interfaith relations/sharing thread

[nearlythree]

Given the atmosphere on some sections of Mnet, and the lovely time we had on the Shana Tova thread, I was wondering if anyone was up for an interfaith sharing thread?

I find that death of a friend/relative always makes people reassess their belief. Those who have given up any belief in a God or spiritual dimension sometimes struggle with death, especially when it is sudden and expected. It also seems to tbe the time that people will ask quetsions about faith, and the meaning of life.

I also dont like it when people call me 'religious'. I dont regard myself as religious, I am a christian, and religious has so many negative perceptions, whereas so much of my spirituality is made up of love - God is Love, Love one and other as I have loved you etc........
I am very much me - though I go along with the teachings of a very much evangelical christian faith, i am intrigued by others and love hearing about them. I had Egyptian muslim neighbours for 9 months at one point and loved sharign festivals - we went to them for Eids, they came to us for Christmas/Easter.
I really hate the way that 'evangelical' has become a term of abuse. I am an evangelical (I believe in the authority of the bible) but I am not bigoted or weird, just me!!!

I'm too too sure why DH became a lapsed catholic... My mum is too, but that is after the church treated her family badly and they found their way into Spiritualism.

Nearlythree, what exactly are you meaning by the occult (the reads as agressive, but just wanting to be clear before I answer )

I know very little about Judaism and am interested to learn more about that.

Harrisey, in a hurry so will write more later.

Flamebat, sorry honey, not being agressive at all. 'The Occult' is the reason many Christians avoid any engagement with pagans; a lot of the stuff I like to do is regarded in some circles with suspicion (e.g. Earth Blessings). I wondered how important the Occult is as it seems more of an excuse for some Christians to remain ignorant than anything else.

For the pagan side of things - it is all about respecting nature and following the seasons. Believing that we are all connected. There doesn't have to be anything else to it. Most respect the Sabbats (8 festivals a year, the main ones that coincide with Christianity would be Yule/Christmas, Samhain/All Saints, Ostara/Easter) and it is a celebration of the year's circle - there are goddess stories to go with them, sort of "in the beginning was..." but they are just that - stories. The Goddess gives birth to the God, but it is all signifying the sun returning after winter etc...

Many pagans are also witches, which is where things gets murky and "Oooh, evil satanists" comes into play (we are NOT satanists - satan is a Christian thing).

For me, being a witch means the pagan side of it, but also the belief that the power that connects us all can be influenced by ourselves with the right concentration (many people use ritual with candles etc, but to me, it is just props that helps them focus - it can be done with just the mind). It can all sound gibberish, but when you think about the belief in prayer, faith healing is present in most faiths, there is an element of herbalism (all us maniacs who swear by rescue remedy etc ) - many witches use different herbs, scents and crystals for different things, all of these things effect the mind and to my belief effect the rest of the world around us.

It is just a different kind of ritual to the other religions. Not helped by the pagan "horned god" who is a god of nature looking remarkably similar to the christian images of the devil .

I think that all faiths are basically the same when you strip them of their rules, rituals and conflicts - as ET (I think) would say "Beeeeeeeee gooooooooooooooood".

Most witches follow the basic rule "an it harm none, do as ye will" - if you aren't hurting anyone (including yourself and the world around you), then do what you want to. Pretty solid theory to live by imo.

off out shortly - will post later...morning all!

Hello flamebat. Is what you believe in also referred to as 'pantheism' or am I not understanding?

This is all very interesting!

Yes, it probably is - pantheism is the belief in multiple deities (I think...)... I don't believe in a man or woman as such, more just sort of swirling entities, but there is very much a masculine and feminine half, which would make it more than one iyswim.

A lot of pagans use different Gods and Goddesses for different purposes - Goddess of childbirth, God of the hunt etc usually with the Roman or Greek names. I've never been able to settle on that kind of method though, because of my nice vague swirly approach . To my mind they are all aspects of the same things.

Not the right timing for me to be getting into big discussions as my head is in bits, but then again I need to keep distracted from RL so ...

Some pagans (myself included) follow a form of pantheism although it isn't really as straight forward as believing in a multitude of gods.

My personal perspective:

I believe in one overall (for want of a better description) higher power. That power is part and parcel of all living things, exists in and around all. It is smaller than an atom yet bigger than the universe. It is energy, love, emotion, power, balance. It is life.

As a mere human with a small mind, I need to be able to visualise that higher power in a form that is understandable. To maintain balance, that power has male and female sides, so I visualise the God and Goddess.

When I feel the need to communicate with my God/Goddess (pray in Christian terms) I make it even easier for my puny mind. By breaking down the male/female entities into aspects of their whole I can focus on the smaller things. This is where the pantheon comes in. Each member of the pantheon is not really a separate entity, just a smaller aspect of the whole. For example, for matters of the heart I might speak to Venus or Aphrodite and for earthy, material needs I could call on Gaia herself. They are all one and the same, but seeing them in this way helps focus my mind.

I haven?t bothered to preview this so apologies if it is total illegible crap

You can always put stuff soooo much more coherently than me - I know what I am trying to say, and it all gets squished up in my brain on the way out

How's your mum?

Probably on the table as we speak flame. I rang the hospital this morning and they said she was 3rd on the operating list, I have to ring back at lunch time.

Loads of positive vibes would be really good right now please.

TIA

Everything I have is coming your way

Thank you xxx

Sorry StG, hadn't read about your mum. Thoughts & prayers are with you.

Sending positive thoughts your mum's way StG/SamhainWitch.

St.G, praying for your mum, those caring for her and for you. xxx

Just popping in, thanks Flamebat, Ladymuck and StG, will reply later.

Hi!

St.G, how is your mum?

Thanks flamebat (are you noramlly flamesparrow?) and St.G, that is really helpful for me and just makes even clearer how many similarities there are. Flamebat, I didn't realise there was a distinction between being pagan and also being a witch, although I did know that Satanism had nothing to do with it. I think as Christians we tend to ask God for strength rather than seek it within ourselves - I'd say we believe that when we feel something working within us it comes from the divine within. I've never got this idea that if you pray God will heal and if he doesn't you don't have enough faith/didn't pray hard enough. It's something I reject utterly.

The idea of praying to different aspects of the same God has similarities within Christianity too. Many Christians vary how they pray according to what they are praying for - they may pray to Father, Lord, Creator, Shepherd, Light of the World etc. I also pray to God as Mother because I am very aware that there is a feminine aspect to God. The patriarchal language of Christianity has done unimaginable damage and it was something I struggled with for a long time. I also think it accounts for why there has been (and still is in some parts of the world) such a cult around the Virgin Mary - people needed to acknowledge the feminine side of the divine and she was just about acceptable.

As for using herbs and all the rest of it, one of the greatest sources of herbal wisdom in the West were the monasteries. I use them myself, and aromatherapy, flower remedies etc. - they all come from God. Christian nature mystics sometimes describe flowers, trees or rocks 'vibrating with God's love' which to me suggests them being aware of the energy within them and gives a Christian take on things like crystal healing, flower remedies and dowsing.

Ladymuck, when someone dies I think most people wonder what they believe. My friends were (IMO) badly let down by the churches here, I know thety found nothing of comfort in what they were told, despite the priest and minister being lovely people they were left cold by it. But then I don't know that anything would have helped, certainly not standard church stuff. My dh kept on saying that he couldn't understand how a loving God could take a little boy away from his family. I tried to explain that I don't believe in pre-destination, or that God 'wills' anything (although because I don't believe God causes illness I logically can't believe God cures it either) but I think he'd grown up with the image of God as this omnipotent being in the sky, if God existed at all.

Harrisey, as you know I hate labels too. Isn't it sad how certain Christian words now have such awful connotations. We are all 'born again' at the moment of our baptisms, yet I wouldn't dream of describing myself as such because it has come to have such a narrow meaning.

Probably waffling greatly, hope some of it has made sense!

This is a nice thread - I do like to find out how other people live. I feel like I have more in common with people of any faith, no matter how different from my own (either inside or outside the broad umbrella of 'Christian') than I do with the secular society that I live in at the moment.
nearlythree - I dont beleive I was born again at the moment of my baptism!! I have never been baptised as a beleiver (though watch this space ......) and do not beleive that my infant baptism was saving in any way. I beleive I was born again when I accepted that Jesus was my saviour. But like you, would NEVER descibe myself as 'born again' because - well, a lot because George W bashes on about it so much and I dont want to be terred with the same brush as him!! I do believe that what I have faith in is true, and I want to share that faith with other people, because I think it is a fabulous thing to believe and way to live, but I would never be closed minded about what other people believe.

Harrisey, the whole 'born again' thing is very hard. I don't believe in being 'saved' or the Atonement (which tends not to make me very popular in Christian circles) so to me my baptism was a way of letting the Spirit into my life. It's not about redemption to me, but about setting out on a particular path. I know you are thinking about having an adult baptism, I think we get to hung up about the 'rules' of these things and if my dcs decide to be rebaptised as adults I will understand.

I believe that Christianity is my truth, but that others will have a different way of seeing truth. I can't see any way for me to live other than following the teachings of Jesus Christ (once you strip away all the add-ons) but I understand that will not be right for everyone. I think it is important to share our faith primarily because there are so many misconceptions about what Christians believe and do - those who shout loudest tend to be those with the least representative and most extreem views. I also think that you don't have to be a Christian to get something from Jesus' teachings - Ghandi wasn't.

As for calling myself 'born again', this always makes me think of Cliff Richard, bless him...

No time to catch up on thread (too busy arguing on another)

Nearlythree: Mum is 'as well as can be expected' and the op 'went to plan' - don't you just love this hospital lingo!

Will visit her tomorrow so will hopefully know more then. Thanks for asking

St.G, that thread is getting way out of hand, isn't it? Well done for sticking with it, I gave up yesterday.

That sounds positive about your mum, hope your visit goes well tomorrow and will be praying of course. xxx

hi ladies - i am lurking at the mo after a couple of earlier posts....i am enjoying reading about your different faiths and learning from them,,,want to really give this some serious thought......StG ..glad to hear the op was ok...will drop in again soon...

Good evening everyone. I have just posted this on another thread, but would like to say the same here....there are some threads I purposefully avoid because I know they will upset/anger me, so is there any chance that this thread can stay what it's meant to be and not have other contentious threads spilling on to it, otherwise there'll be nowhere I can go!

I am not trying to be rude or inflammatory, just pg and fragile, and wanting to look at 'nice' stuff!

Thank you all

PS I was lurking and posting earlier on here, I didn't join in just to say that last bit!

Are you planning on posting that on every thread you visit? I don't really see the relevance of it here.