Let's see if you'll validate my other point. If I told you my path is really about an appreciation of life, individuality, and the Universe, as well as a place to draw inspiration for creative endeavors, then does that change your opinion?
 
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dazed

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I believe Satan is at the heart of most pagan religions, using magik you call upon demons, take Wicca for example it is based around calling upon spirits to preform magik, the origins of Wicca lead to Gardener and Alistair Crowley (famous statanist) watch the below video to learn about Alistair Crowley (Wicca is the work of Satan)

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=jsm6WI5i7p0

Er, how's that different from the Abrahamic religions?

Pagans use magik to call upon demons for favours.

Christians use prayer to call upon God/angels for favours.
 
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