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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 7:14 pm
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:49 pm
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 3:55 pm
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It has been only recently that I've decided that I don't know if "Christian" is the word for me. It's been even more recently that I've been even considering calling myself "Pagan."
I definitely respect those with Christian beliefs, because I still have many of them. But I think that, for me, right now, beliefs are kind of an awkward subject for me to talk about with Christians. I'm not grounded enough in *any* faith to really be able to stand up for myself and feel right about it, and I'm afraid that if I tell a Christian that I am becoming interested in paganism, that they'll suddenly try to "grab" me back to Christianity in the hopes that, since I'm not quite "to the other side" yet, I'll be an easier "catch." So far, though, this has only really happened once, and I've been quite surprised by the response that I've gotten from a lot of Christians that I've talked to.
Because of my background, I don't know if I'll ever be quite okay with satanists. I'll don't think I'll ever yell at them, or tell them up front that their beliefs are "wrong" (IMHO), but I think "satan" is a word that has been so deeply planted in my mind as being "Eeeevil" that I don't know if I'll ever be able to think of it without shuddering. (I'm sorry if I have offended anyone with this. >_< )
Anyway, all that said....... I think my thoughts on this are basically: I have no problem with other people's beliefs, as long as they don't try to make me believe them, or think less of me because I don't. And usually, they don't do that, at least, not as much as I would've thought before.
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Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 11:27 am
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Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:57 am
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 4:26 pm
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I'm sorry, but I'm one of those people that will always have a bad taste in my mouth when it comes down to Christianity. The reason for that is..well... personal experiences. I guess, to sum it all up, it was a family/friend "shoving it down my throat"-thing all through my life. I'll have some positive, but mostly negative ties to it. I find myself listening to music from The Prince of Egypt, and I still love my family. Now, the challenge is telling them I want to practice/become a pagan(ism). When I look back, I see a lot of wrath and hurt from a lot of sources...including myself. I don't condone the actions of forcing beliefs or punishing/enslaving, etc people because they chose a different path...but you gotta love or hate the person without that kind of connection...like "I hate this person because they stole my cookie!" or "I love this person because she's a friend". I've learned to "love the person, hate the sin", if you wanna call it that. I have a Jewish friend, and he doesn't seem to care that I said I wanted to follow a different path...and that I am a pervert by society's definition. In my thoughts, I note, too...that people abuse religion, too. Sometimes, though, I wonder to myself if I should really follow paganism/ become a pagan. The questions I'm asking myself now are: "You saw what happened to your family, but do you want to do this because of what you've seen?" "What do you want to risk? What do you want to gain?" For those questions...I have no answer yet. sweatdrop I think to this day that I'm still a blasphemer due to my experience with Christianity. However, I've heard that there is such a thing as "shamanic Christianity".......interesting, and comforting. But that's probably going to get screwed over on both sides. I think Starlock, Pelta, Anabis, Creepy Albino Fish, swampyface, and Christo Minaverus said it much better than how I'm putting it.
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 12:29 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 12:34 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 12:46 pm
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:56 am
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 7:23 am
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 9:55 am
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Starlock safkef Starlock I've often been known to say that hypocrisy is an unavoidable, inevitable condition of all human beings. wink THAT is quite possibly the most intelligent statement I have ever heard! You're quite right! But I've also been known to say that there's good hypocrisy and bad hypocrisy. Hypocrisy arising out of wanting to change to be something you consider better than what you are now is the good kind. Hypocrisy arising out of knowingly saying one thing and doing another (and not caring a whiff) is the bad kind. xd
I wouldn't want to refer to wanting to improve yourself as being hypocrisy. I think hypocrisy would be knowing that you should improve and refusing to do so. Making stupid decisions is the price humans pay for being capable of thinking for oneself (which sounds a bit like a conundrum, choosing not to think). rolleyes
The guy I'm dating right now is a Christian, sort of, but he knew I was a pagan years before we started dating.
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 6:24 am
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Boadicia Starlock safkef Starlock I've often been known to say that hypocrisy is an unavoidable, inevitable condition of all human beings. wink THAT is quite possibly the most intelligent statement I have ever heard! You're quite right! But I've also been known to say that there's good hypocrisy and bad hypocrisy. Hypocrisy arising out of wanting to change to be something you consider better than what you are now is the good kind. Hypocrisy arising out of knowingly saying one thing and doing another (and not caring a whiff) is the bad kind. xd I wouldn't want to refer to wanting to improve yourself as being hypocrisy. I think hypocrisy would be knowing that you should improve and refusing to do so. Making stupid decisions is the price humans pay for being capable of thinking for oneself (which sounds a bit like a conundrum, choosing not to think). rolleyes
The guy I'm dating right now is a Christian, sort of, but he knew I was a pagan years before we started dating.
The thing is that an outside observer isn't going to know if a hypocrisy they seein you originates from wanting to improve yourself; that's why I make the distinction. To the outside observer, that is going to be labeled hypocrisy just as readily as someone who says one thing and does another deliberately and with no intention of changing that pattern. 3nodding
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