news:%UHUa.24830$zd4.8137@lakeread02...
< Snipotomy >
> > > Wonderful! It should be some very interesting discourse then. :) I
> grew
> > up
> > > xian and have studied theology for about 20 years. Several years ago
I
> > > finally found my own path in Celtic paganism (came "out of the broom
> > closet"
> > > about 2 years ago). I find fundamentalists of any religion to be
either
> > > scary or hilarious depending on how extreme they get, so enjoy being
> able
> > to
> > > have rational, logical debate regarding diety and religion. It's
almost
> > > funny the responses you can get just wearing a pentacle to a grocery
> > store.
> > > :D
> >
> > Well, now it 'pears that you have some interesting insights yourself.
> > Were you raised a fundy? What motivated you to study theology.
>
> Well, I wasn't raised fundy, but I have several family members that are.
My
> father's family is out of the boondocks of Kentucky, devout Southern
> Baptists and that's what I was raised around. Thankfully though, my
parents
> encouraged us to think for ourselves. They felt that the right thing to
do
> was to show us their beliefs, but encourage us to find our own. Which I
> still admire them for.
>
Although Southern Baptists do get labelled 'fundamentalist' often, oddly
enough baptist belief is very much characterised by their allowing kids to
come to independent convictions about the gospel. Hence they don't baptise
their kids like the paedobaptist protestants do (presbyterians,
congregationalists and others) but try to make sure that they are given full
knowledge of the faith, and come to it themselves if they want to.
It's a confident approach to the truth of the message and is a free market
approach to the trading of ideas in which they believe the truth will out in
the end. People forced into a certain religion have a big hindrance to
exercise saving faith. Always there is the question whether people really
have believed or whether they have gone down the line of least family
resistance.
> > And how did it come to be that you were called to celtic paganism.
>
> That was almost kind of a fluke. Though I can't really say I was called
to
> it, with paganism
I agree with that. You cannot be called to be a pagan, it is a contradiction
in terms.
> it's more that I started learning about it and realized
> there's a name for what I'd always believed. :)I've always been
interested
> in theology and history/anthropology since childhood. So over the years
> I've attended services at just about every religion there is, not only
> Christian. (When my KY relatives heard I was attending Catholic mass for
> awhile they could only say "oh dear, we'll pray for you darlin'.") hehehe
The mass is a pagan event anyway.
I'm surprised the RCs don't do it surrounded by holly and mistletoe.
> Several years ago I was doing my family's genealogy. Which consists of
> entirely Celtic descent (Germanic, English, Irish). So I started delving
> into the Celtic history, which led to information regarding the revival of
> the Celtic pagan practices. One of the things that really drew me to it
was
> the openness. You're not ever likely to meet a pagan who tells you you're
> on the "wrong path". :) And proselytizing is strictly taboo. After
> studying it a couple of years, I realized it was the right path for me and
> initiated as a witch.
Any good at quiddage?
>
> > I imagine you *would* get quite the responses wearing a pentacle to
> > a grocery store. The pentacle, in so many peoples' minds, is associated
> > with satanism, and I would imagine that most people think that paganism
> > and satanism is the same thing.
>
> Unfortunately true. Many fail to realize that the devil is a xian
construct
> and doesn't exist in the pagan pantheons.
I could argue that Satan doesn't need to get himself a cameo appearance in
worldviews that are well under control for his purposes anyway.
> Satanism is a separate path
> entirely. Many of the pagan paths do not delinate between good and evil
> with regards to diety. They are what they are, who are we to place our
> morals on them?
This goes to show there's hardly a religion that doesn't contain at least
some truth.
I wish some Christians would realise this and stop squeezing God into
manmade moral boxes.
> However, the majority of witches do subscribe to the Rede.
It's always nice to have a bit of a rede before bedtime.
> There are upsides and downsides to the surges of popular interest
regarding
> the Craft and paganism in general. The good is that more people are
willing
> to open up and listen, and finally understand we're not the boogy
men/women
> we've been made out to be. The downside is all the damn fluff bunnies! :)
So are you in, like, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Griffindore?
> > > > So, Uncle Davey, if you would like to respond to
> > > > "Nunya's" comments, I'm sure this poster would
> > > > be amenable to continuing this interesting discussion ... :)
> > >
> > > Yep, who cares if it's OT. It's still an interesting topic and some
> > readers
> > > may learn new things. :)
> > >
> >
> > Well, love (I believe) has a spiritual component. It is interesting
> > to read how peoples' spiritual beliefs affect how they love, who
> > they love, and how they feel about themselves in a relationship.
>
> Agreed. Not to mention tolerance is a component of love and discussions
> like this can help in that area. :) My own husband is agnostic. He
> believes in some sort of diety, but has a serious problem with organized
> religion of any sort (even paganism which is pretty disorganized!). But
we
> accept each other's views completely. Neither of us thinks we're "right"
> and the other "wrong", it's just points of view. Plus we do get a few
> laughs whenever I go to meet my friends for full moon celebrations and he
> starts teasing about who we're sacrificing that night. lol
>
I bet he's been up there behind the bushes checking if you all take your
clothes off.
> >
> > la n. - btw I consider myself (an open-minded) Christian.
> > Uncle Davey knows that I grew up in the Brethren Congregation,
> > and I still have fond memories of that time.
>
> That's good. The world needs more open-minded Christians! :D (Sorry,
still
> suffering mental whiplash from my last job, worked with a "saved
> Pentacostal". I think I ticked him off when I asked if when the Rapture
> came for him he would deed his house to me.) hehehe
It certainly would have been an act of faith.
Uncle Davey
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