Posted on 10/02/2010 2:10:14 PM PDT by TaraP
LONDON – Druids have been worshipping the sun and earth for thousands of years in Europe, but now they can say they're practicing an officially recognized religion.
The ancient pagan tradition best known for gatherings at Stonehenge every summer solstice has been formally classed as a religion under charity law for the first time in Britain, the national charity regulator said Saturday. That means Druids can receive exemptions from taxes on donations — and now have the same status as such mainstream religions as the Church of England.
Adrian Rooke, a Druid who works as a counselor, said Druidry appeals to people who are turning away from monotheistic religions but still long for an aspect of spirituality in their lives.
"It uplifts the spirit," he said. "The world is running out of resources, and in that context it's more important to people now to formulate a relationship with nature."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I didn’t say anything about not recognizing it.
I’m a devout Christian, but I’m not big on “demonic” worries. I actually do read Harry Potter and such (and consider it a strongly Christian book, actually). The moralities and plots exhibit strong Christian morality. If the setting was different, Christians would be lauding it.
My thought is (and I admit, I have a strong bias) is that Christianity is such a superior religion. It is based on so many superior philosophies, and so many great thinkers of the world came out of it. I know it is not PC to say that nowadays, but IMHO this is so.
It is a remarkable faith that leads to logical thinking when rightly devined. Even PBS had a special here that called Calvinism the Father of American Democracy. Worshipping natural forces is something we have been called out of - as the Bible says, “worshipping the creature rather than the creator” is a step backwards.
I listen to the music nowadays, look at the art, look at the theatre, and I see pure self indulgance and mediocre. I would be ashamed to have Bach hear our music. Heck, I would be ashamed to have Cole Porter hear our music.
I see advances in science, but not much else. Culturally we have moved backwards.
To those that understand this:
“Awen”!
And those 1960s and later hippies and pagans took your guns away from you which has caused the violent crime rate in the UK (including Wales, Scotland, et al) to soar to unprecedented heights. Leftists, whether pagans or hippies, are doing their part to turn your country into a third world hellhole! I hope you are enjoying bending over and taking it because that is all a subject can do.
Do you go into the Islamic zones where the bobbies don’t tread while eating a plate of chops and gravy?
I feel safer going to Israel than I do the UK!
Firstly, Britain is not a third world hellhole. Can you actually speak in anything other than hysteria?.
Secondly, Britons are not subjects and have not been since the Nationality Act of 1981. Of course as someone with such a laughable idea of what Britain is, you wouldnt know that.
Bet you think we all know the Queen and have posh voices.
And yet we are still a safer country to live in than America.
Oh the irony.
Oh dear, ‘Islamic zones’.
Honestly mate, prise yourself away from hysterical headlines and actually visit Britain and you will see that for all our troubles, we are a million miles from the mass violence, mass Muslim state you and too many Americans seem to think we now are.
And to say that we are less safe than Israel is just drivel. There has been no major Irish terrorism on the British mainland for several years, and bar July 7th 2005 and the attack on Glasgow Airport, Britain has stopped any Islamic terrorism. Israel on the other hand is rife with terrorist violence and unrest. And if you think Britain’s crime rate is so bad that you feel unsafe, then that just proves that you are taking your cue on Britain from misleading and hysterical headlines.
Honestly mate, your hysteria on pagans and Britain is actually embarrassing.
Will they be allowed to practice the cannibalism and the human sacrificial rites of their predecessors?
So, do you think that the large numbers native UKers that are fleeing the UK for Canada, Australia, and the USA are hysterical, too?
Do we have problems?. Yes.
Do we have serious problems?. Yes.
Are we a hellhole circling the drain?. No.
And btw, the obvious point you missed is that those are BRITONS leaving the country. They know what is right and what is wrong with Britain 2010, much more than an American who gets his ideas on the UK from FreeRepublic headlines.
And I also dare say that many of those who left are sad that they did so. Still patriots, but who felt that life for their families was at the time better in other countries.
And as Britain gets better, who knows, many may come back.
Remember, Britain was in the doldrums in 1979 and people fled. I think youll agree that from 1979, and a certain lady, Britain went from being a near joke to a powerful dynamic nation that won wars and led the world.
The Muzzies weren’t as big of an influence back then as they are today.
Let me ask you something. Why do you differentiate yourself from Britons and the Welsh when it is supposed to be the UNITED Kingdom?
You do understand that if the Argies decide to take the Falklands again that the UK would not be able to muster a naval flotilla like it did in ‘82?
But horror's the attraction, Scotty. To compare the country that produced Nelson, Wilberforce and Churchill with today's UK: the IPCC, BA cabin staff sacked for wearing crosses, and Hogarthian images of drunken Brits vomiting in the street. Train wrecks are fascinating.
Britain is Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Britons/Britain/UK does NOT mean England or English.
And the UK/GB is a state made up of four nations, all of us with different and similar histories and cultures. So I can truly say that I am both Scottish and British. They arent mutually exclusive.
Also, Scotland and NI have seperate education and legal systems and different national churches to England and Wales.
I can still see the other three peoples as my British brothers whilst observing the differences.
A—Actually we would.
B—The Argies would never get off the beach. The garrison in the Falklands is massively bigger than the 50 RM’s in 1982. Any invasion would get torn to ribbons.
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