Corgan Sow

I'm just curious...maybe a pagan, Wiccan or anyone. I just want to know how do you view "faith" (not your religion) and also to extent how do you view the "invasion" of Christianity that may threaten your religion and such. Thanks a bunch.

Corgan.

Kassiana

Yes, I'm a Pagan who occasionally checks this board.

I view faith as both good and bad.

Some Christians are nice people. They should work harder to combat the *******s in their religion, though, or at least to get other views out there than the conservative fundiegelical view we see so often.

sensate

I am a Buddhist and since Buddhism arrived in North American well after Christianity I guess that would make me the invader. Follow the eightfold path or die over and over and over again you pagan blood drinkers!

sensate

I repy to your question about faith I would say that faith is an attachment that gets in the way of the detachment we Buddhist seek in order to attain Nirvana. Faith is a tacky tourist trap on the dharma road to enlightenment.



Before enlightenment chop firewood and carry water. After enlightnement chop firewood and carry water.

Infidelettante

Hi Corgan Sow [why is that familiar to me?]

I am a Pagan. Faith is required for supernatural religions. My religion is mythological and symbolic. I have no supernatural beliefs.

I am a pantheist, a polytheist, and an atheist. The material universe is all that can be said to exist and I experiance such a sense of awe of it that I have no problem thinking of it as Divine.

I will always accept as valid the beliefs of others if they return that acceptance. One aspect of polytheism is social. I try not to make others uncomfortable because of what they choose to worship. I have no trouble dealing harshly with those who use their faith as though it were a free pass to truth.

I am utterly devoted to the Goddess Inanna. I understand her to be metaphorical. That in no way lessens my devotion to her. There is no evidence that she or any other deities exist.

I believe that anyone who is not having fun with religion needs to find another one.

JT

Calzaer

I'm a Wiccan on my way to my First Degree initiation....

"Faith" encompasses all the things I believe, but have only personal proof for (anecdotes, etc). Therefore, I don't expect anyone else to believe me (although I appreciate it when people humor me). I try to only "talk shop" with people who share similar frames of reference; otherwise I fall into one of two patterns:
(A) "This happened."
"No it didn't."
"Did so!"
"Prove it!"
"All my proof is anecdotal"
"It didn't happen, then!"
"Did so happen!"
ad infinitum

(B) "I don't believe in your god."
"My god's real, yours isn't!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Prove your god's real!"
"Prove YOUR god's real!"
"I asked you first!"
ad naseum

Thus, I don't bring it up if I can help it (unless directly asked).

As for Christianity, I have a large number of unresolved anger issues directed at Christianity. I'm working on it.

Corgan Sow

Ah, another question. What differentiate between you folks who have "faith", and skeptics? Sometimes I find that "faith" really works wonders in more than one religion that I know.

Calzaer

I dunno.

Skeptics won't believe something without objective proof, while I believe things on only personal, subjective proof?

Like, if I said I was 80 years old, a skeptic wouldn't believe me until I had proven it. I'd believe me because I'd have 80 years worth of anecdotes... but if I'd somehow lost my birth certificate, all my proof would be subjective. So a skeptic wouldn't believe me... and I wouldn't blame them for not believing me.

Infidelettante

Hi Calzaer, there are so few of us here it's nice to meet you. I've studied Wicca off and on for several years and incorprate some of it into my rituals.

As for Christianity, been there, working on it too
JT

Illithid

Actually, I'd provisionally accept that you were 80, unless I encountered contradictory evidence (like you claiming to have said the "under God" version of the Pledge of Allegiance in school), or unless some important consequence somehow hinged on whether you were or were not 80 years old.

On the other hand, if you said you were 8 years old, I'd need at least some persuading. If you said you were 800 years old I flatly wouldn't believe you without extensive proof.