So a few months ago I got into a major tiff with a member of
a Pagan Group on Facebook. This question
was posted to the group.
What are the deities you worship? Are they male or female?
Some of the answers to the question were very typical and
nothing I didn't expect. I tossed mine up there. Hecate - Female. Others posted Thor and Pan or Diana and Isis. Then one person
posted, the following response. Jesus
Christ – Male.
Really?
I was completely dumbfounded at how this was even
possible. Apparently they identified as
a Pagan but were a follower of Christ. I
was confused. Immediately I was
questioning this. How can one be a Pagan
AND a follower of Christ. Since there
are several references by Jesus about Pagans specifically and those are not
held in the highest regard.
Matthew
6:7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words
Matthew 6:32
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Matthew 18:17
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words
Matthew 6:32
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Matthew 18:17
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
The website openbible.info
lists 47 different verses that they attribute to Pagans. Again not in a positive way.
That being said, I can totally see how you can be a person
who reads the bible and says, “Hey Jesus was a cool guy, he did cool stuff. I
want to follow his philosophy.” However,
in order to be a Christian, there are very strict rules associated with
it. One of which is to believe that
there is only one God, and Jesus is the son of that God. You have to believe that he died on a cross
for your sins and that through that blood sacrifice you are saved from eternal
damnation. Through that sacrifice your
sins are washed away by the blood and allowed entry into the kingdom of
Heaven.
Now, I’m not one to poke at people who believe what they want
to believe. Heck I believe in an energy
that flows through everything on the Earth.
I believe that energy stays present even in death and that if we listen
closely enough we can channel that energy and change the physical world. Really not too much different than what some
believe prayer is.
Jon Stewart is amazing.
He said it best in the following skit.
I understand that many of the cultures adopted or
incorporated aspects from Christianity into their Pagan religions after having
their own beliefs “Christianized” by conquering forces. I fail to see how one can actually be a Pagan
Christian that follows Jesus. I would
think that would be akin to being a Christian Atheist.
That being said, I’m certainly not saying that you cannot
say that you are that. And my understanding
of that belief system is certainly not required in order to legitimize it.
Namaste
& Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(
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