MSN has an article about how Americans believe in silly things, and lists 'witches' as a silly thing to believe in. I'm sure my Wiccan neighbors appreciate being considered fictional constructs of superstition. I wonder if druids are also fictional constructs, because I'm sure my college roommate would love to hear that.
Also hard science degrees and nature worship seem like an odd combination. I should have asked him about that.
Heh, I read (what I think is) the same article, but don't remember witches specifically.
Here's the one I saw:
http://www.newsweek.com/photo/2010/08/24/dumb-things-americans-believe.html
Yea it frustrated me when I saw this. Isn't Christianity silly? Zombie jews are more ridiculous than some of the Wiccan beliefs.
Evolutionary theory, witchcraft, magic, ESP, ghosts, etc can't really be confirmed wrong, so they're not blatantly false.Uhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm
Yea it frustrated me when I saw this. Isn't Christianity silly? Zombie jews are more ridiculous than some of the Wiccan beliefs.
Well obviously when you deliberately cast it in a ridiculous light like "zombie jews" it does.
Anyway, yeah, America has dumb people, I wasn't aware we had a monopoly on them though. Have any of these studies been replicated in other first world countries?
It's a heavy burden, but the American people wish for our news sites to remain functioning. So we unintentionally do this crap to make sure the industry survives. Somebody needs to do it.Yea it frustrated me when I saw this. Isn't Christianity silly? Zombie jews are more ridiculous than some of the Wiccan beliefs.
Well obviously when you deliberately cast it in a ridiculous light like "zombie jews" it does.
Anyway, yeah, America has dumb people, I wasn't aware we had a monopoly on them though. Have any of these studies been replicated in other first world countries?
But that's less funny, and the insulting America is like a security blanket for news sites.
Does it even matter if Obama is a Muslim or not?
Perhaps history should have more emphasis on the world in general, instead of every little detail about America.
Perhaps history should have more emphasis on the world in general, instead of every little detail about America.
My ever-growing curiosity now wonders if there's a non-magical religion. Something plausible and re-creatable.
That's sort of a funny statement. I assume you mean History as taught in America, because as a Canadian I can tell you they didn't teach us shit about the US in school, and I certainly don't associate "history" with "every little detail about America". At all.Nothing about British colonies? They teach that in Israel.
That's sort of a funny statement. I assume you mean History as taught in America, because as a Canadian I can tell you they didn't teach us shit about the US in school, and I certainly don't associate "history" with "every little detail about America". At all.Nothing about British colonies? They teach that in Israel.
My ever-growing curiosity now wonders if there's a non-magical religion. Something plausible and re-creatable.
You are thinking of science.
(Not to pick on you or anything smigenboger, I mean it in the most non-antagonistic way.)
My ever-growing curiosity now wonders if there's a non-magical religion. Something plausible and re-creatable.
You are thinking of science.
(Not to pick on you or anything smigenboger, I mean it in the most non-antagonistic way.)
That debate is like the King of shitstorms.
Anyway, what percentage of Bay12'ers think Newsweek is a reliable source for percentages about controversial things?
and I quote, "Give God a chance."
Last year our health teacher showed us how to put on a condom, among other things.
Do non-Christian sects have huge issues with evolution? Do Hindi and Muslims have such an inflamed reaction to it?
I was raised Wiccan, so I can attest that they're real.
Last year our health teacher showed us how to put on a condom, among other things.Rofl, I'm sure if a girl said someone had to use a condom, it'd take even the most dim person less than 10 seconds to find out how to put it on.
I was raised Wiccan, so I can attest that they're real.Really? I thought Wiccans were against condoms.
But I guess it's technically less likely to believe in a Wiccan than a Christian considering it's only about 70 years old.
By the way, what are you people talking about, this thread is about Wicca not Catholics or evolution or not having sex.
In fact, abstinence and Wicca have nothing to do with each other, so gtfo.
Do non-Christian sects have huge issues with evolution? Do Hindi and Muslims have such an inflamed reaction to it?
By the way, what are you people talking about, this thread is about Wicca not Catholics or evolution or not having sex.
Last year our health teacher showed us how to put on a condom, among other things.
Fuck yeah! He gave you a demonstration? Woooo!
I refuse to believe you're telling the truth, mostly because I'm eating.
I think the professional thing to do is use a model or something, not expose yourself in front of minors. In fact, I don't know if flashing a kid is ever the right thing to do. I don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss.Damn it, now I'm trying to come up with a non-extortion example for that.
It might be a regional things. There are far less Wiccans in Eastern Canada than in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, for instance.It's probably because I live in the general vicinity of Fredericton, a fairly pretentious city by all accounts, but I can tell you we have our fair share of Wiccans. I think.
I think the professional thing to do is use a model or something, not expose yourself in front of minors. In fact, I don't know if flashing a kid is ever the right thing to do. I don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss.
It might be a regional things. There are far less Wiccans in Eastern Canada than in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, for instance.It's probably because I live in the general vicinity of Fredericton, a fairly pretentious city by all accounts, but I can tell you we have our fair share of Wiccans. I think.
I, myself, was raised Pentecostal, and I can see how it would lead into it.
I think the professional thing to do is use a model or something, not expose yourself in front of minors. In fact, I don't know if flashing a kid is ever the right thing to do. I don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss.
For the record, they put it on a partner/volunteer's fingers. Anyone telling you otherwise is bullshitting you.
I think the professional thing to do is use a model or something, not expose yourself in front of minors. In fact, I don't know if flashing a kid is ever the right thing to do. I don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss.
For the record, they put it on a partner/volunteer's fingers. Anyone telling you otherwise is bullshitting you.
When my college biology class was supposed to practice with condoms, we used zucchinis. No one actually had to stay, because they got too many angry letters, but I thought it was entertaining. They were unlubricated, so I tried to make balloon animals.
Maybe they weren't zucchinis. Some kind of tough phallic green vegetable, maybe unripe zucchinis.
Condoms are not flexible by the way. Can tie a knot worth a damn.
Really? Where at? I spent the last two years of High School in Oromocto. My ex-girlfriend was a pseudo-Wiccan at one point before I met her.@_@
Wicca is bogus. just as ridiculous as Scientology:That isn't even what Wicca is. I thought it was just Pagans who practiced "magick". Oh well.. back to trying to summon a succubus.
http://www.cracked.com/funny-2386-wicca/
Really? Where at? I spent the last two years of High School in Oromocto. My ex-girlfriend was a pseudo-Wiccan at one point before I met her.@_@
I'm about five minutes outside of Oromocto, pretty close to Geary. It's a seriously damn small world. Very likely we actually never met even though I've been here for about thirteen years because I was homeschooled, but yeah.
Really? Where at? I spent the last two years of High School in Oromocto. My ex-girlfriend was a pseudo-Wiccan at one point before I met her.@_@
I'm about five minutes outside of Oromocto, pretty close to Geary. It's a seriously damn small world. Very likely we actually never met even though I've been here for about thirteen years because I was homeschooled, but yeah.
You're one of those Home Schooled Pentecostal kids, eh? You would have gone to high school with me otherwise, assuming you're old enough.
Well, maybe you HAVE heard of me. I'll PM you my real name, we'll compare notes.
Since you're in the Pentecostal scene, do you know Chris and Kaitlyn Comeau?
ZUCCHINI!
When my college biology class was supposed to practice with condoms, we used zucchinis. No one actually had to stay, because they got too many angry letters, but I thought it was entertaining. They were unlubricated, so I tried to make balloon animals.
I'd say what a useless waste of money, but there's one thing these screaming babies are teaching me. When you think you know everything about birth control, you fuck up.
Rational rational rational understandable rational reasonable rational. The whole thing was thought up by a hippy INSANE STUPID RIDICULOUS ASININE HEDONIST CHILDISH INDULGENT NUTJOB BULLSHIT.
This is what I read.Rational rational rational understandable rational reasonable rational. The whole thing was thought up by a hippy INSANE STUPID RIDICULOUS ASININE HEDONIST CHILDISH INDULGENT NUTJOB BULLSHIT.
AND GOD WORKED IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS.
Really? Where at? I spent the last two years of High School in Oromocto. My ex-girlfriend was a pseudo-Wiccan at one point before I met her.@_@
I'm about five minutes outside of Oromocto, pretty close to Geary. It's a seriously damn small world. Very likely we actually never met even though I've been here for about thirteen years because I was homeschooled, but yeah.
You're one of those Home Schooled Pentecostal kids, eh? You would have gone to high school with me otherwise, assuming you're old enough.
Well, maybe you HAVE heard of me. I'll PM you my real name, we'll compare notes.
Since you're in the Pentecostal scene, do you know Chris and Kaitlyn Comeau?
I'm almost 25, so it's been a little while since High School.
It's entirely possible I've seen them, but I can't say as I run in the same circles they do. My dad's church is one of the smaller, lesser-known ones with a group of about 7-10 families, and we've been meeting at the old oddfellows hall. You probably wouldn't recognise it now since we managed to get rid of most of the graffiti (it will be back of course, since it's right between the school and the mall...) (and by we, I don't mean me, because I was at work that day, sweet justice)
it's like walking up to every Catholic you see and screaming "PEDOPHILE" as though the entire religion condones it.
I used to walk by their all the time on my way to the mall during the lunch hour, dude. You actually have religious gatherings in there? Every time I went by, it was just people smoking pot and having sex. Last time I remember paying attention to the graffiti, it was about how much God loved me, though.
Thinking of the other Christian kids in the area, what about Christina Entz?
I can't really think of many more. There are a few, but those were the ones that stick out in my mind as being memorable. Everybody else I know/knew weren't part of a churchgoing crowd.
EDIT: Did you know that OHS was featured in High Times Magazine as one of the top 10 places in Canada to score marijuana?
No one's getting past thermodynamics, but talking about gaelic, self-hypnosis, simulationism, etc. with an occultist is a lot more interesting to me than arguing about whether I'm going to hell or not for my porn collection.
MSN has an article about how Americans believe in silly things, and lists 'witches' as a silly thing to believe in. I'm sure my Wiccan neighbors appreciate being considered fictional constructs of superstition. I wonder if druids are also fictional constructs, because I'm sure my college roommate would love to hear that.
I'd just like to chime in that wicca isn't really what every 'witch' is. Suffice it to say there's any number of occult traditions, both recent and ancient, which a self-described 'witch' may partake in. They range from off-the-wall non-scientific bullshit to more meditative/shamanistic beliefs, and any particular individual will usually put their own spin on things.
I'd just like to chime in that wicca isn't really what every 'witch' is. Suffice it to say there's any number of occult traditions, both recent and ancient, which a self-described 'witch' may partake in. They range from off-the-wall non-scientific bullshit to more meditative/shamanistic beliefs, and any particular individual will usually put their own spin on things.
There's also the type of "witch" that was basically made up as a scare tactic by Christians (possibly the Catholic Church?). You know, the scary old lady who'll boil your unbaptized babies and turn them into a salve so she can fly on brooms, and that sort of thing.
Bohandas, what is it with you and the Church of the SubGenius? You mention it almost every day.
There are very few people who associate Wicca with Witchcraft who are not either wiccans themselves or intentionally making the connection to be annoying.
MSN has an article about how Americans believe in silly things, and lists 'witches' as a silly thing to believe in. I'm sure my Wiccan neighbors appreciate being considered fictional constructs of superstition. I wonder if druids are also fictional constructs, because I'm sure my college roommate would love to hear that.Maybe the auther of this article is refering to witches as described by the church in the dark ages?
Also hard science degrees and nature worship seem like an odd combination. I should have asked him about that.
Wiccans, Druids and other newage religeons do seem quite silly to me actualy. All the more if they have a degree in science, as that would mean they have a lot of contradictionary convictions.
That would make the article the epitome of obsolensence. In any case, this suggestion that the respondees to the poll were superstitious rednecks believing in old hags and cauldrons instead of people, say, who's heard of Wicca from their old hippie friend in the 60's... well it is interesting to say the least, but entirely conjecture.MSN has an article about how Americans believe in silly things, and lists 'witches' as a silly thing to believe in. I'm sure my Wiccan neighbors appreciate being considered fictional constructs of superstition. I wonder if druids are also fictional constructs, because I'm sure my college roommate would love to hear that.Maybe the auther of this article is refering to witches as described by the church in the dark ages?
Also hard science degrees and nature worship seem like an odd combination. I should have asked him about that.
That would make the article the epitome of obsolensence. In any case, this suggestion that the respondees to the poll were superstitious rednecks believing in old hags and cauldrons instead of people, say, who's heard of Wicca from their old hippie friend in the 60's... well it is interesting to say the least, but entirely conjecture.
Of course, DJ could be joking too but if he is he's being subtler about it. If he is, then I knew that, I was just joking!I just proclaimed that stereotyping is my religion, do I seriously need sarcasm tags with that?
Oh, I thought you just believed most stereotypes were accurate. Or something. The point stands even without you actually being annoyed, it's just a non-sequiter now, so that's all right.Of course, DJ could be joking too but if he is he's being subtler about it. If he is, then I knew that, I was just joking!I just proclaimed that stereotyping is my religion, do I seriously need sarcasm tags with that?
Well, I hear witches feature prominently in American politics.That would make the article the epitome of obsolensence. In any case, this suggestion that the respondees to the poll were superstitious rednecks believing in old hags and cauldrons instead of people, say, who's heard of Wicca from their old hippie friend in the 60's... well it is interesting to say the least, but entirely conjecture.
It can't be that hard to believe. Speaking as someone who knew (I can't bring myself to say "hung out with") a couple of the stereotypical black-notebook Hot Topic "Wiccans" in high school, and saw how people reacted to them; very few people have ever heard of actual Wiccans, and even fewer know what it means or that there even is a distinction to honest modern druids. I know that could be hard to grasp by somebody married to one, but it really is a bizarre and foreign anomaly to most people; a weird cult thing abnormal people get into to make themselves feel superior, like Scientology or Kabbalah but for outcast teenagers. This has nothing to do with actual Wiccans, it's what most of the very few people who've heard the term more than once remember.
As for the study about people believing witches are real, a significant portion of Americans think honest to God, tangible angels walk amongst us (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/19/half-of-americans-believe-in-angels/). Who knows what the witch people actually think they're referring to. I've met more than a couple people who swear haunted house attractions at theme parks are the Devil's work, because glorifying the damned attracts evil.
Yeah, anyone who basically says "Athiests are just very angry people that need to be ignored" is kind of a douche.
“There was only one decline in church attendance and that was in the late 1960s,” Mr. Stark said, “when the Vatican said it was not a sin to miss Mass. They said Catholics could act like Protestants, and so they did.”
Europe does have more atheists than the U.S., the survey said, but no country has more than 7 percent except France, which is at 14 percent of the populace.I'm pretty sure this just straightup isn't true. Certainly, I can't find any figures as low as that for the UK. I'd be interested to see their sampling method.
IIRC Estonia is something like 70% atheist.IIRC Sweden is 45% atheist, but also 95% identify as nonreligious.
Well, the problem I have with Wiccans is that they're some kind of batshit hippy new-age perversion of actual pagan beliefs, but that's just me.
Well, the problem I have with Wiccans is that they're some kind of batshit hippy new-age perversion of actual pagan beliefs, but that's just me.
Do you really have to be such an intolerant ass about this? Seriously, I don't think referring to people's religion as a "batshit hippy new-age perversion" is very conducive to discussion.
You're calling a religion a perversion for drawing inspiration from another, older, set of beliefs while not necessarily following them to the letter. What exactly is wrong with that? Religions change over time just like language does. You'd have to call pretty much every modern religion a "perversion" of something-or-other.
There's quite a bit of fun-poking at ignrant cristuns on this forum, but if you put the shoe on another foot, hoooo boy.
I just have trouble in seeing anything else in Wicca than some religion made up completely from different, rather random parts of mythology recent and old put together into some kind of, as the name implies, neopagan conglomerate.
I just have trouble in seeing anything else in Wicca than some religion made up completely from different, rather random parts of mythology recent and old put together into some kind of, as the name implies, neopagan conglomerate.
Which religions do you partake in which are not made up completely from different, rather random parts of mythology recent and old?
But I for one am most certainly not on Dwarfs. Be less of a douchebag and be more conducive to discussion. Vitriol breeds vitriol (I wouldn't have called you a douchebag otherwise, though I stand by that, cause that was hella douchey) and helps nobody. Is it so hard to express your opinion in a positive manner? Here, I'll rewrite this whole post so I do too.Spoiler (click to show/hide)
But my original post stands because you made me angry by being an ass.
I think his point is more that Wicca was arrived at by a scholar of paganism that sat down and built a new faith by picking and choosing parts of different mythological traditions with deliberate intent. All religions mix new and old sure, but they weren't designed with conscious effort to look or appeal a certain way, they were arrived at by a thousand accidents of history. Wicca is not alone in this, Kwanza, Mormanism, and the Kabbalah branch of modern Judaism all get the same criticisms.I never personally got why everyone didn't just do this. I mean, if you're going to claim to be able to commune with some sort of divinity (inner or otherwise), you might as well figure it out for yourself what it needs. Obviously you'd want to draw from the experiences of others when it makes sense, but when they're doing something you see as stupid and harmful it's a little bit escapist to trust implicitly that it makes sense on some other level you can't see. And when you see useful human insight from foreign mythology, it's downright bullheaded to discard it because it didn't come from your parents or your religious leader.
Yes, your second post was fine, I used it as an example.But I for one am most certainly not on Dwarfs. Be less of a douchebag and be more conducive to discussion. Vitriol breeds vitriol (I wouldn't have called you a douchebag otherwise, though I stand by that, cause that was hella douchey) and helps nobody. Is it so hard to express your opinion in a positive manner? Here, I'll rewrite this whole post so I do too.Spoiler (click to show/hide)
But my original post stands because you made me angry by being an ass.
I'm sorry for my asshattery, but I don't see any more asshattery in my second post.
EDIT: Okay, I used "to pull out of one's ass", I guess that could be offensive.
I just have trouble in seeing anything else in Wicca than some religion made up completely from different, rather random parts of mythology recent and old put together into some kind of, as the name implies, neopagan conglomerate. If I shall be a bit vulgar, it just seems to me somebody pulled the whole thing out of their ass, because their belief doesn't originate in the early days of humanity, nor has it evolved from another belief.
I just have trouble in seeing anything else in Wicca than some religion made up completely from different, rather random parts of mythology recent and old put together into some kind of, as the name implies, neopagan conglomerate.
Which religions do you partake in which are not made up completely from different, rather random parts of mythology recent and old?
I think his point is more that Wicca was arrived at by a scholar of paganism that sat down and built a new faith by picking and choosing parts of different mythological traditions with deliberate intent. All religions mix new and old sure, but they weren't designed with conscious effort to look or appeal a certain way, they were arrived at by a thousand accidents of history. Wicca is not alone in this, Kwanza, Mormanism, and the Kabbalah branch of modern Judaism all get the same criticisms.
Also, I read that wikipedia article on "chaos magic" and it seemed like a bunch of gibberish, but I definitely couldn't find a part where it says what the "magic" actually does.Essentially, chaos magic abandons concrete ritualistic traditions for magic (or "prayer" - really, there's not much difference) in favor of emphasizing the importance of altered states of consciousness, most particularly strong belief. A "good" Chaos Magician could switch from counting rosary beads to invoking the third horn of Lurr of Omicron Persei 8, in complete seriousness (well, mostly, I think they could still see the absurdity) and without regard to how much sense it makes mythologically or culturally. It's not so much a way of magic as a belief about the mechanics of it. Religious traditions and cultural elements are seen as a useful guide for your meditation and intent, instead of insight into how the universe actually works, and whatever contradictions you might attempt to reconcile are something else entirely.
You'll have to forgive me if I didn't really understand any of that.Really? None of it? That doesn't give me much to work on. I could just say chaos magic interprets everything and every tradition as the same thing (a tool to work magic), but that's not strictly correct either. It doesn't ignore the differences, and it doesn't force you to believe or not believe in anything. It works with their differences, because underneath it all is the belief that belief (or prayer, or magic, or whatever) has power, and your mind will act differently when believing in different things.
underneath it all is the belief that belief (or prayer, or magic, or whatever) has power
This study concluded that knowing people were praying for you to recover from injury made things worse. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16569567)underneath it all is the belief that belief (or prayer, or magic, or whatever) has power
Hasn't pretty much every scientific study done on this (power of prayer, etc.) shown it to be false, at least as much as is possible?
This study concluded that knowing people were praying for you to recover from injury made things worse. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16569567)underneath it all is the belief that belief (or prayer, or magic, or whatever) has power
Hasn't pretty much every scientific study done on this (power of prayer, etc.) shown it to be false, at least as much as is possible?