Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 11 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 21 years, 8 months ago by
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Please tell me why it is that when I tell somebody I am Pagan they assume I worship Satan. In my religion Satan does not even exist. Why isn’t the same thing said about Buddhists, Muslims, Islamic people, etc.?
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Name : Michelle J., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 24, City : Virginia Beach, State : VA, Country : United States, Occupation : nurse, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Back in the first century A.D., Christians faced great persecution from Rome. Back in the very early days the term ‘Christian’ was nearly synonymous with ‘Jew’, as Christianity was considered a sect of Judaism, and most of it’s adherents were Jews by birth. Rome was a pagan empire, whose soldiers had occupied Israel for nearly 100 years. The Israelites despised Rome, as did the early Christians. Rome was often compared to ‘Babylon’, and Babylon in biblical language was synonymous with the devil’s empire. Many modern Reggae songs use the symbolism of Babylon to represent the oppression they face and the oppressors who bring it about. Since Jews and Christians were persecuted for refusing to honor the Roman set of gods (all over the empire, individual local religions were given clemency if they also payed tribute to the Roman gods), they equated the Roman Empire with the devil’s empire. Even when former Pagans began to outnumber the Jewish converts, the stigma continued well into the dark and middle ages, and even to today. I guess that’s basically the background of it.
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Name : Dan, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : na, Race : Chicano, Religion : Pentecostal Christian, Age : 21, City : Los Angeles area, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Social class : Lower middle class,The Bible states that ‘the god of this world has blinded the people of this world’, so that they often worship what they do not know. But I believe that there should be a distinction between satanic believers who out and out worship satan, as opposed to those who don’t worship anyone. Jesus called the Pharisees blind guides, but not worshippers of the devil, although He did refer to them as children of their father, the father of lies. The Bible teaches that unless people come to know God through Christ, they are lost. Whether they worship Krishna, or Buddha makes no difference. According to the Bible, they need to know Christ. Calling someone a devil worshipper will not attract them to the light of the Gospel. Truth without love has no attractive force.
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Name : Ronald-V29672, City : Edmonton, State : NA, Country : Canada,I think it is because every religion other than Christianity in this country is considered “pagan.” In Christianity, people are taught that if you don’t believe in the Christian God, then you must worship Satan.
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Name : Jennifer31063, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Christian, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : bank teller, Education level : Technical School,People always say these things because they have absolutely NO IDEA what the heck they are talking about and try to act like they know everything. They also say this to try and make themselves feel special and that their religion is better than everyone else’s. what you should do is read books about all of these different religions and when someone says that to you, about SATIN, give them a whole speech on how wrong they are, and maybe, just maybe, they will learn to shut their mouths till they know what they are talking about.
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Name : mildred, City : LA, State : CA, Country : United States,I think it is because people are uneducated as to the difference between Paganism and Satanism. Historically, to Christians those who didn’t worship God worshipped “pagan idolatry.” The old phrasing has been misunderstood. Christians believe that worshipping several gods is wrong. Anything that doesn’t follow the correct path is evil and therefore Satan is responsible for it.
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Name : Beth23183, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Newark, State : NJ, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I never knew/heard that Paganism was a religion that someone could practice. Could you please provide a brief synopsis of who, how and where this religion is practiced? Thanks.
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Name : Paula, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 37, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Secretary, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,As a fellow pagan, I can tell you this. I have learned that Satanism and Paganism are often confused because of ignorance. In truth, Paganism is any religion or doctrine that does not accept the one god that Christianity so cherishes. Which means that no true Pagan believes in the existance of Satan. If people bothered to learn about a religion other than their own, they would see this.
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Name : Becca, Gender : F, Religion : Atheist, Age : 17, City : St Clair, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : student,In Silver Ravenwolf’s books, ‘Teen Witch’ and ‘To Ride a Silver Broomstick’, she illustrates the Dark Ages as a time when, in order to integrate Witches into society, Christian leaders not only integrated such Pagan holidays as Winter Solstace (Christmas) and Ostara (Easter)into the Christian culture, but also took our deities and illustrated them as creatures of ‘evil’, including using our image of the Horned God to personify their Satan. It is unfortunate, however history seems to support this theory. There is a universal image of Satan in historical writings until the latter years of the Dark Ages, and this seems to show that the image was suggested.
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Name : Mercury, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : Mixed White/Black, Religion : Pagan, Age : 17, City : Sacramento, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : High School Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class,I have to partially blame the media for this misconception, as well as the church. I don’t see it as much in recent years, but there used to be a lot of emphasis on satanism in the news and on the talk shows (remember Geraldo?) and in movies. In the movies, they always portray witchcraft as evil, and in the Judeo-Christian mindset, evil = satan, so if witchcraft is evil, then witches must be satan worshippers. What they don’t realize is that you must be a member of their religion set in order to even believe that this satan exists, much less worship him.
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Name : Shayne, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 28, City : Raleigh, State : NC, Country : United States, Occupation : Administrative Assistant, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class,I think people also get the symbols mixed up. Somehow, they seem to know the difference when the Cross is rightside up (Christianity) versus when it is upside down (Satanism). But when they see a Pentacle, rightside up or upside down, many people just automatically think ‘Satanism.’
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Name : Hope, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Religion : Jewish, Age : 38, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College,This is coming from a pagan who does call his Gods ‘the devil.’ From a Christian perspective, you -are- worshiping Satan. Because every god and goddess that isn’t the Christian God is called Satan, it doesn’t matter who they are to -you,- to a Christian they are the devil. But really, don’t worry about it! ‘Devil’ is just a name anyway, it’s the guy behind the name that counts.
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Name : Jack, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Oshkosh, State : WI, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,
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