what is religion to you?

[firthy85]

hello. i was interested do you still take children to church. what do you do now in these community centres. i remember the old unday schools but i am sure they have all changed

I don’t follow any particular religion so don’t attend church. But, I went as a child and, now I have a child, I really miss the community aspect. Standing in a pretty building every week singing songs with friendly people, talking about trying to be a better person, having babies and elderly in the same local social group - lovely. I even tried taking DS a few times but had to stop as the sunday school told him the bible stories were literally true etc and it was awkward with me later trying to tell him it was all a metaphor 🤦‍♀️

I do envy people with a faith, looks lovely.

I also see religion as a way to control and dictate. Usually men are deemed better than women and sometimes woman should be reserved and modest whereas men appear to do quite a bit if what they like....well they were written by men for men.

It is good for control and years ago to control the poor and uneducated IMO....still like that in some cases.

Some use to dictate and coerse others.

Being of the old persuasion I avoid as much of organised religion as I possibly can.

We're cultural/liberal Catholics, I like the sense of community and of there being something 'bigger' than myself.

I find the stuff about forgiveness particularly interesting (and challenging). I also remember being taught "hate is a strong word" ...but I'm not sure that was specifically religious.

I also think paganism looks really interesting but I don't know any pagans well enough to ask them about their belliefs.

I also think paganism looks really interesting but I don't know any pagans well enough to ask them about their belliefs.

What would you like to know?

I've heard some pagans talk about a Goddess, but also others say they are atheists which I found a bit confusing, are there quite a lot of beliefs sort of under one loose umbrella?

Is there a concept of an afterlife, and is it a heaven type place, or reincarnation?

When people talk about magic/spells, do they expect it to literally 'work' or is it more like meditation/asking for understanding?

(I'm sorry if I've said a lot of huge misconceptions there, my knowledge mainly comes from tv/books etc)

@Camomila

I've heard some pagans talk about a Goddess, but also others say they are atheists which I found a bit confusing, are there quite a lot of beliefs sort of under one loose umbrella?

Is there a concept of an afterlife, and is it a heaven type place, or reincarnation?

When people talk about magic/spells, do they expect it to literally 'work' or is it more like meditation/asking for understanding?

(I'm sorry if I've said a lot of huge misconceptions there, my knowledge mainly comes from tv/books etc)

Yes - Paganism is a huge umbrella term for lots of different beliefs and there are huge variances in belief. This is a quick crash course but I can elaborate further if you would like me to!

Some pagans are atheist - they tend to revere nature but do not believe in any god/goddess. If they practice witchcraft then any power they have they draw from themselves or from natural sources.

Some like me are theist. I acknowledge the existence of the divine and call on the Gods as and when I feel the need. Some pagans worship their gods, I do not.

Most pagans (not all ) believe in an afterlife. The Summerlands is a popular one where we will meet up with those we have lost. There isn't generally a concept of heaven and hell nor of redemption. My own faith does have the concept of reincarnation but more in the sense of rebirth. The cycle will continue until we have experienced all that is to be experienced and become one with the divine.

Norse based paganism has a complicated afterlife structure in which where you go depends on what you did in life but again this is not based on good or evil but more on your role in life.

Yes spells are considered to work by those who practice spellcraft, Again (!) not all pagans do. They are active in that the practitioner does the work for themselves unlike a prayer where you are petitioning a deity or other entity to do the work for you. Meditation can be used in spell work but is more often a way of obtaining information, exploring the realms or just communing with the natural world.

Hope this helps - if there is anything else then do ask away!

@Elphame, this is a really niche question, so please do feel free to say you'd rather not reply - but, I know a little bit about some branches of Norse paganism and paganism based on Western European mythologies in general, and I was wondering how people feel about the way white supremacists have been drawing on this culture? Is that something that comes up in your area of religion?

[quote SarahAndQuack]@Elphame, this is a really niche question, so please do feel free to say you'd rather not reply - but, I know a little bit about some branches of Norse paganism and paganism based on Western European mythologies in general, and I was wondering how people feel about the way white supremacists have been drawing on this culture? Is that something that comes up in your area of religion?[/quote]
Every pagan I know personally, including me, utterly condemns the white supremacists who have latched on to paganism.

Whilst I am not a Norse pagan I do have friends who are and they all take a zero tolerance attitude to this. White supremacists are not welcome in the groups. The Gods call who they will regardless of skin colour and ethnic background.

Thank you @Elphame, it sounds lovely - especially meeting up with those you've lost.

Where I'm from in Italy we used to be/ have Celts, every year on Christmas eve my village has this giant (like 5m high) bonfire with these bagpipe type instruments, we light it after midnight mass, the priest says a quick prayer then everyone gets drunk on mulled wine. It's a lovely Pagan-Christian mash up and I love knowing that my ancestors were probably doing it for at least 1000 years.

Oh, gosh, of course! I was assuming you condemn it.

But what I mean is, how do you live with it? Do people assume you're like that? Do people in your religion discuss it, or want to challenge it? Do you carry on using symbols etc. that have been latched onto by white supremacists (in the 'fuck them, we were here first' mode of thought), or do you move away from those symbols?

How prevalent do you think it is?

(Cards on the table: I'm Anglican, but a medievalist, so we get the non-religious side of white supremacists too. I have always wondered how people who're invested in the religious side deal with the same issue.)

@SarahAndQuack Ah I see! No it's not a problem for me personally as I don't wear my religion on my sleeve so unless I choose to reveal myself then no one is going to know. I wear no symbols that would reveal me as pagan to anyone that is not looking for them and even then they won't know for sure. I follow a Welsh Celtic line so I wear a gold ring made up of two intertwined dragons and that's it.

It is certainly an issue for the Norse pagans yes. Some of the runes have been adopted by the racists and yes if I saw someone wearing Algiz or an Odin's Cross I would have questions. Facebook has actually cracked down on allowing pictures of some runes as they are now so tainted. That does cause a few issues for those trying to discuss rune divination sometimes as the algorithm is a bit of a blunt instrument.

Most Norse will now avoid using the tainted runes but there are a die hard few who do have the attitude 'fuck them, we were here first' ! However the racists tend to reveal themselves pretty quickly luckily so other pagans will quickly know what's what but if someone outside the pagan community is knowledgable enough to know about the problem then the diehards may well have problems.

Thank you so much. That's so interesting that for you and your community so much of it has to do with visual symbols. That's what we've felt, and I know similar 'die hard' types who insist on their rune tattoos on the basis that 'we were here first' but also that 'it's someone's real religion'. It is really good to know that, for you, religion doesn't necessarily justify that!

Thanks so much for the helpful response.

Religion to me is a bunch of BS
Its allowed and protected hate, discrimination and sexism
Its used to control people by fear and intimidation

We are obviously not religious
DD hasnt stepped foot in a church, she is 10

hi. some fantastic comments. sorry not come back to the thread only just come back online. i don't believe religion is evil. i think what's happened more is that people have distorted the facts to suit themselves. its great people find comfort in religion and that's coming from a person who is not religious