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Backtrack: in the before time
Hi kids,
I was chating with one of my new cyber pals, and he pointed out that at an earlier point in my life, I once said something interesting about why Christians bother me, even though in the abstract, i respect everyones right to beleive as they chose.
I think a lot of this debate comes down to simple small-mindedness. My biggest gripe with devout Chirstians over the years is the stance of "we are free to beleive what we want, but if you don't love my god you'll go to hell so I'm going to help you change your mind". While working in retail jobs, I eventually took it upon myself to make up Pagan and Craft oriented pamphlets so i can reciprocate to all those "well meanning" Christians who give me "somthing to read" while Im trying to ring up thier order.
I was once told by an interviewer that it was stupid to wear a pentacle to a job interveiw, and that I wouldn't be able to wear one to work, should I be hired. No sooner did I leave his office when I noticed his receptionist wore a rather large necklace featuring a man being totured and killed as he hung on a cross. How on Earth is a star in a circle more offensive than torture?
Having realized i would not be hired, I posed my question to the interviewer. he informed me that my jewelry obviously meant I was a Satanist. i informed him that only inverted 5-pointed stars are symbolic of Satanism. he said it was the same thing, until I reminded him that inverted crosses also symbolized Satanism, but that upright ones meant something else entirely.
I think people take comfort in laws like this because it keeps them from having to decide things on thier own, which means they have to know things, and then think about them. That's an awful lot of work for most people.
I try to keep in mind that people think in language, so controlling words is an indirect way to control thoughts.
I was chating with one of my new cyber pals, and he pointed out that at an earlier point in my life, I once said something interesting about why Christians bother me, even though in the abstract, i respect everyones right to beleive as they chose.
I think a lot of this debate comes down to simple small-mindedness. My biggest gripe with devout Chirstians over the years is the stance of "we are free to beleive what we want, but if you don't love my god you'll go to hell so I'm going to help you change your mind". While working in retail jobs, I eventually took it upon myself to make up Pagan and Craft oriented pamphlets so i can reciprocate to all those "well meanning" Christians who give me "somthing to read" while Im trying to ring up thier order.
I was once told by an interviewer that it was stupid to wear a pentacle to a job interveiw, and that I wouldn't be able to wear one to work, should I be hired. No sooner did I leave his office when I noticed his receptionist wore a rather large necklace featuring a man being totured and killed as he hung on a cross. How on Earth is a star in a circle more offensive than torture?
Having realized i would not be hired, I posed my question to the interviewer. he informed me that my jewelry obviously meant I was a Satanist. i informed him that only inverted 5-pointed stars are symbolic of Satanism. he said it was the same thing, until I reminded him that inverted crosses also symbolized Satanism, but that upright ones meant something else entirely.
I think people take comfort in laws like this because it keeps them from having to decide things on thier own, which means they have to know things, and then think about them. That's an awful lot of work for most people.
I try to keep in mind that people think in language, so controlling words is an indirect way to control thoughts.
Yup...
I think I find Christian fundamentalism one of the scariest things in modern Western civilisation, because so many people seem to accept it as the status quo without ever questioning it. Even scarier than that is that people seem to think that religion ( for religion read the Christian religion ) should be intrinsically linked to the state. I'm of the belief that in any truly civilised culture the machineries of church and state should be kept separate. By all means I believe in a moral and humane world, but one in which noone should be able to legislate doctrine through law and enforce their own beliefs on others ( such as the fundamentalists trying to get sex education programs in schools banned because they believe that sex outside of marriage is inherently sinful )
I consider myself an agnostic, but I find the lack of judgement prevalent in religions such as Paganism and Wicca to be far preferable to Fundamentalist Dogma. I think this lack of judgement can be attributed to the very nature of Paganism and Wicca itself. They seem to be belief systems that primarily emancipate the individual and encourage thought and the examination and celebration of life, gender and sexuality itself ( something that I don't think Christianity has ever succeeded in doing...How can you feel good about yourself and life when you're told that you are born into sin from day one ? That's the most fucked up, psychologically damaging thing that you can say to a child as far as I'm concerned. ). Most Wiccans and Pagans that I've met also reject any kind of fundamentalism and readily accept the presence of other religions, due to their own belief in there being aspects of the deities/god/goddess rather than any singular God-head, if you will ( therefore its possible for the likes of Jesus, Buddha and Allah to exist alongside the likes of the skyfather, earth-mother, Bast and Danu...as they believe that people perceive the forces that guide the universe in different ways )
Unfortunately we still live in a world dominated by the hypocritical patriarchy of state ordained religion. However, in the UK at least, people have become a lot more tolerant of Wicca and Pagan in general, in recent years. I think this is mainly due to people learning more about them as beliefs and the prevalence of positive role models from these beliefs in the media. Besides, I'd rather work with a Wiccan than a fundamentalist Christian anyday. The Wiccans I've met, in contrast to the FC's I've met, seem to be generally cooler, less hypocritical, more open-minded people, by their very nature...that and they're not always trying to convert you ;)
Re: Yup...
Re: Yup...
Way to have my back on the issue.