The Pagan Next Door

[aspiretohope]

thread from the DEAD!

[Malista_Dove]

thread from the DEAD!

[aspiretohope]

melista duv = NECROMANCER

http://redwing.hutman.net/~Mreed/war...ecromancer.htm

[Malista_Dove]

melista duv = NECROMANCER

http://redwing.hutman.net/~Mreed/war...ecromancer.htm

Oh thanx for the insintive. Its a wonderful thing huh? =D

[aspiretohope]

Oh thanx for the insintive. Its a wonderful thing huh? =D

no

[Malista_Dove]

no

Why not? There isn't anything interesting enough for me that I have not already read on this site....So I will bring back old ones that I find interesting...

[aspiretohope]

Why not? There isn't anything interesting enough for me that I have not already read on this site....So I will bring back old ones that I find interesting...

you do that. just be aware that its not cool.

[Malista_Dove]

you do that. just be aware that its not cool.

Why is it not cool? What is wrong with discussing everything on the site even if its a little old? Or is there a reason at all...

[guacamole]

Why is it not cool? What is wrong with discussing everything on the site even if its a little old? Or is there a reason at all...

The kewel kids only like new threads. C'mon. Everyone's doin' it.

[Malista_Dove]

The kewel kids only like new threads. C'mon. Everyone's doin' it.

I'm not cool. I'm a nerd...=D I like to see what has been discussed in the past and to get new thoughts ....

[FreezBee]

The kewel kids only like new threads. C'mon. Everyone's doin' it.

Well, it is true that 90% of all threads are about a subject debated before -- and 72% of all threads is about a subject that is being debated in another thread that is at most three days old.

People lack imagination -- or possibly they just have a short memory?


- FreezBee

[god rules]

some advice from a former rebelious teen;
i was raised old school christianity. fire and brimestone. attended church every sunday twice and wednesday. if i didnt i was on a grease poll going down according to my dad. legalism and condemnation was the motivation to believe. this is so wrong and it is only by the grace of god that i came back to my faith in christ @ 35 yrs. old because if what my parents taught me was christianity i wouldn't want it. the best thing to do in my opinion is to lead by example, if your words don't match your actions your kids will see your faith as being disingenuine.

[wowmy_sn]

I refuse to brow beat my children into getting on their knees and saying the 'Salvation Prayer'. If they are one of Jesus Christ's and are called they will hear his voice and they will follow him. If not, all the brainwashing in the world on my part will only cause them to grow up to be angry exchristians.

I'm very clear that I'm a Christian and that their mother and I are convinced that Jesus Christ is the 'one way, the one truth, and the one life' and that they will obey us while they are in our home -- however, they have to decide for themselves if they are going to be Christians or not.

I want to be there when they face the inevidible crises of deciding which path they are going to follow. If my daughter becomes a Wiccan I want her to do it out in the open and not have to pretend she is otherwise.

This is a difficult step of faith for me to take as a parent. I'd love to sit them down and force the 'Jesus Prayer' onto them just so I could write a date in their Bibles and forget about it. However, I'm looking for the call of the Holy Spirit upon their lives and I don't want some stupid rote prayer to get in the way of a vibrant, real, and lasting relationship with the holy.

Ever since I was 6 my relationship with G_d has been an intensly personal call -- if my kids don't pick up on that then there is nothing I can do about it.

As a daughter, I appreciate your open-mindedness. I'm exploring religions right now (leaning towards Wicca, but was raised Christian) and my mom has been open-minded about it (she's a christian). It helps a lot to talk to her about it and I listen to her thoughts because she listens to mine. Anyways, just wanted to tell you I appreciate that you respect and care for your daughter... wish I had a dad that would do that lol.

[Lepidopteryx]

My daughter has a new friend, and as luck would have it, the little degenerate is a pagan. Seriously, though, he's a really polite 11 year old and they play very well together -- however, he's been telling my kid about his mommy's religion and I'm trying to help her fill in the gaps.

She wants to know about spells, potions, gods & goddesses and so forth. I'm trying to explain to her that these things aren't for the Christian and I want to run a couple of my explanations past some real infid-- er... pagans to make sure that I didn't flub it up too bad.

Gods and Goddesses:
First off, I explained to her that some pagans worship a god or a goddess or perhaps a whole slew of 'em. However, these gods and goddesses aren't the same as the G_d of the Bible just like my daughter has a mom and the little boy has a mom but they aren't the same mommy. I told her (from our Christian perspective) that we believe our G_d is the one true god and that the others are false gods.

Not all Pagans view the God and Goddess the same way. This Pagan sees your god the same as I see all other deities - as different manifestations of the creative/generative force if the Universe. I see all gods as equally real in that they represent real human beings' connection to the rest of all existence. It makes each of us an integral part of something that is not only bigger than ourselves, but greater than the sum of its parts.

Magic:
I explained to her that Christians don't use magic and that there are two types of magic. There is the magic which is actually illusions - that from our perspective these tricks are harmless fun. Then there is the magic of the pagan where a god or goddess intervenes on behalf of the magic user -- and that this is magic we avoid.

Magik isn't so much direct divine intervention - Pagans don't see the divine and the mundane as distinctly separate. The divine is inextricably woven into the mundane - this makes een such simlpe acts as composting kitchen scraps an act of worship. Magik is a channeling of the energies that already exist within a person and within his surroundings toward a specific end. It is not used capriciously, as any time you bend energies from their natural flow, there are consequences, sometimes ones that you did not anticipate. Furthermore, the Law of Three comes into play with both magikal and non-magikal actions - that which you do to another comes back to you thricefold - this applies to beneficent as well as malevolent actions.
One question for you. If you believe our gods and goddesses are in fact false, how can you believe that they intervene? And if they can't intervene, why would Christians need to avoid Magik?

Potions:
I had to explain that medicine isn't the same as a potion - that a potion is a combination of elements the use of which is expected to gain intervention of a god or a goddess. There is nothing wrong with chemistry, or mixing ingredients together to make medicine, however, we don't invoke a pagan god or a goddess in the creation of our medicines -- which is why they aren't potions.

Potions in many cases, ARE medicine. Many Pagans, because of our reverence for the Earth, prefer to get our medicines from natural sources rather than from Pfizer.
I don't know of any Pagan who believes that s/he can cause supernatural events to occur by throwing eye of newt and tongue of frog into a cauldron on the stroke of midnight.

Then my daughter wanted to know why we believe the Bible and how we know its true and I told her that is something we can investigate together if she'd like. I always stress with my children that I'm a Christian, that I'd like them to be Christian because it is the only true way, but that in the end they must decide for themselves.

Great answer. Too many parents are afraid to admit to their children that they don't have all the answers for fear of appearing weak. Letting your daughter see you actively seeking answers and seeking answers with her as well lets her know that it's okay to ask questions and that not knowing doesn't mean you're stupid. It just means you have some homework to do.
And not pushing your child to your own faith is also smart. My parents were/are fire-and-brimstone Southern Baptists, and they dragged me to church with them every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, as well as to Vacation Bible School every summer, long after I had stopped believeing in their faith. As soon as I was old enough that they couldn't force me to go, I stopped going. Since then, pretty much the only time I set foot in a Christian church is for weddings and funerals. I raised my daughter as a Unitarian and a Pagan, and encouraged her to explore as many faith paths as piqued her interest, and find or create one that fulfilled her spiritual needs. She has forged an eclectic path for herself, and I am happy that she has a belief system that feeds her spirit.

At any rate, I want to make sure I accurately portray Pagan belief and I also told her to feel free to talk with the kid and learn more and that I'm always available to discuss it if she wants to know more about what I believe.

Again, great answer. Cutting her off from her friends because their religious beliefs don't agree with yours or otherwise trying to isolate her from beliefs different from your own will ALWAYS blow up in your face. much better for her to know that you cinsider her intelligent enough to ask questions and seek answers, and thta you're willing to talk about such things with her.

Letme know what you think about my answers.

I have to say that in many ways, you're one of the more open-minded Christians I have "met" when it comes to educating your child about other faiths. Too many are only concerned with making sure that their child believes only what the parents believe, don't encourage questioning, and completely flip when their child expresses interest or even simple curiosity about other religions.

[technomage]

I have to say that in many ways, you're one of the more open-minded Christians I have "met" when it comes to educating your child about other faiths.

Hi, Lep,

Gerbil may not be posting here right now (this is a very old thread), but I must note that I completely agree with your assessment. For a dirty nasty rodent, Teh Gerb is pretty cool.