Yeah, there's a few of us running around here. ::grin::
And when I was younger, I kept it pretty quiet, but my family knew. They just didn't make an issue out of it. Now that I'm an adult, it's a matter of discretion.
Did you ever have to hide your faith? Do you still?
As Sekhmet observed, "it's a matter of discretion". I don't "hide" anything, but I generally don't parade it about either; there's a time and a place for everything. The central tenet of Wicca is the Rede; you're personally responsible for the consequences of your actions; you're good intentions (or rationalizations) are completely irrelevant. As they say, the road to hell is paved with them. Would the course of action (any action) you're contemplating create harm for others or yourself? Would it tend to foster harmony, community, and understanding, or animosity and antagonism to no real purpose? Pick your battles carefully.
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Moving this to the Grove. Dade, you'll find a great many kindred spirits around here. Personally, I don't hide my studies in anything. However, there are a bunch of hypocrytes out there who claim to follow Christ and yet are intollerant of anyone who doesn't believe the same way they do. People who will try to shove their interpritation of the Bible down your throat if you mention religon. In some cases that's even Christianity, but when it comes to Wicca you can be guaranteed trouble from these people. So as was stated above, pick your battles. If I have to hide my beliefs from someone, it's simply to avoid a confrontation from someone who doesn't follow what they claim to begin with.
Edit: Removed last lines which, indeed, probably were out of line.
My wife studies wicca, and I am a Christian (I am a Creationist who believes in the teachings and ultimate 'message' of Jesus, not neccesarity the divinity of the man, or prophet). I just thought this point of view was needed, after Aaed's post. I understood you, man, but your post offers a definite slant that could be misinterpreted.
Those Christian 'Banner Carriers' would offer the same thumping to me, based on my beliefs. These are people who make a claim, but don't really understand the true message, or just ignore it for the sake of the ever overdone doctrines being argued day in and day out.
This is not Christianity! Not even in its most simple form. Closed mindedness and Exclusion are the opposite of the Message they claim to follow (a message written between the lines of most modern Bibles).
I understand that I may be off base entering the Grove and using the word Christian four times in three paragraphs, but what I just witnessed comes dangerously close to the same Hypocracy being denounced. Hypocrites and Zealots come in all shapes and sizes. Despite your intentions, (there's that word again), me and others like me have just been misrepresented.
But here is the point. Following a religion, or faith (as I think is the only part with any relevance) is about your faith. Not 'not his faith'. No, that wasn't a double negative. So long as you view your faith as an opposition, you will never be free in that faith.
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Caw
"I am a Canadian by birth, but I am a Highlander by blood and feel under an obligation to do all I can for the sake of the Highlanders and their literature.... I have never yet spoken a word of English to any of my children. They can speak as much English as they like to others, but when they talk to me they have to talk in Gaelic."
-Alexander Maclean Sinclair of Goshen (protector of Gaelic Culture)
Moving this to the Grove. Dade, you'll find a great many kindred spirits around here. Personally, I don't hide my studies in anything. However, there are a bunch of hypocrytes out there who claim to follow Christ and yet are intollerant of anyone who doesn't believe the same way they do. People who will try to shove their interpritation of the Bible down your throat if you mention religon. In some cases that's even Christianity, but when it comes to Wicca you can be guaranteed trouble from these people. So as was stated above, pick your battles. If I have to hide my beliefs from someone, it's simply to avoid a confrontation from someone who doesn't follow what they claim to begin with.
Heh, thanks. Still getting use to the place;) My sister has a good idea that I've been folowing the path, but due to my situation I still live at home and can't dive into Wicca full on. But if you can talk to Jesus anywhere, can't the said for the Godess? So I light a candle at Mary's alter every Sunday and speak to her everyday. I hope that is enough.
My wife studies wicca, and I am a Christian (I am a Creationist who believes in the teachings and ultimate 'message' of Jesus, not neccesarity the divinity of the man, or prophet). I just thought this point of view was needed, after Aaed's post. I understood you, man, but your post offers a definite slant that could be misinterpreted.
Those Christian 'Banner Carriers' would offer the same thumping to me, based on my beliefs. These are people who make a claim, but don't really understand the true message, or just ignore it for the sake of the ever overdone doctrines being argued day in and day out.
This is not Christianity! Not even in its most simple form. Closed mindedness and Exclusion are the opposite of the Message they claim to follow (a message written between the lines of most modern Bibles).
I understand that I may be off base entering the Grove and using the word Christian four times in three paragraphs, but what I just witnessed comes dangerously close to the same Hypocracy being denounced. Hypocrites and Zealots come in all shapes and sizes. Despite your intentions, (there's that word again), me and others like me have just been misrepresented.
But here is the point. Following a religion, or faith (as I think is the only part with any relevance) is about your faith. Not 'not his faith'. No, that wasn't a double negative. So long as you view your faith as an opposition, you will never be free in that faith.
I adore my family and I hold Christ's messages deep in my heart, but it seems as if his word has been perverted by men who 'speak for him' and 'fight in God's name'. I tried to be a good Catholic man, and went to CCE and what have you, but I never felt anymore at peace leaving mass then when I walked in. I never felt closer to our creator. In Wicca, I've felt more at peace. I would never use it to spite them or Him or Her. God has many faces in my mind. I love God. It is the men who abuse His gifts that I can live without.
No, you didn't post during an edit. I edited in response to your post, actually. I hope it reads a bit better. If need be, I will delete my post.
I wouldn't ask you to, man. I understood what you were saying, but I just wanted to make sure you weren't misinterpreted. Skimming past one word could have meant a blanket statement, rather than a precise point about a particular type of person. I've been making the same argument for quite some time, trying to convince people that being a Christian doesn't mean being an intolerant stonewall. Yeah, it's common, but not 'true', so to speak. That's a view that seems to be the common one portrayed lately.
Just as anyone in here, for a time I wouldn't even mention my beliefs with people, to keep them from viewing me as the stereotype. Have you ever had someone avoid you, so they wouldn't have to endure the conversion speech? Then I realised that my faith has absolutely nothing to do with other people. Now that's a weight off the shoulders. Free to seek answers for myself, rather than be told how it is because it is what this group says is true, this decade.
My trinity? Peace, Love, and Life. So far all the questions I ask lead to these.
I still live at home...if you can talk to Jesus anywhere, can't the (same be) said for the Goddess?
Another central concept in Wicca is that other religions are to be accorded respect. If Divinity is indeed infinite, it must also follow that it is ineffable. Therefore, within the parameters of the Rede, I cannot in good conscience say that your experience of the Divine is in any way less legitimate than mine; to diss your God is by extension to express contempt of my own. There are many paths up the hill, all leading to the same place. Your parents, and their faith, are entitled to your respect. That others are often unwilling or unable to extend the same courtesy to you in no way absolves you of that responsibility. Another tradition of Wicca is respect for elders. As long as you're living under their roof and sharing their bread (not to mention their love, nurturance, and support), you owe them, and they're entitled, to your fealty. Once you're paying your own mortgage, car payment, and taxes, you can set the rules of your own house according to your own lights.
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I light a candle at Mary's alter every Sunday and speak to her everyday. I hope that is enough.
What is within your heart is of vastly greater importance than whether you wear a crucifix or pentagram around your neck.
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Man, I sound like a hippie.
In a country where plastic armchair patriots gleefully cheerlead the brutal invasion, occupation, and subjugation of other countries, carefully cultivate profound ignorance, and proudly espouse racism, bigotry, xenophobia, and utter contempt of democracy, and the only response Congress can come up with to impending cataclysmic environmental disaster is to make the biggest, heaviest, and most profligately gas-guzzling SUV's on the planet tax deductible, I can hardly see where that could possibly be a bad thing!
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QUOTE (oldraven @ 12-Jan-2007, 11:49 PM)
Man, I sound like a hippie.
Peace, brother!
For all the reasons Emmet mentioned and then some, is being a hippie a bad thing? Just the drugs I can do without. The next time I go running across the country with friends and jamming to Peter, Paul, and Mary won't be the first time And man was that a blast! Just needed the microbus. Although my 04 Corolla was probably considerably more eco-friendly than said microbus, so it may have been a good thing I had it instead. Ohh, and all three of us had long hair at the time too.
Experiences like that can help one feel closer to God/Goddess too you know
Emmet's right, except that I would say in addition to choosing your battles, you can also choose your kindnesses (which I think he's really also saying anyway). You could choose to keep your practice close to your heart for now (especially because it's so new) out of fear of being criticized and preached at by people who don't understand it, or you could choose to keep it close out of concern and love, so as not to cause upset and a temptation toward anger to people who don't understand. Same thing, from the outside -- same action, but totally different from the inside, because of how you view and intend it.
I think it might be good to remember that although spiritual practices very often have community involved, and it's a strong and wonderful addition to a life when you have and want such a group, there are also many who prefer to practice in solitude, for at least a part of their lives, and carry only the humane results out into the world without professing anything. There's nothing wrong with that.
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Stay firm in what you believe, even if it is not the road most take!
Remember the cread!
Whatever you send out returns to you 3 fold!
Tolerence is a virtue and lost to most religions today... Tolerate and try to understand.
The message is the same for most.
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I support the separation of church and hate!
IMAGINATION - the freest and largest nation in the world!
One can not profess to be of "GOD" and show intolerence and prejudice towards the beliefs of others.
Am fear nach gleidh na h–airm san t–sith, cha bhi iad aige ’n am a’ chogaidh. He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.
"We're all in this together , in the parking lot between faith and fear" ... O.C.M.S.
“Beasts feed; man eats; only the man of intellect knows how to eat well.”
"Without food we are nothing, without history we are lost." - SHADOWS
Is iomadh duine laghach a mhill an Creideamh. Religion has spoiled many a good man.
in addition to choosing your battles, you can also choose your kindnesses (which I think he's really also saying anyway). You could choose to keep your practice close to your heart for now (especially because it's so new) out of fear of being criticized and preached at by people who don't understand it, or you could choose to keep it close out of concern and love, so as not to cause upset and a temptation toward anger to people who don't understand.
Precisely.
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