Posted on 10/31/2002 9:05:17 AM PST by H8DEMS
Nice idea, but my wife is bigger and meaner than I am.
This is not the religion that I have known for the last 30 years.
I am also Christian. I have been very strict with my two daughters in their religious education and they are VERY Christian.
Wicca is not a religion that you choose. It is something you are born with and have no choice about.
When I have a student ask me to teach them, I will spend about 6 months trying to scare them away.
Wicca is darn hard work and not fun!
Utter Bravo Sierra. High Magic and paganism are two completely different systems. A little like comparing trees and hedgehogs.
As for Satanism, Anton wouldn't have had the trappings to wrap his philosophy in if Christians had created the figure of Satan in the first place.
Of course you would KNOW all this if had actually done any study on it outside of Jack Chick's website.
Sorry if I have crossed any lines today, as it was not intended.
However, you have been able to talk to 3 actual Wiccans today and we were willing to answer questions.
As long time Freepers, we share the same ideas, even if we have different views about our God.
This is what religion is all about, since it is a very personal experience between you and your God.
Now I need to get ready for a Minnesota rally in support of Norm Coleman.
Perhaps true, but inasmuch as I understand it, Wicca is more about the belief that nature, and various entities/personalities that inhabit them, can be successfully manipulated by humans into granting said humans some favor.
In short, all of creation is humankind's personal vending machine, and the whole Wiccan thing is just about learning how to use exact change.
Christianity isn't a religion of nature manipulation - it's a religion of ethics. Our relationship with God is based on our ethical standing before Him. No amount of relics, or icons, or potions, or incantations can change that. God is not some impersonal force that we can manipulate if we're skilled enough. The Wiccan's beef with Christianity, as I understand it, is that it places humankind permanently subservient to a single diety, instead of allowing them to pick and choose their leaders (and allegiances), as if they were simply voting for their next senator.
Now you got me curious, I once even heard that from some of my Southern Baptist family the suffer not a witch to live thing. So for kicks and grins I decided to look it up. The actual word is Kashaph (kuf shin pay-sophit) in hebrew, it means "To whisper a spell, i.e. to inchant or practise magic:- sorcerer, (use) witch(-craft) from magic:-sorcery, witchcraft.
So the actual translation in Exodus (the book of the story of departure of the nation of Israel from Egypt) is at EX 22:18 is well over 1000 years BC, or before Christ, LONG before there were any Church fathers.
Now my pagan friend, do you practice magic, enchant, whisper spells? It says nothing in hebrew about poisons or potions. -grin-
Anyway thanks for bringing it up, it was fun looking it up.
The reason that the comandment was given is that the use of demons, (which yes, I know is not wiccan), or their effects (which is the power behind it all, trust me), is against the Creator because THEY Chose to be against the Creator. Those who do not stand with God, fall without Him. He commanded that the practice of trucking with the enemy stop within the people he chose to be his representatives on earth.
It is a lot like outlawing heroin. The inclusion of it tends to corrupt society. So it is made illegal. Now if a man refuses to stop truckin with the enemy in a time of war he is called a traitor and is hung. Given the choice between the death penalty and cutting off contact with Oslama Bin Laudin, would you trust your neighbor if he refused to stop calling him on the telephone and wore America sucks t-shirts?
Same thing...
By the way, I personnaly think that wicca is not that far from discovering Christ and the Creator, I know one Wiccan that ended up doing it that I rather like. And your statement of the history of LaVey shows you do know what you are talking about. LeVay is a jerk as you say, kinda like saying Madonna is a Christian cause of her name and the crucifix she wears.
Your "Christian" training is a bit weak though. -grin-
Your wrong. It has a lot more to do with trying to manipulate nature using the forces of nature directly in a tree hugging kinda way. The demons love it. Lots of fun mind games with the silly humans.
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