The rise of the occult, discussing paganism and its many branches.

Too comfusing. I'll try to understand one thing at a time.

it can be at times. this is where the island of the tonal comes in. this is known as the personal inventory, and it can get pretty cluttered sometimes. thats probly the best way to deal with it; one thing at a time.

About opinions, you are saying that people treat opinions like facts?

im saying that people take themselves too seriously. that they take life too seriously. so seriously in fact that they would force an opinion to no end. even if they do manage to build a small gathering of followers, this never seems to be enough for some people.


what these people do not realize, or even if they do, is that this is what you have been told. this or that is this because if this. everything has been described to us since the day were were born. for the most part, we have not even scratched the surface of what actually is.


i feel that just because more than a handful of people believe in the same thing(or so they think), this does not make them any more or less righteous than the next. everyone has to have their own truths. too many people take things at face value and leave it at that.
they do not bother to explore it any further, even if it is somewhat doubtful.


i, personally, do not have room for doubt.

So you believe that what's true for you is true for you, and what's true for me is true for me?

A lot of people believe that all Gods are one-different religions are just different ways God has revealed himself or herself to people. Or that we cannot truly KNOW the nature of God.

im saying that the actual truth cannot be put into words so easily. this is why there are so many different views. like i said... a puzzle. this is the unknown. this is eternity.

I get the idea. We just can't know for sure. Even within a religion, there is still much unknown.

oh, there is definitely a way of knowing. just no way to properly convey what it is. not without having everyone believe you are completely out of your gourde.

motisfortiva, you think that I am wrong that Jesus died on the cross for everyone's sins. You will always think thst you are right and others are wrong, even if you don't have self importance. I get somewhat of what you are trying to say. As for everything being equal, it's new to me. Could you explain it better?

My way of looking at it is more nuanced than right or wrong, I think. The reason you and I have different religions is what works for me won't necessarily work for everyone else. The whole point of religion, IMO, is to make people happy and help them figure out what sort of purpose they want to give their lives, so it makes sense that different people should be able to choose whichever religion is most intellectually satisfying to them.

The whole point of religion, IMO, is to make people happy and help them figure out what sort of purpose they want to give their lives, so it makes sense that different people should be able to choose whichever religion is most intellectually satisfying to them.
Only one thing can be true. I say, if someone wants to explain why to beleive a religion, I'll listen. It is hard to disprove Christianity to me, if possible.

its all a matter of perception.

It is hard to disprove Christianity to me, if possible.

I'd go with impossible. You sort of have to throw reason and "proof" out the window when it comes to believing in stuff like Jesus's resurrection.

There are no real 'proofs' in any religion, that is why people belive.
It must be hard though, to belive when the reason says differently. I always try to follow my reason. It seems more real.



And speaking of Christianity, it destroyed many religions before it, religions that were culture of different nations. That's wrong, in my opinion.

The word pagan is a great example of what Chistianity did to old religions. It comes from Latin paganus which means 'a peasant', because only those who lived far from the influence of the Church were able to stay on the path of their old religion. The Church didn't like them, so they formed a new word, a villain, from english 'villager'.

Shape of pentagram is represented as a symbol of evil, but in old religions, pagan religions, it was a symbol of fertility.

Devil's weapon, the big fork, shown today a lot on TV thease days, was Poseidon's tool in greek mythology.

The fact is that the paganism is shown as something bad, is a 'product' of Church. So much about Chistian compassion.

many pagan religions were assimilated by the church. also many pagan religions survive thanks to the church.

these were the smart ones that used the church as a cover for their true religion. many still do till this day.

which church do you belong to? LOL! you dont have to answer that.

Why do you say there is no proof when it comes to religion? There are people who try to prove or disprove religion. It's amazing what you can find if you look.

EDIT: It's like something with a bit of evidence, but you still need faith. Look at a murder. You may have evidence that someone did it, but you don't know for sure.

I am an atheist and I look the world in a scientific way. All can be explained, if we don't know something, we should explore it and, sooner or later, we'll get the answer.

Just look at human society today. We are so much more advanced than we used to be.
At first, humans belived fire and water were gods, because they couldn't explain it. As the society progressed, people needed protection in their everyday life, so they created gods of war, gods of love, gods of death, gods of certain crafts... Now when we can't explain some other things, for example the questions of existance, people look for something fictional that could explain everything ~ a unique god.

Who knows in what will the people belive in in the future?! In nothing I would say. Science makes progress every day, answers to certain questions that have always troubled human race will be revealed, there would be no need for beliveing in anything anymore. Perhaps I'm wrong, perhaps I lack that spiritual thing that has always been in the race of man, but it is my opinion.


Though I'm not a paganist, I like mythology and stories of ancient religions. It is a part of history, a part of culture, and it should be respected as such.

it is a beautiful thing that we can all come together and converse about our individual beliefs. this is the only thing i truly believe in. this openess and the ability to express the world as we see it. this is great.

motisfortiva:

thank you. ive been wanting to say that for a while now.

It makes me happy to see people openly discussing their beliefs without fear of persucution or ridicule. It truly shows the growth and maturity of society and strengthens my belief that humanity is truly great and accepting.

I was raised a Mormon for most of my life, and while I saw many people for whom it was a life-affirming and "true" religion, I never really felt that same joy that I believe religion brings, only guilt for human things that I could not stop doing--sex, drug abuse, self mutiliation, etc, and as a result of my guilt my addictions and vices grew stronger and deeper.

When I was seventeen, my high school taught a class on world religions which focused not only on Christianity but Judaism, Hinduism, Budhhism and many other belief systems. I found peace and contentment in pantheism and the more hopeful outlook of eastern religion and paganism, and experienced for the first time in my life the religious happiness that I had been taught all my life that I should feel with Christianity.

I don't think Christianity is wrong, quite the contrary. I think that for some people it is what makes them happiest with the way they live their lives. This has become my view of religion: Whatever makes a person be the best person they can, and feel most comfortable with their way of life. That is their true religion. I do not believe that any religion is essentially right or wrong. For me, paganism/wicca has brought me the most happiness and peace with myself and my life. I hope that everyone in this world can be as happy with their beliefs as I, for then our society will reach true enlightenment.