46 replies to this topic

[Vampchick21]

Why don't you consider Wicca to be a true religion? Just what to you think all people who practice Wicca are doing? And just what do you define as a true religion?

[Laurie Ann]

Vampchick21, on Jul 29 2009, 03:47 PM, said:

And just what do you define as a true religion?

I'm interested in your answer to this as well.

[Morraeon]

Laurie Ann, on Jul 29 2009, 05:06 PM, said:

Vampchick21, on Jul 29 2009, 03:47 PM, said:

And just what do you define as a true religion?

I'm interested in your answer to this as well.

Thirded, and no doubt almost every new religion that has emerged has probably met with the "That's not a real religion" rebuttal some time early in it's history...

[venusmoon32]

I believe Spirituality is possible without religion..... I believe it is some where between your higher self and your ego.

[PHANTOM MONK]

venusmoon32, on Jul 29 2009, 05:07 PM, said:

I believe Spirituality is possible without religion..... I believe it is some where between your higher self and your ego.

Is the higher self you cite the super ego.? Then I assume then the ego and id must fit in somewhere or do they? Now where did I place my Psych.101 book?

[MoonChild]

venusmoon32, on Jul 30 2009, 03:37 AM, said:

I believe Spirituality is possible without religion..... I believe it is some where between your higher self and your ego.

I agree completely with the first statement here. Though Spiritual Transcedence was the basic focus of having the religion formulated, somewhere the politics raped the religion and the mutant is not something that is good for the humankind.

Regarding your second statement, I would love to know more, what exactly you meant.

[venusmoon32]

MoonChild, on Jul 30 2009, 09:09 AM, said:

venusmoon32, on Jul 30 2009, 03:37 AM, said:

I believe Spirituality is possible without religion..... I believe it is some where between your higher self and your ego.

I agree completely with the first statement here. Though Spiritual Transcedence was the basic focus of having the religion formulated, somewhere the politics raped the religion and the mutant is not something that is good for the humankind.

Regarding your second statement, I would love to know more, what exactly you meant.

Like Phantom Monk...where is my Psy 101 book!!! I think what I was driving for was..Spirituality coming from the part of the brain deeper than just the human drive.
Where you have the potential to pickup on the elecctromagnetic impulses.... obtaining a deeper understanding of self and feelings for humanity( empathy...etc..)..
Being able to both understand self and apply to those people,places,and things around you.. Some where on this realm was were I was aiming for with that statement. Sometimes I get beside my self with my words and when I can't get things out the way I want them..

[PHANTOM MONK]

venusmoon32, on Jul 30 2009, 10:13 AM, said:

MoonChild, on Jul 30 2009, 09:09 AM, said:

venusmoon32, on Jul 30 2009, 03:37 AM, said:

I believe Spirituality is possible without religion..... I believe it is some where between your higher self and your ego.

I agree completely with the first statement here. Though Spiritual Transcedence was the basic focus of having the religion formulated, somewhere the politics raped the religion and the mutant is not something that is good for the humankind.

Regarding your second statement, I would love to know more, what exactly you meant.

Like Phantom Monk...where is my Psy 101 book!!! I think what I was driving for was..Spirituality coming from the part of the brain deeper than just the human drive.
Where you have the potential to pickup on the elecctromagnetic impulses.... obtaining a deeper understanding of self and feelings for humanity( empathy...etc..)..
Being able to both understand self and apply to those people,places,and things around you.. Some where on this realm was were I was aiming for with that statement. Sometimes I get beside my self with my words and when I can't get things out the way I want them..

Makes perfectly good sense to me.Now.

[Cryscat]

maybe body, personality and soul might work better? Just a thought.

Also, I was roaming around my bookstore and found a book titled Shamanic Christianity. I didn't pick it up at the time, but did look it over and it looks like it uses trace states to get closer to Christ. Might be interesting.

[Morraeon]

Cryscat, on Jul 30 2009, 05:35 PM, said:

maybe body, personality and soul might work better? Just a thought.

Also, I was roaming around my bookstore and found a book titled Shamanic Christianity. I didn't pick it up at the time, but did look it over and it looks like it uses trace states to get closer to Christ. Might be interesting.

Mm, certain forms of Christian meditation and the experiences of some mystics certainly sound like shamanic experiences. And the Church always talks about the priest saying Mass or hearing confessions as standing in the place of Christ: I think if more priests would take this to heart and actually try and channel Him somehow, it would make the experience of confession more like a heart-to-heart with God and less like going to the dentist or the doctor's office for a physical.

[PHANTOM MONK]

I know some Wicca ministers and priests, though not their primary role, they apparently don't see any conflict.

[Vampchick21]

PHANTOM MONK, on Jul 31 2009, 09:09 AM, said:

I know some Wicca ministers and priests, though not their primary role, they apparently don't see any conflict.

And how do these people feel about you not considering their religion to be a real one?

[CaveRat2]

There is no question Wicca is a religion, as are many others. The terminology though becomes problematic regarding the word "true". Fact is most religions consider theirs to be correct, therefore other religions are false. Thus a practitioner of any religion will deem others to be false because they worship a false god. That holds for Christianity, Buddism, Hinduism, or even Wicca. Each considers theirs to be true and others false. Because I don't worship the gods and goddesses of Wicca I consider it false because I consider these dieties false. But that is not to say it is not a religion. In fact any form orf worship that recognizes any form of supreme being would qualify as a religion. It all falls into semantics and how the words are defined... Confused?

[Vampchick21]

funny, I don't consider any other religion to be false in that sense.

Unless they're making you drink the Kool-Aid.

[Shawn333]

Morraeon, on Jul 4 2009, 12:05 PM, said:

I've been through twelve years of Catholic school and studied theology during one year of Catholic college. My problem isn't the teachings, my problem is the social climate in the Church. To put it another way, my problem isn't with God, my problem is with His fanclub. I'm tired of dealing with priests who are more concerned about revenues and Mass attendance than the people those revenues are coming from, and I'm sick of dealing with Catholics who are less than accepting toward some of the things which make me who I am (single and not interested in getting married and having a pewful of kids, as well as being bisexual).

The one religious group which has been accepting of this, or should I say, the friends and acquaintances who accept who I am as I am, happen to be Wiccan, and I can't help but be attracted to a religion which allows this. I don't feel comfortable with breaking away and worshiping different gods or goddesses (and I get a bit annoyed with the kinds of Wiccans who seem like they're always talking about "the Goddess/the Lady" and seem to mention the God/the Lord almost as an afterthought), so perhaps worshiping God as I know Him through a different medium would be the way to go. I don't know, I'm just testing the waters.

G.K. Chesterton once said, "There are two ways to go home. One is never to leave it, and the other is to walk all the way around the world until you return to it.". I think I need to take that walk around the world, since home right now doesn't really feel like a hospitable place.

Hmm...it sounds to me like there are still things about your old faith that you like and don't want to leave, but your church wasn't very accepting of who you are. Have you ever thought about looking into groups for gay and lesbian Christians? It often surprises a lot of people to know there are such things. They may not be very catholic per se, but still might be what you're looking for. Also though I don't know much about the particular denomination, I do know that most Episcopal Churches are now ordaining gay and lesbian ministers. I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds by suggesting religions, but just thought I'd throw out the suggestions as things that might be what you're looking for.


As for the thread subject of Wiccan Christians, I once lived with one for a couple of years. Really though I considered her more of a Wiccan who just didn't want to totally discard her Catholic faith that she was brought up in. In her case she almost seemed to want to still cling to it out of a superstitious fear not to. I noticed most of her Wiccan friends were ex-Catholics, or Catholics who were brought up in that religion but just didn't find it satisfying for whatever reasons.

I think when we ask whether it's possible for someone to be a Wiccan Christian, you have to consider what the person thinks about each religion who answers. By most Christians own beliefs they would say no. It makes no theological sense and would be contradictory. By most Wiccan's beliefs I think they would also say no. But if someone doesn't hold to the same dogmatic and rigid ideas about what Christianity and Wicca are, and they want to mix the two, then of course it's possible. They just won't be very orthodox in either one, but maybe they'll find a spiritual path that benefits them.

Edited by Shawn333, 31 July 2009 - 06:26 PM.