Why does Paganism scare Christians?

[EnemyOfReason]

No, but being formerly Neo-Pagan, myself, I know that many sects are fertility-based and many of the rites and rituals involve symbolism of penises and vaginas and the womb. I also know, from experience, that the Great Rite can involve sexual intercourse either actually or symbolically, and that some traditional covens still use the former in their ritual for initiation.

Yeah, that stuff sounds really really gross. I am an asexual so I will be staying as far away from that stuff as possible.

Nah! That's just Hollywood stuff.

Sprinkle a little bit of pepper on them and they may taste good haha

Here again, I know from experience that the greatest deception of Satan is when you believe you aren't worshiping in his honor, just because you don't believe in him.

Sure.

Only the ones I made after coming out of it after a decade of being a practitioner, and dabbler, in everything from Asatru to Green Witchcraft and from Wicca to LaVeyan Satanism.

LaVeyan Satanism, biggest troll religion for an atheist. How on earth can you be a LaVeyan Satanist? This really makes me doubt that you know anything. Considering that LaVey was an atheist(anti-theist) I find it ludicrous that you were a practitioner of it.

FYI, I am a Satanist I just like to use the term pagan because it sounds more friendly. All religions are essentially pagan so I prefer to use the term pagan so I won't lie to myself. But yeah, I am a Luciferian Satanist

 

[theophilus777]

as we have seen countless times, some members of the religious right who don't want to tolerate sin spend all their time, money and energy in an attempt to make that sin criminal whether you are Christian or not. Purely for religious reasons.

Is it any consolation that wrt homosexuality they could gain no ground in the US so they went to Africa?

What other sin = legislation concerns do you see currently in the US? (SSM does not want to criminalize anything)

 

[theophilus777]

Some want a God who hates and punishes those who they disagree with, and elevates them above all others, making them be considered better than everyone else.

Rarely will I respond to a statement such as this, but I find it beyond odd when I see a Christian go on about how eternal hell is somehow justified. Your sentiment(s) expressed here in this quote really aren't any part of any Christianity that aligns itself with the Bible.

 

[theophilus777]

Matthew 25 teaches eternal hell.

As do lots of other places. The comment was directed to those who "want a god who hates and punishes those they disagree with." etc. But its all the same, just like Christianity and Islam are identical, right?

Chrislam is no doubt unique though, right?

 

[awitch]

Is it any consolation that wrt homosexuality they could gain no ground in the US so they went to Africa?

Africa, Russia, South America, Jamaica...

What other sin = legislation concerns do you see currently in the US? (SSM does not want to criminalize anything)

No, but they want to pass legislation denying fellow taxpaying citizens equal rights because...it makes god grumpy? They tried to pass legislation to allow bullying in cases where it stemmed from sincere religious beliefs. They wanted to pass legislation to allow the discrimination of certain groups of people by organizations that serve the public in direct violation of fairly passed anti-discrimination laws because god sends people to hell for all eternity for the crime of baking a cake for a gay couple.

 

[theophilus777]

Uniqueness really doesn't matter and misses the whole point about God, but your claim of Him "changing His mind" is unique, in a field where uniqueness does NOT award you points, much like "creative accounting" is not a compliment.

 

[theophilus777]

No, but they want to pass legislation denying fellow taxpaying citizens equal rights because...it makes god grumpy?

Sorry but it is the LGBT side of the aisle that's trying to pass legislation. W/o that there would be no divide over the issue.

They tried to pass legislation to allow bullying in cases where it stemmed from sincere religious beliefs.

I missed that. That's just gay. (In a manner of speaking)

They wanted to pass legislation to allow the discrimination of certain groups of people by organizations that serve the public in direct violation of fairly passed anti-discrimination laws because god sends people to hell for all eternity for the crime of baking a cake for a gay couple.

That's just gay, too. In my business I could refuse service to any gay person if I wanted to and nobody could do a**thing about it. Trying to turn that into some sort of legal battle was silly. Incidentally, only one person I was sure was gay has ever patronized my business in 22 years, and I extended to him the same service as i do to anyone else. And all the stereotypes were true, you should see this guy's house! You'd have to wonder how many interior decorators he hired ... (I knew he was gay because he was referred to me by his Sister, who told me before I ever even spoke with him)

Is it really "discrimination" to tell somebody to go buy your cake someplace else? C'mon, seriously? If I don't want to work for you you should be smart enough to realize you don't want me working for you, either. Esp if food is involved!

Public transport and other essential services excepted of course. Whatever happened to "free enterprise?"

 

[theophilus777]

Yahweh hated human sacrifice, while the christian version of God demands it. 180 much?

180 not at all. You are hell bent on your human sacrifice though, so have at it. 2 passages instantly come to mind:

"As for the rumor that I continue to preach the ways of circumcision (as I did in those pre-Damascus Road days), that is absurd. Why would I still be persecuted, then? If I were preaching that old message, no one would be offended if I mentioned the Cross now and then—it would be so watered-down it wouldn’t matter one way or the other. Why don’t these agitators, obsessive as they are about circumcision, go all the way and castrate themselves!"

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind"

 

[awitch]

Sorry but it is the LGBT side of the aisle that's trying to pass legislation. W/o that there would be no divide over the issue.

Fighting for equal rights in the US. Rights that would be denied primarily by Christians, and history will never forget that.

I missed that. That's just gay. (In a manner of speaking)

That expression is often seen as offensive but I assume you know that and use it anyway because you know it is.

That's just gay, too. In my business I could refuse service to any gay person if I wanted to and nobody could do a**thing about it.

Sure there is. It can be publicized that you denied service. With most of the country supporting same sex marriage (and that percentage is increasing), you stand to alienate a large part of your market. That's bad for your business.

Is it really "discrimination" to tell somebody to go buy your cake someplace else?

If you're a business that serves the public but refuse to serve someone based on any factor (including gender / sexual orientation) then absolutely. Though in a large number of states, it is perfectly legal to fire someone for the crime of being gay.

Public transport and other essential services excepted of course. Whatever happened to "free enterprise?"

Whatever happened to the Constitution?

 

[theophilus777]

Whatever happened to the Constitution?

This is not a Constitutional issue. That document does not grant you any "right" to have your cake baked, nor your carpet cleaned, nor a million other things in the private sphere, by any specific individual. Nor does it encumber anyone to provide such a service to anyone they choose not to.

Nor does it address marriage which isn't a right at all, but a blessing of God that only He can bestow. Civil rights is not an argument Christians are fighting to oppress; it takes your side of the aisle to distort the issue into that. Y'all could've had all the civil rights anyone could ask for, completely settled by now, years ago. But no, you had to go and confuse the issue by pretending social acceptance is somehow within the jurisdiction of the Court.

Newsflash: it never has been, and never will be. All the civil rights are though, and those include financial concerns and a few other things you really don't have to fight for because people are eager to give them to you.

 

[theophilus777]

All I hear is, "Blue rainbow fishsticks swagglebottom likes every noon hour chocolate table."

Reprobate mind

 

[awitch]

Nor does it address marriage which isn't a right at all, but a blessing of God that only He can bestow. Civil rights is not an argument Christians are fighting to oppress; it takes your side of the aisle to distort the issue into that. Y'all could've had all the civil rights anyone could ask for, completely settled by now, years ago. But no, you had to go and confuse the issue by pretending social acceptance is somehow within the jurisdiction of the Court.

Oh no, no. You don't have to approve of gay people. No one could care less what you think of them. They don't live for your approval. You're free to condemn them until your dying breath, if that's how you choose to waste your life.

Trust me, we all understand what your religion thinks about gay people. It's been made perfectly clear time and time again. Like I already mentioned, people like me will make sure the world never forgets.

 

[theophilus777]

Oh no, no. You don't have to approve of gay people. No one could care less what you think of them. They don't live for your approval. You're free to condemn them until your dying breath, if that's how you choose to waste your life.

Trust me, we all understand what your religion thinks about gay people. It's been made perfectly clear time and time again. Like I already mentioned, people like me will make sure the world never forgets.

Don't twist your mind into a jumbled knot.

You apparently have NO IDEA what Christianity says about sinners.

So all that stuff you plan on making sure the world never forgets, is straight up lies. How does that help anything?

 

[awitch]

Don't twist your mind into a jumbled knot.

Do you find it simpler not to think about it?

You apparently have NO IDEA what Christianity says about sinners.

Tell us again why your business that serves the public should be exempt from fairly passed anti-discrimination laws.

So all that stuff you plan on making sure the world never forgets, is straight up lies. How does that help anything?

So first hand archived audio and video and social media content, and the public record of court cases from the religious right's bigotry will be a lie?

And in 10-15 years when homosexuality is widely accepted and no longer an issue, I fully expect Christians to say they led the charge for equality.

 

[theophilus777]

If you can't be reasonable, there's no sense trying to speak with you. Now how 'bout post #414? There's lots of substance there, and you haven't addressed any of it.

 

[awitch]

If you can't be reasonable, there's no sense trying to speak with you. Now how 'bout post #414? There's lots of substance there, and you haven't addressed any of it.

Well, I'm most interested in the part about marriage being a blessing of God that only he can bestow.

What does that have to do with civil marriage which is actually acquired by visiting the county clerk, paying the fee and filling out the paperwork? Marriage licenses don't fall out of the sky.

I'm not a Christian and I'm married with all the benefits and protections that comes with marriage. Should my marriage be revoked because god was not a part of the ceremony (which is not even necessary to be legally recognized as married)? What about atheists and Muslims and Jews and Hindus? Shouldn't gay Christians have more of a right to marry than us? And who are you to say that God isn't blessing their marriage? God used to kill a lot of people when he wasn't happy in the Bible and I don't know of a single gay marriage that didn't end in a rain of fire.

If gay people don't have all the civil rights now, in what world do you think they would have had them years ago? Civil unions? Yea, that not equality.

 

[dlamberth]

Nor does it address marriage which isn't a right at all, but a blessing of God that only He can bestow.

I'm not aware of God marring anyone, including Adam and Eve. Marriage is a contract of the heart between people.

.

 

[katautumn]

I think paganism frightens christians because it points to a reality beyond their dogma and teachings.

What reality would that be, pray tell? Because I was involved in Paganism throughout my entire twenties and I've seen nearly every facet of Paganism (well, Noe-Paganism, at least) and the word reality doesn't exactly pop into my mind.

 

[katautumn]

LaVeyan Satanism, biggest troll religion for an atheist. How on earth can you be a LaVeyan Satanist?

Oh, believe me, I'm aware of the silliness. I was young. Bear in mind I was 23 years old at the time and came across a copy of "The Satanic Bible" at Barnes & Noble and thought it would be "teh kewl" to read it.

This really makes me doubt that you know anything. Considering that LaVey was an atheist(anti-theist) I find it ludicrous that you were a practitioner of it.

I didn't stick with it for long. Maybe a few months. I moved on to Wicca, then Green Witchcraft. I studied some of the more feminist-based sects, like Dianic Wicca. Read a lot of Starhawk. I just desperately wanted something to believe in.

 

[katautumn]

But dinosaurs on arks, angry gods killing their kids by nailing them to wooden crosses, raptures and demon-possessed people does? Hmmmmm.

You didn't answer my question.