Hazumuchan wrote:
I practice an updated version of what is commonly called Witchcraft or Wicca, but it's more of a nature-based religion than it is anything else. I am what is called a Solitary Witch because I tend to practice alone or with a partner. I have the Pagan belief in a God and a Goddess and many minor deities that can act on certain parts of the world around us.

My sense of Christianity is that Jesus was a mortal and human. He was very well-read and spread the concept of love and unity in a time where barbaric practices such as gladiators were common. Yet I believe that he was a child of (the Christian ideal of) God as any one of us would be a child of God.

"God helps those who helps themselves" people.
Agreed and agreed. I believe that deity works through the hearts, minds and hands of humans.

My sense of spirituality is that it's really in every little thing around us. It's up to each of us to see deity and find it in ways that are appropriate to us. I don't believe there is one true path; I believe there is one path for each individual and that what happens after we pass away is what we believe happens. Personally I believe in reincarnation.

I've had people say that I have a touch of Buddhism in me, and I can see why others would think that. I simply don't believe in bashing one religion, even Christianity, to elevate other faiths to a higher status in others' minds.


Let me also add that Christianity HAS been used to persecute people like me - not only am I gay, but I'm also a woman. It's been used to persecute pretty much everyone who wasn't heterosexual, Caucasian and male.

Yet I genuinely believe that true Christianity that comes from the heart and honestly follows the teachings of Jesus does NOT promote hatred. It's peoples' fear of what they can't/don't/refuse to understand that makes Christianity problematic and dangerous in the minds of some people.

Some people seem to think the Christian God is like McDonald's and that prayer to Him will make everything all right; that they can "have it [their] way". However, true understanding and enlightenment of any faith doesn't come easy nor cheap. It requires lots of thought about not only a holy book, but the rules of what flavor of faith you follow. Does it speak to you? Does it vibe with you? If not, then try something else. This is how I eventually ended up following a Pagan path: nothing else spoke to me as strongly as worshiping the very earth we live on.

Pips_Paradise wrote:
The Lord God neither discriminates or promotes religious hatred in any form, or harbours bigoted intolerance. That evil and hatred, perpetrated in society is the resulting effects of human frailty, the consequences illustrates a connection between what is morally acceptable and the teachings and understanding of the scriptures.

Hazumuchan wrote:
Quote:

Pips_Paradise wrote:
The Lord God neither discriminates or promotes religious hatred in any form, or harbours bigoted intolerance. That evil and hatred, perpetrated in society is the resulting effects of human frailty, the consequences illustrates a connection between what is morally acceptable and the teachings and understanding of the scriptures.

Ah, if only more people felt the former way about religion in general then maybe we'd have more takers on this thread.

Insofar as the latter, I think you really have to be enlightened in the religion that speaks to you. Most people - at least here in the States - just go to church on Sunday and don't look deeper into their scriptures or the tenets of their religion to find if it really speaks to them. They just assume that their religious leaders are always right without questioning why things are the way they are. That bothers me heavily; I always figure more knowledge creates more thinking creates a truer internal self.