Guyver Posted March 30, 2023 #1 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Greetings. I searched the forum and I didn’t see a thread on Paganism, so I thought I would bring it up for discussion. What are your thoughts on Paganism or being a Pagan? How do you define it…or do you? Personally, I don’t actually define it, but I think I’m living a pretty good version of it right now. I mean, I know how to read a dictionary, so I am aware of the word meaning…but let’s face it, words have different meanings to different people. I’m not a pagan because I worship the gods of trees and forests, I’m a pagan because I do whatever I want to do while I’m surviving. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guyver Posted March 30, 2023 Author #2 Share Posted March 30, 2023 What are your thoughts on that philosophy or belief system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep73 Posted March 30, 2023 #3 Share Posted March 30, 2023 (edited) It's just a christian nickname for people who believe in the spirits of nature. Like "heathens". Who cares about their silly nicknames for the "infidels"? As far as I'm concerned, all religious people are infidels, because they have rejected knowledge. Conspiracy theories is the new religion, btw. And those who trust public sources are the infidels. Notice how they always laugh at people who refer to or quote public sources? Edited March 30, 2023 by zep73 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guyver Posted March 30, 2023 Author #4 Share Posted March 30, 2023 1 hour ago, zep73 said: It's just a christian nickname for people who believe in the spirits of nature. Like "heathens". Who cares about their silly nicknames for the "infidels"? As far as I'm concerned, all religious people are infidels, because they have rejected knowledge. Conspiracy theories is the new religion, btw. And those who trust public sources are the infidels. Notice how they always laugh at people who refer to or quote public sources? I agree that Christians do use pagan as a colloquial reference to anyone who’s not saved. As far as conspiracy theories being the new religion, no…I’m not aware of that, nor am I aware that everyone mocks public sources. But, judging by the politics I’ve been seeing since Joe Biden has become President, I’m not surprised people would mock those sources. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep73 Posted March 30, 2023 #5 Share Posted March 30, 2023 55 minutes ago, Guyver said: nor am I aware that everyone mocks public sources Maybe because you're not one of us who's been trying to fight the misinformation. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alchopwn Posted March 30, 2023 #6 Share Posted March 30, 2023 "Pagan" and "Heathen" both mean "Person from the country". It is a pejorative term the way "*******" might be used. I prefer more technical terms like "Animist" and "Pantheist". 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eight bits Posted March 30, 2023 #7 Share Posted March 30, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, Guyver said: I’m not a pagan because I worship the gods of trees and forests, I’m a pagan because I do whatever I want to do while I’m surviving. I'm not following why that makes you a "pagan." Also, I doubt that you really do whatever you want to do, but rather, just like everybody else, you do what you want as much as you are able within the constraints imposed on you by your circumstances. Maybe a "pagan" for you is someone whose constraints don't include anything based upon the words attributed to an Abrahamic God, but that covers a wide variety of religious and irreligious perspectives. Historically, the people who were called pagans by ancient Christians (and are now called that or something similar by Muslims) were the followers of some traditional religion, usually the tradition that the person was born into, although not always, and with an exception for Judaism despite its being largely a traditional religion. I understand that modren pagans make some provision among themselves for the "sole practitioner," but even then it seems there is some idea of a tradition or even lineage to which the practicing pagan belongs or sees themselves to be continuing. If I were trying to tie what you posted to a "tradition," then what popped into my still caffeine-deprived brain this morning was Robert Heinlein's rational anarchism defined in a character speech from his novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Quote A Rational Anarchist believes that concepts such as 'state' and 'society' and 'government' have no existence save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. He believes that it is impossible to shift blame, share blame, distribute blame... as blame, guilt, responsibility are matters taking place inside human beings and nowhere else. But being rational, he knows that not all individuals hold his evaluations, so he tries to live perfectly in an imperfect world, aware that his effort will be less than perfect, yet undismayed by self-knowledge of self-failure...I will accept any rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxioius, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. If I were to relate that to something "pagan," then I wouldn't be the first to notice that that fits very well within the scope of Stoic ideas, something that Marcus Aurelius might be comfortable with despite his being an autocrat, the very antithesis of an anarchist. Edited March 30, 2023 by eight bits 4 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Wearer of Hats Posted March 30, 2023 #8 Share Posted March 30, 2023 2 hours ago, Alchopwn said: "Pagan" and "Heathen" both mean "Person from the country". It is a pejorative term the way "*******" might be used. I prefer more technical terms like "Animist" and "Pantheist". LIES. Dragnet (Dan Ackroyd version) tells the truth - it means People Against Goodness And Niceness. 2 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep73 Posted March 30, 2023 #9 Share Posted March 30, 2023 1 hour ago, Sir Wearer of Hats said: LIES. Dragnet (Dan Ackroyd version) tells the truth - it means People Against Goodness And Niceness. I was gonna quote that, but I couldn't remember that last word. Are you sure it's "niceness"? 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Wearer of Hats Posted March 30, 2023 #10 Share Posted March 30, 2023 5 minutes ago, zep73 said: I was gonna quote that, but I couldn't remember that last word. Are you sure it's "niceness"? Fairly sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Essan Posted March 30, 2023 #11 Share Posted March 30, 2023 People Against Goodness and Normalcy (according to wiki) 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eight bits Posted March 30, 2023 #12 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Oh, for crying out loud. Let's go to the video Wiki P wins one. 6 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHaYap Posted March 30, 2023 #13 Share Posted March 30, 2023 (edited) Who then, shall weep for the heretics... ~ Edited March 30, 2023 by SHaYap For dramatic purposes 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccr8 Posted March 30, 2023 #14 Share Posted March 30, 2023 8 hours ago, SHaYap said: Who then, shall weep for the heretics... ~ Hi SHA Yap I guess us heretics will have to weep for ourselves sometime after we finish laughing about the non-heretics 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alchopwn Posted March 31, 2023 #15 Share Posted March 31, 2023 23 hours ago, Alchopwn said: "Pagan" and "Heathen" both mean "Person from the country". It is a pejorative term the way "*******" might be used. I prefer more technical terms like "Animist" and "Pantheist". To correct my earlier post, when I wrote Pantheist, I meant people who worship a specific Pantheon. As to the word that was censored, it was R3dn3ck. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alchopwn Posted March 31, 2023 #16 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) Here is a link to a fairly exhaustive list of "Pagan" religious organizations: List of modern pagan movements. I had personally never heard of Kandybaism, and was amused that it sounded like "candy bar-ism", which as an extension of the sin of gluttony is one of my regular Atheist religious observations. I personally favor Kit Kats especially of the matcha variety from Japan. No country has more types of Kit Kat flavors than Japan; 204 at last count. Food is the real religion in Japan, and I for one support that. Edited March 31, 2023 by Alchopwn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davros of Skaro Posted March 31, 2023 #17 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Be careful. The Catholic church likes to steal Pagan (people outside the city) properties. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eight bits Posted March 31, 2023 #18 Share Posted March 31, 2023 4 hours ago, Davros of Skaro said: Be careful. The Catholic church likes to steal Pagan (people outside the city) properties. Nah - Constantine gave them all that land. Really; they have the paperwork to prove it . 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkmoonlady Posted April 5, 2023 #19 Share Posted April 5, 2023 I've been a pagan since 1993. It made more sense to me on a personal level. I didn't and still do not care what others think of it, I practice alone and don't feel the need to talk much about my practice of it. Not out of any worry of judgement but because I believe in keeping your faith to yourself. I attended churches with my siblings (both Christian) and found them to be a sales pitch not really anything that felt like a connection on a deeper level. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Wearer of Hats Posted April 9, 2023 #20 Share Posted April 9, 2023 On 3/31/2023 at 5:46 PM, Davros of Skaro said: Be careful. The Catholic church likes to steal Pagan (people outside the city) properties. If they didn’t nail it down, they CLEARLY didn’t care enough about it to want to keep it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davros of Skaro Posted April 10, 2023 #21 Share Posted April 10, 2023 On 4/9/2023 at 4:26 AM, Sir Wearer of Hats said: If they didn’t nail it down, they CLEARLY didn’t care enough about it to want to keep it. Gravity nails down property untill you don't pay your taxes for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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