U WANT RESPECT...EARN IT! Before u go on harassing people for being different, do your homework, and at least TRY AND APPEAR to be educated. Since so many people like to share on their beliefs...I think its time to teach a bit of mine, just to educate those who still believe Christians ERRONEOUS propaganda about Paganism. Just like in every belief system...we have faith. Just because my God has a Goddess, and yours has one, doesnt mean my faith is less or more than yours. It simply is. And thus should be respected. LESSSON 1 Pagans dont believe in the devil! THATS WHAT DEVIL WORSHIPERS DO! Worshiping this Christian abhorrent negative deity goes against the positive worship of Earth and its energies. Unlike Christians, Buddhists, Islamic and other monotheistic religions.....Pagans are polytheistic. Believing in both, male and female aspects of The Devine, (recognized as The Goddess and The God) which together AND IN HARMONY created everything in their image, thus we have been created in oppositions...equally but mirrors of each other... Look at ourselves....humans ...we are not created the same, but in equal opposition....born either male and female, neither being better nor worse or either in higher regard than the other. Without one, the other cannot continue on recreating life.we were made to fit each other...soul bonding to parent children. ...just as without light there cannot be dark, nor can there be dark without light, thus equally we must understand that evil exists to make us UNDERSTAND that is good does as well. So WE make the choice ourselves as to which path in life to follow through. (This is when u learn good choices from bad ones...otherwise known as life lessons, trial and tribulations. To err is human, or so say the Christians...right?) Why do Christians believe pagans worship the devil? Many modern pagans, are highly sensitive to the accusation of devil-worship, and are quick to point out that Satan is a part of these monotheistic faiths and exists in his modern form SOLELY in order to explain the undeniable presence of evil in a world created by an entirely good deity. (This is despite the explicit co-operation between God and Satan that’s evident in the biblical Book of Job.) From a conservative Christian standpoint, anyone who is not worshipping God is participating in the worship of Satan; from this perspective, Pagans are often accused of Satan worship by default. End of story? Um...no...I dont think so. It all began with the crusades and the hunt of followers of the old religion as the new christian religion took over, to eliminate the competition. OF COURSE PEOPLE CONVERTED! IT WAS CONVERT OR DIE! NOW... Lets call a spade a spade, shall we. Satan - the Adversary figure of Christian, Judaic and Islamic doctrine (I’ll call these the Abramic religions just to save time) - is THEIR construct, and so he’s outside of the spectrum of the Pagan belief system. IF someone tells you they’re a Satanist, THEN they’re a Satanist, NOT Pagan. Its also important to keep in mind that most people who self-identify as Satanists do not, in fact, worship Satan as a deity, but instead embrace a concept of individualism and ego. Many Satanists are in fact atheists, particularly among those who follow LaVeyan Satanism. As to the guy wearing horns, there are a number of Pagan deities who are often represented as wearing horns or antlers. Cernunnos, for instance, is the Celtic god of the forests. He is associated with lust and fertility and the hunt - none of which sound terribly evil, do they? Theres also Pan, who looks a bit like a goat and comes to us from the ancient Greeks. He invented a musical instrument which ended up being named for him - the panpipe. Again, not too threatening or scary at all. If you happen to stumble across an image of Baphomet, hes another goat-headed deity, and happens to reflect many of the theories and ideals found in 19th-century occultism. FYI: Lucifer - AKA THE DEVIL - HAS NO HORNS BY THE WAY. He was an angel, THUS Tdescribed as the most beautiful in the bible before his fall. Now, ask yourself...What do angels look like? Learning the truth teaches respect and tolerance. Your faith should be strong enough to let you be educated, and I hardly doubt a good god would want their followers to sound foolish. Call me tree hugger...call me hippy...though wrongful still, youd actually be closer in terminology. Ignorance begets ignorance...hate can only be the next step. And then comes acts of violence and murder.... U can have faith , which is beautiful. But when u attack others because they are not the same...its no longer faith. Then u become a hatred cult of fanatism...And one step closer to what bin Laden did in 9-11. Tolerance begets understanding, which spears love....one step closer to finding real Peace in the world.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 05:38:20 +0000