Posted on 10/12/2018 7:21:03 PM PDT by Morgana
October 11, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Recent decades have seen a dramatic rise in paganism and the number of Americans identifying as witches while Christian denominations have been losing members, according to a new report.
Last week, Quartz published a piece reviewing religion survey data from Connecticut’s Trinity College covering 1990 to 2008, and from Pew Research Center covering 2014 to the present. They report that the United States’ Wiccan population skyrocketed from 8,000 in 1990 to 340,000 in 2008, a year that also found roughly 340,000 self-described Pagans.
“The best source of data on the number of witches in the US comes from assessments of the Wicca population,” Quartz’s Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz and Dan Kopf explain. “Not all people who practice witchcraft consider themselves Wicca, but the religion makes up a significant subset.”
Pew currently puts the percentage of self-identified Wiccans or Pagans at 0.3 percent, and those who self-identify as atheist, agnostic, or otherwise unaffiliated at 22.8 percent.
Singh-Kurz and Kopf suggest witchcraft’s popularity is due to a combination of factors, from the longtime allure of witches in media and literature to contemporary rebranding of witchcraft as having more to do with nature and individuality than demons and the occult.
“As [Quartz’s Alden] Wicker noted, witchcraft is the perfect religion for liberal millennials who are already involved in yoga and meditation, mindfulness, and new-age spirituality,” they write. “With that foundation, they might show up for pagan holidays or new moon gatherings, or begin to explore the more serious spiritual concepts at the root of these practices.”
Wiccan websites such as The Celtic Connection and the Church and School of Wicca promote this impression, with the former claiming that witchcraft “fosters the free thought and will of the individual, encourages learning and an understanding of the earth and nature,” and the latter invoking “self-empowerment through knowledge.”
The truth is far darker however, Christians say. The Catholic Church teaches that “all forms of divination are to be rejected,” and any efforts to “tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others” are “gravely contrary to the virtue of religion.”
“When it comes to what ultimately counts, witchcraft and Christianity (but not witches and Christians) are mortal foes,” Richard Howe of the Christian Research Institute explains. “Without the sacrifice of Christ to wash away our sins and reconcile us to our Maker, there is no hope in the world to come. Witchcraft teaches that our destiny is to return again to this world through reincarnation.”
More than 70 percent of Americans still identify as Christian, but religious affiliation has been on the decline for years. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released in May found that self-identification with Protestant denominations dropped eight percent over the previous 15 years (Catholicism held constant). The share of Americans with no religious affiliation almost tripled from 1990 to 2017.
“It makes sense that witchcraft and the occult would rise as society becomes increasingly postmodern. The rejection of Christianity has left a void that people, as inherently spiritual beings, will seek to fill,” author Julie Roys told the Christian Post. “It’s tragic, and a reminder of how badly we need spiritual revival in this country, and also that ‘our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world.’”
“The Church needs to wake up to the reality of this realm and begin to approach it from a Kingdom perspective which understands its place and purpose,” Wanda Alger of Intercessors for America and Winchester, Virginia’s Crossroads Community Church argues. “The sad thing is that these millennials who are exploring the dark side of the supernatural have more faith and belief than most Christians. Because they are open and spiritually hungry, the spirit realm responds. The biggest hindrance to understanding the realities of the Spirit realm is unbelief.”
Another element in the rise of witchcraft is its use by the anti-Trump movement. There is a movement of at least 13,000 people who promise to cast “binding spells” against President Trump, an effort that has been celebrated by the liberal media. The rituals this movement practices invoke the assistance of “demons of the infernal realms” and other spirits.
In 2017, iconic fashion magazine Vogue encouraged women frustrated at the current political climate to recite a feminist spell and join the “witchy renaissance.” On Wednesday, Vox published an article promoting “magic as self-care after Kavanaugh,” encouraging those upset at the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of the newest Supreme Court justice to turn to witchcraft as a feminist coping mechanism.
So-called witchcraft and wiccan beliefs are simply a novelty item. As St Paul said...”Some new thing.”
Remember the Hari Krishnas? Then the Moonies? after that the Maharishi Yogi? I remember some hindu kid yogi going around getting the teens to follow him back in 1969.
Christianity is in decline, while Islam is growing in majority Christian countries. At the same time Christians (and Jews & others) are persecuted in Muslim majority countries. Worst part is very few of the politicians are worried much.
This is so true. My cousins is a devout Christian and her husband got involved in witchcraft years ago. I know it’s at our UNO and my husband says there are many people at offutt air base (STATCOM) involved in it. I can’t comprehend why people would get involved in witchcraft. I know they are spiritually blind and deceived but...it’s crazy.
Just posted this on another thread:
And if you are in Long Beach this weekend, you can attend Pagan Pride event:
http://www.paganpridela.org/future/schedule.html
Yikes!
Strangely enough, when in the blink of the eye all Christian’s are gone the earth will then experience the rule of Satan and the Wrath of God!
And global warming will hit over 150 degrees...
Have fun witches... it’s all yours!
That’s because the other side think we Christians are a bunch of p*ssies who pray and “give the other cheek”. They didnt think that low of us since we had our fun with the Crusades.
I sure do remember them. I also remember the Church Universal and Triumphant, a bizarre cult that infiltrated the conservative movement in Southern California during the early 1980's and for a while was practically running it.
It’s time to bring back the Salem witch hunts..
something like 80% of the country identifies as ‘Christian’- pagans are what? .05%? Golly, we’re in danger of losing to paganism
Paganism worldwide is only .007%- Yep- they’re ‘taking over’-
Maharishi cultists pretty much own the town of Fairfield, Iowa, even today.
The decline of Christianity was thought, by liberals, to lead to an elimination of religion.
Instead, it changes form. Remove organized religion, and people revert to primitive pagan faith. Or, to liberals’ delight, they invest religious levels of devotion in liberal political ideology. That’s “social justice”.
This Week in Stupid (24/04/2016) - Social Justice is a Cult Edition!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN0oKIMlHyI
It’s fantasy, they all watched Harry Potter and think it’s cool to waive a want and get what you want. Look at the lives of the people who practice these “dark arts”. Most of them are terribly unhappy people.
We need to expand our prayers to cover all the people of this country, including these misguided people who seem totally unaware that if you put out evil, it tends to bounce back at you.
I used to work for a guy who graduated from Maharishi International University in Fairfield. Most of those working for him were followers of Maharishi. But they ran the business into the ground and left me less than impressed as to Maharishi's thought, at least when it came to business competence and acumen.
In 1692, when the original witch hunt took place, there were no witches in Salem, Mass. But the witch hunters should have waited a few centuries. When I visited Salem in 1986, I was told that it has highest number of self-proclaimed witches, per capita, of any city in the US.
Here's a little pick-me-up.
It seems like they are just replacing one religion with another that is just a lot more wackadoo. I don’t get it. It makes you feel alone like no one is living in reality any more. Isn’t the world interesting enough without making up a bunch of nonsense
Like bewitched ?
She was nice and hot too !
Samantha !
One of my substitute teachers in Elementary school was a practicing witch from Salem. This was in the early 80’s. She was married to a local doctor (they eventually divorced) and that is how she ended up in our small Alabama town.
Despite her personal beliefs, she was a nice, well liked lady. When she was teaching, she never mentioned witchcraft or any other personal info. She was normal except for her all-black wardrobe, long dark hair and her fondness for snakes.
Thankfully, before her death a few years ago, she became a Christian.
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