"Many current pagans in industrial societies base their beliefs and practices on a connection to Nature, and a divinity within all living things, but this may not hold true for all forms of paganism, past or present. Some believe that there are many deities, while some believe that the combined subconscious spirit of all living things forms the universal deity." -
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When I hear the term Pagan, I associate it with far more than just a failure to follow the Abrahamic tradition. Paganism is also a positive set of beliefs:
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Originally Posted by Tecoyah
Paganism isnt really a religion in the sense most are....as there is no one God who wrote a book for us to follow. Rather it is a respect for nature, and its creatures, as well as a way to tell the organized religions of the world that I dont want to accept someone elses God. Paganism is relatively undefined....and it is the freedom of admitting I make my own path,that draws me to it.
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It sounds to me like you are not making any sort of knowledge claims about God. If this is true, are you, as a pagan, any different from an agnostic who happens to respect nature? You are on to something when you say that pagans feel the need to show religious people that you are different than them. In that respect, pagans and agnostics are generally not the same. In terms of belief structure, though, what is the point of using the pagan label instead of the agnostic one?
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Originally Posted by Tecoyah
Please unserstand this is only opinion, and not intended to debase anyones faith, as I see each persons belief as correct....for them.
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I couldn't disagree more strongly. What could "correct" mean, in the context of beliefs, other than "true"? Is there actually such a thing as a false, but correct, belief?
There is a great danger in irrationality. This danger is partly expressed by dogmatic adherence to corrupt religious practices a la Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Aztec human sacrifice, suicide bombing, terrorism. It is also expressed by dogmatic adherence to non-religious beliefs, such as Soviet Marxism, Nazism, Scientology, social Darwinism, etc.
I am totally unwilling to say that Person A's belief in the racial inferiority of Jews is the correct belief for them. I would instead argue that Person A is wrong in assuming that Jews are racially inferior, and that their belief in this doctrine is incorrect. Why, then, would we give people a pass for irrational spiritual beliefs?
QUALIFICATION: I'm not saying that we should attempt to prevent people from believing in or expressing incorrect beliefs. Rather, I think we should acknowledge the fact that some beliefs are right and some a wrong. Facts are generally constant between individuals: Jesus was either the son of God for both you and I, or he was not the son of God for either of us: it makes no sense to argue that my belief that he was the son of God is correct AND that your belief that he was not is also correct.