Originally posted by ljmandtina
My ex-wife, with whom I am still good friends, is also an ex-Christian. I lived with her, I know her ways, what she believes. I know her Wicca friends and how they live. I'm from the state where there are more covens than anywhere else in America. My daughter is exposed to my Christian faith on the weekends and to her mom's faith during the week. I'm grateful that my daughter chooses to believe in Christ and fears witchcraft. She has seen what it has done to her mom - the clinical depression, her apathy about work or anything unrelated to her faith. She knows about her mom's previous abortions and she hears her mom speak of Jesus as only a teacher and Satan as a myth. She has had nightmares because of the demons her mom has allowed into their home. We both love her, and she reluctantly accepts our prayers on her behalf.
To continue in this run of pseudo-personal attacks, I feel I need to comment on this quote, piece by piece.
Bear in mind that I do not intend to make concrete judgements about you or your family, but instead I am commenting on the situation as I have interpreted in your posts.
My ex-wife, with whom I am still good friends...
Yet you have raised your daughter to fear her faith... and possibly the woman herself. Children tend to fear individuals who hold so-called evil beliefs in addition to the belief itself. For example, I feared Gorbachev, in addition to the USSR and its oftentimes harmful philosophies forced on its citizens, when I was a kid 'cause my mom was so vehemently anti-communist.
...is also an ex-Christian. I lived with her, I know her ways, what she believes. I know her Wicca friends and how they live. I'm from the state where there are more covens than anywhere else in America. My daughter is exposed to my Christian faith on the weekends and to her mom's faith during the week. I'm grateful that my daughter chooses to believe in Christ and fears witchcraft.
See my previous statement about fear.
She has seen what it has done to her mom - the clinical depression, her apathy about work or anything unrelated to her faith.
Okay the second part of that sentence about apathy I can't explain, although it certainly does not coincide with any Wiccan beliefs I know of. A person is supposed to hold their own life and the things they do with their life in more immediate importance than they hold the Goddess/God in Wicca... correct me if I'm wrong, Wiccans. I'm Celtic Pagan so there are a few differences in our beliefs.
As for the part about depression, please don't tell me you think disease is caused by evil spirits... because equating illness to following a religion apart from Christianity would
suggest you hold such an outdated idea.
Personal story: my clinical depression
lessened after leaving Christianity.
She knows about her mom's previous abortions and she hears her mom speak of Jesus as only a teacher and Satan as a myth.
The abortion question is indeed a quandary among many pagans. On the one hand, we believe each person has a special spirit within them that should be allowed to grow and flourish. In Celtic beliefs, whenever a person is born on this world (which we call Abred), someone had to have died in the Dark Otherworld (Annwn)... so aborting a child can potentially be seen as making the death of the Annwn resident meaningless. But on the other hand, we believe in quality of life over quantity of it. I guess it comes down to a personal decision in every case.
But wait a minute... you said "her mom's
previous abortions"... that would imply she had these abortions prior to giving birth to your daughter. You also said she is an ex-Christian... so how long ago did she become ex-Christian? Were those abortions performed after or before that time? If before, then you can't say Wicca is to blame.
Also, about Satan. Wiccans do not believe in the Christian devil, or any sort of supremely evil being... would you prefer your wife lie to your daughter about the beliefs of Wicca?
She has had nightmares because of the demons her mom has allowed into their home. We both love her, and she reluctantly accepts our prayers on her behalf.
I can't verify or debunk this claim of course. But I will say that demons go with bad dreams about as well as evil spirits go with disease... medieval myths.
But again, I don't mean to judge your life, yet I still felt like what I said had to be said.