Carnificinam Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 So today in college English we were discussing God's impact on Utilitarianism. The teacher is aware that I have a pagan belief system of my own creation and was trying to get my input in the discussion. Ordinarily I'd be happy to share. Unfortunately, I live in a town that is literally 90% Christian and aside for a few Atheists and one or two Pagans (counting myself) the rest are Seventh Day Baptists or Methodists or Catholics. I am the only pagan in my year and I was concerned about starting a religious argument. Despite the pressure that the rest of the class applied I refused to share because of my concerns and the fact these people spent every day until this year making my life a living hell. There were times where only the timely arrival of my mother prevented my suicide. So the point of this thread is to see if i can't help some people with their problems and if anyone has had similar experiences they want to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragne Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I understand you perfectly. I think the class/teacher definitely had no right to apply any kind of pressure. I live in a basically 90% Catholic place and I am an atheist since I was 12, so at the beginning it had been strange and weird or me too mostly because of the pressures of my family (not my parents, but the rest). I still refuse to talk about religion with them. Luckily, in my university, with the specialization I am taking, most of the people I know are atheists. About Paganism, I find quite irritating the way most people of organize religions seem absolutely fond of finding pagan believes as something ridicule. I really can't understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnificinam Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 I don't mind the pressure so much because after I said I didn't want to the did back off, it did take a couple tries but I rarely speak aloud in public and when I do it's generally considered to be an excellent point or some profound idea. It's kind of like a suspense movie, "what will he say next?". The problems i have is the ridicule that comes with my faith. I am well aware of the history between pagans and christian faiths. While we've come away from the burning stakes, we instead burn a persons reputation which in some ways is worse. I love to try to reach some people to make them see blind faith is bad and so is intolerance. I just didn't want to start a religious argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragne Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I see and I think you have been quite kind. I know that I get quite irritated when someone insists on knowing why I don't believe, how can I live- the fact is that I love discussing about religion but I can be aggressive if the other person starts to even hint at ridicule. I think religious arguments are wonderful is done with a sense of acceptance, or with people you will never say again. But in my country there is a very true say that is "At dinner or luch with people and friends never talk about politics or religion" and I think it's excellent! Also, when I was younger I was quite interested in paganism so... may I ask you some questions about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnificinam Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. Of course you can ask. I would like you to remember that i hand crafted my faith and as such is just one person in an entire continent worth of faiths. Pretty much every non-monotheistic religion (and there are thousands) are considered Pagan. I don't want to be your stereotype of Pagans. That being said, ask away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragne Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. This is wonderful to know! It was one of my doubt/question about Paganism because there are so many people who are but seem to have different shades/believes. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnificinam Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. Actually up until about 3rd grade i was a devout catholic. As i got older and had some death in the family i started realizing just how hypocritical and contradictory the religion was. I was agnostic for a few years knowing something was out there but really wasn't sure what. Slowly over time though I crafted my own religion based on the best points of Catholicism, Wiccanism, and Druidism. I'm not sure why I chose the six elements to head up my religion at that time but i have since added a few more gods or Lords as i call them. The horned one Cernunos is a pagan god of the hunt and forest. Everytime i feel a stirring in my soul at the thought of a particular Lord i feel as if they are true and add them to the always open list. If i ever feel that way about Jehova aka the Catholic/Christian god, I will add him as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragne Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. That is quite an open way to view the world and it seems much more hateless than some of the religions I encountered over the years. If I may ask another question, where did you find the information on Druidism? This is, I fear, for my personal gain, because I am a lover of Welsh mythology and starting to want to know more about Celtic mythology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnificinam Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. First i am tempted to add you to my friends list. Second i just googled druidism. Alarmingly there's very little info on them and what we do have is mostly from the catholics trying to burn them and the romans. Druids, in Ireland at least, Pre-date early-mid Rome. The Druids would prevent local wars, if possible, by simply standing in the middle of the battle field. They had the priests the scholars and the warriors. The warriors were to defend the helpless if conflict could not be avoided. I try to live by their code of conduct. Remember when doing online research make sure it's said on more than one or two sites and always take wikipedia with a pound of salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragne Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. Feel free to add me to the friend list I will gladly add you. It's a wonderful way of living! I personally try to live in the same way, following my personal ethics. About research, that's true, I tried to do a little research some time ago to write the character of Merlin because I am an arthurian fan, but I didn't find much so I relied on a personal idea I had on druidism, but I don't know if it's offensive? I mean, knowing that over simplification or using prejudices to describe an organized religion and I fear for doing the same for paganism D: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnificinam Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. I find accounts of Druidism in ancient myths. It kind of helps that through a long line of generations on my mom's side I am related to the Druid Kings (as is the first high king of the isle, in the b.c. era). So what did you use for your story? Druidism is open to interpretation. Even in the organized religion no two people had the same faith and as far as people know they had no written book of their faith. I think the being open to interpretation is very beneficial and the lack of a holy book aids in that (take the hint monotheism lol (just playing)). Also i find myself dying to know what your position is. It's none of my business so i understand if you don't want to share. I'm just too curious for my own good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnificinam Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. You're stored pm's are full so i need to do it this for now. Hi! Sorry for the late answer, I got a little overwhelmed by RL and tests. Omg fossils? It's amazing! What kind of fossils? *flails happily* I have mostly sea life fossils since their actually really common. I'd probably sell a t-rex skull just saying lol. I have a few prehistoric snails that actually look like their terrestrial cousins of today. My prize piece in my collection is a group of fossils from the devonian period. That means that each fossil in the big piece is 500 million years old. Those tiny little fossils predate most if not all mammal ancestors to humans. Even cooler is that at the end of the devonian period was a mass extinction event that wiped out 95% of all marine life. A good number of those fossils in that prize piece could be the only representation of that species left on earth. I mean to say that they could be extinct not that those are the only fossils remaining. *looks embarrassed* I didn't mean to go into a rant/lecture. And the late reply isn't a big deal because i understand. People get busy and that's fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloan Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. This is wonderful to know! It was one of my doubt/question about Paganism because there are so many people who are but seem to have different shades/believes. Thank you Paganism is a very loose term. Of course, there are many different beliefs, different lifestyles. Afterall, it's pretty much the fundamental. All religions exist today can be traced back to paganism, anyway. Discussing religions is one of my favorite subject but is very risky when it is not allowed on this board but I'll say this. I always tell people that their inner truth is the most important. That's what paganism is all about, in my opinion. Because for me, I tend to listen with open ear and mind... and the conclusion is this... I absolutely understand what and why they believe this and that. And of course, I accept them. There is always a basis of truth in everything. They just don't pop out of nowhere. If you trace them back with studying history and literature, they're all from the same origins. That includes Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism. And now , I am finding connections with religions and mathemathics. Imagine that. Everything is connected. And we should embrace that difference. So to obtain one's inner truth, of course, it means doing researches and listen with open ear and mind, and draw your own conclusions. And if they feel that it's 'right', then trust yourself. It doesn't matter if it's Truth or not the Truth... There is no 'correct' way of doing things. If you done it all, you'd know by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragne Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links. You're stored pm's are full so i need to do it this for now. *flails happily* I have mostly sea life fossils since their actually really common. I'd probably sell a t-rex skull just saying lol. I have a few prehistoric snails that actually look like their terrestrial cousins of today. My prize piece in my collection is a group of fossils from the devonian period. That means that each fossil in the big piece is 500 million years old. Those tiny little fossils predate most if not all mammal ancestors to humans. Even cooler is that at the end of the devonian period was a mass extinction event that wiped out 95% of all marine life. A good number of those fossils in that prize piece could be the only representation of that species left on earth. I mean to say that they could be extinct not that those are the only fossils remaining. *looks embarrassed* I didn't mean to go into a rant/lecture. And the late reply isn't a big deal because i understand. People get busy and that's fine. Ops, I deleted some messages! BTW, don't apologize! I am a biologist so I love fossils and I love knowing more about them because usually I am more focused on other sides of biology and there aren't many fossils where I live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saga Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Please keep religious topics away from the boards; YO's rules speak about no political or religious topics. Thank you for the understanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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