Religious Views

I'm creating this page because I feel the need to explain my views on religion as a whole and on certain religions.

My Personal Beliefs

"A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."
Dictionary.com.

Perosnally I do not consider myself religious. I am spiritual, I have beliefs, I have personal faith in the deities of my choice. While I do not need to be a member of an organised religion, I do see why people feel the need to be a part of one. Belonging to a religion gives people a community, a sense of belonging and a support network, which I feel is one of the most important elements of a religion.

To be religious or believe in something I do not believe you need to devote yourself to religious texts, go to church each week or spread the word about how you feel. It's a much more personal thing to me. I am a Pagan, I believe in the Mother Goddess, Father God and the Greek Pantheon. While I perform the occasionally spell, my belief is a lot more passive than other Pagans or Wiccans. I firmly believe in fate, and that nothing happens by accident, that someone is guiding each of us through our lives. Nothing is set in stone though, we make our own decisions but for every bad thing that happens something good also happens. Karma is another thing I believe in.

Part of my beliefs interlink with New Age practises, specifically positive and negative energy. I use crystals mainly, but also candles and oils. I do not believe in 'magic' as something supernatural, to me it's all about natural energy. It is also about prayer. Spells are just another form of praying, a way of engaging with the energy and speaking to a deity.

I used to be a Christian when I was younger, and for a while I was just a theist, believing in something but not sure exactly what I believed. Eventually my beliefs developed into what is best described as Paganism. While I was a Christian I never believed in an after life or the ressurection; I still don't believe in an after-life. I was also never particularly strict in my beliefs. I believed in a god, and eventually I came to realise that god was just not the Christian god. I personally believe that all religions are doing the same thing; they all believe in something higher, deities, and all aim to do good within the world. Each religion is simply doing it differently.

Organised Religions

I have said that I believe that religious communities are good for people, they are, but the organised side of religion I do not see as a positive force. You only need to take a look back through history to see what an organised religion can do to a world. Religion has no place in politics any more since society (in England) has become so secularised and religiously diverse. Christianity is still the dominant religion only because it is the most popular, but it does not rule the country as it once did. When it did, how many people died at it's hands? Whether you look at the Crusdades or the later witch trials, organised religion has blood on it's hands.

People now have the chance to believe as they wish. Religion should not be something people should be forced into, it should be a choice. Not everyone believes in a diety or higher being, some follow science and others are atheists. Globalisation, especially the internet, has lead the way for people to find their own personal beliefs by giving them access to other possibilities and knowledge.

Christianity

Christianity is not the only organised religion I disagree with, it is just the one that I have personal experience with. It is also the most dominant religion in the world for thousands of years. The 10 commandments have been intergrated into society, becoming the basis for our laws. Many other beliefs such as 'sex is bad' or 'homosexuality is unnatural' has stemmed from this religion. People still treat sexuality or sexual activity as a sin, or claim homosexuality is unnatural even though they do not have a religious bone in their body.

I am not completely blind to the good things Christianity does, but I cannot ignore the hypocrisy of the religion either. 'Love thy neighbour' is all good and well until you add in 'unless you're female, non-Christian, or homosexual'. Even the most well-meaning of Christians that devotes their life to helping others still considers homosexuality to be wrong. The Bible is full of sexist examples, but thankfully women's liberation has settled some of that. Other Organised religions are no longer considered a threat, but the reactions of some Christians towards smaller, less established religions (Wicca or Paganism, for example), shows that not all Christians are willing to fully embrace religious diversity.

My issues with Christianity rest in the religion itself and how it controls the actions of people. Right or wrong should be defined by society not by a religion. By involving religion into what is right and wrong you get vigilanties claiming they are acting on a god's behalf. A religion should be about a person's own beliefs, not the decisions of others. I admire the devotion of some Christians, it is the Christians that try to dictate the correct behaviour to others that I really dislike. Depending on how extreme their behaviour is, this dislike gets elevated to hate. This is something that I believe in quite strongly.

I have already mentioned the historical actions of organised religions, namely Christianity. I cannot forget that Christianity, as an entire religion, spent thousands of years killing anyone that did not fit into their ideal. No matter how many good deeds modern Christians do, their religion was still used as an excuse for the evil they fight. I do not hold Christians responsible for this, that would be silly, but it does annoy me when Christians refer to some religious practises, such as spells, as unsafe or wrong. And then the same Christians take part in a religious activity which has it's roots in Paganism.

It comes down to ignorance, and I'm sure some Christians reading this will assume I am also guilty of ignorance. I'm not. I am an educated young woman who has studied Christianity, Theology, Philosophy and Sociology, and for a very large part of my life I was also a Christian. This page is my own opinions and beliefs based on events I have witnessed and knowledge I have learned. I had hoped to make this page sound a bit more subjective, but these are things I feel strongly about.

Christian Wicca

After reading my opinions of Christianity and organised religion, it may come as a suprise to find that my reasons for disagreeing with 'Christian Wicca' are not based on those opinions. I personally cannot see how two completely different religions can be merged into one.

There are four vague similarities between the two religions:

1) The belief in a diety, in someone and something 'out there', or someone watching over us.

2) You could also consider both religions to have a love for nature, but nature has a completely different meaning for Wiccans than it does Christians.

3) Christians believe in the Holy Trinity, Wiccans believe in the Triple Goddess; Maiden, Mother and Crone.

4) Both have an emphasis on community.

Wicca is not a monothestic religion. Wicca does not believe in the 10 commandments, there is no strict sacred text for Wiccans and instead they follow the Wicca Rede. The religion does not believe in Jesus or God, or Christ dying to save the souls of people. Wiccans do not believe in good or evil in the same way Christians do. That is not to say they do not understand good and wrong, they do, but they do not believe in heaven and hell. Sin also does not feature, especially not sin related to sexual impurity. Overall, Wicca believes that people should do what they will as long as it harms no one. This is taken from the Wiccan Rede and refers to the harm to the Wicca him/herself, as well as others.

I really do not understand how people can merge Christianity and Wicca. The similarities listed are vague, and you probably could make the same comparison with other religions and find the same similarities.

I wish to end with one final point; I don't hate or dislike Christians. If I meet someone who is a Christian I am not going to automatically hate them. I won't agree with their religious views, and I will be wary about how they react to my beliefs, but that is all. I am not prejudiced against Christians, nor do I think they are stupid for believing what they do. I just do not agree with it.