Posted on 12/16/2004 11:04:00 AM PST by quidnunc
The sky was already murky at 4 p.m. when I locked my bike outside Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street. Inside, it was even murkier: wood-panelled corridors stretched off into the gloom, men in grey suits were wedged together, smoking Bensons and drinking bitter. No one looked even slightly like an Arch Priest of the Council of British Druid Orders. At 4:10 I found a separate little bar near the back of the pub. As I walked in, a big man with round shoulders and grey hair stared at me and I saw the corner of a magazine poking out from inside his coat. As I watched, the whole cover slowly emerged: a yellowy-purple watercolour of a fairy, and the title: The Witchtower. ‘Steve?’ I said. He nodded.
We bought bitter, found somewhere to sit, and began what turned out to be a three-hour crash course in modern paganism, one of the fastest-growing religions in Britain.
-snip-
So, can a modern pagan just pick any god to worship? I asked. Egyptian? Roman? African? Are there any rules? Steve put his hands self-consciously under the table, ‘No rules,’ he said. ‘Being a pagan is about being free from institutional rules. And the gods? Once you start seeking they choose you, really. Everyone has their own path, but we all celebrate the same festivals: the summer and winter solstices, spring and autumn equinoxes and four other festivals: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasad.’
Pagans, I discovered during our second pint, are also united by their sense of the injustices done them by Christians. The last 2,000 years of history is a heart-wrenching tale of innocent occult revivals squashed by ignorant Christians …
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.co.uk ...
> Communist dictatorships.
Two problems:
1: Communism =/ atheism. The two concepts are pretty much mutually exclusive.
2: What Communist dictatorship has been so busy as to wipe out a dozen million people in less than four years?
OK
...'provided that the plain God has laws that command man against evil'
Why?
I have no idea what the aim of God is...He made us, and I believe we do as He designed us to do.....good or bad.
I do!
God teaches each and every human lessons that we must learn. Each lessons is tailored to our own specific needs, but God will never give us a challenge that we are not ready for.
Can we pass each of God's tests? That is the great unknown. However, each and every test that we pass, makes us stronger and closer to God.
Are God's tests difficult? Darn right! If not, then they would have no meaning.
You know this for a fact, or you believe this because you believe the bible?
However, we have historical records from civilizations dating back well over 5,000 years now. Take this basic understanding that God is a teacher, and compare it against the recorded words in religious text around the world.
You will find, that they all share a similar aspect. God has placed people into difficult situations, and their personal challenged is to see how they deal with it.
P.S: The local Freeper Witch is checking in. Sorry that I was AWOL on this topic.
"But God also gave Man free-will, ......."
Not according to what is written, some have free-will.
When were the souls created? Nothing was said in the creation about creating souls, rather says the soul was place in the body. --- Breath of life.
Religion has never killed anyone. People kill people.
While I will not avow to knowing anything about God as fact, we seem to share the same thoughts, in that our reasonings are debatable.
You assume a basic understanding that God is a teacher, why?
Where do the gospels equate the "life" given to the human body by the soul with the capacity to choose right or wrong? If I'm not mistaken, St. Paul clasifies this in a third category apart from soul and body: the mind.
If God is not a teacher, then what purpose does a religious text serve?
If the definition of Christian is the belief in Jesus, was this not a lesson from God to the people?
Rabbi = teacher.
Is God not the ultimate teacher? Was Jesus not placed upon Earth 2,000 years ago to teach us?
If God is not a teacher, then the concept of God has no valid meaning.
I agree that the physical laws of God exist. These laws are not the same as 'thou shalt not kill' though.
Mmmm... He's saying more than he realizes.
C.S. Lewis said that the post-Christian society he foresaw would be worse than the pagan age, since the old pagans were ignorant of Christ.
My office is on government property, and everyone is afraid to display anything related to Christmas. We all read about how even a tree is no longer allowed on government property.
I am going to do something about that.
Monday morning, our local airport is going to be decorated in ways that they never expected!
Out of my own pocked, I will fill this airport terminal with helium balloons which state this simple message:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I dare any Christian-hating idiot to take this Witch to court for displaying religious items on government property.
Please, please, please, I pray to God that they fall into that trap!
Christmas is not about Santa Clause, or trading gifts. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Perhaps some Happy Birthday balloons will be a subtle reminder of what Christmas is all about.
I believe that the religious texts are creations of man, developed to aid in creating societies, and to keep things in order. Since there are so many of them, it's hard to assume any one is more correct than any other, just as the societies are different, so are their respective texts.
I have no idea why Jesus, or anyone, was/is placed on earth. I know a little about what people believe is the reason.
My concept of God is as the creator of everything. I have no reason or desire to associate a meaning with this belief. I guess, since this encompasses everything, then God is a teacher, along with being everything else.
All written books about God and religion, almost by definition, are creations of man.
It is impossible for man to record the lessons of God, without abusing that knowledge for political gains. Never, not once in the history of mankind, has something been documented without some form of personal bias being interjected.
Your quest, is to understand what God is teaching you personally, and separate that from the political motivations.
That quest, is perhaps the most difficult task that God will ever give you.
You know what my quest is, and what God has tasked me with?
How do you know this?
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