The Occult and the Myth of Secularization: Organized versus Disorganized Religion

PatriotandLiberty ^ | 1/6/24 | Lewis Ungit

[Vlad0]

I think it's a stretch to claim that materialists are "pagans".

Pagan: (especially in historical contexts) a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main or recognized religions.

Paganism (from classical Latin pāgānus "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism,[1] or ethnic religions other than Judaism.

Atheism is a philosophical belief that says: don't believe in any religion, believe in materialism, science, and skeptically challenge all supernatural claims.

It's gaming language to say that's actually "a religion", or more than tangentially related to ancient Greek philosophers, or Paganism.

[spirited irish]

“Evolution is promoted by its practitioners as more than mere science. Evolution is promulgated as an ideology, a secular religion—a full-fledged alternative to Christianity, with meaning and morality. I am an ardent evolutionist and an ex-Christian, but I must admit that in this one complaint—and Mr [sic] Gish is but one of many to make it—the literalists are absolutely right. Evolution is a religion. This was true of evolution in the beginning, and it is true of evolution still today.

“… Evolution therefore came into being as a kind of secular ideology, an explicit substitute for Christianity.” Michael Ruse was professor of philosophy and zoology at the University of Guelph, Canada (recently moved to Florida)

Paganism is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. Wikipedia In our time the term new pagan is applied by Christians to people who claim matter and evolution as the cause for their being here.,

[icclearly]

Great podcast on the “mind” and what it is—and is not:

This is one of the most profound things I have seen in my years on FR.

I have studied and read history and science for over 20 years (my entertainment). That podcast boiled down my beliefs from those 20 years into an excellent 45-minute discussion and summary.

I will go one step further than the guy Mark discussed about religion. And that is, while I agree with everything he has to say about religion, I look at a book that was first written over 2500 years ago and mix the wisdom of those words (as directed by God) with the modern science of what we know today. This is especially true about quantum physics and even the creation story, and come to the conclusion that the words in that book and science are telling us the same story. That is, there is a God that created and still directs all this.

As the author pointed out, God is somewhat in the eyes of the beholder. Most of the world's religions recognize a supreme being, and most of them call that being "God."

Now I fully understand that many come to their belief in God through faith and being touched spiritually. I come to that belief as someone who understands and believes the words in the bible AND a logical belief from understanding some level of science AND the Word of God.

By the way, there are many noted scholars and experts who have contributed to that story other than the ones listed in the podcast. From that flows the other beliefs of NDEs and life after death, and we are a "consciousness in a human body" and not a "human that is conscious," as the author noted.

While our modern world has evolved in understanding and technology since the time that book was first written, it's like seeing an iceberg. We only see the small portion sitting above the water.

There is so much more that many of us do not see, understand, or comprehend-- but it's there!

Thanks. I've saved that link. It's a keeper.

[Mean Daddy]

Which is why 12 Step programs have a belief in a Higher Power.