Since we've gotten told to stop talking generally about religion twice in the Homosexuality and Religion thread and were told that, if we want to talk generally about religion, we need to make a new thread, I have made a new thread.
Full disclosure: I am an agnostic atheist and anti-theist, but I'm very interested in theology and religion.
Mod Edit: All right, there are a couple of ground rules here:
- This is not a thread for mindless bashing of religion or of atheism/agnosticism etc. All view points are welcome here. Let's have a civil debate.
- Religion is a volatile subject. Please don't post here if you can't manage a civil discussion with viewpoints you disagree with. There will be no tolerance for people who can't keep the tone light hearted.
- There is no one true answer for this thread. Don't try to force out opposing voices.
edited 9th Feb '14 1:01:31 PM by Madrugada
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
I love this song!
United Earth
The only reason the Old Gods look better is because they've got no priests commanding power on their behalf. Back in the day, they used to require human sacrifice. The Old Way only seems good because it's non-existent.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Well the bit about human sacrifice is mostly hearsay (in the show anyway, don't know about the books). The entire Stark family and Household, Tormund Giantsbane, Mance Rayder and Ygritte are all proud followers of the Old Gods and they're amongst the most decent people in the show. The negatively portrayed followers of the Old Gos (i.e The fookin' Thenns) are bad people regardless whose badness has very little to do with their faith.
"All you Fascists bound to lose."
It's a bird.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
It's a loosely defined term that covers a lot of different things. I guess you could always ask around in the pagan coven for more info. I'm too scared of that place to do it myself.
Why are you scared? There are cool people in there.
Anyway, paganism mostly refers to polytheistic or animistic faiths of Western descent or inspiration.
It also covers 'nature' faiths (Wicca et al.).
This is a signature.
It's a bird.
I once met this woman at a class I attended. Nice, intelligent, and relatively good-looking as well. We got along just fine for several weeks, helping each other, chatting about random stuff and whatnot, generally having a good time.
Then all of a sudden, she tells me that she has regular face-to-face conversations with her dead grandfather, who among other things fought in WW2 and learned a bunch of secrets about the nazi leaders. She just mentioned it in passing, in the middle of a conversation, with a completely straight face, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
I assumed that she was joking at first, but as it went on, it became increasingly obvious that she was completely serious. Not only that, but the very idea that someone might find her story a bit strange or unbelievable seemed utterly alien to her.
I didn't want to accidentally insult her or ruin our friendship, so I just stayed silent, nodding and smiling as she kept talking.
I'm not saying that it happens all the time or anything, but every once in a while I see something in the pagan covens that reminds me of her.
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Most Wiccans arent like that. I was intimately involved with a Wiccan for over a year and neither she nor her friends ever did anything crazy.
I think there’s a global conspiracy to see who can get the most clicks on the worst lies
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Maybe they belong to different Wiccan "sects"?
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Neopaganism is reconstructionist in nature, so you end up with many different interpretations. Many practices weren't written down, but we can make some assumptions based on surviving traditional belief systems (such as Siberian/Uralic shamanism) and second-hand sources. Wouldn't be surprised if pop-culture has influenced them.
There's a small, but active scene around here.
edited 28th Jun '16 5:56:02 AM by TerminusEst
Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good.
If by "paganism," we're including Classical and other such polytheistic or pantheon-based faiths, then the recent flop Gods of Egypt is one of the more interesting cinematic botches I've seen in a while. "Interesting" isn't the same thing as "good," of course ... but I'm riveted by the creators' insistence on taking the genuinely fascinating Egyptian religion & culture, and moulding it all into the purest possible rip-off of Marvel Universe's Asgardians.
It's one of those works that are accidentally fruitful, because their obvious misguidedness gets any reasonably smart viewer thinking about how good a competent treatment of the subject could prove.
It's a bird.
I know. Trust me, I'm the last kind of person you'd need to pull the "not all x" card on. And she wasn't a Wiccan, or even really religious in the traditional sense afaik, that's just where I tend to notice this stuff most often for some reason.
Why does her behavior sound "crazy" to you btw?
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
if we see portrayal of egyptian,greek mythologies then is embarrasing from most part, ether they are tone down or demonized into petty tyrants
granted, pagan religion have their...issues but is far to simplistic to just label like that
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
vicarious
Dunno about Egyptian but petty tyrants is honestly not that bad a exaggeration for Greek and Norse pantheons lol
But that's me being flippant. Serious answer is those gods are very humanised. So they're gonna be capable of some very selfish shit, while still being protectors of order.
Well, except for Eris/Discordia. She is very much the bringer of disorder by definition.
Well, not literally crazy, but obviously most people don't believe they are carrying on conversations with their dead grandparents
I think there’s a global conspiracy to see who can get the most clicks on the worst lies
United Earth
I find that, depending on the religion, lack of belief in ghosts, magic, or other supernaturals can come off as Arbitrary Skepticism.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
It's a bird.
"Most people" huh? Would it seem less "crazy" to you if it was more common? That's not how I do things at all, so I'm genuinely curious.
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Unlike God, ghosts, if they existed, would be present within the objective universe. Therefore, they would fall within the scientific magesteria, like any other physical phenomenon.
I think there’s a global conspiracy to see who can get the most clicks on the worst lies
It's a bird.
I can't really continue this without veering too much off-topic again. PMs?
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
@The Handle: It depends on a few factors (including, of course, the religion). If Jesus, Then Aliens can easily be inverted in real life-if someone believes in an afterlife that doesn't involve haunting people, the idea of ghosts becomes unlikely. Many religious people don't believe in other supernatural things because they don't think they'd co-exist with the supernatural things they do believe in.
edited 28th Jun '16 4:15:33 PM by Protagonist506
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
United Earth
I know. But, for instance, Catholics have documented instances of manifestations of the departed; while this is a necessary trait of saints, if I recall correctly, is there any reason that it be exclusive to them? According to US Catholic
,
edited 28th Jun '16 4:26:08 PM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Corvidae: PM me if you like.
Handle: I would note that the Catholic Church is usually very skeptical with regard to claims of the miraculous.
Elfive: Not surprising, since I imagine you do not share that belief system. First you have to wrap your head around the idea that non-material things might exist outside the physical universe.
edited 28th Jun '16 5:17:19 PM by DeMarquis
I think there’s a global conspiracy to see who can get the most clicks on the worst lies
To be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure what the definition of "pagan" is. I tend to see it used mostly as "pre-Christian polytheistic religions", but there's also modern pagans ("neopagan"?) that I believe worship a single goddess? Not really clear on any of it, if anyone actually knows anything about the topic I'd appreciate a rundown.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.