What do you all think?
What Do You Think Pagans Are???
- Thread starter rainbow__princess_4
- Start date
heh heh, if you dont think any of the above then dont vote at all... and from what I've said on other boards I think I've made it pretty clear!
Silverback
Registered Senior Member
I believe the current self-definition of "pagan" by the self-proclaimed pagans would be an earth-loving faith. So that is what I think a pagan is.
Strangely, the dictionary (Webster's) just defines it as anyone who is not Christian, Jew or Muslim. It also throws in idolitor, heathen and "a person with no faith" for good measure, I guess. Hmmm, I must be looking at a seriously outdated dictionary. Still, that sounds like the classic definition as the word has been used in the past few centuries. The word has received recent revival and renewal with new meaning.
I have met Christians who would define it as "devil worship" simply because worshipping anyone but Jesus is seen by them as "being led astray by the devil". According to them, Islam falls into that category too.
Strangely, the dictionary (Webster's) just defines it as anyone who is not Christian, Jew or Muslim. It also throws in idolitor, heathen and "a person with no faith" for good measure, I guess. Hmmm, I must be looking at a seriously outdated dictionary. Still, that sounds like the classic definition as the word has been used in the past few centuries. The word has received recent revival and renewal with new meaning.
I have met Christians who would define it as "devil worship" simply because worshipping anyone but Jesus is seen by them as "being led astray by the devil". According to them, Islam falls into that category too.
heh heh, cool.
Silverback
Registered Senior Member
I do have to agree with James R that you need a "none of the above" answer, as I have met a few pagans who are not Wiccans. All Wiccans are pagan? All pagans are Wiccan? Both statements cannot be true.
I have a friend who is a priestess of Aphrodite and Poseiden. She calls herself pagan but not Wicca.
I have a friend who is a priestess of Aphrodite and Poseiden. She calls herself pagan but not Wicca.
"Pagan" is specifically a word used to describe a person who partakes in a religion that is not Abrahamic, but it is also used derisively by the faithful and righteous to describe anybody that doesn't confom, be it Hindu, a Wiccan, an atheist, or an apparently wicked, naughty person.
This is really a mindless poll and should be closed.
This is really a mindless poll and should be closed.
Silverback
Registered Senior Member
Closed? Why closed? If you don't like it, jump to the next thread.
I personally don't think an atheist should be considered pagan, IMHO. I think the word, at least to me, invokes the thought that the person has some kind of religion. I know, that isn't what the dictionary says, that is just my random personal opinion to offer.
I personally don't think an atheist should be considered pagan, IMHO. I think the word, at least to me, invokes the thought that the person has some kind of religion. I know, that isn't what the dictionary says, that is just my random personal opinion to offer.
So, personally, in your humble opinion that's what you think?
Thanks for informing me.
Oh, and... the poll is flawed.
That is why it should be closed. Either that, or the mods should edit its options.
Thanks for informing me.
Oh, and... the poll is flawed.
That is why it should be closed. Either that, or the mods should edit its options.
dictionary.com (i think, or maybe dr dictionary) describes pagan as any religion that isnt Christian, Jewish or Muslim
i think the most right answer out of those is earth loving faith, because whilst it doesnt define pagans, many pagans are of an earth loving faith
i think the most right answer out of those is earth loving faith, because whilst it doesnt define pagans, many pagans are of an earth loving faith
I think the dictionary needs to be modified somewhat, there are many more than those 3 religions in the world and to say all others are pagan is pure stupidity, does anybody have the phone number for the people that write those things I feel I should educate them? Also I thought pagans believed in a god or something, perhaps someone could please define the religion for me?
I alwayse thought that Pagan was just a catchall christians used for non-christians. Calling yourself a pagan dosnt seem to convey to me anything more than that you have a problem with christians. Its like calling yourself a gentile, or an infidel. Its nothing specific, it would just serve to let folks know you dont want to be associated with christianity, or islam. There never was a group of people called the "Barbarians" just non-roman, there never were "savages", just non Brits just like there were never Pagans, just non christians.
I oppose the term Pagan on the grounds that it builds a ethos of anti-christian sentiment into your alternative worship to constantly be refering to a derogatory term that a christian may call you.
I oppose the term Pagan on the grounds that it builds a ethos of anti-christian sentiment into your alternative worship to constantly be refering to a derogatory term that a christian may call you.
Perspective
It's all about perspective. For instance:
(1) Pagan - used by Christian in a similar manner to infidel and heathen; a negative characterization of those outside the faith.
(2) Pagan - from a Roman root indicating, essentially, country folk who were left to more superstitious practices removed from the organized centers of religion.
(3) Pagan - in the modern and Western, indicative of any number of occult "crafts" including witchcraft and shamanism.
It really depends on what the discussion is; I use all three, depending on what I'm discussing with whom. Speaking to a "Bible-thumper" amid a heated political season, pagan will be used sarcastically in reference to the non-Christian masses often fashioned by religious paranoia into some massive conspiracy against the faith. (e.g. "Oh, right. I forgot. The pagans are coming. The pagans are coming. One if by land, two if by sea. The pagans are coming.)
The second rarely comes up, but was insisted on once at Sciforums by an atheist bent on insisting that Wicca was not a religion. It's occasionally helpful to bear it in mind when reading translations of source documents, as well. If I read Latin, it wouldn't be such a rare utilization.
The third is pretty commonplace today, and technically includes the last religious "system" I attempted to follow. It is often used seriously as a term by those who are not Wicca, have not gone "native," and have no real word that describes their paradigm. It's kind of a misfit term, apropos a generation that came up on Twisted Sister and Savatage and a heavy-metal appeal to a diverse crowd whose common link was that they presumed themselves valiant losers in a world rife with unscrupulous winners. Pagans by label are no more prone to getting along than 1980s metalheads or contemporary atheists. But they are connected most tangibly by something they are not--e.g. part the mainstream--as opposed to something they actually are.
It's all about perspective. For instance:
(1) Pagan - used by Christian in a similar manner to infidel and heathen; a negative characterization of those outside the faith.
(2) Pagan - from a Roman root indicating, essentially, country folk who were left to more superstitious practices removed from the organized centers of religion.
(3) Pagan - in the modern and Western, indicative of any number of occult "crafts" including witchcraft and shamanism.
It really depends on what the discussion is; I use all three, depending on what I'm discussing with whom. Speaking to a "Bible-thumper" amid a heated political season, pagan will be used sarcastically in reference to the non-Christian masses often fashioned by religious paranoia into some massive conspiracy against the faith. (e.g. "Oh, right. I forgot. The pagans are coming. The pagans are coming. One if by land, two if by sea. The pagans are coming.)
The second rarely comes up, but was insisted on once at Sciforums by an atheist bent on insisting that Wicca was not a religion. It's occasionally helpful to bear it in mind when reading translations of source documents, as well. If I read Latin, it wouldn't be such a rare utilization.
The third is pretty commonplace today, and technically includes the last religious "system" I attempted to follow. It is often used seriously as a term by those who are not Wicca, have not gone "native," and have no real word that describes their paradigm. It's kind of a misfit term, apropos a generation that came up on Twisted Sister and Savatage and a heavy-metal appeal to a diverse crowd whose common link was that they presumed themselves valiant losers in a world rife with unscrupulous winners. Pagans by label are no more prone to getting along than 1980s metalheads or contemporary atheists. But they are connected most tangibly by something they are not--e.g. part the mainstream--as opposed to something they actually are.
what you people don't get it that the general "any-religion but jewish, islam, christian/more than one god" thing is for a "pagan" NOT "Pagan"... there is a great difference.
rainbow__princess_4 said:
No there isn't.
"Pagan" is not a religion or a set of defined beliefs.
People who referred to as "pagan" (meaning simply not a follower of Abrahamic religions) decided that they were tired of the word being used as an insult so started capitalizing it as a way of saying, "Yes, I am pagan, and I am proud of that fact, not ashamed, as you think I shoud be."
It still means no more than it ever did- non-Abrahamic, but if it is capitalized, then you can be pretty sure that:
a.) It was written by a pagan
b.) It was written by someone trying to be PC and respect pagans
c.) It was written by someone with poor english skills and does not know any better
d.) Some combination of the above
Paganism is NOT a religion in itself and never has been.
Silverback
Registered Senior Member
Hi rainbow_princess_4
Since this is your thread, care to elaborate?
What do you consider the definition of the word pagan?
Since this is your thread, care to elaborate?
What do you consider the definition of the word pagan?
If you are of the humble opinion that Christians are people who worship fire-breathing unicorns and spread mayonnaise over thier bodies to dance with faeries under the light of the full moon, that doesn't make it a fact.
It simply makes it a misconception and it makes you incorrect.
It simply makes it a misconception and it makes you incorrect.
Silverback
Registered Senior Member
Now that was funny!one_raven said: