PAGANISM AS RELIGION

[MarieEliz]

<If I had to fill out my religion on a form, I would write
<'Pagan'; however, I do not define Paganism to be *a*
<religion, but a system of a whole lot of religions. I
<see it as being equal to Christianity in the sense that
<it is a system of a whole bunch of religious denominations,
<though I am beginning to wonder if I should leave off
<the denomination part at times.

<Thus, I personally see Paganism as religious though
<there are others who disagree with me. Otherwise, I
<would not have any word whatsoever to define my
<religion as there currently are not any other terms
<to define it in as broad a manner as it requires.
--
Defining if paganism or wicca are religions is tricky. How does one define
religion? Personally, since I am a Wiccan who worships deities, I count it
as my religion. If Christians call what they have religion, then why can't
I?

Essentially, it's up to everyone to define what they feel and need.

Lilith
A Religious Gardnerian

[BEKKI LYN]

In article <3g0s6u$i...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu> b...@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (B.A. Davis-Howe) writes:

>blch...@eos.ncsu.edu (BEKKI LYN) writes:
>
>>If I had to fill out my religion on a form, I would write
>>'Pagan'; however, I do not define Paganism to be *a*
>>religion, but a system of a whole lot of religions. I
>>see it as being equal to Christianity in the sense that
>>it is a system of a whole bunch of religious denominations,
>>though I am beginning to wonder if I should leave off
>>the denomination part at times.
>

>Bekki, may I suggest that a more accurate parallel than pagan to
>Christian is Wiccan to Christian. There are many denominations within
>both Wicca and Christianity. (I'm sure this also applies to the other
>neo-pagan religions that have had a chance to develop denominations.)
>The parallel I would suggest for pagan is monotheistic. Both monotheism
>and paganism contain multiple religions, each of which can contain
>multiple denominations.

Hmmmm....I am not saying you are wrong, but I just can't see it
working for me at this time. I don't have any one Pagan
religious belief like Wicca or Asatru for example. I would
have nothing really to put on the form. People don't put
'monotheistic' when asked their religion (well, I haven't known
of any.) But yes, there are many denominations within
Wicca, but then again there are many denominations within
being a Baptist. Perhaps later on as Paganism does develop,
I might find a better term, but for now Pagan is the only
term I have to describe my religion in full.

But I do see what you are saying and do agree with you in
part, but it just doesn't seem to click right with me
at this point in time. Of course, I'd be interested in
hearing what others have to say in answering the
original question, and of course I'll think more on
your parallel. Perhaps in the context of this
topic, I might come up with something that works
better for me.

--

Bekki Lyn
********************************************************
_Raving Dionysian_ & Representative of the Air Element
of NCSU's

SOCIETY OF PAGANISM & MAGICK
********************************************************
"Drums, guitars, and death. They finally got it right."
-- BH --
********************************************************

[Gregory Rose]

carissa (cg...@mail.utexas.edu) wrote:
: what exactly defines paganism? would it be correct to call it a
: religion? can pagans also be considered "religious"?

The person using the term pagan will also be the one defining what it
means. To a Muslim, Hindu's are pagan. To a Christian, Muslims are
pagan, etc.

I have my definition of what a pagan, Christian, Muslim, etc. is, based
upon my personal experiences and prejudices. They're all just terms
thrown about by people. Their actions show what they really are.

my two cents worth.

greg